Physico-chemical Characteristics of the Water of Selected Theerthams of Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu

Rameswaram is one of the important pilgrim and tourist places in India. Ramanathaswamy temple is located in Rameswaram island. This temple attracts lakhs and lakhs of devotees and tourists including foreigners every year. The devotees and tourists come to this temple, take bath on the holy water of different theerthams. The physico chemical characters of many theerthams of the temple were analyzed. The physical parameters such as, pH, Temperature and electrical conductivity values of all the selected theerthams were recorded within the permissible limit. Dissolved oxygen of the selected theertham water have less than desirable level. Among the 10 theerthams, Agni theertham showed very low level of dissolved oxygen. Free carbon dioxide is absent in Nala and Agni theerthams. High values of carbondioxide present in Savithri, Gayathri and Saraswathi theerthams. Chloride and salinity values are high in all the selected theerthams except Sethumadhava theertham. Bicarbonate alkalinity is found to be high in Savithri, Gayathri and Saraswathi theerthams. Carbonate alkalinity is absent in all theerthams except Nala and Agni theertham. The total hardness of all theerthams is high, exceeds the permissible limit of WHO. Calcium hardness is found to be high in Sanku and Nala theerthams.