Rameshwaram: A mighty sum for a new temple at Ayodhya but only a pittance for the Ram Temple at Rameshwaram.
Over Rs 330 crore for a multi phased project to expand 3000 sq feet area to five lakh sq feet in Kashi Vishwanath temple in UP but no projects to improve facilities for lakhs of pilgrims visiting the island of Rameshwaram.
Why this discrimination by the BJP government at the centre? The answer is that any amount of appeasement of Hindus in the South would not pay the kind of dividend it would generate in the North.
Then why waste money and time seems to be the policy of the center. The place, which has innumerable stories on the legendary epic Ramayana, is an ample example of neglect.
A place from where Rama led an army to Sri Lanka to free Sita after slaying Ravana is not getting the treatment it should have got.
Rameshwaram has tremendous potential to attract tourists from across the globe.
Those coming to visit different historical places connected with Ramayana have to fend for themselves.
Pilgrims coming by their own vehicles manage to reach the must-see locations but those depending on public transport are fleeced by the autorickshaw drivers or are duped by cheats.
Those visiting the main Ramanathaswamy Temple have to depend on guides who mostly tell stories which are factually incorrect. Though the onus of developing the town falls on the state government, the central government can definitely play its role in an effective manner with its tourism department and similar ministries, a pilgrim told the newsskerala.com.
Facilities like a basic drainage system, pilgrims’ information facility, pilgrims’ security are some of the glaring shortcomings in the legendary town where there are a number of
places called Ramar Theertham, Laxmana Theertham, Jada Theertham, Gandhamadhana Parvatham, Five faced Hanuman temple, Kothandaramaswamy temple, Dhanushkodi among others.
