Dhanushkodi also named as ghost town by then government of Madras, after a massive cyclone ravaged on the night of December 23, 1964, the entire town was submerged under water,a passenger train with 1200 peoples on board was halted on the bridge haled into the sea, many were missing, 1000 of bodies floating on the surface of the sea, surrounded by eagles and vulture for their pound of flesh, Many bodies have been buried without identity & mourning, very few peoples survived climbing the sand dune around the harbour. All kind of communication to outer world was destroyed, loud cries scream out of heart and sadness is mixed the air can be felt and heard. The peoples of dhanuhkodi were doomed. Approximately 2.5KM of town is still under the sea, In December 2004 the seawater subsided 0.5KM exposing the remanent which we see today.
In most videos and picture about dhanushkodi online you will see an elderly man resting on the shades of devastated 300 year Portuguese church, living only with the memories of his family, He has a tattoo of his father name on his chest, mother name on his left hand, and sister name on the right hand, It’s been more than 5 decades, his voice trembles eyes fill with tears while he remembers the scream of his family, Today more than 250 families are living in dhanushkodi in spite of government declared the place as unfit for living, a 86 elderly man who also lost his family in cyclone narrates the life before 1964 destruction, Dhanushkodi was once a beautiful holy city with 500,000 population, Rameswaram was then a small town, dhanushkodi is also holy place of Hindus and it is believed the holy journey ends only after dipping oneself in seawater of dhanushkodi. The Customs office was always busy with import and export trades. 1000 years old Hindu temple, the 300-year-old Portuguese church, thrill of standing on the edge of India, the Bay of Bengal on one side and Indian ocean on the other side and intertwining of both sea at a point where the major tourist attraction, Railway station connecting major cities.Ferry service to Talaimannar, Sri Lanka(25KM) via Dhanushkodi is the easiest and economic route preferred by most tourist, But today we cannot call dhanushkodi even as a village since the government restricts to build homes people's lives in the shack, and travel to Rameswaram for every basic need, Electricity was never restored since 1964 and primarily depends on fishing.
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