Rameshwaram, as a temple town and one of the post important
pilgrim centres in India, is pretty famous for its temples and religious sites.
From the world famous Ramanathaswamy Temple to lesser known temples like
Gandamadana, it has many attraction for Hindu pilgrims. The Five faced Hanuman
Temple (or Panchmukhi Hanuman Temple) is another relatively lesser known but a
unique destination for Hindu pilgrims, specially Hanuman bhakts.
Panchamukhi Hanuman
The Five Faced Hanuman Temple is located at a distance of
about 2 km from Rameshwaram Temple and has an idol of Hanuman fully covered in
Senthooram (vermillion. In 1964 after the cyclone of Danushkodi, idols of Lord
Rama and Goddess Sita were brought from Dhanushkodi and placed in this temple.
It is believed that the floating stone used for making the bridge across the
sea to Lanka (Sri Lanka) is the same stone that is kept outside this temple
floating in a water tank. These stones are oval in shape and have coarse
texture with small craters.
The origin of the Five Faced (or panchmukhi) Hanuman can be
traced to a story in Ramanayana. When Lord Rama was engaged in the final war
with Ravana, Ravana asked Ahiravana, the king of Patala, to take Rama and
Lakshmana to Patala Lok. Ahiravana, in the disguise of Vibhishana, the noble
brother of Ravana, took Rama and Lakshmana to Patala to kill them.
When Hanuman got to know about this he entered Patala in
search of Rama and his brother. There he discovered that the life of Ahiravana
was hidden in five lamps which were placed in different directions and
Ahiravana could only be killed by extinguishing these five lamps at the same
time. To accomplish this, Hanuman took the form of Panchamukha Hanuman and blew
out the five lamps in five directions. Along with Hanuman, the other four faces
are Hayagriva, Narasimha, Garuda and Varaha.
It is this Five Faced Hanuman idol that is kept in the
temple at Rameshwaram.
The five faces of Hanuman also signify the five senses
(panch indriyas) over which Hanuman has mastery, as he was a great yogi. They
also represent the five elements (wind, water, earth, fire and sky) which are
the basis of creation.
Refer the Article Panchamukha Hanuman for more details.
Jai Sri Ram
