Rama's Bridge
| NASA satellite photo of Rama's Bridge—oblique, Sri Lanka to the left |
|
| Rama's/Adam's Bridge as seen from the air |
|
 | Map of Rama's/Adam's Bridge and environs |
|
Rama's Bridge, also called
Adam's bridge or
Nala's Bridge is a chain of
limestone shoals, between the islands of Mannar, near northwestern
Sri Lanka, and Rameswaram, off the southeastern coast of
India. The bridge is 30 miles (48
km) long and separates the
Gulf of Mannar (southwest) from the
Palk Strait (northeast). Some of the sandbanks are dry and the sea in the area is very shallow, being only 3 ft to 30 ft (1
m to 10 m) deep. This seriously hinders navigation. It was reportedly passable on foot as late as the
15th century until storms deepened the channel. A
ferry links the island and port of
Rameswaram in India with
Talaimannar in Sri Lanka; the
Pamban Bridge links Rameswaram island with mainland India.
The names
Rama's Bridge and
Nala's Bridge originate in
Hindu mythology. According to the Hindu epic
Ramayana (Chapter 66,
The Great Causeway [
1]), the bridge was constructed at
Rama's request by his subjects. The bridge was supported on floating rocks but the gods were said to have later anchored the rocks to the sea bed, thus creating the present chain of rocky shoals. It was said to have helped Rama to reach Sri Lanka to rescue
Sita from a monster(
aasur) called
Ravana, who was then the ruler of Lanka.
Some Hindu groups claim that the bridge is evidence that events narrated in the Ramayana epic actually took place and cite
NASA's imagery of it as proof of their claims. NASA has distanced itself from such claims:
"The images [...] may be ours, but their interpretation is certainly not ours. [...] Remote sensing images or photographs from orbit cannot provide direct information about the origin or age of a chain of islands, and certainly cannot determine whether humans were involved in producing any of the patterns seen."Archeological studies of the bridge are ongoing, and some
archeologists claim to have found evidence suggesting that the bridge is man-made. For instance, some researchers from
Bharathidasan University,
Tiruchirappalli,
announced that the "bridge" is only 3,500 years old.
Sea levels rose about 10 or 20 metres in the
6th millennium BCE to reach levels similar to today, so in 6000 BCE the bridge would have been an
isthmus situated above sea level. As such, it almost certainly would have been a viable route for humans to have reached Sri Lanka by dry land.
Recently the
Government of India has approved a multi-million dollar
Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project that aims to create a ship channel across the Palk Strait. The plan is to dredge the shallow ocean floor near the
Dhanushkodi end of the Rama's bridge to create enough leeway allowing
ships to pass through the channel instead of having to go around the island of Sri Lanka. It is expected to save nearly 30 hours' shipping time by cutting over 400 km off the voyage. However, efforts to conserve the heritage of the bridge has been initiated under the
Ram Karmabhoomi movement.
*
Atlantis*
Kumari Kandam*
Lemuria*
Krishna*
Hanuman*
Other pictures - (Sai Baba's)*
The Ram Karmabhoomi Issue*
Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project*
Rama's bridge in Google Maps
