Is the Rama Setu (Adam's Bridge) real?
This is a question many in India have been asking for many many years!
Hindus believe that the Rama Setu (Adam's Bridge) was made from a series of limestone shoals that bridge the gap between India and Sri Lanka, bridge is meant to be 30 Km long and 3 Km Wide and was constructed by 10 millions Vanaras Monkey men in 5 days and was built 1.7 million years ago.
Some people also believe that you could actually walk on the Rama Setu (Adam's Bridge) up until 1480 AD before a great cyclone hit the Rama Setu (Adam's Bridge) and caused the rocks to become scattered and pushed the brdige below sea level.
However some people argue that the Rama Setu (Adam's Bridge) was never built and was just a natural rock formation.
The bridge’s unique curvature and composition by age reveals that it is man made. The legends as well as Archeological studies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in
Sri Lanka date back to the a primitive age, about 1,750,000 years ago and the bridge’s age is also almost equivalent.
This information is a crucial aspect for an insight into the mysterious legend called Ramayana, which was supposed to have taken place in treta yuga (more than 1,700,000 years ago).
In this epic, there is a mentioning about a bridge, which was built between Rameshwaram (India) and Srilankan coast under the supervision of a dynamic and invincible figure called Rama who is supposed to be the incarnation of the supreme.
This information may not be of much importance to the archaeologists who are interested in exploring the origins of man, but it is sure to open the spiritual gates of the people of the world to have come to know an ancient history linked to the Indian mythology.
Sri Lanka History
The first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to the Stone Age, about 1.750.000 million years ago. These people are said to have come from the South of India and reached the Island through a land bridge connecting the Indian subcontinent to Sri Lanka named Adam’s Bridge. This is related so in the epic Hindu book of Ramayana.
Rama’s Bridge, chain of shoals, c.18 mi (30 km) long, in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka. At high tide it is covered by c. 4 ft (1.2 m) of water. A steamer ferry links Rameshwaram, India, with Mannar, Sri Lanka. According to Hindu legend, the bridge was built to transport Rama, hero of the Ramayana, to the island to rescue his wife Sita from the demon king Ravana.
Mystery of Floating stones
In Ramayana it is mentioned that the Rama Setu was built by stones and these stone starts floating on water by touch of Nala and Neel (Nala and Neel are the monkey men, who is credited as the engineer of the Rama Setu). Some such stones were scattered at Rameshwaram during the Tsunami, these stones still float on water.
Apart from Ramayana there are several facts which say Rama Setu is Man made structure.
Battle between Science & Spirituality is running over a decade. Science relies on logic , facts & proofs whereas Spirituality is largely related to belief. According to Hindu belief Ram Setu was built by Lord Rama to cross the sea. Stones used to make the bridge floated on water because Rama was written on stones. But there is a complete scientific explanation why stones floated on water & why now Ram Setu is under water.
If air is trapped within a shell of silica it would look like a stone but would actually be very light and would thus float. Another example is Ice. When put into glass having liquid, ice floats on liquid & after some time it sinks. Another prime example is of “Pumice” stone. Pumice is one such stone that floats on water.
Pumice is the name given to the hardened foam of lava when it comes out of a volcano. The inside of a volcano has very high pressure, and can be as hot as 1600 degree Celsius. When the lava comes out of the volcano, it meets the cool air (and sometimes sea water), which is around 25 degree Celsius.
Air and water that were mixed in the lava bubble out, as the pressure falls. The huge difference in temperature gives the lava a ‘cold shock’, so it freezes almost immediately. So the bubbles get trapped in the freezing stone, giving it a very spongy appearance. In some kinds of pumice, the bubbles can make upto 90% of the volume.
But because pumice is full of air bubbles, it is less dense than water. So in the beginning it will float. But in time, water will enter the bubbles driving out the air. Slowly, the pumice sinks. This also explains why the Ram Setu is under water today. Pumice doesn’t float forever. However, this theory is not 100 per cent correct. Read on to know how some scientists dismiss the Pumice stone theory…
Some floating stones are found on the coastal regions of Rameshwaram. These stones are similar to any other stone and possess the same features, physical and chemical composition like the stone you may find in your locality. Seeing these stones from a far distance, you may feel that this stone is made of corals but on physical examination, it is found that this is not a coral stone...and neither is it a pumice stone!
There is no volcano near Rameshwaram nor is there any evidence which claims the existence of volcano in the areas surrounding Rameshwaram over the last few millions of years. Also, floating stones of Rameshwarm are not light weighted like pumice rocks and doesn’t have the chemical composition similar to pumice rocks.
It might be possible that this is some special kind of heavy pumice rocks found only at Rameshwaram but if this would have been the case, then it would have been confirmed by Indian archaeologists. According to visitors, some of the stones do look like pumice but are extremely heavy to be called as pumice. Also, color of the pumice rocks is white or creamy in color but there are many black floating stones in Rameshwaram.
This bridge made of floating stones can still be seen between India and Sri Lanka from Rameshwaram, the place where Lord ram prayed to lord Shiva and started the construction of the bridge. Since this story is very old and unproven, many historians, scientists and archaeologists deny accepting this bridge to be built by lord Rama but at the same time they are unable to explain the concept of floating stones found in Rameshwaram.
Scientist has been claiming far and wide that the stones of Rama Setu are actually coral formation. NASA scientists even release the photo where they claims the Rama Setu underwater bridge to be coral formation. Take a look at the image release by their space shuttle.
There is nothing like floating coral because coral is calcium carbonate, and its chemical composition is too dense to float on water. Geologist claims that after years of formation of layers on ocean bed, coral stones are formed within the layer, but when they were asked why these stones were formed only in Rameshwaram and nowhere else there were no answers. Also, coral stones don’t occur naturally in the sea, they occur only on hard surface.
Until the scientists come up with a convincible theory maybe we can consider Rama Setu as an engineering masterpiece. The technology once existed to make stones float on water and the architect like Nala and Neela were too advanced in building a bridge from India to Sri Lanka within 5 days with the help of dedicated work force of million Vanaras.