This was posted on Facebook in 2014 and am reposting it here as it is easy to retreive, edit & share.
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| Rameshwaram Temple |
My wife & I had visited Rameshwaram- Kashi - Prayagraj - Gaya and completed the rituals related to our departed parents in 2014. Among Hindus, there is a belief that at least once, in our lifetime, we must perform the rituals for our departed parents and other ancestors at Kashi & Gaya. This will give immense satisfaction and relief to our pitrus (ancestors) to whom we owe so much...
This note is an attempt to capture the various procedures involved so as to be a guide for people who also plan to do this. Please note that I am not a scholar and my knowledge is limited to what I was told by my Vadhyar (Priest). For expert guidance, please consult your family Vadhyar. There are many people who have written about the rituals in far more detail and one can access this by googling for this info.
We started off with a visit to Rameshwaram.
As per the prevailing practice one has to visit Rameshwaram-Kashi-Rameshwaram which is considered equivalent to circumblating our holy land of Bharat Varsha. We flew to Madurai and then took a road trip to reach Rameshwaram. Here we stayed at the Kashi Mutt which is very near the West Dwar. The rooms were average and compact. In my previous stay, I had stayed at Sringeri Mutt which is near the East Dwar and is much better. The only hitch is that vehicles are not allowed inside the perimeter and hence access to the Sringeri Mutt is by walk or battery operated Rickshaw which is not regular in service. The Kashi Mutt room (Non-AC) cost us Rs. 450/- for a day's stay.
That evening we had a darshan of the Lord Shiva at the Rameshwaram temple and had dinner at a Gujarati restaurant located within close proximity to the temple. The food was decent. The next morning after bath & prayers we went to Dhanushkoti by 4 wheel drive jeep hired locally (arranged by the main Vadhyar) accompanied by a vadhyar. Danushkoti is the southern tip of India and is a barren strip of lad / beach. It used to be a thriving town once which got completely destroyed by a catastrophic tropical cyclone in 1964. Now, there are only dilapidated structures which gives an impression of a ghost town.
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| Danuskoti Beach |
At the beach, where the Sun was shining bright and there was virtually no shade / shelter, I did Sankalpam and Tarpanam for my ancestors under the guidance of the vadhyar. This is done wearing the traditional Panchakajam dhoti (men) and Ombodugajam (nine yards) saree (Women). For people who are old or otherwise unable to make this trip, this ritual is done at Agni Theertham at Rameshwaram. The vadhyar who helped us complete the rituals did a good job of explaining the significance and meaning of the different rituals.
This was followed by preparing three heaps of sand in a Lingam format - one was called as Sethu Madhavar (SM), one was Bindu Madhwar (BM) and one was Veni Madhawar (VM). All three are representative of important deities (all Narayana) at Rameshwaram, Kashi and Allahabad. SM is one of the 22 theerthams inside Rameshwaram temple. BM is a temple at Kashi and VM is a temple at Allahabad. We worshipped all three lingams at Danushkoti with flowers etc. and then had a ritual bath at the sacred theertham (waters) of Danushkoti. The water was very clear, unlike any of the beaches near cities like Mumbai. The water was flowing / moving gently and it was cool. It was a welcome relief from the heat of the mid day Sun. Later, we took the VM and BM heaps in two plastic bags. SM was immersed (visarjanam) in the water at Danushkoti.
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| The world famous corridors of Rameshwaram Temple |
We then returned to Rameshwaram. We entered the majestic temple at Rameshwaram which is world famous for its splendour and grandeur. This temple has one of the 12 Jyotir Lingas and also has the longest temple corridor in India. The corridors are lined with intricately carved pillars which are a shining example of Dravidian architecture. Here, we had a bath in all the 22 theerthams (holy wells which are believed to have been created by Lord Rama to get the water to purify Himself after killing Ravana) inside the temple.
We then proceeded to the Vadhyar's premises for the Shradham ceremony - complete with 5 vadhyars, homam, pinda danam etc. All these were done with wet clothes (wet from the bath inside the temple). The style of wearing the dhoti & saree continues to be panchagajam and ombodugajam respectively.
17 Pindams are made and offered to Pitrus. One each for parents, grand parents, great grand parents and one for unknown relatives (Karunya vargam). One each for maternal parents, grand parents and great grand parents. Four Pindams for friends / relatives / Guru etc. who have helped us and who haven't received Pindam from their descendants.
After this, we changed and went back to the temple for a quick darshan of the Lord in the Rameshwaram.
The Vadhyar had arranged for lunch for all the Vadhyars (Bhoktas) and also us at a nearby place - excellent stuff. Cooked and served by a one man army who was a Brahmin. We then left Rameshwaram with our precious plastic bags of BM & VM.
We then returned to Madurai and had darshan of Lord Narayana at Azhgar temple and Lord Murugan at Pazha Madur Cholai in the evening. We stayed at Hotel Supreme (decent) and in the evening also had darshan of Devi at the famous Meenakshi temple. The next morning we went to Tiruparangundram temple of Lord Muruga and returned to Mumbai.
The entire cost of the proceedings at Rameshwaram including lunch, jeep etc. costed Rs. 5000/- paid to the Vadhyar who had arranged everything. This excludes the cost of reaching Rameshwaram from our home city and back.
To be continued...
