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Reverted 2 edits by JUNGAL9992 (talk) to last revision by Historia7262

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{{Short description|Former town in Tamil Nadu, India}}
{{About|a town in Tamil Nadu|the unreleased Malayalam film|Dhanushkodi (film)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Dhanushkodi
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name =
| settlement_type = Former settlement
| image_skyline = Final Dhanush 002.jpg
| image_alt = Dhanushkodi
| image_caption = Aerial view of the locality top end in its former state (now disturbed by an artificial extension of [[National Highway 87 (India)|NH 87]])
| nickname = Ram Setu
| image_map =
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map = India Tamil Nadu#India
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| pushpin_map_alt = Map showing location of Dhanushkodi within Tamil Nadu
| pushpin_map_caption = Location within Tamil Nadu
| coordinates = {{coord|9.152011|79.445851|display=inline,title}}
| coor_pinpoint =
| coordinates_footnotes =
| subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name = India
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[Districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Tamil Nadu]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Ramanathapuram district|Ramanathapuram]]
| established_title =
| established_date =
| extinct_title = Destroyed
| extinct_date = 1964
| founder =
| unit_pref = Metric

| area_footnotes =
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| elevation_m = 0
| population_total = 0
| population_as_of = 2001
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| population_density_km2 = auto
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| area_code_type = [[Communications in India|Telephone code]]
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| timezone = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset = +05:30
}}
'''Dhanushkodi''' is an [[abandoned town]] at the south-eastern tip of [[Pamban Island]] of the state of [[Tamil Nadu]] in [[India]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/dhanushkodi-ram-setu-adams-bridge-rameshwaram-tamil-nadu-travel-india-tourism-lifetr/1/773610.html|title=Did you know? Dhanushkodi is the place where you can see the origin of the Ram Setu!}}</ref> It is south-east of [[Pamban]] and is about {{convert|24|km|mi}} west of [[Talaimannar]] in [[Sri Lanka]]. The town was destroyed during the [[1964 Rameswaram cyclone]] and remains uninhabited in the aftermath. Although devoid of inhabitants, Dhanushkodi remains a tourist attraction due to its historical and mythological relevance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fascinating facts about Dhanushkodi that will leave you awestruck! |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/destinations/fascinating-facts-about-dhanushkodi-that-will-leave-you-awestruck/articleshow/105848663.cms |publisher=Times of India |access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref>

==Geography==
Dhanushkodi is on the tip of Pamban island, separated from the Indian mainland by the [[Palk Strait]].

==Transport==
[[File:Dhanushkodi Old Railway Station 02.jpg|thumb|Remains of [[Dhanushkodi railway station]].]]
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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Until 2016, Dhanushkodi was reachable either on foot along the seashore or in jeeps.<ref>{{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]]}}</ref> In 2016, a road was completed from the village of Mukundarayar Chathiram.<ref>{{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]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/article409395.ece|title=Four-lane road planned for Dhanushkodi|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref>

A [[metre gauge railway]] line connected [[Mandapam]] on mainland India to Dhanushkodi.<ref>{{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}}</ref> [[Boat Mail|Boat mail express]] ran from [[Chennai Egmore railway station|Chennai Egmore]] to Dhanushkodi till 1964 when the metre-gauge branch line from Pamban to Dhanushkodi was destroyed during the [[1964 Dhanushkodi cyclone]].<ref>{{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]]}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

==1964 cyclone==

{{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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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 [[tropical cyclone|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.<ref name="ApplMet1966">{{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}}</ref>

An estimated 1,800 people died in the cyclonic storm on 22 December including 115 passengers on board the Pamban-Dhanushkodi passenger train.<ref>{{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=[[United Press International|UPI]]|page=3A}}</ref><ref>{{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=[[United Press International|UPI]]|page=4}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.19565 Railway Accident Report], Government of India, 1967</ref> The entire town was marooned and the [[Madras state|Government of Madras]] declared Dhanushkodi as a [[ghost town]], unfit for living.<ref>{{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]]}}</ref>

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 [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|tsunami waves]] struck the coast on 26 December 2004.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.zeenews.com/news627420.html|title=Submerged temple tower visible in Dhanushkodi|work=Zee news}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="150">
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 National Park|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.
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Dhanushkodi Tirtham]]
* [[Palk Strait bridge]]
* [[Kothandaramaswamy Temple]]
* [[Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park]]
* [[List of lost lands]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{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]]

Dhanushkodi - Revision history

imported>KylieTastic: Reverted 2 edits by JUNGAL9992 (talk) to last revision by Historia7262