Dhanushkodi – Fishermen’s Life Story

Dhanushkodi is an abandoned at the southeastern tip of the Pamban Island of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Flanked by the Indian Ocean on one side and the Bay of Bengal on the other, Dhanushkodi was once a bustling and flourishing town – with houses, schools, church, temple, a post office and a railway station. Thousands of people resided in this tiny town, known as one of the richest fishing belts in the country. Also, it was the only land border between Sri Lanka and India, and served as a major port for several pilgrims and traders. The temple and the church in the town were visited by many devotees, making it a preferred tourist spot. Dhanushkodi was ravaged and abandoned following a cyclonic storm in 1964 Everything in sight was destroyed. All that’s left is the ruins that serve as a reminder of the once-prosperous town.

Mythological Connection

As per mythology, Dhanushkodi was the spot where Lord Rama and his army built Ram Setu, otherwise known as Adam’s Bridge across the sea connecting Rameshwaram Island (India) and Mannar Island (Sri Lanka), to rescue his wife Sita from the clutches of the demon king Ravana. After rescuing his wife, Lord Ram destroyed the bridge with arrows from his bow, on request of Vibhishan, thus the name of the town became ‘Dhanushkodi’, meaning ‘end of bow’.

Fishing At Dhanushkodi

Fishermen from Dhanushkodi set sail in the bay of bengal. Isolated and with no access to civic amenities in an abandoned town, they lend harsh lives. Fishing is the only form of livelihood since the land is untenable.

Fisherfolk hauling in a net filled with fish after a boat returns on Dhanushkodis shores. They form human chains on both ends of a long rope and pull the heavy net onto the sandy beach.

Many men and women of the house do fishing together, everyone from young to old works together. They prefer the early morning time for fishing. The net of filled fish is so heavy so almost 25 to 30 people need to pull the net.

After pulling the fishing net, the rope, which is there, unravels all the knots in it and makes it as before, which is easy for fishing the next day.

After pulling the fishing net, all the fishermen separate the net by placing it on the seaboard and everyone starts separating the thing that has come in the net. Separating fish by category and separate them according to your weight and discard the waste that comes out.

The marine life of DhanushKodi is plentiful and it is home to exotic varieties of fish, crabs and lobsters.

Fishermen’s Life

A small fisher community continues to live in Dhanushkodi long after a killer cyclone emptied out this town near the southernmost tip of India. Amid this desolate landscape, nearly 50 to 60 fishermen’s families continued to live and work in the town. There is no hospital nearby, nor do they have an electricity supply. With little or no connection to the outside world, life is tough for these families.

The island has about 50 fisherfolk along with their families who lived in Thatched Huts, which sums up to a population of about 500 at most. Only a handful of people who are mostly fishermen and women live in the area.

Sweet drinking water is available to the people here. This is gathered by digging out sand with the hands to make a pit until the water level is reached.

Fisherman who has supplemented his earnings from fishing with his makeshift stall on the coast selling seashells and handcrafted knick-knacks to tourists and running the sea food restaurant.

Conclusion: Going there, I felt that how people are living, in spite of many custodians and many important facilities of life, all the members of the house together are living their life by working hard.

Must go and definitely taste the local seafood, It’s amazing.