Ramanathaswamy Temple

Ramanathaswamy Temple

Ramanathaswamy Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to god Shiva located on Rameshwaram island in the state of Tamil nadu, India. It is also one of the twelve Jyothirlinga temples, where Shiva is worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlingam (English: pillar of light).It is one of the 275 Paadal petra sthalams, where the three of the most revered Nayanars (Saivite saints), Appar Sundarar and Tirugnana Sambandar, have glorified the temple with their songs. The temple was expanded during the 12th century by Pandya Dynasty, and its principal shrines were renovated by Jeyaveera Cinkaiarian and his successor Gunaveera Cinkaiariyan of the Jaffna Kingdom. The temple has the longest corridor among all Hindu temples in India. The temple is located in Rameswaram, an island town in South India, considered a holy pilgrimage site for Shaivites, Vaishnavites  and Smarthas.

According to the Ramayana, Rama, the seventh incarnation of god Vishnu, is believed to have prayed to Shiva here to absolve sin of killing a brahmana, committed during his war against the demon king Ravana in Sri Lanka. Rama wanted to have the largest lingam to worship Shiva. He directed Hanuman, the monkey lieutenant in his army, to bring the lingam from Himalayas. Since it took longer to bring the lingam, Sita, the wife of Rama, built a small lingam out of the sand available in the sea shore, which is believed to be the lingam in the sanctum.