Dhanushkodi (2009-2013)
Something about Dhanushkodi really stuck with me when I first visited it many years ago. I knew nothing about the place but ended up there one very early morning with a group of filmmaker friends as part of a brief visit to Rameshwaram Island (Tamil Nadu). Its stunning physical beauty with the Bay of Bengal on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other and this sliver of land stretching for kilometers in between was obvious. But there was something more about this place that made me go back there many times.
From 2009-2013 I made several visits to photograph Dhanushkodi to both figure out what about the place resonates so much with me and to also look at the different narratives surrounding it. Dhanushkodi’s constantly changing physical landscape and its proximity to Sri Lanka have shaped many of these narratives. It is the site of the Ram Sethu in the story of Ramayana. It was once a thriving border town that was completely destroyed overnight in 1964 in a massive storm and all that remain now are ruins scattered in the sands. During the conflict years in Sri Lanka Dhanushkodi was the landing zone for countless Sri Lankan Tamil refugees fleeing the violence. The small fishing community that lives here today has a difficult and fragile existence. Dhanushkodi also attracts thousands of visitors during the day in the form of pilgrims seeking signs of Ram, and more secular tourists attracted to its isolated, barren landscape.
Was shown in the print exhibition at the Delhi Photo Festival 2013 , at Art Chennai 2014 and in Pondy Art 2014.
