Though Ravana was an evil king, he was also from the priestly caste. It is forbidden to slay a member of this caste and one who does so commits a grievous sin. Rama had committed the sin and had to publicly atone for it. This he decided to do by asking forgiveness from Lord Shiva at Rameshwaram on his way back to Ayodhya. He sent his devotee, the monkey deity, Hanumana to Mount Kailash the abode of Lord Shiva in the Himalayas to get a "lingam" (the statues of Lord Shiva are known as lingams) from Shiva himself. However the journey took longer than expected and Hanumana could not return before the auspicious moment for the worship. So Sita fashioned a lingam out of sand and the prayers were completed. Hanumana was annoyed that his effort was in vain so Rama installed the lingam brought by Hanumana next to the one made by Sita and ordained that henceforth the lingam brought by Hanumana be worshipped first and then the other one. And so it is done till today. Later many sages and Gods who were compelled to slay people of the priestly caste came to Rameshwaram to perform the worship that Rama had done.
There is much more folklore associated with Rameshwaram and the former of the following sites gives a good account of them. The latter site gives a great deal of information on Rameshwaram as it is today.
"http://www.hindubooks.org/temples/tamiln..."
"http://www.shubhyatra.com/htm/tamilnadu/..."
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