Holy Bath (Teertha Snan) at Rameswaram
Most of the visitors to Rameswaram are unaware of the holy baths taken in and around the tanks in the city and all the wells inside the temple. It is not only spiritually uplifting, it is a wonderful experience to take bath in so many places in a sequence. You feel so refreshed. It is surprising to see so many fresh water tanks and wells inside the Rameswaram city which is surrounded by sea on all sides. Unfortunately, several tanks are slowly being lost to human greed and encroachments.
The normal spiritual procedure starts with the bath in Lakshmana Teertham tank. It is located around 2-3 kms from the temple. Lord Rama had wished that any visitor must pay respect to his brother and take bath in the Lakshmana Teertham before they take a dip in the rest of the tanks. Just close by is the Rama Teertham tank.
Then one should take bath in the sea called as the Agni teertham. Then we can enter temple which has 22 wells. A ticket needs to be purchased in the temple and a temple employee will help out pulling water from these wells. Complete list of wells and details are available in the official temple website
http://www.rameswaramtemple.tnhrce.in/inside-theertham-rameswaram.html
It must be mentioned here that the last well is known as Koti Teertham, is a small spring where water comes from somewhere close to the Siva Linga. It is customarily, considered on par with the water of the holy river Ganga (Since it comes from Lord Shiva). There are provisions for changing the dress inside the temple itself after completion of the all the baths.
Once you are done, visit the shrines of Lord Ramanathaswamy(Siva) and Goddess Paravathavarthini (Parvathi). When we come out of the temple, the shrine of Lord Hanuman, covered with Sindoor is noticeable. His feet are said to go deep into the soil, so that they cannot be seen and some water can also be seen flowing out.
There are also several other tanks outside the temple.Each of the these wells/tanks have a legend associated with them. We hope devotees going to Rameswaram go prepared with sufficient time to take all these holy baths at leisure.
Location: Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, India
