Dhanushkodi was a small town on the southern tip of the Rameshwaram island. It was a populated town with temples, churches, markets, hospitals, and even its own railway station. Until that fateful day in 1964 after which it ceased to exist.
Remains of what was once a Church. ©Prashanth K S
Midnight on December 22nd, 1964, was the beginning of an eternal night for the inhabitants of that town. Close to midnight, a severe cyclonic storm and huge tidal waves(tsunami?) hit the shores and Dhanushkodi was done for. A train that was arriving at the Dhanushkodi railway station with 115 passengers on board was washed away into the sea and all perished. The pamban bridge which connected this island to the Indian mainland was washed away. Buildings, houses and everything else in sight was blown away by the storm and nothing remained of this quaint village. Over 200 inhabitants died.
The roof of a Temple which still lays buried underneath the sand dunes. ©Prashanth K S
Soon the ghost town was covered by enormous sand dunes and everything that was left of the town lay buried underneath and most of it remains so even today. The town was abandoned and never inhabited again. However, now the sands have shifted and some ruins have emerged from underneath. The place has now become a tourist spot, approachable during low tide by jeeps and mini-trucks, and is also a forward outpost of the Indian Navy. Dhanushkodi is the confluence of the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal and even today the force with which the crystal clear and inviting waters of the sea batters the coast continues to send shivers down ones spine.
To reach the ruins of Dhanushkodi, we arrived at the Naval outpost in Dhanushkodi from Rameshwaram. From the outpost there are regular mini-truck and jeep services that takes you to the tip of the Ramanathapuram islands where Dhanushkodi used to exist. The Sri Lankan border is but just about 15kms from this point.
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Tagged: dhanushkodi, photoblog, photos, ramanathapuram, Rameshwaram, ruins, South India, storm, tamil nadu, tsunami
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6 Comments
In case you took this pic…lemme tell u, SIMPLY SUPERB!!!
get this copyrighted and also share the original ones with me so that i can make them my wallpaper
visit my cousin’s profile…..
http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Profile.aspx?origin=is&uid=13633764317698423978
Ku!, had u been to Dhanushkodi recently? Were the photos shot by you?
Even now we can see the demolished railway station and railway tracks. There is one temple which is at the edge (very close to the sea) which is alive still
, guess it is a Anjaneya Temple.
Nice blog…
Durai
Mr. X who posted the last comment is ME (Durai). :p
Yes macha, had been there 2 days back in the weekend. We didnt go till the shore, the stupid matador fellow was eating our head as some group had to catch a train back. And ya, the photos were shot by me on my mobile.
I had all but forgotten Dhanushkodi and you took me back there again! Thank you. How are you and Vidhya doing? Mogun and I are enjoying the new grand-daughter, Kavya, who is 5 weeks old now!