The Legend of Ram Setu and Rameshwaram

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In my opinion, it is high time that the general public of India must be given an opportunity to develop an impartial and enlightened view on such an important national issue dealing with the sensitivity of a large number of people belonging to not one but many sects and religions. Ram and Ram Seru have already become explosive political issue because of illogical utterances by some regional and national leaders. As expected, the Govt. of India (GOI) is maintaining utmost secrecy and evasiveness and is taking a luxurious cognizance in this issue and has simply instituted a Commission of Enquiry but its working has already been questioned. A retired senior Geologist was not able to present his viewpoints before the Commission, as projection facilities were not provided to him for his power point presentation. My endeavour shall be to examine the viewpoints expressed at several forums and supplement with facts based on the published material, to help in disseminating a dispassionate view on the issue.

With single-hearted devotion, I began the pious task and sacred duty of writing this book, in the year of grace. 1924 By His Grace, I am able to offer the completed work to Him and His devotees in 1929. It is six years since I devoted and dedicated myself, body and soul, in one life-long consecration to the service of Sri Ramanatha. Were life piled on life, I would not ask for more, than to lay it all at His sacred feet; and hence, this immortality, called a book, I lay humbly at His feet, as an augmentation and continuation of that service, unceasing, perpetual, everlasting!
My service in this work, is two-fold; to serve the Lord and to serve his devotees. I seek to serve the devotees by providing them with accurate information regarding the route to be followed, sights to be seen, baths to be taken; I have tried to set forth in detail all that is necessary to make the pilgrimage pleasant and fruitful. To the more thoughtful reader, I have offered information of a historic and sastraic character and propounded problems for the mind inclined to philosophic speculation. My service to the Lord Himself, is by setting down details of worship, list of vahanams and jewels, to remind myself and my colleagues and subordinates of the duty we have to discharge, correct in every particular, as true servants and devotees of Sri Ramanatha. I humbly trust the book will prove in after times, a valuable record and a useful book of reference. I cannot serve the Lord better than by making his service easy to others and proclaiming His greatness in this little book of mine.
In the writing of this book, my obligations are three-fold:
(1) For the collection and collation of texts for inclusion in this work, I am thankful to the learned Pandit Ranganatha Achariar of Kothandaramaswami Temple.
2) For helping in putting into shape and form, the notes I had patiently accumulated for a long time, I am deeply indebted to Mr. D. A. Narasimham, M.A., L.T., Lecturer in English, Government College, Kumbakonam.
(3) For various improvements, I am highly grateful to Mr. T. B. Krishnaswami Mudaliar, M.A., B.L., District Educational Officer, Ramnad.
Fourthly and finally, I owe the early and sumptuous publi- cation of this work to the kind generosity and munificence of the present Sethupathi to whom with his gracious permission this volume is dedicated.
The Setuyatra is fruitless without a sight of the Sethupathi, and my efforts would have been in vain but for his kind patronage.

I have perused with considerable interest The Setu and Rameswaram by Mr. N. Vanamamalai Pillai, Treasurer of the Rameswaram Devasthanam. The book is full of very interesting information about the temple of Rameswaram and the holy Setu and its hereditary guardians-the Sethupatis of Ramnad.
To the devout Hindus there are no holier places than Rameswaram and Setu blessed by the sacred associations with Sri Rama. The never ending streams of pilgrims from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin testify to the long force of Hindu piety. To the ancient and royal family of the Sethupatis of Ramnad has from time immemorial been given the proud privilege of being wardens of the Setu and protectors of the pilgrims that visit the Sacred places cluster round the Setu and Rameswaram.
A book like the present dealing with the well known places. of pilgrimage and the history of the Sethupatis cannot but be useful and interesting. It gives a brief but adequate account of the various places of pilgrimage, with useful information about all that a pilgrim needs to make the visit a success, and an account of the various Sethupatis who have made their mark in history. The piety of the author has made his labours a work of love and deserves the warm thanks of the public while the help afforded by the present enlightened Raja has made the publication of so useful a work possible.
In an age when the bitterness and strife about small things are obscuring the larger issues of life a book like the present will afford restful reading.