"Water, Water, Everywhere!"

This time, I think I got it right. Like Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner I shouted but with glee, ‘water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink!’ I was standing mesmerized at Dhanuskodi, viewing the vast swathe of low tide, which brought in the sea waters of Bay of Bengal to my feet.

Dhanuskodi is a ghost town. It was wiped away completely in an immense cyclone that hit the area in December 1964. Bay of Bengal, the sea that laps on the eastern border of India and Indian ocean that covers the southern side of the country, which derives its name from the country India, meet at this point in Dhanuskodi. It lies in Pamban island connected to Mandapam in the main land by Pamban bridge. Dhanuskodi is the last point of land in India as it tapers towards the island Sri Lanka, which takes shape from that point.

Traditions have that Rama, an ancient king of India from the north, the hero of Ramayana, an epic poem of ancient India, came in hot pursuit of Ravana, who had kidnapped his wife, Seetha and held her captive in the Sri Lankan island. His friends built a bridge at Dhanuskodi for his troops to cross over to Sri Lanka.

                                                            

                                                               

                                                                People taking a dip in the ocean, Rameswaram                                                                  temple

Rameswaram, the town that lies in Pamban island, is one of the four most important pilgrimage centres for the Hindus, the others being Badrinath in the north, Puri in the East, Dwaraka in the West. This cultural unity defined the country India, though it was never a unified country under a single ruler until the time of the British. The closest geographically to today’s India was under Aurangzeb, the last powerful king of the Mughal Empire.

My interest in the place was not definitely religious. But that didn’t deter my companion taking a wistful plunge in the sea and observing all the rituals connected with it, including 22 buckets of water poured over her head as theerthams and emerging completely satisfied like a cat that has got its stomach full with good milk!

I was fascinated by the story of the cyclone that hit Dhanuskodi. A low pressure that built near Andaman and Nicobar Islands in Andaman sea, east of Tamil Nadu in India, on 18^th December 1964, developed into a cyclone of mammoth proportions. By 23^rd December it developed into a hurricane with a wind velocity of 240 km/h (150 mph) and struck the then Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) near Mannar, causing extensive damage and loss of life of over 2000 people.  

On the Indian side Pamban island bore the brunt. Dhanuskodi lay almost at the tip of the island on Indian side as it tapers towards Sri Lanka and on the other side it was Mannar of Ceylon. Dhanuskodi was completely submerged under the deluge. Huge tidal waves of 25 feet (7.6 meters) washed away everything that was standing in the place.

A passenger train carrying 110 people and 5 railway staff got completely washed away, killing all the passengers. The train was coming from the mainland through Pamban station to Dhanuskodi station. The time was 11 pm and the train was just minutes away from reaching Dhanuskodi station. Huge tidal waves hit the train and it was seen no more. Today all that is left of the train are some twisted metal of the train tract, a witness to that gory night of disaster.  

The Pamban bridge that was connecting Pamban island with the mainland at Mandapam on the east coast of Tamil Nadu got washed away as well. The bridge was rebuilt only in 2012.

Dhanuskodi was declared by the Government of India as a place unfit for human habitation. I was reminded of some of the Old Testament towns, which were destroyed in war and prophesied that they will never again be inhabited by people. One such place was Jericho. Many of the towns mentioned in the Old Testament still stand, but not Jericho. It is a dead city. So also Dhanuskodi.

We travelled in minibuses to the ghost town and these buses full of people were winding their paths in and around the low tide area, over puddles of sea water left behind by the tide, with twists and some dangerous turns. I was reminded of the Jeep Safari on the sandy deserts of Dubai, where the drivers took their vehicles over the sand mounds and would suddenly sweep down giving the passengers a thrill or fear depending on the person concerned.

The sea itself looks so calm and quiet and innocent. It is nicknamed as the ‘lady sea,’ especially during such low tide. The present day Dhanuskodi looks deserted, except for some 20 odd families, living there in shacks, selling pebbles and shells and some ‘nimbu pani’ (lemonade).

The best was the lemonade was made with water drawn from a well simply dug in the ground close to the shop and sweet water to drink in a place surrounded by sea water. Amazing! 

                                                                The well!

Remnants of a church is seen, so also a water tank and the post office–cum– railway station. A school lies in shambles. A once thriving town has been reduced to an uninhabitable place.

However, all hopes are not lost. A new road is almost complete, connecting Dhanuskodi with Rameswaram. This is being constructed at a cost of Rs. 5 crores financed by the central government. After almost 50 years, once more the town will be connected to civilisation.

It might be built again, you never know.

Hope, after all, is the beacon of life!