Rama Bridge is a chain of small coral islands and shallow waters in the Polk Strait, about 50 km long, connecting the southern coast of India with the island of Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon. Hindus, both before and now, consider the Rama bridge an artificial structure built by Rama in time immemorial, for them it is still a sacred place.
Rama's bridge on the ancient map of Ceylon from the Ptolemy atlas Photo: Wilfriedbluhm.de
In the area of the Rama bridge between the islets there is an inexplicable and sharp rise of the bottom from a depth of 10–12 m to 1–0.5 m, so that one can pass over the bridge, being in the water noticeably up to the waist, and sail on small boats (only the strait between the cape Ramnad and Rameswar Island, the so-called Pambas Pass, is accessible for small boats). The bridge itself, 30 km long, stretches from the island of Pamban (its other name is Rameshwaram - the place of God Rama) on the southwestern coast of Tamil Nadu in India to Mannar Island off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka.
18 km southeast of Rameshwaram, on a long sandy spit, the city of Dhanushkodi once stood, which in 1964 was completely destroyed by a cyclone. After the cyclone, only one temple, Kothandaraswamy, survived, near which some of Rama's enemies surrendered to him, and in the area of the spit at the bottom of the sea lies another unknown temple, about which no information has been preserved. The Rama Bridge begins from this place.
The debate about whether the bridge is natural or artificial has flared up after the government of India in 2001 decided to destroy the bridge and make the Strait of Polk navigable, which will save 30 hours of sailing around the islands (about 400 km of travel). The Englishman, Commander Taylor proposed to build the canal here back in 1850, and in 1955 Jewaharlal Nehru wanted to implement this plan. But it is somehow unethical to destroy the sacred places of their own people, so the Indian government in the Supreme Court of India declared that there is no historical evidence of the construction of the Rama bridge ("Ramayana", although a holy book, does not count, of course).
The monkeys are building the Rama Bridge. Photo: Deathtrack.ru
On March 27, 2007, a group of international civil society organizations launched the SaveRamSethu campaign to save the Rama Bridge (March 27 is Rama's birthday). For the Hindus, the Rama Bridge is living proof of their ancient history, and the construction that has begun has touched the feelings of millions of believers.
Opponents of the construction also say that the destruction of the bridge will affect the entire local ecosystem. On the northeastern side of the bridge is the rugged and dangerous Polk Bay with storms and cyclones. On the southwest side there is a calm Manara Bay with clear emerald waters. The Rama Bridge separates these two different bays and mitigates the terrible consequences of cyclones and tsunamis: according to scientists, the tsunami that struck India and claimed tens of thousands of lives in 2004 was significantly weakened by the Rama Bridge, otherwise there would have been even more casualties. Thousands of people have subscribed to the SaveRamSethu appeal.
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The defenders of the Rama Bridge propose to accept another draft of the canal route without damaging the ancient structure: to dig it along a large sandbank near the village of Mandapam. Whether they will be heard by the Indian government is not yet clear, but the Madras High Court ruled in 2007 that the Rama Bridge is an artificial structure.
Pictures taken by the NASA space agency a few years ago added fuel to the fire - they clearly show the real bridge, although NASA experts said the pictures did not provide specific information about the origin or age of the island chain. But the Indian newspaper Hindustan Times reported that the NASA images are proof of the reality of Indian tales.
The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has investigated the entire structure of the Rama Bridge. In the area of the bridge, 100 wells were drilled, soil samples from which were carefully studied. Magnetic and bathymetric scans were carried out. As a result of the research, it was revealed that a low underwater ridge (bridge) with a width of 1.6 to 4 km is an anomaly, since it suddenly appears from the side of the Bay of Bengal. The ridge is a cluster of boulders measuring 1.5x2.5 m of regular shape, consisting of limestone, sand and coral. These boulders lie on sea sand, the thickness of which is from 3 to 5 m, and only then does the solid ground begin. The presence of loose sand below the boulders obviously indicates that the ridge is not a natural formation, but is laid on top of the sandy ground. Some of the boulders are so lightthat they can float on the water.
It was also found that these land areas did not rise as a result of any geological processes and rather resemble a dam. A homogeneous material, limestone, was discovered in the wells. The straightforward and orderly nature of the stacking also suggests that these boulders were brought in and placed in the dam. The opinions of scientists, as usual, were divided over both the age and the origin of the bridge. Well, reality is often hidden behind legends and myths, and Schliemann found Troy, because, contrary to the opinion of scientists, he believed Homer!
Still, despite public outcry, Sethusamudram Corporation began construction work on the site of the future canal, but for some unknown reason, some dredgers were returned to the port due to breakdowns, and bucket teeth were also broken. An unexpected storm for this time scattered the ships and did not allow work to continue. Hindu believers immediately declared that it was the Monkey King Hanuman who was guarding his creation.
The Rama Bridge (RamasetuSetu or Setubandha) is translated from Sanskrit as an artificial embankment, in ancient sources and in the Ramayana it is also referred to as the Nala Bridge and the Sacred Dam, and in the Tamil version of the Ramayana a whole chapter is devoted to the Sacred Dam. The mention of the construction of the Rama Bridge is found not only in the Ramayana, but in all Puranas (Indian sacred books) and in the Mahabharata.
In the atlas of Schwarzberg (p. 38) on a map of India from the period 1290-1390 AD. e. Rama's bridge is referred to as Setubandha (Artificial Embankment), for centuries it was well known to geographers and travelers, and even Marco Polo (1254-1324) described it in his book IL MILIONE (Million).
According to old maps, until 1480 the bridge was pedestrian and completely above the water, and people walked on it from India to Sri Lanka, which is confirmed by the ancient map of Ptolemy. Then the bridge was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami. After the earthquake, the bridge sank about 1–1.2 m under the water, and in one place a gap in the bridge formed, which now needs to be overcome by swimming. There is another name for the bridge, which was used by the British who seized India - Adam's Bridge, this name was given to the bridge by Muslims. According to Arab legends, when Adam was expelled from paradise, God settled him on the island of Ceylon, and then Adam moved to the mainland along these shoals.
Rama Bridge connects the south of India with the island of Sri Lanka. According to Indian and Ceylon legends and sacred books, one of the most ancient civilizations of the Earth existed in Sri Lanka (Holy Land) (according to the research of archaeologists, a developed civilization existed here 1.5 million years ago). The king of Rakshasa demons Ravana lived on the island and ruled this beautiful island even before the birth of Rama.
The inhabitants of Lanka came from a mixture of four clans - Nagas, Yaksha, Deva and Gandharva. Ravana united these clans, calling his country Sivhal. In the east of Sri Lanka, there is still a tribe of Veta aborigines, who in ancient times inhabited the entire island, and then were forced into the jungle by the Tamils and Sinhalese who came. Now there are only about 1000 Aboriginal people left. Are they not the feral descendants of the ancient Rakshasas?
And the personality of Ravana is very ambiguous. Thus, in the ancient Lankavatara Sutra, which is believed to contain the words spoken by the Buddha when he visited Lanka and is therefore one of the most important sutras of Mahayana Buddhism, Ravana is described as a king of Lanka who tried to study the teachings of the Buddha. and invited the Buddha to his place in Lanka. The sutra says that Ravana was an excellent ruler and also describes the ocean and Rama's bridge. Then, for some reason, he suddenly lost his righteousness, became proud and even began to fight with the gods (according to the Indian scriptures). Contradictory scriptures distort the true picture of the events that took place and make it difficult to determine the date. In any case, historians are well aware that the ruler of the victorious side is always a hero, and is described as a righteous man,and demonic and negative properties are attributed to the losing ruler and the people, therefore, for a true understanding of events, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the facts without emotional historical coloring.
After some time, Ravana stole Sita, the beloved of Rama, and kept her in captivity, without using violence and expecting that she would voluntarily consent to the wedding, since a curse was weighing on him: in case of violence against a woman, he would instantly die. Why he needed such troubles is unclear, since, apart from a heap of concubines, he already had a wife, and even from a very powerful family.
The hero Rama with his allies, among whom were the Monkey King Hanuman and the King of Bears Sugriva, set out to free Sita. When Rama and his army reached the southern borders of India, he began to decide how he and the armies of monkeys to overcome the ocean and reach Lanka. They turned to the God of the Ocean for help, and he suggested to Rama that there were two leaders in his army, Nala and Nila, who became the victims of a curse brought on by a certain sage. As a child, they misbehaved by throwing holy icons into the water, and the sage made it so that all the objects that they throw into the water never sink, they remain on the surface and will always be in the place where they throw them. “Any rock thrown into the sea by their hands will never sink or budge; inscribe your name on these mountains and stone slabs - your name is lighter than the wind, it has no weight. Then huge mountains and rocks immersed in my waters will remain on the surface and form a bridge,”the Ocean God told them.
And so they did. Monkeys on their shoulders and heads dragged mountains and rocks (according to legend, the inhabitants of that time were of gigantic growth, which reached 8-10 meters). In Sri Lanka on Mount Adam there is a sacred relic - the footprint of Adam (or Buddha, or Shiva, who believes in whom). In the 14th century, the Arab traveler Ibn Batuta measured the sacred footprint (now access to the relic is limited), its dimensions are 1.5 meters in length, 80 cm in width. With such a foot, the height of people should be 10 meters, and this was exactly the height according to the Ramayana, at Rama and Hanuman.
There is a similar relic in the south of India, in the cult place of Lepaksha, which translates as “bird of resurrection”. According to legend, when the demon Ravana stole Sita, an eagle rushed to her defense and died in the battle, but Sita managed to touch the ground with her foot, and her footprint remained on her. If you correlate the size of the foot with the height of the girl, then it should be 8 meters. However, now many researchers, on the basis of excavations, suggest that the people of the previous civilization were of gigantic stature, so that the statue of the ancient gods was most likely made in full size.
So, the warriors of Rama lined up in one long line and passed each other huge boulders, along a chain they transported them to the seashore, where Nala and Nila, standing at the ready, plunged them into the sea. According to the Ramayana, Rama's Bridge, under the leadership of Nala, was built by Rama's subjects and allies, including an army of bears and monkeys. The work was so well organized that the bridge was built in just 5 days (!), However, one day of the gods is equal to a human year (according to the scriptures), so perhaps it took 5 years to build.
On this bridge, Rama's troops crossed to Lanka, defeated the troops of the demon Ravana and freed Sita, Rama's beloved. Ravana himself was killed by Rama in a fierce battle with the help of a mysterious "Brahma beam" or, as they say now, a superweapon, possibly a laser beam.
No one can determine the exact date of the events that took place, but for many millennia, India and Sri Lanka had close cultural ties, and everything in these areas is permeated with echoes of those ancient events. On the island of Pamban (Rameshwaram - the place of God Rama) near the city of Rameshwaram there is an ancient temple of Ramanatha (Ramanatha Swamy Temple), from where Rama began his trek after Sita. Nearby there is a huge temple of Shiva Ramanathaswamy (Ramanatha Swamy Temple), built in the 12th century (tourists are not allowed in it, only pilgrims), on the territory of which there are 22 sacred reservoirs, in one of which the stones from which the Rama Bridge is built are still floating.
Three kilometers from Rameshwaram is the Gandamadana Parvatam temple, which allegedly contains the footprints of Rama, who returned from Lanka. On the other hand, in Sri Lanka, there is an equally ancient temple of Tiruketesvara in honor of the wife of Ravana Mandodari. Even in Indonesia, Java has a huge Hindu temple complex, Prambanan, built in 850, which contains beautiful sculptures depicting the construction of the Rama Bridge, in particular the army of Vanaras (intelligent monkeys) who carry stones on their heads to build the bridge.
It is quite probable (and this is argued by many researchers) that in the Ramayana (which, by the way, was recorded only in the 3rd century BC by the Indian sage Valmiki, and before that, it is believed that it existed in oral traditions or in books, which are still unknown) describes the invasion from the North of the Aryans, or Hyperboreans, as they are now called, to India. This happened several millennia ago - the exact date, of course, has not been established.
There was a military clash of two civilizations, two races and, possibly, two ideologies. Light-skinned beautiful people are the Aryans who have come, the dark-skinned local population is the terrible Rakshasa demons. Until now, in Sri Lanka and in the south of India, the skin color of the local population is darker than in the north of India, and, according to E. Blavatsky, in Ceylon there are remnants or degenerated descendants of an even more ancient civilization than the Aryans. Are these demons rakshasas?
In March 2009, a group of journalists from Russia, India and Sri Lanka walked across the bridge from the coast of Sri Lanka to the coast of India. They shot the film "Rama's Bridge", directed and written by Alexander Volkov, which went all the way along the Rama's Bridge. The film was shown on Russian TV. After watching it, you begin to feel what, in fact, is the ancient history of mankind.
Since April 2011, the Sri Lankan Navy began to carry out tours for those wishing to walk along the Rama Bridge (the bridge is divided in half between India and Sri Lanka). If the sea is calm and there is no rain, then in the morning travelers set off from the ancient breakwater in the Talaymannar Strait, they will be provided with everything they need: food and water, but you cannot litter.
Perhaps more than one civilization existed in this place, and the Rama Bridge was built by someone in immemorial distant times, and Rama passed through it millennia later. Legends and events of ancient times got mixed up and mixed up in the memory of mankind, but all this once happened, people need to treat their history very carefully and study, and not destroy it.