Kanyakumari to Rameswaram Taxi

Kanyakumari to Rameswaram Taxi — 300 km from Land's End to the Island Temple

Pilgrims who have stood at Kanyakumari, where three seas meet, very often go on to Rameswaram next: two of the most important sacred sites in the south, linked by about 300 km of road and six hours of driving up the Gulf of Mannar coast.

Which road the driver takes

The quickest line runs north on NH44 through the Aralvaimozhi pass and past Nanguneri toward Tirunelveli, then east to Thoothukudi, where the car joins the coastal highway through Vembar, Sayalkudi and Keelakarai to Ramanathapuram. From Mandapam the road crosses onto the island. The alternative follows the shore from the start, through Uvari and Tiruchendur, and suits anyone who wants darshan at the Murugan temple on the way.

Before you leave Kanyakumari

Most travellers watch the sunrise at the tip, take the ferry to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial and the Thiruvalluvar statue, and visit the Bhagavathy Amman temple before setting out. Starting by late morning still puts you in Rameswaram by evening. The ferry queue can be long in the holiday season, so allow for it if the rock memorial is on your list. We pick up from hotels near the beach, the railway station and the bus stand.

Crossing to the island

Rameswaram sits on Pamban Island, joined to the mainland by a road bridge a little over two kilometres long, running beside the railway bridge whose new vertical-lift span has replaced the old rolling one. On clear days the water below is a striking green-blue, and the driver can stop briefly near the bridge if traffic allows.

At the Ramanathaswamy temple

Pilgrims usually bathe first in the sea at Agni Theertham, then inside the temple at the 22 theerthams, the sacred wells, where attendants pour buckets of water over them. Most change into dry clothes before darshan, so carry a set. Queues are shortest early in the day, and devotees who stay overnight attend the dawn Spatika lingam darshan. Amavasya days, especially Thai and Aadi Amavasya, fill the town with families performing rites for their ancestors.

Worth a stop on the coast road

Uthirakosamangai's Mangalanathar temple, with its emerald Nataraja, is a short inland detour before Ramanathapuram, and Devipattinam, a little north of Ramanathapuram, has the Navabashanam, nine stones in the shallow sea associated with the nine planets. Keelakarai is an old trading port with a long seafaring history. If your route passes Tirunelveli, its halwa is the traditional sweet to buy.

Dhanushkodi and the Kalam memorial

Dhanushkodi, the town destroyed by the 1964 cyclone, lies about 20 km beyond the temple near the island's tip, where a road now runs on to Arichal Munai with sea on both sides. The memorial to former President Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who was born in Rameswaram, is at Pei Karumbu. Both fit easily into the morning after you arrive.

Picking the right car

Six hours along a warm coastal highway is comfortable in either a sedan or an SUV. Families with elders, or anyone on a long southern circuit with several days of luggage, are better served by the extra room of an Innova.