The greatest mystery is the sweetness of the nature of the love of the Lord towards the devotee and the devotee’s love towards the Lord. Lord Caitanya from His very appearance taught us how we can please Him by purifying our hearts by chanting of the holy names. He made His auspicious appearance on a lunar eclipse, which is considered inauspicious and people in order to remove that inauspiciousness were chanting the holy names of the Lord. As a baby He was very charming and conquered everyone by His love, beauty and charm. He was a little infant and the only thing that would stop Him crying was when all the family members came together and chanted the holy names.

He began kirtans at the house of Srivas Pandita. One day He said “we are chanting in the day but wasting so many hours at night by sleeping. So for one year let us have kirtans at night also.” He then taught them how to do it. He gave them the verse, which is the key to constantly chanting the holy names.

trnad api sunicena taror iva sahisnuna
arnanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

To be more humble than a blade of grass, to be more tolerant than a tree, offer all respect expecting none in return. Those kirtans at Srivas Angan were the manifestation of Vrindavana Dhama. The devotees and Lord Caitanya were exchanging pure relationships benediction of chanting of the holy names.

In this age of Kali specially, the way to awaken that love is by learning the proper science of chanting the holy names of the Lord. This is why sincere chanting is so pleasing to Krishna because if it’s done with proper service attitude, with this proper intention of humility and devotion it awakens that love and Krishna is hungry for that love.

[References: His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj South India Yatra 2010 and Sri Sri Radha-Gopinatha Temple – ISKCON Chowpatty, Mumbai]

Transportation to Rameshwaram :- »

Air link : Nearest airport is in Madurai (167 kms).

» Rail link : Rameshwaram is connected by rail directly to all the main places in India.

» Road link : Rameshwaram is connected by regular bus services with many cities and towns within Tamilnadu.

Local transportation: While traveling within the township, one may hire jeeps, auto rickshaws and even cycle rickshaw.

Darbhasayana or Thirupullani: Lord Caitanya visited the ‘darbhasayana’. It is the place of Saranagati. Vibhisana surrendered to Lord Ramchandra at this place. It was here that Vibhisana gave Rama the idea that He should approach the ocean god Samudradeva and ask him the means to cross the ocean. Lord Rama sat on ‘darbha’ or kusha grass and meditated for three days but Samudradeva did not come. This enraged Him and He angrily glanced on the ocean. By the mere glance of the Lord, the ocean became agitated. Samudradeva came out with folded hands and surrendered to Lord Rama. Even the Lord of the ocean surrendered to Lord Rama at this place. Dhanushtirtha or Dhanushkodi: Then Lord Caitanya came to Dhanushtirtha which is a very holy place. It is 12km walk from the Rameshwaram temple. After Ravana was killed and Vibhisana was coronated as the king, he approached Lord Rama and requested Him that this beautiful bridge which we have built gives easy access to Lanka and makes it easier for the kings to attack Lanka. So please break the bridge. So Lord Rama cut the bridge into three pieces and that time the two oceans, which were separated by the bridge, merged together. Sri Ramacandra called for all the holy waters and tirthas of the entire universe to enter into Dhanushtirtha.

The place was so beautiful that Lord Rama and Sita devi bathed here. Vibhisana comes regularly to take his bath here. Srila Prabhupada says that anyone who bathes at this place will get liberation. Anyone who just says the word ‘Dhanushtirtha,’ while medicating on this place, will get liberation. After bathing at Dhanushtirtha, Lord Caitanya bathed in 22 other tirthas, which are in the temple of Ramanatha, each offering a special benediction. There is one more tirtha called the Agnitirtha. After Agnideva returned Sita to Lord Rama, he asked Lord Rama for a place where he could get purified because he had taken Sita away. So Lord Rama asked him to take his bath in the ocean and that place came to be known as Agnitirtha. It is said that anyone who bathes in this place will develop the quality of chastity.

Kurma Purana
Lord Caitanya then went to the temple of Rameshwaram. While He was in the temple, He was hearing Hari katha with pure hearted Brahmins. During the talk He heard them discussing a section of Kurma Purana describing the story of the chaste lady. In that section the pastime of Ravana kidnapping Sita is described.

Ravana was so egoistic that he felt anything good has to be mine. This is the nature of ego. When it is inflated it cannot tolerate somebody having something that we want. It’s a condition that people spend their whole life trying to achieve, but are so foolish that they do not know that there can be no satisfaction of the heart in that state.

Hiranyakasipu was so powerful, all the demigods and sages were afraid of him and would offer their respects to him. But even though he had so much power, mysticism, wealth he was never happy because he could not control his minds and senses. Hiranyakasipu was anxious as he thought if he cannot control Prahlada then he is his enemy. That is demoniac quality and that nature, is to some extent, present in all conditioned souls. We want things to go our way, we want people to be what we want people to be.

Real love is I accept you for who you are and you accept me for who I am and we appreciate and somehow or other we get through this life with higher principles in the middle, principles that can actually bring real love. When husband or wife or friends or god brothers or god sisters when they accept each other for who they are and instead of you being what I want you to be and I being what you want me to be, we both try to encourage each other to be what Krishna wants us to be. For a higher principle accept the differences and appreciate.

Hiranyakasipu thought if I cannot destroy my son then he will destroy me. He could not control his son and that is a great cause of anxiety in this world. We want people, we want circumstances to come out our way. We want things to be what we want them to be. But there is a problem we are not the controllers, so it’s not going to be that way. And if we expect it, to be our way, we suffer when it is not and if we don’t expect it to be how we want it to be, then we are happy.

Lord Brahma is a great personality but he also realized that when he tries to be a controller he is miserable. So when difficulties come upon us then instead of blaming the circumstances or situations if we are just grateful and thank God for that situation then we can achieve supreme liberation.

So Ravana upon hearing of Sita’s beauty became very lusty. He disguised himself and came before Sita. Sita took shelter of lire and Agnidev put her in custody of Parvati. From fire Maya Sin appeared and Ravana stole her.

According to the Sthala Purana of Tirupati once when Ravana was flying in his airplane he came over a region in Himalayas where he saw a beautiful young lady performing penances. She was extremely beautiful and had matted hairs, her name was Vedavati. Ravana approached her with the intention to enjoy her but Vedavati replied that she has taken a vow that she will only accept Lord Visnu as her husband. Once a pure sage was reciting the Vedas and a girl was born and she came to be known by the name Vedavati.

Upon hearing Vishnu’s name Ravana was enraged, he began to blaspheme Lord Visnu. He attacked her and caught her by the hairs but Vedavati, with her mystic powers, cut off her hairs with her hand. She then proclaimed that since you have touched my body I cannot bear living in this body anymore. I will take my next birth from the earth and in my next birth I will be the cause of the destruction of your dynasty. Then by her yogic powers she burst herself into ashes.

Ravana stole Vedavati in the form of Maya Sita and she had to undergo 10 months of harassment. So Sita devi requested the Lord to accept her as His wife but Rama replied that in His next incarnation He will marry her. In a later incarnation as Venkatesh, Lord married Vedavati who appeared as Padmavati at that time.

Lord Caitanya got this scripture copied and personally came to Madurai and gave it to Ramdas Vipra. When he saw this Kurma Purana he became ecstatic and offered a nice feast to Lord Caitanya.

While on His south India tour, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu stopped in Madurai, there He visited the Sunder, Ishwari and the Meenakshi temples. One day one Brahmin invited Caitanya Mahaprabhu to his home. The Lord accepted his invitation but when He reached his home for lunch, he found that nothing was prepared. So the Lord asked him, “why is there no Prasad.’ With great emotion the Brahmin replied that he was a simple forest dweller and therefore he could not prepare anything on time. He said chat Laxmana has gone to the forest to bring the ingredients so that Sita can cook and he would simply assist her. But today Laxmana has not yet returned. Lord Caitanya was very pleased with his absorption; he was completely absorbed in Ramayana. In fact he was living Ramayana.

Lord is within the heart, if you are just pretending, if something is just sentimental, it’s not pleasing to the Lord. But Ramdas Vipra was for real and he was totally absorbed in the mood of pure unalloyed devotion. One should not try to imitate that or pretend to be like that, without the purity of heart and without realization.

The Lord knows every living being’s past, present and future. Nothing artificial in our devotion will give real pleasure to the Paramatma. We have to be honest and sincere. Therefore devotees don’t try to make themselves great. If you are great then you are grateful. The more honest and sincere we are, we grow in our devotion.

vedahath samatitani vartamdnani carjuna
bhavisydni ca bhutaini math tu veda na kaisana

(Bhagavad-Gita chapter 7 verse 26)

Lord Caitanya was very happy with the genuine devotion of the Brahmin. Every day his meditation was to wait for Laxmana to bring the vegetables from the forest so that he can assist Sita in the cooking. Ramdas Vipra arranged everything by 3pm and Lord Caitanya happily accepted the offerings because it was offered with devotion. Lord Caitanya saw that the Brahmin was very sad and was fasting. So Lord asked him why he was lasting. The Brahmin replied, “How can I live when Sita Devi has been touched by Ravana.”

Lord Caitanya told that Brahmin that do not be unhappy. Sita is the supreme goddess of fortune and among the all the chaste women, she is the topmost. She is the eternal consort of Ramacandra. Her body is purely spiritual and therefore it cannot be seen or touched by anything material. Ravana was a materialistic person full of egoism, lust, envy and anger. He cannot see the spiritual body of Sita nor could he possibly touch her. It was a maya Sita, an illusory Sita that was taken by Ravana to Ashoka vana. That which is pure spiritual substance cannot be perceived by gross material senses.

We can only see the Supreme lord or His consort when our eyes are anointed with the salve of love. When we engage in the service of Hrishikesh, the Lord of the senses, our senses become purified, they become spiritualized and then we can see things as they are.

Lord Caitanya requested him to take his lunch and be happy. Ramdas Vipra had faith in the Lord’s words, because he was speaking with such deep and intimate compassion. The Lord stayed overnight and then continued his journey and eventually He came to Rameshwaram.

1) Thiruppullanni – Sri Kalyana Jagannatha Perumal Temple

•This is one of the 108 divya-deçams of the Çri Vaiñëavas.

•This is a historic place and temple in relation to the ancient epic Rämäyana of Lord Räma.

•This is the place where:

a) Vibhisana surrendered to Lord Räma.
b) Samudra Räja (the Ocean God) surrendered to Lord Räma.
c) Lord Rama, along with the monkeys, built the Sethu karai (Sethu Bridge) to go to Laìkä from here.

• The presiding God is Ädi Jagannätha, Goddess is Padmäsini Thäyär. Two of the other sannidhis (altars) are dedicated to deities of Lord Räma, Pattäbhi Rämar and Darba Shayana Rämar.

Thirupulläni Jagannätha temple is among the 108 divya-desams of Sri Vaishnavas. Shri Kalyäna Jagannäthar is the presiding Deity with His consorts Kalyänavalli Thäyär and Padmäsini Thäyär.

Since Vibhisana fell at Sri Rama’s feet for complete Sharanagati (surrender) at this place, it is also known as Sharanagati Kshetram. Also Ocean god and his wife sought Sharanägati at the same place

.

Sri Räma did fasting and penance on grass in Shayana (sleep) pose for seven days, thus the place got its name as Thirupulläni meaning the place where the Lord’s bed was grass. Normally, the Lord appears in Shayana sleep pose only on the serpent bed. However, in this kshetram he is lying -“anai”: on “pull”: grass in Tamil language. And Thiru means Lord. Thus the word Thiru- pull- anai : Thirupulläni.

As per Sri Vaishnavas, King Dasharatha performed putra-kämesthi-yajna here in front of Lord Ädi Jagannätha and thus obtained four sons. These Deities were worshipped by Lord Räma when he came here. It is also said that the Deities gave Lord Räma a Säranga bow by which he could defeat Rävana.

The three altars in the temple are of–

1) Ädi Jagannätha, close by is Thäyär (consort) in the next altar.

2) Darbhäshayana Räma—Lord Räma sleeping on darbha grass.

3) Pattäbhirämam— Lord Räma giving darshana alongwith Sitä Devi and Lakshmana.

Temple timing and Contact Details

The temple is open from 8 am to 12.20 pm in the mornings and from 3.30pm to 8pm in the evenings.

Requesting Samudra dev : On Vibhisana’s advice that He should ask Samudradev’s help in order to cross the ocean to Lanka, Lord Ramacandra came to the shore of the ocean at this very place in Thirupullani and began to meditate upon the god of the sea, Samudra dev. He laid on ‘kusha’ grass in meditation. Lord Ramacandra is the Supreme Absolute truth and He is teaching the most exemplary behavior which is to honor people who have high responsibility.

Lord Caitanya said that the following of Vaishnava etiquette is the ornament that makes the devotee beautiful in the eyes of Lord Sri Krishna. Unless the Lord reveals it we would never understand what Vaishnava etiquette is. Lord Caitanya, while embarking on His South India tour, took blessing and permission of all the Vaishnavas. In every moment of Sri Caitanya Caritamrta and Sri Caitanya Bhagavat there is this beautiful jewel of Vaishnava etiquette which is based on humility, respect and an eagerness to serve and receive blessings and give blessings.

Lord Ramacandra laid on the ‘kusha’ grass meditating and praying in His heart for Samudra dev, the king of the sea to come before Him to resolve this very serious dilemma. A huge army had assembled on the shore of the ocean but except Hanuman no one could cross the ocean. Rama prayed while fasting for three days and nights. But Samudra dev didn’t come. He was not following any etiquette. The core reason why someone makes aparadha is due to arrogance or the false ego.

Lord Rama expressed His emotions as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He turned to Laxmana and said, “This king of ocean is so arrogant. I have been sitting here fasting for three days and three nights and he doesn’t say anything. This is because people who are too much intoxicated by material power and influence don’t take seriously the humble appeals of others. With all humility, politeness and gentleness I have been coming to him. But such a wretched state of consciousness he is in that he is thinking humility is a weakness. He is thinking brute force and harshness is real strength. Arrogant people respect arrogance. But I will devastate his arrogance, on this very day I will dry up the ocean into dry desert.

Lord Rama was enraged. He took His powerful bow and shot one hundred arrows. Within second the sea started to boil. The sea became so agitated and the waves were so huge that even the whales, alligators and sharks were flying in the air and falling back into the ocean.

Rama could not be pacified by Laxmana or the other great sages. Rama invoked the Brahmastra and in fear the sea receded ten miles. At that moment Samudra dev arose from the ocean. He wore beautiful garments and jewels. With all humility he prostrated at the lotus feet of Ramacandra and begged forgiveness. Lord forgave him and gave him shelter.

Rama asked him, “Please tell us how we can cross this ocean.” Samudra dev said that in the monkey army there is Nala, who is the son of Viswakarma, the architect and designer of the demigods. He knows the art of construction and You make him the in charge for building a bridge. Samudra dev assured that no aquatics will disturb the building of the bridge and the stones will float on the waters of the ocean.

Close to Thirupulläni at a distance of 4 kms is Sethu Karai or the shore. 2) Sethu Karai:-

Sethu Karai or Shore is close to Thirupullani at a distance of four km. This is the place from where Lord Ramacandra constructed sethu (bridge) to Lanka with the help of Hanuman, Nala and the monkey army to rescue Sita devi from the clutches of Ravana. At this place there is Temple with the Deity of Hanuman. It is amazing to see that the Deity of Hanuman is directly facing the ocean.

Theerthavari Utsavam at Sethu Karai : Every year Theerthavari Utsavam is held at this place in memory of Lord Rama’s onward march to Lanka that was planned from the Sethu Sea shore and in celebration of his subsequent victory over Ravana. Kalyana Jagannatha Perumal, the Utsava deity and Pattabhisheka Rama of Thirupullani divya desam make a joint once in a year 4 km trip to the Sethu Sea shore. Kalyana Jagannathan and Pattabhisheka Rama make an early start to the day with a 7am alankara to get them ready for the day long procession to the southern sea shore.

Seated on two separate palanquins and driven all the way on bullock carts Jagannatha Perumal and Pattabhisheka Rama go on an one hour procession to the Sethu Sea shore for the Theerthavari Utsavam. At the Hanuman temple on the banks of the Sethu sea shore, special Thirumanjana is performed for both Lord Jagannathan and Pattabhisheka Rama, while Hanuman is honored with a special Abhisheka as an acknowledgement of his efforts in locating Sita and giving Rama the good news. After providing joint darshan on the banks of the Sethu Sea shore for over 3 hours, Kalyana Jagannatha Perumal and Pattabhisheka Rama make their way back to Thirupullani Divya desam in the evening.

Building the sethu (bridge) : Nala was very excited. He called all the leaders of the army and told them what to do. The monkey soldiers began to collect materials for the bridge. They started bringing huge stones, mountain peaks, trunk of trees and started stacking them on the shore. Nala also asked them to collect tons and tons of vines and creepers which would be used to tie the stones together.

According to their particular strength they were bringing entire mountains and under Nala’s direction they began to throw them in the ocean. They had the task of building a bridge 80 miles wide and 800 miles long. On the first day of the construction of the bridge they covered 100 miles and the next day they completed 150 miles. Within 5 days they built a seamless and perfectly symmetrical bridge.

Lord Ramacandra wanted to show the world that if His devotees just put aside their ego for a common cause of serving the Supreme Lord and work together for that cause, there is unlimited divine power that He gives them.

Srila Prabhupada said, “The strength of our society (ISKCON) is our unity.” He quoted, united we stand, divided we fall. He gave the example of how it is easy to break one stick but when they are stacked together they cannot be broken. In the same way on our own, maya will break us but if we are united, united in the service of Lord Sri Krishna, in the service of Guru and Vaishanavas then maya has no power to break us.

One of Srila Prabhupada’s last instruction was, “You can show your love for me by how you cooperate.” It was not only for the purpose of pushing this great movement but it was also out of great compassion for each and every one of us, because we need each other. Yes, whatever differences those monkeys may have had, it did not matter. They had a mission to achieve and it was urgent and they worked together and the Lord empowered them to build the greatest bridge ever made.