Ram Setu
How Did Ramsetu Sink: Prabhu Shri Ramchandra spent 14 years in exile. While in exile, Lankan lord Ravana abducted mother Sita. For their safe escape, Lord Rama built the Ram Setu connecting India with Sri Lanka. This thing is famous in the household. Many things are said about Ram Setu on the basis of mythological texts.
After going to Rameshwar, the place of Ramsetu can be seen. Sailors here take tourists from Dhanushkodi to show the ruins of Ram Setu. The depth of the sea at this place is very low, and in some places the bottom is visible.
Nal and Neil were helped by the monkey army to build Ram Setu. This bridge is built using stones that float in water. These stones were brought from another place. Many experts believe that volcanic ‘pumice stone’ was used as the stone does not sink.
Then what happened was that Ram Setu got submerged in water. Even today, the stones brought from there are seen floating in the water in many places in the country. One such stone is floating in water at the Alakhnath temple in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
The bridge built by Sri Rama with his army across the sea from Dhanushkodi to Sri Lanka to attack Lanka was named ‘Rama Setu’. Actually this bridge was built by monkeys in 15 days under the supervision of King Nal. It is mentioned in ‘Valmiki Ramayana’.
In Ramayana this bridge is 100 Yojana in length and 10 Yojana in width. Srimad Valmikiya Ramayana-Katha-Sukh-Sagar published from Gitapress Gorakhpur describes that Sri Rama named this bridge ‘Nal Setu’. The Nal Setu of Sri Rama is also mentioned in the Mahabharata.
Why was Dhanushkodi chosen?
Valmiki Ramayana mentions that after searching for three days, Sri Rama found a place in the sea in front of Rameswaram, from where Sri Lanka is easily accessible. He asked to build a bridge from that place to Lanka with the help of Nal and Neil.
Dhanushkodi is the only place in India and Sri Lanka where the sea is as deep as the river. Dhanushkodi is a village on the southern coast of Rameswaram Island on the east coast of Tamil Nadu, India.
Dhanushkodi is about 18 miles west of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. It is named Dhanushkodi because the bridge built by the monkey army from here to Sri Lanka is shaped like a bow. All these areas are considered under the Mannar Sea Zone.
Where is Ram Setu mentioned?
Valmik Ramayana has many evidences of the use of high technology in the construction of bridges. Some monkeys had brought huge mountains to the beach with the help of the wind. Some of the monkeys held strings of thread a hundred yojans long, meaning that this thread was used in many ways in the construction of the bridge.
The 13th stanza of ‘Raghuvansha’ composed by Kalidasa describes the return of Rama from the sky. This mantra describes how Sri Rama told Mother Sita about Ram Setu. Sri Rama’s bridge is mentioned in the third in Skanda Purana, fourth in Vishnu Purana, fifth to eleventh in Agni Purana and also in Brahma Purana.
What does science say about Ram Setu?
In 1993, the US space agency NASA released global satellite images of the landmass emerging as a 48 km wide strip in the sea between Dhanushkodi and Pamban, northwest of Sri Lanka. After this a political controversy started in India. This bridge-like terrain came to be known as Ram Setu. Ramsethu was photographed by NASA on December 14, 1966 from Mithun-11.
22 years later, ISS-1A discovered a landmass under the sea between Rameswaram and Jaffna islands off the coast of Tamil Nadu. Then took pictures of it. These photographs also confirmed American satellite photographs.
American archaeologists also investigated
In December 1917 in the American TV show ‘Ancient Land Bridge’ on the Science Channel, American archaeologists said based on scientific investigations that the Hindu legend of Sri Rama building a bridge to Sri Lanka could be true. The 50 km long line between India and Sri Lanka is made of rocks. These rocks are 7000 years old.
The sand on which these rocks rest is 4000 years old. From photos taken by a NASA satellite and other evidence, experts say, ‘This discrepancy between the rock and sand ages suggests that the bridge must have been built by humans.
According to research, Ram Setu was completely floating on the sea till 1480. Scientists believe that it was drowned in the sea due to a cyclone.
1000 KM Ram Setu
According to religious texts, Sri Rama’s army had to build a bridge over the sea 100 Yojanas (a measurement of those times) long and 10 Yojanas (1 Yojana is 8 km) wide to reach Lanka. An army of thousands of monkeys along with Nal and Neel threw stones at 14 yojanas on the first day, 20 yojanas on the second day, 21 yojanas on the third day, 22 yojanas on the fourth day and 23 yojanas on the fifth day. In this way the work of 100 Yojana was completed in 5 days. According to today’s calculations, the length of Ram Setu was more than 1000 km.
How did Ram Setu sink into the sea?
There are two aspects of Ram Setu being submerged a few feet below the sea water. One of these is religious and the other is natural. So far researchers from all over the world have done many studies on Ram Setu. Mannar Island could be reached from Rameswaram by walking over this bridge till the 15th century. This has been stated in many researches. Later, the scientific reason for this bridge being submerged is that the storm deepened the sea at the site of Ram Setu.
At the same time, in 1480 the bridge was destroyed by a hurricane. After that, the Ram Setu was submerged by a few feet due to the rise in the sea level. For religious reasons it is said that Vibhishana himself requested Sri Rama to break this bridge.
Why did Vibhishana break Ram Setu?
According to the Padma Purana, before the war Ravana’s brother Vibhishan took shelter of Sri Rama in the city of Dhanushkodi. After the war with Ravana ended, Shri Rama made Vibhishan the king of Lanka. After this, King Vibhishana of Lanka told Sri Rama that the brave king of India would use Ram Setu to attack Sri Lanka.
This may lead to loss of Sri Lanka’s independence. He requested Sri Rama to break the bridge. At this Shri Rama released an arrow and the bridge sank 2-3 feet below the water level. Even today, if anyone stands on this bridge, there is water up to their waist. The name of the place means ‘Dhanushkodi’, ‘end of the bow’. But it is not mentioned anywhere in Valmiki Ramayana. It is mentioned in Kamban Ramayana that Sri Rama broke this bridge.
That video made by Nasa on Ram Setu
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