Dhanushkodi is an abandoned town at the south-eastern tip of Pamban Island of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is south-east of Pamban and is about 24 kilometres (15 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.
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👉 Dhanushkodi in the context of Ramanathapuram district
Ramanathapuram district, also known as Ramnad district, is one of the 38 administrative districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The old Ramanathapuram District consists of present-day Virudhunagar and Sivagangai districts, it touches the Western Ghats and bordered with the state of Kerala and east by Bay of Bengal. It was the largest district on that time. The town of Ramanathapuram is the district headquarters. Ramanthapuram District has an area of 4,123 km. It is bounded on the north by Sivaganga District, on the northeast by Pudukkottai District, on the east by the Palk Strait, on the south by the Gulf of Mannar, on the west by Thoothukudi District, and on the northwest by Virudhunagar District. The district contains the Pamban Bridge, an east–west chain of low islands and shallow reefs that extend between India and the island nation of Sri Lanka, and separate the Palk Strait from the Gulf of Mannar. The Palk Strait is navigable only by shallow-draft vessels. As of 2011, Ramanathapuram district had a population of 1,353,445 with a sex-ratio of 983 females for every 1,000 males. The district is home to the pilgrimage centre of Rameswaram and tourist spot Dhanushkodi, an abandoned town.
In this Dossier
Dhanushkodi in the context of Ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it (usually industrial or agricultural) has failed or ended for any reason (e.g. a host ore deposit exhausted by mining). The town may have also declined because of natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, prolonged droughts, extreme heat or extreme cold, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, pollution, or nuclear and radiation-related accidents and incidents. The term can sometimes refer to cities, towns, and neighborhoods that, though still populated, are significantly less so than in past years; for example, those affected by high levels of unemployment and dereliction.
Some ghost towns, especially those that preserve period-specific architecture, have become tourist attractions. Some examples are Bannack, Montana and Oatman, Arizona in the United States; Barkerville, British Columbia in Canada; Craco and Pompeii in Italy; Aghdam in Azerbaijan; Kolmanskop in Namibia; Pripyat and Chernobyl in Ukraine; Dhanushkodi in India; Fordlândia in Brazil and Villa Epecuén in Argentina.
Dhanushkodi in the context of Palk Bay
Palk Bay is a semi-enclosed shallow water body between the southeast coast of India and Sri Lanka, with a water depth maximum of 13 m. Palk Bay is located between 8° 50′ and 10° North latitudes and 78° 50′ and 80° 30′ East longitudes. The width of the bay ranges from 57 to 107 km and the length is around 150 km. It is one of the major sinks for sediments along with the Gulf of Mannar. Sediments discharged by rivers and transported by the surf currents as littoral drift settle in this sink. Few scientists have tried to understand the wave characteristics within the Palk Bay.
In the southern regions close to Dhanushkodi, wind seas dominate. The north-eastern region of Palk Bay is exposed to the Bay of Bengal through the shallow Palk Strait allowing swells to enter. To the south, Adam's Bridge separates Palk Bay from the Gulf of Mannar. Despite being a very shallow channel, wave effects are transmitted to a small extent through the Adam's Bridge passage. It is interesting to notice that, despite the visible block along the Adam's Bridge, the passage of wind wave and ocean current (to a very small extent) from the Gulf of Mannar to the bay is evident. Meanwhile, even with a wider and broader opening along the north-eastern borders of the bay, facing the Bay of Bengal, the wind wave and ocean current fluxes are less significant here.