Dhanushkodi

Dhanushkodi is on the tip of Pamban island, separated from the mainland by the Palk Strait.

File:Dhanushkodi Old Railway Station 02.jpg.]]

The National Highway completed the 9.5-km-long road – 5 km from Mukuntharayar Chathiram to Dhanushkodi and 4.5 km from Dhanushkodi to Arichal Munai.{{cite news | last = Scott| first = D. J. Walter| title = Modi to inaugurate Dhanushkodi road | newspaper = The Hindu | location = Ramanathapuram | publisher = Kasturi & Sons | date = 26 July 2017 | url = https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/modi-to-inaugurate-dhanushkodi-road/article19360792.ece | access-date = 1 November 2021}} Until 2016, Dhanushkodi was reachable either on foot along the seashore or in jeeps.{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2010/06/28/stories/2010062858210300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703063507/http://www.hindu.com/2010/06/28/stories/2010062858210300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 July 2010|title=Dhanushkodi still attracts tourists|date=28 June 2010|newspaper=The Hindu}} In 2016, a road was completed from the village of Mukundarayar Chathiram.{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/road-to-dhanushkodi-may-be-opened-by-monthend/article8190642.ece|date=4 February 2016|title=Road to Dhanushkodi may be opened by month-end|author=D.J. Walter Scot|newspaper=The Hindu}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/article409395.ece|title=Four-lane road planned for Dhanushkodi|newspaper=The Hindu}}

A metre gauge railway line connected Mandapam on mainland India to Dhanushkodi.{{cite book| title=Shree Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya Samaj: A brief History & Glory of our fore-fathers| first=Raja Pawan| last=Jethwa| year=2007| chapter=Section II: Mileage wise available Details of Railway lines laid| pages=63–70}} Boat mail express ran from Chennai Egmore to Dhanushkodi till 1964 when the metre-gauge branch line from Pamban to Dhanushkodi was destroyed during the 1964 Dhanushkodi cyclone.{{cite news|title='Boat Mail' to run on main line from August 1|first=Syed Muthahar|last=Saqaf|date=11 June 2010 |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/article452738.ece|newspaper=The Hindu}}{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/17/stories/2006071705960300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027141816/http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/17/stories/2006071705960300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 October 2007|title=Their sentiment to metre gauge train is unfathomable|newspaper=The Hindu|date=17 July 2006|first=C|last=Jaishankar}} In 2003, Southern Railway sent a project report to Ministry of Railways for re-laying a {{convert|16|km}} railway line to Dhanushkodi from Rameswaram. The planning commission looked into the possibility of a new railway line between Dhanushkodi and Rameswaram in 2010.{{cite news |title=Railway budget may put Dhanushkodi back on track |author=C. Jaishankar |date=26 February 2010 |url=http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/26/stories/2010022651500300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302203544/http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/26/stories/2010022651500300.htm|url-status=dead|newspaper=The Hindu |archive-date=2 March 2010}}{{cite news |title=Poll-bound TN, Kerala will get more trains |newspaper=The Asian Age |date=26 February 2011 |url=http://archive.asianage.com/india/poll-bound-tn-kerala-will-get-more-trains-754}}

{{main article|1964 Rameswaram cyclone}}

The area around Rameswaram is prone to high-intensity geomorphic activity. A scientific study conducted by the Geological Survey of India indicated that the southern part of Dhanushkodi facing the Gulf of Mannar sank by almost {{convert|5|m}} in 1948 and 1949, due to vertical tectonic movement of land parallel to the coastline. As a result of this, a patch of land of about {{convert|0.5|km|}} in width, stretching {{convert|7|km}} from north to south, was submerged under the sea.{{cite journal|author1=G. G. Vaz|author2=M. Hariprasad|author3=B. R. Rao|author4=V. Subba Rao|date=10 March 2007|title=Subsidence of southern part of erstwhile Dhanushkodi township, Tamil Nadu|journal=Current Science|volume=92|pages=671–672}}

On 17 December 1964, a tropical depression formed at 5°N 93°E in the South Andaman Sea. On 19 December, it intensified into a cyclonic storm. After 21 December 1964, it moved westwards, almost in a straight line, at the rate of {{convert|400|to|550|km}} per day. On 22 December, it crossed Vavuniya in Sri Lanka and made landfall at Dhanushkodi on the night of 22–23 December 1964. Estimated wind velocity was {{convert|280|km/h}} and tidal waves were {{convert|7|m}} high.{{cite journal|author1=Shashi M Kulshreshta|author2=Madan G Gupta|date=June 1966|title=Satellite Study of the Rameswaram Cyclonic Storm of 20–23 December 1964|journal=Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology|volume=5|issue=3|pages=373–376|doi=10.1175/1520-0450(1966)005<0373:ssotrc>2.0.co;2|bibcode=1966JApMe...5..373K |issn=0021-8952|doi-access=free}}

An estimated 1,800 people died in the cyclonic storm on 22 December including 115 passengers on board the Pamban-Dhanushkodi passenger train.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G8ZSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=E30DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4392,2097652|title=India Train, 150 Aboard, Swept Away By Big Wave|date=26 December 1964|newspaper=St. Petersburg Times|agency=UPI|page=3A}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XYgtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dpwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4836,6829745|title=1,800 Asians Feared Dead After Cyclone and Tidal Wave|date=28 December 1964|newspaper=Reading Eagle|agency=UPI|page=4}}{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-xkTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rZYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6560,4311447&hl=en|title=Ships, Planes Search for Survivors|date=28 December 1964|newspaper=The Age|agency=A.A.P.-Reuters|page=4}}[https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.19565 Railway Accident Report], Government of India, 1967 The entire town was marooned and the Government of Madras declared Dhanushkodi as a ghost town, unfit for living.{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/last-station-master-of-danushkodi-passes-away/article4745452.ece|title=Eye-witness account of the cyclone|newspaper=The Hindu}}

In December 2004, around the 40th anniversary of the deadly cyclone, the sea around Dhanushkodi receded about {{convert|500|m}} from the coastline, briefly exposing the submerged part of the town before massive tsunami waves struck the coast.{{cite news|url=http://www.zeenews.com/news627420.html|title=Submerged temple tower visible in Dhanushkodi|work=Zee news}}{{cite journal|author=G. G. Vaz|author2=M. Hariprasad|author3=B. R. Rao|author4=V. Subba Rao|name-list-style=amp|date=March 2007|title=Subsidence of southern part of erstwhile Dhanushkodi township, Tamil Nadu – evidences from bathymetry, side scan and underwater videography|url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/mar102007/671.pdf|journal=Current Science|type=PDF|volume=92|issue=5|pages=671–675|access-date=8 July 2012|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051846/http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/mar102007/671.pdf|url-status=dead}}

File:Dhan6.jpg|Mini Trucks take people to Land's End, Dhanushkodi, through deep sand and shallows, using planks put under wheels by local kids as the vehicle struggles.

File:Dhan5.jpg|The sea from Land's End, Dhanushkodi. Sri Lanka is about 15 miles from here.

File:Kothandaramaswamy Temple.jpg|Front view of the Kothandaramaswamy Temple at Dhanushkodi

File:Dhan18.jpg|The Gulf of Mannar Marine Sanctuary is host to many marine animals and birds. Birds sighted here include flamingoes, curlew, gulls, terns, sandpipers, plovers, reef herons and egrets.

File:Dhan14.jpg|A church in Dhanushkodi.

• Dhanushkodi Tirtham
• Palk Strait bridge
• Kothandaramaswamy Temple
• Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park
• List of lost lands

{{reflist|2}}

{{Commons category|Dhanushkodi}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20041014051457/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/03/06/stories/2004030600010100.htm Travel article on Dhanushkodi]

Category:Places in the Ramayana

Category:Gulf of Mannar

Category:India–Sri Lanka border crossings

Category:Ghost towns in India

Category:Populated places disestablished in 1964

Category:1964 disestablishments in India