Defence
The Ramanathaswamy Temple, famous for its long pillared corridors, is located in:
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Answer: Option B — Tamil Nadu
Detailed Solution
The Ramanathaswamy Temple is located on Rameswaram island (Pamban island), in the Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu.
About the Ramanathaswamy Temple:
- It is dedicated to Lord Shiva, worshipped as "Ramanathaswamy".
- It is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas.
According to the Ramayana, Lord Rama worshipped Shiva here to seek forgiveness for killing Ravana, who was a Brahmin. Hanuman was sent to bring a lingam from Mount Kailash, but as he was delayed, Sita made a lingam of sand ("Ramalingam"), which is worshipped as the main deity. The lingam brought by Hanuman ("Vishwalingam") is also worshipped, and by tradition is worshipped first.
The temple was expanded mainly in the 12th century by the Pandyas, and later by the Sethupathi rulers of Ramanathapuram in the 17th-18th centuries.
It has the longest temple corridor in India (and one of the longest in the world). The outer corridor is about 1,220 metres (about 4,000 feet) long in total, with about 1,200 carved granite pillars.
The temple has 22 "theerthams" (holy wells) inside; pilgrims bathe in water from each of them before worship.
Pilgrims also take a holy dip in the sea at "Agni Theertham" near the temple.
About Rameswaram:
It is located at the southern end of India, across the Pamban channel from the mainland.
The "New Pamban Bridge", India's first vertical-lift sea bridge (about 2.08 km), was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2025, replacing the old Pamban rail bridge (1914), which was India's first sea bridge.
"Dhanushkodi", at the tip of the island, was destroyed by a cyclone in 1964; "Ram Setu" (Adam's Bridge), a chain of limestone shoals, extends from here towards Mannar in Sri Lanka.
Rameswaram is the birthplace of former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam; the "Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam National Memorial" (2017) is at Pei Karumbu.
Other famous temples of Tamil Nadu:
Meenakshi Amman Temple (Madurai), Brihadeeswara Temple (Thanjavur) and Nataraja Temple (Chidambaram).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Kerala has temples such as Padmanabhaswamy and Guruvayur.
- ✗Andhra Pradesh has temples such as Srisailam.
- ✗Karnataka has temples such as Udupi Krishna and Murudeshwar.
Quick tip
Remember: Ramanathaswamy Temple = Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu (Jyotirlinga; longest temple corridor in India; 22 holy wells); New Pamban Bridge = India's first vertical-lift sea bridge (2025); Dhanushkodi = destroyed 1964.
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Monuments & Religious Places — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.