Dhanushkodi Island, India's ghost town

New Delhi: Dhanushkodi was a small island at the southern tip of Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. Hindu scriptures says that at the request of Vibeeshana, brother of Ravan and ally of Ram, Rama broke the Sethu with one end of his bow and hence the name Dhanushkodi, Dhanush meaning Bow and Kodi meaning end. It is also said that Rama marked this spot for Setu with one end of his famous bow. Bath in holy Sethu at the junction of the two seas normally precedes the pilgrimage to Rameswaram. A series of rocks and islets found in a line are shown as remnants of the ancient Setu also called as Rama's Bridge.It is said that Pilgrimage to Kashi will be completed only after the worship at Rameswaram besides a holy bath in Dhanushkodi at the Confluence of Mahodadhi (Bay of Bengal) and Ratnakara (Indian Ocean). Setu is the Sanskrit word to denote a bridge or causeway. It has now acquired a special significance to mean the bridge across the ocean constructed by Ram to reach Lanka.Dhanushkodi has the only land border between India and Sri Lanka. The island was completely washed out in the cyclone of 17 December, 1964. Before the cyclone, Dhanushkodi was a popular tourist spot and a pilgrimage town. There were hotels, shops, dharamshalas serving pilgrims, railway station, higher secondary school, post office, customs and port offices. During the cyclone a train carrying 115 passengers was washed away killing everyone onboard. Following the Disaster, Govt declared the place unfit for the living. Some of the dharmashalas and a prominent mutt based in Dhanushkodi were moved to Rameswaram. The ruins of the station and the railway track were left untouched and Dhanushkodi could never be rebuilt. However in the ruins of the old island town, that was swept away in the recent history, now is a small fishing hamlet around 10-12KM away from the Adam's Bridge, famously called the Ghost Town.