Ramanathaswamy Temple

Location: Rameswaram

State:Tamil Nadu

Ramanathaswamy Temple (Rāmanātasvāmi Kōyil) is a Hindu temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva located on Rameswaram island in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is also one of the twelve Jyotirlinga temples. It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, where Nayanars (Saivite saints), Appar, Sundarar and Tirugnana Sambandar, have glorified the temple with their songs. The temple was expanded during the 12th century by the Pandya Dynasty, and its principal shrine’s sanctum was renovated by Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan and his successor Gunaveera Cinkaiariyan, monarchs of the Jaffna kingdom. The temple has the longest corridor among all Hindu temples in India. It was built by King Muthuramalinga Sethupathiy.The temple, located in Rameswaram, is considered a holy pilgrimage site for Shaivites, Vaishnavites and Smarthas. Mythological accounts depict the presiding deity, the Lingam of Ramanathaswamy (Shiva), as having been established and worshiped by Rama, before he crossed his bridge to the present-day island of Sri Lanka. It is one of the Char Dham pilgrimage sites.

Rama, the seventh avatar of the god Vishnu, prayed to Shiva here to absolve any sins that he might have committed during his war against the demon-king Ravana in Sri Lanka, who was a brahmin. According to the Puranas[which?] (Hindu scriptures), upon the advice of sages, Rama along with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana, installed and worshipped the lingam[citation needed](an iconic symbol of Shiva) here to expiate the sin of Brahmahatya incurred while killing Ravana (who was a Brahmin and son of Vishrava). To worship Shiva, Rama directed his trusted lieutenant Hanuman (avatar of Shiva himself) to bring it from Himalayas. Since it took longer to bring the lingam, Sita built a lingam made of sand from the nearby seashore, which is also believed to be the one in the sanctum of the temple. This account is well supported by the original Ramayana authored by Valmiki where it is written in Yudha Kanda.According to another version, as quoted in Adhyatma Ramayana, Rama installed the lingam before the construction of the bridge to Lanka. This version also finds reference in Valmiki Ramayana, where Sri Rama on his way back to Ayodhya, shows an Island to Sita from the Pushpaka Vimana, saying he received grace of MahaDeva at that place.

Ooty

State: Tamil Nadu

Region: Kongu Nadu

District: Nilgiris District

Ooty officially known as Udhagamandalam , is a town and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located 86 km (53 mi) north west of Coimbatore and is the headquarters of the Nilgiris district. Located in the Nilgiri Hills, it is known as the "Queen of Hill Stations" and is a popular tourist destination.
Originally occupied by the Toda people, the area came under the rule of the East India Company in the 18th century. It later served as the summer capital of the Madras Presidency. The economy is based on hospitality industry serving tourism and agriculture. The town is connected to the plains by the Nilgiri ghat roads and Nilgiri Mountain Railway.

The region was earlier known as Ottakal Mandu, with Otha-Cal meaning "single stone" in Tamil, a reference to a sacred stone revered by the local Toda people and Mandu, a Toda word for "village". This later became Udhagamandalam which was anglicised to Ootacamund by the British, with the first part of the name (Ootaca), a corruption of the local name for the region and the second part (Mand), a shortening of the local Toda word Mandu. The first known written mention of the place is given as Wotokymund in a letter dated to March 1821 written to the Madras Gazette from an unknown correspondent.Ootacamund was later shortened to Ooty. Ooty is in the Nilgiri hills, meaning the "blue mountains", so named due to the Kurunji flower which used to give the slopes a bluish tinge.