India's 12 famous Jyotirlingas - Rameshwar Temple

New Delhi: Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu is home to the Ramalingeswarar Jyotirlinga temple (Ramanathaswamy Temple) and is located at southernmost of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines( located on the island of Rameswaram). In this temple Bhagwan Shankar is worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlingam meaning pillar of light. The three of the most revered Nayanars (Saivite Saints), Appar, Sundarar and Tirugnana Sambandar have glorified the temple with their songs and is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams. It is considered a holy pilgrimage site for Shaivites, Vaishnavites and Smarthas.It is believed that temple was expanded by Pandya Dynasty during the 12th century and its principle shrines were renovated by Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan and his successor Gunaveera Cinkaiariyan of the Jaffna kingdom.According to the popular legend Ramayan, Lord Rama installed the Linga here and prayed to Shiva to forgive his sins he might have committed during his war against the demon king Ravana in Sri Lanka. Rama wanted to have the largest lingam. So he commanded Hanuman to bring the lingam from Himalayas. to bring the lingam from Himalayas.Rameswaram Temple has lofty gopurams, colossal Nandi , massive walls and is spread over an area of 15 acres.Rameswaram Jyotirlinga has the longest corridor among all Hindu temples in India, 4000 feet long pillared corridor with over 4000 pillars, supposedly the longest in the world. The carved granite pillars are mounted on a raised platform. The most beautiful and scenic fact about this corridor is that the rock is not indigenous to the island and is said to have been brought in from elsewhere in Tamil Nadu across the sea. Therea are two Rajagopuram - The eastern Rajagopuram towers to a height of 126 feet and has nine levels. The Western Rajagopuram is also quite impressive.There are several several mandapams in the temple with mini shrines to other deities.There is a huge Nandi measuring 12 feet in length and 9 feet in height with the idols of Viswanatha Naicker and Krishnama Naicker. The lingams are housed in the inner section of the Ramalingeshwara. High walls enclose the temple, forming a rectangle with huge pyramidal gopura entrances on each side.