Tamil Labs 2.0 Profile picture
Nov 20, 2022 27 tweets 15 min read Read on X
Rama leaves Kishkinta to reach Tamilnadu, where he crosses the ocean to reach Lanka.

Based on clues from the epic & local legends, it is possible to track his route.

Come, let us follow along the footsteps of Rama, in modern day Tamilnadu.

With google map links!

A thread!
Some background: Hanuman has discovered the location of Sita in Lanka & flies back to inform this to Rama stationed at Kishkinta.

Kishkinta is modern day Hampi, Karnatala.

Rama leaves with his Vanara army from Kishkinta, plans to reach Lanka to battle Ravana & bring back Sita.
Ram, Lakshman & the Vanara army is said to have avoided cities and crossed through 7 hills to reach the shore.

Based on local legends, the route is :

Hampi -> Sakhyagiri -> Srirangapatna -> Nilgiri (Malayamalai) -> Palakkad Pass -> Trichy -> Kodiyakkarai
Kodiyakkarai was the first spot surveyed by Sri Rama to build a bridge as it was just 48km from Sri Lankan coast.

The hillock he surveyed is called Shri Ramar Paatham, & is an ASI protected monument.

For reasons unknown, this spot was discarded.

Link: goo.gl/maps/mco6cpjnY…
Ram moves south along the coast.

He was disheartened by obstacles preventing him from finding a way to cross the sea.

He receives guidance from a local who asks him to visit Uppur Vinayaga temple:
‘You will recognize the temple by the first rays of the sun falling on the deity'
Ram prays to Vinayaka here who had earlier pardoned Surya's sins for attending Daksha's yagna. The temple is called Veyil Ugantha Vinayagar temple.

Uppur = Lavanapuram

As is customary, Ram propitiates Vinayakar before beginning his campaign.

Link: goo.gl/maps/KQsed75Fd…
Ram moves south to Devipattinam, to Kadal Adaitha Jagannatha Temple. Here, he examines his horoscope & finds that the planets are not favoring his journey.

He prays to the planets by making sand idols. However, each time Rama set the idols for pooja, the sea would wash them away
Finally, the Sudarshana Chakra in the temple recognised its master.

It came whirring at the sea, forcing it to recede so that Ram could consecrate the idols.

This temple is in Devipattinam & is often confused with the temple in Thirupullani.

Link: goo.gl/maps/WHpAeASPK…
The Navagraha temple is a little further away, and can be reached by walking on a jetty, going about a hundred metres into the sea.

During high tides, people often worship in knee-deep waters.

The view of the ocean from here is utterly mesmerizing!
Link:
goo.gl/maps/aM6zhmBXD…
Ram has prayed to Vinayaka at Uppur, who helped him identify the obstacle - unfavorable planetary positions.

He prays to the planets at Devipattinam to remove his impasse.

He is now facing his next obstacle - his army is thirsty as they cannot drink the salty sea water.
Rama walked over to the sea and shot an arrow into the waters.

A stream of fresh water emerged where the arrow struck and all the vanars quenched their thirst.

This site is Villoondi Theertham at Thangachi Madam.

Link: goo.gl/maps/VKxhL4ErP…
Still worried about how he would get his army across, Rama sits alone to contemplate his next steps.

This temple is called Ekantha Ramaswamy Temple.

The current temple is built 50 years ago using stones from the old one, which was hit by a quake.

Map: goo.gl/maps/1JbUkNzfc…
All of Ram's prayers & patience is paying off.

Vibheeshana who was ousted from Lanka has flown here to surrender.

Although Sugreev & Jambavan warn Ram not to trust Rakshashas, Hanuman vouches for Vibeeshana.

Ram has never refused asylum to anyone who had surrendered to him!
This moment, Vibishana Charanagadhi, is acclaimed for the Charama Sloka where Lord Rama vows to protect anyone who seeks succour at His feet.

This happened either at Sethukarai or at Kothanda Ramar Temple, which stands on an island.

Link: goo.gl/maps/YTYmidkLZ…
The only missing piece - where to construct the bridge from?

Vibeeshana advises Ram to pray to the Sea Lord for 3 days sitting on grass.

The Sea Lord finally appears & gives them the idea - to use Nala as the chief engineer & to start the bridge construction from Sethukarai.
This temple Darbhasayanam Ramaar, also known as the Adi Jagannatha Perumal temple at Thirupullani is documented in Valmiki Ramayana.

This Divyadesa is the only temple depicting Sri Ram lying down.

Link: goo.gl/maps/qoU2LTLr2…
They start construction of the bridge from Sethu Karai using floating stones.

This bridge continued to Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram till Talaimannar in Sri Lanka.

Before Kanyakumari, Sethukarai was the considered the southernmost tip of Bharat.

Link: goo.gl/maps/zkqoqXvdU…
After reaching Sri Lanka, Ram & his army win the war to bring back Sita to Bharat.

As a penance, Ram decides worship a linga in Rameshwaram & asks Hanuman to get one from Kashi.

But due to a delay, Sita builds a lingam with sand and they all worship it.

Hanuman is upset.
‘My blessing to you, Hanuman, is that the lingam brought by you will always be worshipped before the one I built,’ consoled Rama.

This is still the custom in Rameshwaram, one of the holiest Char Dham sites, comprising of Badrinath, Puri, Dwarka at four corners of Bharat.
It is considered that no Hindu’s quest for salvation in this world/birth is complete without a pilgrimage to both Varanasi and Rameswaram.

This is one more link between Kashi and TN, as espoused in the #KashiTamilSangamam program.

Link: goo.gl/maps/q4AXKmm5S…
After their victory and crowning Vibheeshana as prince, he requests Ram to destroy the bridge.

This is at Dhanushkodi, which literally means "Bow tipping over"
Every inch of Rameswaram & Dhanushkodi island is connected with Ramayana.

In an age where politicians say "I am from Tamilnadu and I do not know who Rama is", it is essential to educate oneself with the geography of this sacred land.

Jai Shri Ram.
Source:
1. In the footsteps of Rama by Vikrant Pande & Neelesh Kulkarni

amzn.to/3Er95ei
2.shanthiraju.wordpress.com/2020/07/19/ram…

If you liked this thread, please spread the word by RT'ing.

Follow @labstamil for more such content.
3. Also watch the journey from Ayodhya till Lanka in this wonderful heritage travel documentary by Amish Tripathy @authoramish :
discoveryplus.in/show/the-legen…
@krithikasivasw @tweets_tinku @jananisampath @Gopalee67 @MumukshuSavitri kindly RT and amplify this thread on Ramayana trail in Tamilnadu!

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Tamil Labs 2.0

Tamil Labs 2.0 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @labstamil

Dec 11
Today is Bharathiyaar's birthday.

142 years have passed & nobody even comes close to his poetic prowess.

A selfless patriot & a peerless poet, his Dharmic poems rouse nationalism, bhakti & courage in everyone.

Here are 5 places you can visit today to pay your respects! (1/6) Image
Pondicherry folks can pay a visit to this Mahakavi memorial house. Entry free.

He lived here for 10 years from 1908-18 and composed immortal poetry - Kannan Paatu and Kuyil Paatu here.

In 2022, only 500 people per month (~ 16 a day) visited here🥲

Map: maps.app.goo.gl/Y4ybJhKC2mEvdD…Image
Image
Chennaites can visit Mahakavi's memorial house in Triplicane.

He spent the latter portion of his life here. The house he lived is now a museum displaying original manuscripts.

Touching a pillar that Bharathi touched would make patriots of us all.
Map: maps.app.goo.gl/MNnE4V8pnX2WXi…Image
Image
Read 8 tweets
Nov 4
You must have heard the word 'பன்னாடை' (Pannaadai) as a common insult.

This word is mentioned in 12th century Tamil grammar work 'Nannool' to illustrate the nature of a bad student.

The set of examples for top, mid & bottom tier of students has a life lesson for us all (1/6) Image
Image
Bhavanandhi Munivar, writer of Nanool classifies students into 3 tiers.

The top tier students are like swan and cow.
The mid tier students are like mud and parrot.
The bottom tier students are like broken pot, goat, buffalo and Pannaadai.

What do these examples mean? Image
Mythical swans can separate out the water from milk - it has the ability to discern useful things even out of an adulterated product.

Good students can filter out what's unnecessary.

Cows eat fast but chew slowly. A good student must get a quick download of lessons when learning, but recall it at leisure, and absorb the lessons well.Image
Image
Read 7 tweets
Nov 1
Shouldn't an army Major be remembered for his bravery rather than his caste?

Then, why are some RW handles being "casteist" in demanding an accurate portrayal of Major Mukund's roots in his excellently crafted biopic Amaran?

A thread that offers nuance on biopics (1/10) Image
First off, members of our forces - be it Indian Army, or Navy, or Air Force, these brave warriors cannot be boxed to the confines of caste, creed or religion.

They are unanimously respected for what they do - their selfless service to the nation. Not for who they're born to.
Then why are some RW handles hellbent on showing the real identity of Mukund Varadarajan - a TamBrahm?

If you're irked by it, consider this - how would Tamils have reacted if he was depicted as Major Mukund Menon - from Kochi?

Identity distortion in biopic films is wrong. Image
Read 11 tweets
Oct 20
How should Nandhan's plot have been, for Drav media to have celebrated it?

A hypothetical plot:
First of all, the film must've been titled Kamsan instead of Nandhan - notice the 'subtle' elements in the poster

(1/8) Image
First off, start the film by thanking God Almighty with such an image.

Everybody knows who this ONLY ONE God Almighty is, but still, make things explicit to be double sure. Image
Kamsan is an innocent hardworking atheist who works under Koppulingam's family.

Koppu is a naive politician but has a shrewd assistant named Parthasarathy - who keeps praising him, and instilling evil ideas in him.

When the Panchayat is announced as Reserved, he suggests Kamsan's name to Koppulingam as he'd be loyal.Image
Read 9 tweets
Oct 20
Media paints a rosy picture of "progressive" TN that doesn't even use comm based surnames.

But what's its use if ppl constantly carry c@ste in their mind?

Nandan film exposes this well, but "activists" don't support it, cuz it doesn't toe the D line at all.

An analysis (1/12) Image
Koozhpaanai - an innocent hardworking man from the downtrodden comm, is happy to serve Koppulingam's family.

Koppulingam, who has won 2 Panchayat President elections without competition, is shocked to know his village is now reserved.

He wants a "dummy" to fill his chair. Image
In the previous election, Koozhpaanai prayed to his guardian deity Nondisamy to ensure that his master Koppulingam wins without competition.

This is the norm in the village - the villagers internally decide who's their President, and only they are nominated - to win unopposed. Image
Image
Read 19 tweets
Oct 19
Boat - a 1940s Dravidian propaganda stage play, masquerading as a Tamil feature film.

A thread that reviews this film with a clear agenda (1/9) Image
On Oct 11, 1943, Japanese warplanes bombed the Madras presidency in a nighttime raid.

Fearing another attack, 9 random people get on a boat to secure themselves in mid ocean, with one univited British guest who joins them later, with a gun.

'Did they all survive?' is the plot
The 9 characters stuck on a boat are carefully chosen to represent a Mini-India.

The fisherman & his grandma help onboard a pregnant Telugu woman+ her sick son, a Sait, a regular M, a regular H, and the usual villains of Tamil cinema - a c@steist TB mama and her daughter. Image
Read 18 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(