The Ramanathaswamy Temple, located on the Ramaswaram Island, Tamil Nadu, is one of twelve Jyotirlinga temple ( pillar of light to the sky) According to the Ramayana, Rama prays to Shiva to forgive him of the sin committed during the war against the demon king, Ravana in Sri Lanka. Rama wanted to have a large lingam to worship Shiva and directed Hanuman, the leader of the army, to bring a lingam from the Himalayas. Hanuman was delayed in bringing the lingam, so Sita (wife of Rama) built a small lingam out of sand on the seashore, which is believed to be the lingam in the sanctum. There are now two lingam in the temple, one brought by Hanuman and the other created by Sita.
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