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Rameshwaram
 Rameswaram is a town in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on an island separated from the mainland by the Pamban channel and is less than 40 kilometres from the Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka. Together with Kashi, it is considered one of the holiest places in India to Hindus. Hence, it is a bustling pilgrim centre.
Rameshwaram is significant for the Hindus as a pilgrimage as Benaras, and Hindus thinks that a pilgrimage to Varanasi is incomplete without a pilgrimage to Rameswaram. In Rameshwaram Temple, a spiritual Mani Darshan happens in early morning everyday. This "Mani”, according to ved is of sheshnag and is made of a precious stone and is in the form of Holy shivling.
A very important pilgrim centre for the Hindus, Rameshwaram, according to legends, is the place from where Lord Rama, built a bridge across the sea to Lanka to rescue his consort Sita, from her abductor, Ravana. This is also the place where Rama worshipped Shiva to be absolved of the sin of killing Ravana, hence the name of Shiva, which became the name of the town - Rameswara ("lord of Rama"). Both the Vaishnavites and Shaivites visit this pilgrimage centre which is known as the Varanasi of the south. Rameshwaram pilgrimage is a tradition in Tamil Nadu and in entire South India.
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