Dhanushkodi - now a Ghost Town

The after effects of Tsunami at Rameshwaram in the year 1964 has left too many scary memories amongst the public.

This being the continuation of my previous article - a visit to Rameshwaram. After our visit to the home of the late Honorable President Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam our car sped to the place hit by Tsunami which was just Kilometers away, where more than 1500 people where killed by Tsunami. It is called Dhanushkodi in the state of Tamil Nadu.

On the way to Dhanushkodi was a broken Roman Catholic Church. Only the walls and the pulpit where the Church father was preaching remained. The remains are a testimony of the natural disaster. We were told by the guide that at the time of Tsunami a sermon was being delivered by the then Church father. And so the church was occupied by more number of people. When the nightmare hit, not a single person who attended the sermon survived.

Dhanushkodi was one of the most popular commercial town those days and the main land transit area between Dhanushkodi and Srilanka. The town had a railway hospital, postoffice, Higher elementary schools, Medical colleges, Government offices, a railway station etc. But all these were washed away in one night . Now the town is deserted with the remains of this broken buildings, which remains as a land mark. Neither the government took the initiative to reconstruct nor destroy the remains.

The place where Tsunami hit in the year 1964 was called Dhanushkodi. It is in the extreme southern border. The road of India towards the southern side ends here. It is here, we have the The Indian Ocean to the left and Bay of Bengal to the right. It was crowded with tourists. From here we can have glimpse of our neighbouring country Sri Lanka.

There was a common tour guide and security stopping peoples to go near The Indian Ocean. When enquired the tour guide said here, the sea is calm and no waves due to which the soil remains stable, something like quick sand. So any body can get drowned if you move into the sea. On the contrary, where Bay of Bemgal is flowing it was crowded. As it was a rough sea with rough waves, the sand keeps coming to the shore which tightens the soil. The risk of depth is low. So almost all tourist were here clicking photographs with their near and dear ones.

The town after being hit by the Tsunami was never reconstructed. Even today, nobody is allowed to be there after 5.00 p.m. For this special police force is appointed. No network tower is built here. Once you enter this town your phone gets disconnected from the outside world. This is now called as the ghost town. It is such a historic place today.

It is said that after the nightmare, all people fled from this place with whatever they had and never returned back. This land became deserted.

Due to increase in tourists they imposed a small fee from the public while entering the town at the check post of Dhanushkodi.

All images captured from my mobile at Rameshwaram and edited in canva.