Economy
Being a pilgrimage town, the majority of the population is involved in tourism related industry consisting of trade and services. Service sector increased from 70% in 1971 to 98.78% in 2001, while the agricultural sector reduced from 23% in 1971 to 0.13% in 2001. Apart from sweets offered to the deity and devotional articles like rosaries of Tulsi beads, toys and pictures of deities, other allied items are sold and are concentrated on North Car Street, Melarathaveethi, South Car Street, Keelarathaveethi and Sannathi Street. Rameswaram is an industrially backward town – there has been no demarcation for industrial land due to the pilgrim sanctity and ecological fragile geography. Being an island town, the traditional occupation was fishing, but due to poor returns and also due to troubles from Sri Lankan border forces, the people in fishing community have gradually shifted to other professions. Banks such as State Bank of India, Indian Bank and RDCC Bank have their branches in Rameswaram.
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)