Dhanushkodi is an abandoned town at the south-eastern tip of Pamban Island of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is south-east of Pamban and is about 24 kilometres (15 mi) west of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. The town was destroyed during the 1964 Rameswaram cyclone and remains uninhabited in the aftermath. Although devoid of inhabitants, Dhanushkodi remains a tourist attraction due to its historical and mythological relevance.
The Palk Strait is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna District of the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka. It connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with Palk Bay in the southwest. It is 40 to 85 miles wide and 85 miles long. Several rivers flow into it, including the Vaigai River of Tamil Nadu. The strait is named after Robert Palk, who was a governor of Madras (1755–1763) during the Company Raj period.
Rameswaram is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kilometres from Mannar Island, Sri Lanka. It is in the Gulf of Mannar, at the tip of the Indian peninsula. Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, is connected to mainland India by the Pamban Bridge. Rameswaram is the terminus of the railway line from Chennai and Madurai. Together with Varanasi, it is considered to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus and is part of the Char Dham pilgrimage.
Pamban Bridge is a railway bridge that connects the town of Mandapam in mainland India with Rameswaram on Pamban Island. Opened on 24 February 1914, it was India's first sea bridge, and was the longest sea bridge in India until the opening of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in 2010. The rail bridge is, for the most part, a conventional bridge resting on concrete piers but has a double-leaf bascule section midway, which can be raised to let ships and barges pass through. Until 1988, the Pamban bridge was the only surface transport that connected Tamil Nadu's island of Rameswaram to the mainland India. On 23 December 2022, the bascule of this bridge was damaged due to extreme corrosion and so the sensors gave continuous warning signal which suspended transportation on the bridge permanently. The last train which officially ran on this bridge was Train no. 07695 Secunderabad - Rameswaram Special Express, which had completed its commercial journey the previous day. In February 2023, the Southern Railway announced that the train traffic to Rameshwaram through Pamban bridge had been completely stopped and would be restored through the new Pamban bridge after its completion.
Manamadurai is a Municipality Town in Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Manamadurai falls under Manamadurai Legislative assembly.
Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, is an island located between peninsular India and Sri Lanka, on the Adam's Bridge archipelago. The second largest island in the latter, Pamban Island belongs to India and forms the Rameswaram taluk of the Ramanathapuram district of the state of Tamil Nadu. It is the largest island in Tamil Nadu by area. The principal town in the island is the pilgrimage centre of Rameswaram.
National Highway 49 was a National Highway in southern India under former numbering system.. It traversed coast-to-coast linking Kochi in Kerala with Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu. It crosses the famous Pamban Bridge before crossing into Rameswaram island. The total length runs up to 440 km (270 mi). The 5 km road between Mukundarayar Chathiram and Dhanuskodi was destroyed during the 1963 cyclone and was rebuilt.
The Rameswaram Express, previously known as the Boat Mail or Indo-Ceylon Express, is an express train that connects MANDAPAM with the state capital Chennai via Tambaram, Chengalpet, Melmaruvattur, Viluppuram, Cuddalore port, Chidambaram, Sirkazhi, Mayiladuthurai, Tanjore, Tiruchchirappalli, Pudukkottai, Karaikudi, Sivagangai, Manamadurai and Ramanathapuram. During the 1900s, it was a combined train and steamer ferry service between India and Ceylon. Connecting Chennai and Colombo, the system initially utilised a rail-to-sea operation, but changed to a rail-to-sea-to-rail operation. Passengers could buy a single ticket for the journey. Now, it runs from Chennai Egmore to Rameswaram via Villuppuram, Kumbakonam, Tiruchchirappalli, Pudukkottai, Karaikkudi, Devakottai, Manamadurai, Paramakkudi, Ramanathapuram, Mandapam and Pamban.
Salem Junction railway station is an NSG-3 category ISO 14001 certified junction railway station situated in the city of Salem in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Salem Railway Junction has been rated as the cleanest station among the divisional headquarters railway stations and also the ninth cleanest railway station in the entire country, according to a survey report published in June 2017. It is one of the major transit points in Southern India.
The 1964 Rameswaram cyclone was regarded as one of the most powerful storms to ever strike India on record. The system was first identified as an area of low pressure over the Andaman Sea on December 15. Following interaction with a tropical wave, it began to develop and became a depression by December 18. Increasingly rapid intensification ensued over the following days with the cyclone attaining hurricane-force winds around 5°N the next day. Early on December 23, the storm struck Ceylon near Trincomalee with winds estimated at 240 km/h (150 mph), ranking it as a modern-day super cyclonic storm. Weakening somewhat, the storm soon struck Tamil Nadu. Rapid weakening followed once the cyclone was onshore and it degenerated into a depression on December 24 as it emerged over the Arabian Sea. The system later dissipated on December 26 over open water.
The Manamadurai Junction railway station serves the city of Manamadurai in Tamil Nadu. It belongs to Madurai railway division. It is one of the two major railway junctions within the Sivaganga District; and the other one is Karaikudi Junction which is approximately 60kms north which has four rail branches and a major passenger railhead in the district.
Rameswaram railway station is a railway terminus serving the town of Rameswaram located on the Rameswaram Island in the Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. It belongs to the Madurai railway division and is an important terminal of the Southern Railway zone. The station links the pilgrim town as well as the rest of the island to the mainland via the highly acclaimed Pamban Rail Bridge.
Tiruchirappalli railway division(Tamil:[திருச்சிராப்பள்ளிரயில்கோட்டம்]) is one of the six railway divisions of Southern Railway zone (SR) of India. It has its administrative headquarters located at Tiruchirappalli. It serves most of the districts of delta region and Central Tamil Nadu.
Thanjavur Junction is a junction railway station in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and serves Thanjavur, earlier known as Tanjore.
Karaikkudi Junction is one of the major passenger rail head and major junction located in Sivaganga district and serving the city of Karaikudi and surrounding places.
Madurai railway division is a railway division belonging to the Southern Railways (SR), India. Officially created in 1956, it spans over 1,356 km (843 mi) making it the largest railway division of the Southern Railways. Prior to the formation of the Thiruvananthapuram railway division which was carved out of the division, it was one of the largest railway divisions in the whole of the country. Currently it covers up to 12 districts of Tamil Nadu and 1 in Kerala. Its headquarters is in Madurai.
National Highway 87 is a National Highway in southern India. It crosses the Pamban Bridge before entering into Pamban Island. The total length runs up to 154 km (96 mi). The 5 km road between Mukundarayar Chathiram and Dhanuskodi was destroyed during the 1964 cyclone. Then the Government of India has started construction of the new stretch of road on 2015 and opened to vehicles with some restrictions on Feb'2017 at a cost of ₹ 250 million. At the same time, the road between Madurai and Rameswaram was converted from a two lane road to a four-lane highway. Then Union minister for road transport and shipping Shri.Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone for the Rs 1,387-crore project in Madurai on 17 July 2015. An initial outlay of Rs 927 crore was made {May 2019} and the project has been sanctioned for Rs 1,387 crore. Then the first 75km stretch from Madurai to Paramakudi was proposed to be converted into a proper four-lane road which is a Green Highway, while the remaining 39km stretch from Paramakudi to Ramanathapuram was widened as a two-lane road with paved shoulders. This road includes bypass from Madurai to Manalur which is a newly constructed route skipping the old route(which runs through Puliyankulam and Silaiman), and has bypasses at several places like Thiruppuvanam, Thiruppachethi, Rajagambiram, Paramakudi and Ramanathapuram which would substantially ease traffic congestion in these towns and also saves time for those tourists who are going to Rameswaram. Falling under the Old NH-49, this project is one of the largest completed green corridor in Tamil Nadu by the National Highways Authority of India in the recent times.
The Manamadurai–Rameswaram branch line is a branch railway line in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The line starts at Manamadurai and ends at Rameswaram.
This is the timeline for Southern Railway zone that encompasses over present day Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
The Sealdah–Bangaon line is a 78 km (48 mi) long broad gauge railway line that connects the Sealdah Main and North terminus of Kolkata with Bangaon of North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, India. Once a part of the old Calcutta–Jessore–Khulna line, today it is a busy suburban section of the Kolkata Suburban Railway's Sealdah North section. It is under the jurisdiction of the Sealdah railway division of the Eastern Railway zone of the Indian Railways.
