Today is the World Monuments Day and I couldn't resist the temptation of sharing some scientific and some mythological facts behind one of the greatest engineering marvels of the ancient origin, the Ram Setu or the Adam's Bridge.
As per the Hindu epic Ramayan, a celestial bridge was built between Indian subcontinent and Lanka so that Lord Rama, the Avtar of Lord Vishnu and the prince of Ayodhya could attack and defeat Ravan , the Asur king of Lanka who had abducted Sita, the wife of Rama.
The bridge is said to have been built by two monkeys called Nala and Neel who possessed the capacity of making the stones float on water. The Ocean God himself drew the attention of Lord Ram towards this fact when he wanted to dry the water using his arrow.
Ram Setu was said to be built in 5 days by 10 million monkeys. It is made of chain of limestone shoals 30 kms long and 3 kms wide. It starts from Dhanushkoti of Panambam Island of India and ends at Sri Lanka's Mannar Island. Places which are mentioned in Ramayan exactly match the current location of the bridge. The temple records of Lanka mention that it was walkable till the 15th century. This structure can also be seen from Rameshwaram, the place where Lord Ram prayed to Lord Shiva before constructing the bridge.
Besides the mythological aspect there is also a scientific aspect to the Ram Setu. It might have been made by shells with silica trapped within them which would make them very light and floatable. Another explanation can be of pumic stone that floats on water. But these theories cannot be accepted as there is no volcano in this area . A theory also mentions that it is a coral reef but scientifically cannot be accepted as corals occur only on hard surface and don't float . Some floating stones have also been found in this area.
NASA says that this is a naturally occurring structure but cannot be accepted. Whatever the case, Ram Setu seems to have proven the story of Lord Ram as not just mythology.
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