A miraculous bridge across the sea in India. Rama Bridge, Adam's Bridge - from Rameswaram, India to Sri Lanka. Current state and problems of Adam's Bridge

If you fly over the sea between India and Sri Lanka (Ceylon), then at some point you will notice a strange sandbank located literally at the very surface, which, slightly curving, connects the island and the continent. Muslims call this shallow Adam's bridge, and Hindus - Rama bridge.

The Muslim name is due to the fact that followers of this religion believe that Adam, expelled from paradise, descended to earth in Ceylon. And to the continent, to India, he crossed over this strange sandbank, so similar to a bridge.

Hindus even believe that this is truly a man-made bridge, built in time immemorial by order of Emperor Rama by an army of monkeys led by Hanuman. According to the Ramayana, Nala, the son of the legendary divine architect Vishvakarman, supervised the construction, and over this bridge Rama’s troops crossed to Sri Lanka to fight its ruler, the demon Ravana, who kidnapped Rama’s beloved Sita.

On Arab medieval maps it is marked as a real bridge rising above the water, over which anyone could cross from India to Ceylon. The situation changed in 1480, when, as a result of a strong earthquake and subsequent severe storm, the bridge sank and was partially destroyed. However, the Portuguese and British still marked it on maps as an artificial structure, a dam or a bridge.

The length of the bridge is almost 50 kilometers, its width ranges from approximately 1.5 to 4 kilometers, and the depth of the seabed around the structure is 10-12 meters. Most of it is hidden by water, sometimes at a depth of more than a meter. So even now it is quite possible to walk along it from beginning to end, sometimes wandering along a stone surface in knee-deep water, sometimes going deeper to the waist or more.

The only serious obstacle is the so-called Pambas Pass between Rameswar Island and Ramnad Point, accessible to the traffic of small merchant ships. The few travelers who decide to make such a transition have to use all their swimming skills here. For those who are not good at this, it is better not to walk on the bridge at all - the strong current through Pambas tends to carry daredevils into the open sea.

Damn channel

Large ships are still forced to sail around Sri Lanka, which takes an extra 800 kilometers, which is 30 hours of travel. To solve this problem, back in 1850, the English commander Taylor proposed to build a canal through the Rama Bridge. In 1955, Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to implement this plan. Since it is somehow unethical to destroy the sacred places of one’s own people, the government of the country stated in the Supreme Court of India that there is no historical evidence of the construction of the bridge by Rama. The Ramayana, although a holy book, somehow does not count.

But real passions regarding the construction of the canal flared up already in the 21st century, when the Setusa Mudram corporation was formed for this purpose. She even began construction work on the site of the future canal, but for unknown reasons, some of the dredgers were returned to the port due to breakdowns, including the teeth of the buckets. An unexpected storm scattered the vessels involved in the construction and prevented work from continuing. Hindu believers immediately declared that it was the monkey king Hanuman who was protecting his creation.

On March 27, 2007, just on the birthday of Rama, a group of international public organizations launched the Save Ram Sethu campaign. Because for Hindus, Rama Bridge is living proof of their ancient history, the construction that began touched the feelings of millions of believers. Campaigners also said the destruction of the bridge would destroy the entire local ecosystem. After all, to the northeast of the bridge there is the stormy and dangerous Polk Strait with its storms and cyclones, and to the southwest there is the calm Manara Bay with clear emerald-colored water.

The Bridge of Rama separates them and softens them dire consequences cyclones and tsunamis. Thus, according to scientists, the tsunami that hit India in 2004 and claimed tens of thousands of lives was significantly weakened by the Rama Bridge. Without this ancient “dam,” there could have been much more casualties. Thousands of people have signed the Save Ram Sethu appeal. Defenders of the bridge are proposing an alternative project: digging a canal along a large sandbank near the village of Mandapam. Whether they will be heard by the Indian government remains to be seen.

Facts show: the bridge is man-made

In many ways, we have become accustomed to the fact that behind legends and myths reality and long-overturned pages of our planet’s past are often hidden. However, the images that NASA released several years ago surprised even the residents of Sri Lanka and India.

On them, with all the clarity that modern photographic equipment provides, a real bridge between the continent and Ceylon is visible. After the publication of NASA images, the Indian newspaper Hindustan Times reported that the images obtained by American satellites serve as proof of the reality of Indian legends, and that the events described in the Ramayana, including the construction of the Rama Bridge, really took place.

However, NASA chose to distance itself from any specific statements. Yes, satellite photographs clearly show the amazing geomorphology of the area. But, NASA says, "orbital remote sensing images alone cannot provide specific information about the origin or age of an island chain and cannot determine human involvement in the origin of a given object."

But the Geological Survey of India 6SI received data allowing us to judge this. Its specialists examined the entire structure of the Rama Bridge. 100 wells were drilled in and near the bridge, and soil samples from them were carefully studied. Magnetic and bathymetric scanning was carried out. As a result, it was found that a low underwater ridge (bridge) is a clear anomaly, since it appears at the bottom completely unexpectedly.

The ridge is a collection of boulders measuring 1.5x2.5 meters of regular shape, consisting of limestone, sand and coral. These boulders lie on sea sand, the thickness of which ranges from 3 to 5 meters. And only under the sand does the hard rocky soil begin. The presence of loose sand below the boulders apparently indicates that the ridge is not a natural formation, but is laid on top of sandy soil. Some of the boulders are so light that they can float on 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 was discovered in the wells - limestone. The straight and orderly nature of the placement also suggests that these boulders were brought by someone and placed in the dam.

What seems strange, of course, is that the bridge is simply too wide for crossing troops, or anything else. But this is by modern standards. This is what Alexander Volkov, the director of the film filmed in 2009, says: documentary film"Bridge of Rama":

— Legends say that it was built by monkey warriors who were gigantic in stature. And we even tried to illustrate in the film that the height of these giants was - you won’t believe it - 8 meters! But, looking at this bridge, you involuntarily begin to believe in it - it makes no sense for you and me to build such a width. But for people eight meters tall, who also have some kind of weapons, there is probably some logic in the width of this bridge.

In general, there are many questions, of course, many. One such issue is the age of the bridge. Based on legends, some Hindu theologians say that the Rama Bridge is a million years old, others give a more modest age - 20 thousand years. Western alternative researchers have put forward a truly radical version - 17 million years. Even Indian academic science condescended to solve the problem and proposed its own option - 3500 years, obviously linking the construction with the Aryan conquest of India. However, with many ambiguities, it is obvious that the Rama Bridge is indeed an artificial, man-made structure. Research conducted by GSI, I dare say, has conclusively proven this.

What worries people most is not where Adam's Bridge is located. Is this a real bridge or a curiosity of nature? This is what excites the minds of ufologists, occultists, and even quite serious scientists. And if the dam is man-made, then the next question arises: “Who created it?” In this article we will study this problem.

Why the bridge is called so - Adam, or Rama (in Hinduism) - belongs to the realm of legends. When and how the passage was destroyed has been established by science. Where Adam's Bridge is located can be seen on maps and photographs from space. Now the fate of this natural or man-made formation is being decided. Owners of sea vessels are advocating for deepening the passage to allow large ships to pass through it. Environmentalists protest furiously. After all, the 2004 tsunami was weakened on the coasts of India and Sri Lanka precisely thanks to the chain of islands. Environmentalists are being helped by Hindus in their fight to protect the Rama Bridge. After all, this dam serves as confirmation of their ancient history. But let's look at the problem comprehensively.

Adam's Bridge: where is this attraction located?

Scientific publications describe this attraction as a group of islets and shoals that stretches in a chain from Pamban (another name for Rameswaram) in the state of Tamil Nadu in southwestern India to Mannar in the north of the island republic of Sri Lanka. This formation goes almost straight, only slightly bending, for almost fifty kilometers. The width of the bridge ranges from one and a half to four kilometers. Between the islands the depth of the sea is about half a meter, in some places a little more. So, if you wish, you can walk almost the entire route (more precisely, forty kilometers), wading in water either knee-deep or waist-deep. The only serious obstacle is the Pambas Strait. It is located between Cape Ramnad and Rameswar Island. The strait is not very deep and is only accessible for small ships. You should not test your skills and endurance and overcome Pambas by swimming. The strait is not wide, but the strong current carries such reckless daredevils out to sea.

Why is the passage between India and Sri Lanka called this?

For Christian and Muslim sailors, this is Adam's Bridge. “Rama's Bridge” is what Hindu believers call the chain of islands and shoals. Why? Two legends explain this. Bible believers believe that the story described in the Book of Genesis took place over the island of Ceylon. God expelled Adam and Eve from his paradise, and they found themselves in an equally beautiful place. The Creator of the Universe placed a man in Ceylon. And that's why there's a mountain there called Adam's Peak. God transferred Eve to India. And Adam crossed the bridge to the mainland. There the first couple united again and populated the entire earth with their offspring. That's why the bridge is called Adam's. According to the Hindus, the dam was built in ancient times by an army of giant monkeys led by Hanuman. The demon Ravana kidnapped Sita, Rama's beloved, and fled with her to Ceylon. The Divine Emperor ordered the construction of a bridge connecting Hindustan with the island. The work was supervised by the son of the god Vishvakarmana Nal. Along this dam, an army of monkeys crossed to Ceylon and fought with the demon. All these events are described in the Hindu epic Ramayana.

What do the facts say?

On ancient maps of Portuguese and Arab navigators, the real Adam's Bridge is depicted. Sri Lanka and the Hindustan Peninsula were connected by a pedestrian causeway until the end of the fifteenth century. Even horse-drawn travelers and carts followed this bridge. But in 1480 something happened in these places powerful earthquake. The sea bottom has subsided somewhat. And a strong storm that began after the earthquake washed away the islands and spits that had sunk under the water. Unfortunately, this was not the last blow of the disaster. In 1964, a powerful cyclone completely destroyed the city of Dhanushkodi, which was located on a sand spit eighteen kilometers southeast of Rameshwarama. Only the Kothandaraswamy Temple survived. According to the Ramayana, Rama captured some of his enemies in this place. And not far away at the bottom of the sea there is another temple, the date of its construction has not been preserved. The Rama Bridge officially begins from Kothandaraswamy.

tourist attraction

Up close, the islands are nothing special. They are composed of fossilized corals, compressed sand and igneous rocks. This enabled scientists to argue that Rama Bridge is just the remains of a reef, like many atolls in the tropical and equatorial latitudes of the ocean. It is much more interesting to contemplate this attraction from the air, from, for example. Adam's Bridge, as the photo clearly shows, looks like a man-made bridge. The shallows are clearly visible, and it seems that the dam extends continuously over the water. Due to its latitude of a couple of kilometers, the Rama Bridge is visible even from space. And images taken by NASA several years ago shed light on the origins of the strange mound. The Indian Geological Survey also condescended to study the Rama Bridge. Its specialists drilled a number of wells and took rock samples. In addition, transport links between the mainland and the islands are possible in some places. Built across the Pamban Gulf, it connects mainland India with the island of the same name.

Who built Adam's Bridge?

Alas, this question still remains open. Although everything more people are inclined to think that this dam is of artificial origin. But is it anthropogenic? After all, the age of this structure (if we have the right to call it that) is quite significant. Some give the dam several million years! What civilization could build a bridge when there was no Homo Sapiens as a biological species yet? Can we assume that the bridge was built by aliens? But if some highly organized community was able to overcome so many kilometers, measured in light years, to reach the Earth, doesn’t it seem strange that in order to overcome fifty kilometers it needed to build a dam of boulders? Is it more reasonable to assume that the age of the bridge is about three to five thousand years and that its builders were representatives of the Neolithic civilization?

The case for natural origin

Adam's Bridge is a chain of islands. It is possible, and even most likely, that the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) was part of Eurasia in ancient times. Millions of years ago, under the influence of the movement of geological plates, the formation of the strait began. The bottom subsided (as happened already during the earthquake of 1480) and only islands remained in the place of the former isthmus. In the warm tropical sea, coral reefs grew around them, and the current brought sand. From this, long braids were formed, which people used until the end of the fifteenth century in order to get to Ceylon.

The case for artificial origin

Aerial photographs show how blue the sea is around the Rama Bridge. The depth there is significant - about ten to fifteen meters. If we assume that Adam's Bridge is a remnant of the isthmus, then it is not clear where the rest of the continental shelf went. This ridge appears at depth completely unexpectedly and, thus, represents a clear Yes, sounding has shown that the bridge is made of sand and coral. But among building material There are also boulders, as well as limestone in places. In addition, research has revealed a clear shape of the masonry. The boulders have a clear shape, two and a half meters by one and a half. These stones are laid on top of a layer of sand - and this is the most obvious evidence of the artificial origin of the embankment.

NASA findings

The photographs of this authoritative American space research agency shed more light on the mystery of the bridge than the comments of its specialists. The photo was taken from an orbiting satellite at maximum expansion. Looking at the picture, it is impossible to assume that all this is a curiosity of nature. But the conclusion of NASA experts leaves the question open: “The image of this object obtained by remote sensing from orbit cannot provide specific information about its age and origin.” So Adam's Bridge remains a mystery of our time.

The fight to preserve the landmark

It doesn’t matter whether this embankment is man-made or natural, but it greatly interferes with navigation. Ships must make a detour of four hundred kilometers to get from the southern part of Hindustan to Ceylon. Back in the nineteenth century, the British raised the issue of widening the Strait of Pambas to allow the passage of large ships. In the fifties, even the government of D. Nehru decided to eliminate Adam’s Bridge. But a giant storm destroyed all technical work. Now it is not only Brahmins who are in favor of saving the Rama Bridge, who claim that it is proof of everything described in the Ramayana. Environmentalists also advocate for the preservation of the island chain. After all, this embankment, they believe, softens the effect of tsunamis and large storms on both coasts.

The Rama Bridge connects the south of India with the island of Sri Lanka. According to Indian and Ceylonese legends and sacred books, one of the oldest civilizations on Earth existed in Sri Lanka (the Holy Land) (according to archaeological research, a developed civilization existed here 1.5 million years ago). The king of the 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, Yakshas, Devas and Gandharvas. Ravana united these clans and named his country Sivkhela. In the east of Sri Lanka there still exists a tribe of Weta aborigines, who in ancient times inhabited the entire island, and were then driven into the jungle by the incoming Tamils and Sinhalese. Now there are only about 1,000 Aboriginal people left. Are they not the feral descendants of the ancient rakshasas?

And Ravana’s personality 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 the king of Lanka who tried to study the teachings of the Buddha, and invited Buddha to his place in Lanka. The sutra says that Ravana was a wonderful ruler and also describes the ocean and the bridge of Rama. Then, for some reason, he suddenly lost his righteousness, became proud and even began to fight with the gods (according to Indian scriptures). Conflicting 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 winning side is always a hero and is described as a righteous man, while demonic and negative properties are attributed to the losing ruler and people, therefore, for a true understanding of events, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the facts without emotional historical overtones.

Some time later, Ravana stole Sita, Rama's beloved, and kept her in captivity, without using violence and expecting that she would voluntarily consent to the wedding, since he was under a curse: if he violated a woman, he would instantly die. Why he needed such trouble is unclear, since, apart from a bunch of concubines, he already had a wife, and even from a very powerful family.

The hero Rama and his allies, including the Monkey King Hanuman and the Bear King Sugriva, set out to free Sita. When Rama and his army reached the southern borders of India, he began to decide how they and the army of monkeys could cross the ocean and get to Lanka. They turned to the Ocean God for help, and he told Rama that in his army there were two leaders, Nala and Nila, who had become victims of a curse brought on by a certain sage. As children, they played a mischief, throwing holy icons into the water, and the sage made it so that all the objects that they throw into the water will never sink to the bottom, they will 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 move; inscribe your name on these mountains and stone slabs - your name is lighter than the wind, it has no heaviness. Then the huge mountains and rocks immersed in my waters will remain on the surface and form a bridge,” the Ocean God told them.

That's what they did. The monkeys carried mountains and rocks on their shoulders and heads (according to legend, the inhabitants of that time were of gigantic height, reaching 8-10 meters). In Sri Lanka, on Mount Adam, there is a sacred relic - the trace of Adam (or Buddha, or Shiva, whoever 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 long and 80 cm wide. With such a foot, people should be 10 meters tall, and this is exactly the height they were , according to the Ramayana, from Rama and Hanuman.

There is a similar relic in the south of India, in the cult place Lepaksha, which translates as “the bird of the resurrection.” According to legend, when the demon Ravana stole Sita, an eagle rushed to her defense and died in the fight, but Sita managed to touch the ground with her foot, and the imprint of her foot remained on it. If we compare the size of the foot with the height of the girl, then it should be 8 meters. However, now many researchers, based on excavations, suggest that the people of the previous civilization were of gigantic stature, so the statues of the ancient gods were most likely made in life size.

So, Rama's warriors lined up in one long line and passed huge boulders to each other, transported them in a chain to the seashore, where Nala and Nila, standing ready, immersed them into the sea. According to the Ramayana, Rama's Bridge was built under the leadership of Nala 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 it may have taken 5 years to build it.

Through 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 brutal fight using a mysterious "Brahma ray" or, as they now say, 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 (Rameswaram - the place of God Rama) near the city of Rameswaram there is an ancient Ramanatha Temple (Ramanatha Swamy Temple), from where Rama began his campaign for Sita. Nearby is the huge Ramanatha Swamy Temple, built in the 12th century (tourists are not allowed into it, only pilgrims), on the territory of which there are 22 sacred reservoirs, in one of which the stones from which the Rama Bridge was built still float.

Three kilometers from Rameshwaram there 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 Ravana's wife Mandodari. Even in Indonesia, Java has a huge Hindu temple complex, Prambanan, built in 850, which contains beautiful sculptures depicting the construction of Rama's bridge, in particular an army of Vanaras (intelligent monkeys) carrying stones on their heads to build the bridge.

It is likely (and this is argued by many researchers) that in the Ramayana (which, by the way, was written down only in the 3rd century BC by the Indian sage Valmiki, and before that is believed to have existed in oral traditions or in books , which are still unknown) describe the invasion of the Aryans, or Hyperboreans, as they now began to be called, from the North into India. This happened several thousand years ago - the exact date, of course, has not been established.

There was a military clash between two civilizations, two races and, possibly, two ideologies. Light-skinned, beautiful people are the Aryans who came, the dark-skinned local population are the terrible demons-rakshasas. Until now, in Sri Lanka and southern India, the skin color of the local population is darker than in northern India, and, according to E. Blavatsky, in Ceylon there are remnants or degenerate 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 made the film “Bridge of Rama”, directed and written by Alexander Volkov, who walked all the way across the Bridge of Rama. The film was shown on Russian TV. After watching it, you begin to feel how ancient human history really is.

Since April 2011, the Sri Lanka Navy began providing 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 pier in the Talaimannar Strait; they will be provided with everything they need: food and water, but they should not litter.

Perhaps more than one civilization existed in this place, and the Rama Bridge was built by someone in ancient times, and Rama walked across it thousands of years later. Legends and events of ancient times are mixed up and mixed up in the memory of mankind, but all this happened once, people need to treat their history very carefully and study it, and not destroy it.

Over the years, scientists have been able to discover amazing underwater structures. The origin of some of them cannot be explained only from the position of traditional views on the prehistoric era. And archaeologists are increasingly discovering that the descriptions contained in ancient literature are consistent with modern scientific discoveries, which can become proof of their unconditional authenticity.

At the beginning of 2003, NASA satellites recorded an unusual image, which caused a lot of controversy and discussion among scientists. The pictures showed an ancient and hitherto unknown bridge in the Palk Strait connecting India and Sri Lanka. The bridge was named Adamov. Its length is almost 50 kilometers, and, according to some sources, it was a man-made structure.

Let's expand on this topic in more detail...

Strange Shoal

Hanuman is a revered monkey deity in Hinduism. Main character the ancient Indian epic Ramayana and its various versions

“...At the behest of Rama, the monkeys began to carry logs and stones for the bridge. Some carried logs, others carried stones, and others worked as carpenters. On the first day fourteen leagues were built, and on the fifth day the bridge was completed. It came out wide and strong. The monkey army crossed the ocean, Rama and Lakshmana were carried by Sugriva and Angada. Walking along the bridge, the monkeys jumped, soared into the air, and their screams were drowned out by the roar of the ocean...” (Myths of Buddhism and Hinduism, Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy)

Damn channel

On March 27, 2007, just on Rama's birthday, a group of international public organizations launched the Save Ram Sethu campaign. Since for Hindus the Rama Bridge is living proof of their ancient history, the construction that began touched the feelings of millions of believers. Campaigners also said the destruction of the bridge would destroy the entire local ecosystem. After all, to the northeast of the bridge there is the stormy and dangerous Polk Strait with its storms and cyclones, and to the southwest there is the calm Manara Bay with clear emerald-colored water.

The Rama Bridge separates them and mitigates the terrible effects of cyclones and tsunamis. Thus, according to scientists, the tsunami that hit India in 2004 and claimed tens of thousands of lives was significantly weakened by the Rama Bridge. Without this ancient “dam,” there could have been much more casualties. Thousands of people have signed the Save Ram Sethu appeal. Defenders of the bridge are proposing an alternative project: digging a canal along a large sandbank near the village of Mandapam. Whether they will be heard by the Indian government remains to be seen.

Facts show: the bridge is man-made

What seems strange, of course, is that the bridge is simply too wide for crossing troops, or anything else. But this is by modern standards. Here's what Alexander Volkov, director of the 2009 documentary film “Rama's Bridge,” says:

Rama Bridge on the ancient map of Ceylon from Ptolemy's atlas Photo: Wilfriedbluhm.de

In the area of the Rama Bridge between the islands there is an inexplicable and sharp rise in the bottom from a depth of 10–12 m to 1–0.5 m, so that you can walk across the bridge while in water noticeably waist-deep, and sail on small boats (only the strait between the cape Ramnad and Rameswar Island, the so-called Pambas Passage, is accessible to small vessels). The 30 km long bridge itself 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 the island of Mannar off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka.

18 km southeast of Rameswaram, on a long sand spit, the city of Dhanushkodi once stood, which was completely destroyed by a cyclone in 1964. After the cyclone, only one Kothandaraswami temple 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 flared up after the Indian government decided in 2001 to destroy the bridge and make the Palk Strait navigable, which would save 30 hours of sailing around the islands (approximately 400 km of journey). The canal here was proposed to be built back in 1850 by the Englishman, Commander Taylor, and in 1955 Jevaharlal Nehru wanted to implement this plan. But it is somehow unethical to destroy the sacred places of one’s own people, so the Indian government stated in the Supreme Court of India that there is no historical evidence of the construction of the bridge by Rama (Ramayana, although a holy book, does not count, of course).

Monkeys are building the Rama Bridge. Photo: Deathtrack.ru

On March 27, 2007, a group of international public organizations launched the SaveRamSethu (Save Rama Bridge) campaign to save the Rama Bridge (March 27th is Rama's birthday). For Hindus, the Rama Bridge is living proof of their ancient history, and the construction that began has touched the feelings of millions of believers.

Opponents of the construction also claim that the destruction of the bridge will affect the entire local ecosystem. On the northeastern side of the bridge is the stormy and dangerous Polk Bay with storms and cyclones. On the southwestern side is the calm Manara Bay with clear emerald-colored water. The Rama Bridge separates these two different bays and mitigates the terrible consequences of cyclones and tsunamis: according to scientists, the tsunami that hit 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 signed the SaveRamSethu appeal.

Defenders of the Rama Bridge are proposing to adopt another design for the canal route without damaging the ancient structure: digging it along a large sandbank near the village of Mandapam. Whether they will be heard by the Indian government remains to be seen, but the Madras High Court ruled in 2007 that the Rama Bridge is a man-made structure.

Images taken by the space agency NASA several years ago added fuel to the fire - they clearly showed the real bridge, although NASA experts said the images did not provide specific information about the origin or age of the island chain. But the Indian newspaper HindustanTimes reported that NASA images are proof of the reality of Indian legends.

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has examined the entire structure of the Rama Bridge. 100 wells were drilled in the area of the bridge, soil samples from which were carefully studied. Magnetic and bathymetric scanning was 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 collection 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 ranges from 3 to 5 m, and only then does solid ground begin. The presence of loose sand below the boulders apparently indicates that the ridge is not a natural formation, but is laid on top of sandy soil. Some of the boulders are so light that they can float on water.

It was also found that these land areas were not raised as a result of any geological processes and rather resemble a dam. A homogeneous material was discovered in the wells - limestone. The straight and orderly nature of the placement also suggests that these boulders were brought by someone and placed in the dam. Scientists' opinions, as usual, are divided regarding both the age and origin of the bridge. Well, reality is often hidden behind legends and myths, and Schliemann found Troy because, contrary to what scientists thought, he believed Homer!

Still, despite public protests, the Sethusamudram Corporation began construction work on the site of the future canal, but for unknown reasons, some dredgers were returned to the port due to breakdowns, and the teeth of the buckets were also broken. An unexpected storm for this time scattered the ships and prevented work from continuing. Hindu believers immediately declared that it was the Monkey King Hanuman who was protecting his creation.

Rama Bridge (RamasetuSetu or Setubandha) is translated from Sanskrit as an artificial embankment; in ancient sources and in the Ramayana it is also mentioned as the Nala Bridge and as the Sacred Dam, and in the Tamil version of the Ramayana an entire chapter is dedicated to the Sacred Dam. The construction of Rama's bridge is mentioned not only in the Ramayana, but also in all the Puranas (Indian holy books) and in the Mahabharata.

In the Schwarzberg atlas (p. 38) on a map of India for the period 1290–1390 AD. e. The Rama Bridge is referred to as Setubandha (Artificial Embankment) and has been well known to geographers and travelers for many centuries, and even Marco Polo (1254–1324) described it in his book IL MILIONE (The Million).

According to ancient maps, until 1480 the bridge was a pedestrian bridge and was entirely over water, and people walked across it from India to Sri Lanka, as confirmed by the ancient map of Ptolemy. The bridge was then destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami. After the earthquake, the bridge sank under water by about 1–1.2 m, and in one place a gap appeared in the bridge, which now must be overcome by swimming. There is another name for the bridge, which was used by the British who captured 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 along these shallows Adam then crossed to the mainland.

But not everyone will answer correctly and here is another answer to your question

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According to ancient Indian legend, King Rama built a bridge between India and Sri Lanka more than a million years ago. NASA satellite photos show formations resembling the remains of a bridge. The main question is - is it a natural formation or a creation of human hands? /epochtimes.ru/

Encyclopedia Britannica says it is a "network of sand banks" but also notes: "According to legend, these are the ruins of a great bridge built by Rama, the hero of the Hindu epic Ramayama, to facilitate passage for his army from India to Ceylon (Sri Lanka ) to rescue his kidnapped wife Sita. According to Muslim legend, Adam crossed this place to get to Ceylon. There, at the peak, he, repenting, stood on one leg for 1000 years.”

That's why this place is called Adam's Bridge. In India it is called Rama Setu or Ram Setu - in honor of King Rama. The truth about the origin of the bridge is shrouded in political and religious controversy. Some suggested demolishing the remains of the bridge to make room for a trade canal. But this proposal was condemned as heresy and an attack on ancient heritage.

Man-made version

Dr. Badrinarayanan, Former Director, Geological Society of India and Former Research Coordinator National Institute oceanology in Chennai, studied a drill sample at the bridge site.

He told Rediff magazine what they found in the samples taken at a depth of 10m: “There was sea sand on top and a mixture of coral, limestone and pebbles underneath. Surprisingly, at a depth of 4-5 meters we again discovered sand, and underneath it - hard rock."

The researcher was puzzled by the appearance of pebbles on top of a layer of sea sand. He concluded that the pebbles were placed there artificially.

The Ramayana states the dimensions of the bridge as 100 yojanas in length and 10 yojanas in width. One yojana is approximately equal to 8 km. This means that the bridge had an incredible length. The ruins that have survived to this day are much smaller, but their ratio exactly corresponds to the figures from the Ramayana.

Bharath Gyan, a group of researchers of traditional Indian culture, notes that the ratio of 10:1 (length to width) corresponds to the parameters of the bridge. Its length is approximately 35 kilometers and its width is 3.5 km. Of course, in its current state the bridge is not uniform: in some places it is wider, in others it is narrower.

Nature education version

Although Dr Badrinarayanan noted the strange arrangement of rock layers in the drill sample, some scientists believe there is an explanation.

Suvrat Kher, a geologist specializing in marine formations, offered the following explanation: “During the Pleistocene ice age, the formation and melting of glaciers led to fluctuations in sea levels of tens of meters. This allowed a layer of coral and sand banks to form. During the severe drop in sea level in the Pleistocene, a land bridge may have formed between India and Sri Lanka. But at the end of the last Wisconsin glaciation, global sea levels rose again.”

Adam's Bridge. Photo: NASA

The scientist says that coral reefs sometimes grow upward and are broken off by waves. Debris falls and accumulates at the bottom. Sand mounds are washed over these deposits. In his opinion, the formation of such unusual layers could have occurred without human intervention.

Dating

In 2007, when new satellite photos of Adam's Bridge emerged, the Indian People's Party announced that NASA had determined the formation to be 1.7 million years old. This date corresponds to Hindu legends, which speak of four eras of mankind, in one of which Rama lived.

NASA spokesman Michael Braukus denied the Indian People's Party's statement, saying he was not aware of radiocarbon dating of the site. Some reports suggest that 1.7 million years is the age of the land at the end of Adam's Bridge, not the bridge itself.

Indian scientific institutions, including the Center for Remote Sensing at Bharathidasan University, believe that Adam's Bridge was formed 3500-5000 years ago.

Dr. Badrinarayanan determined the age of the rocks from the sample studied. It ranged from 4000 to 5800 years.

Critics argue that dating any part of the structure (such as coral reef samples) does not provide accurate information about the age of the bridge as a whole.

Illustration of the legend of the construction of Rama Setu (Adam's Bridge) by an army of monkeys. Unknown artist, 1850. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The Ramayana says that the bridge was built on a wooden base, which was installed on pre-existing natural formations, and lined with large and small stones. Proponents of the man-made version of the bridge say that it is difficult to distinguish it from a natural formation due to constant destruction over many centuries.