Scientific and Archeological Evidence on Ram Sethu

The present UPA government in India does not believe the existence of Ram Sethu (Adam's Bridge), which Hindus believe is the bridge built by Lord Ram with the help of Hanuman and monkeys.

Union Minister T R Baalu answering in writing to a question of MP Mr. Avinash Rai Khanna in Lok Sabha, once again reiterated that government does not believe there is any man-made structure on the channel configuration, therefore question of protecting it as heritage does not arise. Ambika Soni, Minister of Tourism and Culture, repeated the same in the Rajya Sabha.

But the department of earth sciences, under the Ministry of Science and Technology, has given an ‘opinion’ to the government that the islets are probably a result of human activity.

The Telegraph reports

The department of earth sciences says the sand dunes have a base of coral and sandstone that seem to have been ‘transported’ from elsewhere.

Its unpublished report, of which The Telegraph has a copy, says the naturally formed corals in Lakshadweep, the Andamans or the nearby Gulf of Mannar grow vertically from a hard-rock base. But the Adam’s Bridge coral doesn’t grow vertically and appears to “rest” loosely on the seabed.

“The coral formations hardly occur 1 m to 2.5 m in length and rest on loose marine sands. Most… seem to be rounded pebbles of corals. These things appear to point that these… have been transported and placed in these areas,” the department’s note says.

“Since the calcareous sand stones and corals are less dense (and therefore lighter) than the normal hard rock and quite compact, probably these were used by (the) ancients to form a connecting link to Sri Lanka on the higher elevations of the Adam’s Bridge ridge and this is analogous to (a) modern-day causeway.”

The issue is only getting murkier as days go by. To clear the doubts in the minds of Hindus, it is better that the government carry out an extensive archeological survey of the area.