PAMBAN PALAM or Indira Gandhi bridge

Pamban bridge

There were   certain things  in our childhood days that  evoked  a mysterious curiosity upon us.It could be the warbling of an unknown bird,the bulging eyes of a frog ,the paintings of  strange expressions or strange landscapes that we came across.But here its not the item that listed above   evoked curiosity but  a flask shaped Palmyra leaf strip woven case that hung from the wooden ceiling of northern room  or Vadakkara.

Grandma reported that the case contained a bottle in which Rameswara theertha  Holy water  is stored  so that she may take the theertham or divine water close her eyes  for the last time,   here it is in the  same room that one is born and  in

the same room one is expected to die.whenever  my curiosity   triggered, I asked her a lot of questions… but the thing that  kept  my eyes wide open was the story of the Pamban brige  that lifted open allowing ships to take service.. the engineering marvel that  evoked awe.

When southern railway was formed amalgamating Carnatic railway company and southern Indian railway.a proposal  was made to extend the railway line from Madurai to  Mandapam in 1899.The most important reason for the

construction of Pamban bridge was to enlarge the trade activities and acquire the profit from it.the 2345 meter long railway bridge was constructed by 1914.the well known German engineer Scherezer  designed the central part

of the bridge that opens up and allow s ferry movement.The railway bridge  survived a cyclone that shattered Dhanushkodi town.The railway bridge was the only link between Rameswaram island until 1988.A road bridge running parallel to it was built. Later railway closed down the railway  as a part of the guage conversion plans.Later it was converted to broad guage and was opened for trains in 2007.

Nobody can forget te train journey over the pamban bridge connecting theRameswaram island  to the main land.it is a railway sea bridge with 143 piers and 2345 mts length.

The bridge turns 100 by 2014 and celebrations will be held on twenty fourth of February.A postal stamp will be released and a photo exhibition is proposed to conduct.

The Structural Engineering Division of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) has begun assessing the strength of the Pamban rail bridge, which celebrates its centenary on February 24 next year. n Friday,