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Am a contradiction of sorts. i love going out and having a good time with friends, and i can also stay home chill out over a book or a movie..

Am very passionate about writing, so give me a topic and watch me float away into wonderland... Love reading books- sometimes i read 3books simultaneously, crazy about music- need it all around me, all the time and ofcourse, i totally am ga ga goo goo over my 7yr old naughty brat- Floppy!! errr, Prince Floppy!! :)

Friday, October 19, 2012

Skywatch Friday... Floating stones and Hanuman in Dhanushkodi


As we drove towards Dhanushkodi beach, our drive suddenly stopped the car and asked if we wanted to see the Floating stones.. Puzzled, i looked at him and asked "what floating stones?"

Instantly he replied "madam, the ones that were used in building the bridge Ramasethu [Adam's bridge] by Rama and the monkeys. There is a Panchamuka Hanuman Temple less than 2 kms from here. I can take you there if you wish".

 

Dint need any more motivation, nodded my head and off we went to the Hanuman temple.  It is a small temple, with the image of Hanuman etched on the wall in red vermillon. The Hanuman has five faces and looks like he is standing leaning on the wall. There were a few pillars and at the base of one i spotted two large stones, on another pillar was the map of how India was back in the days and the path that Rama had taken when building the bridge. 

As you walk around the main sanctum, there is a small pit of sorts filled with water, and covered with mesh. Inside this tank, lo behold, i noticed there were a few floating stones. The priest came around and told me these were among the ones used by Rama when building the bridge and that the stones really did float. " You cant put your finger in and push them down, but they will surface within minutes, go ahead try it" he said. And much to my amazement, that is exactly what happened.


Legend has it that Rama and his army of monkeys decided to build the bridge under the guidance of Hanuman (Monkey-God) and the engineering supervision of Nala. They wrote "Rama" on the stones and used them to build the bridge over the ocean.  Apparently, even today, in Devipatnam, or Navapashanam, also by the sea, there are nine stones visible at low tide. It is believed that they were set up by Sri Rama to represent the nine planets, the Navagrahas.

The priest recommended i visit the two other temples popular around here- Sugreeva Theertham and Lakshmana Theertham...As i walked out of the Hanuman temple, i wondered if all that i had read and heard in Ramayana was real, and maybe there were more such tales hidden within the walls around us. 

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday

6 comments:

  1. What a lovely story. And how lucky that you could actually see stones float!

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  2. nice story, Aarti.. good that u were able to visit it.. we werent.. have heard of it though... as to devipattinam or navapashanam, there are indeed nine stones representing the navagrahas, which are visible at low tide.. but the place is completely spoilt these days. when i first went, there were just these nine stones...and we had to wade through water to reach them. today, these stones are encircled within a concrete pathway covered by shiny tiles ..so u dont need to enter the water till u reach them.. and ppl have put so much filth in the water in the name of prayers.. u can imagine.. til and flowers and oil and whatnot... and we didnt even feel like entering the water to approach the stones..

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  3. oh wow! So many intriguing things in India that we never know of. I havent been to Dhanushkodi but i have been to Devipatnam. Yes, i could see the 9 Navagrahas after wading through water. It was an amazing experience when i was a kid

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  4. Interesting. Nice post.

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

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