The 26 km, Rs 2,800 crore Sethusamudram canal project has become a political hot potato. Cleared by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government, the BJP and its front organisations are opposing the destruction of the “Ram Sethu”, a bridge they believe was built by Lord Ram‘s monkey brigade to reach Lanka to save Sita from Ravana. BJP claims carbon-dating by NASA proves the bridge is 1.7 million years old. But the company building the bridge, using the same NASA data, shows that there is no tangible proof of the claim of a man-made structure in the area.
Opponents of the project want the canal re-aligned. Supporters of the project, including the DMK government of M. Karunanidhi, say religious sentiments are being whipped up to stall the project which could prove to be a boon in helping shifts pass between the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. The Madras High Court has refused to stay the project but has asked the Centre if any archaelogical study was undertaken to establish the veracity of the bridge or lack thereof. The project chief has been mysteriously transferred.
Questions: Was there a Ram Sethu or is it a figment of the mythological imagination? Is the BJP indulging in doublespeak after having okayed the project? Is the opposition to the project purely political? Should religious sentiments be taken into consideration while taking up projects of this nature?
Related links: Ram or Sethu?
BJP is probably dancing with Mary Jane. Carbon dating a bridge? Do they even know what carbon dating is? And since when did NASA get into the carbon dating business?
What I have seen are satellite pictures supposedly taken by NASA that shows a thin strip of land between Sri Lanka and India. It is probably a natural feature similar to the ones seen in the Florida Keys or the innumerable other semi-submerged natural bridges around the world.
> BJP claims carbon-dating by NASA proves the bridge is 1.7 million years old.
Even if NASA’s carbon dating project is true, did humans or monkeys exist 1.7 million years ago? Or only the Gods roamed this earth then :)
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070508/asp/nation/story_7747873.asp
Its unpublished report, of which The Telegraph has a copy, says the naturally formed corals in Lakshadweep, the Andamans or the nearby Gulf of Mannar grow vertically from a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.”
There are very good ecological reasons not to proceed with the project. The loss to fishermen could far outweigh any gains in time made by ships taking the shorter route.
The BJP would be better off making a strong emotional argument (like they did with Ayodhya), than a pseudo-science argument that few people know of, and less people buy.
Even I had many doubts on this project but the below link solved many of them, if you keep aside the religious sentiments, then even ecologically this projects is not feasible.
Link: http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/31slid1.htm
Forget the setu for now.
Recently there was a report over NDTV about the profitability of this project. As per the report a study was conducted by eminet scientists and it was said that it will a white elephent to go ahed with this project. This Sethusamudram canal project may be of no use after some years as many shiping agencies have refused to use this rout as it would be very costly and not deep enough. Is it worth spending so much of public money on this project when is of no use. Only purpose will be for our polititions can make plenty of money during the implimentation.
Can somebody enlighten us about his.
I think one should read the interview given in rediff.com (http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/31slid1.htm). I agree that NASA has not done the carbon dating. Some people are making use of name of NASA. However, the above mentioned interview describes why it should not be destroyed. Please go through.
I suggest a deeper dredge so that there wont be any motivation to join Tamil Eelam with Tamil Nadu in future!
If this is “ram sethu” – then why did the “kar sevaks” in NDA gave the go-ahead?
With both brown and blue water naval capabilities, it makes lot of strategic sense to have shipping routes all along the coast.
Ed – you missed one more link.
http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/33813.html
Nilagriva has an interesting post about this issue. It even has a link to a podcast by Kalyanaraman, the archeologist who studied the Ramasetu.
Even if we accept the ludicrous theory that ‘Ram Sethu’ was man made, what’s wrong with dredging it to built a canal? Don’t we move Temples to build highways?
what is different is that marine ecosystems are more sensitive to perturbations and impact of such perturbations is not fully understood. benign changes in shipping policies have had serious repercussions to even inland water bodies like lakes that are not navigated in america. neither do they fully understand how it happened, nor can they do anything to control it.
once we have damaged something in the waters there is no way to recreate it.
This project is economically and environmentally not feasible.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070019038&ch=7/15/2007%2011:50:00%20PM
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20070615&filename=croc&sec_id=10&sid=1
tarlesubba,
i’m undecided on the ecological questions on the canal. but surely I don’t see any logic behind ‘Ram bakhts’ protesting against the project.
i am of the opinion that in ecological matters, if one is undecided then it better to err on the side of caution. if it is taking time to travel, then it might be possible to engineer faster ships if not today then tomorrow, but there is no way to undo the environmental damage ever.
ram bhakt issue is a matter of a benign belief even if strongly held. it has no negative consequences on any aspect of our lives barring this. oth it can be argued that staus quo has many benefits.
yeah they will demolish devalaya to make roads, but they will not touch arivalaya to broaden mount road. arivalaya on the other hand is in violation of TN housing board’s byelaws.
Dear All,
Please keep your ‘secular’ cheddis on! Oh BTW do expect some blow back if you continue to insinuate that these Ram Bakhts are putting on a ‘fundoo’ freak show for the likes of you:)
talking of logic, a nida fazli has these…
do aur do ka joD hamesha chaar kaha hota hein?
soch samajh walon ko thoDi naadaani de maula.
Assume that Ram Sethu was part of islamic mythology where the story was that the prophet crossed the SriLanka through Ram Sethu. Would any one including Thiru Karanunanidhi dare to say anything about it?
So all we Hindus should maintain same intellectual standards as Islamic bigots right? Ram bhaktas have been doing that for decades.
Why should not Taj Mahal be converted into a shopping complex? Is there any proof that that ShahJahan loved his wife so much and built it in here memory?
Ranga,
You have hit the nail on its head. In that case, the PM would have used a bugle or a trumpet to announce to the whole world that he has lost sleep.
“Eminent” gems like Arundati roy, Baragur, URA etc would have cried hoarse about not caring the sensitivity of the community..forget the ecological sensitivity! not to forget the over zealous media
Why do you want a poll? because it is related to a Hindu belief? and what purpose will the poll serve?
Pls by all means change all the Ramanagarams back to Ramnagara, but it is arivalayam not arivalaya.
…in the name of GOD, if my eco-system is protected…SO BE IT!
Friends,
On such an issue we will be better off keeping political statements away and not be bogged down by what Karunanadhi said about the “north Indian fundamentalist conspiracy” or what the BJP said. Let us try to weigh the options in an unbiased manner; below are some of my views.
1. We all know what a tsunami can do to us. As renowned tsunami experts have pointed out- When nature has given us a structure to protect ourselves against the tsunami does it make sense to upset it? Would you be happy if another tsunami strikes and adds Kerala to its victim list this time…….remember the ridge has played a great role of minimizing the affects of tsunami on Kerala.
2. The Taj corridor yielded a lot of money but was something that would disturb the world’s wonder. The issue exploded to such an extent that Mayavati landed in the CBI net because of this case. Similarly the large number of factories around Taj were forced to relocate or close down in spite of providing employment to the local population. Majority of India is content with the fact that economic benefits can be sacrificed to some extent for the sake of historical monuments. Moral of the story – economic development is not the only thing in the world we care about.
3. The river linking project promises to be the only and lasting solution to the “flood-drought” problem across our country. The project is at least a few hunderd times bigger than the setusumadram project and the benefits from the project are immense (I will not go into the details as that is a separate topic in itself). But just because the govt doesnt have adequate expertise to analyze its after affects, the initiative has not seen the light of the day. Does this fact bring home to us that geoloical considerations are sometimes more important than economic development? Why doesnt the govt apply the same standards in this case?
4. If it is a matter of saving Rs.1000 crore/year for India, I am for it any day, but not at the cost of the stability of the ridge. The govt needs to investigate if there is some way they can avoid the destruction of the structure.
5. Try convincing the French to sell the Eiffel Tower to feed the hungry or try telling the Chinese that the demolition of the Great Wall of China can enhance trade between the two countries. If these prepositions seem rediculous then what about the destruction of the Rama Sethu?
6. Moreover we Indians are more loyal than the king when it comes to protecting Muslim and Christian sentiments, but Hindu sentiments are taken for granted. Unless the govt and society realize this fact there can not be true good will among communities. Why this eagerness to destroy the Rama Sethu and at the same time giving political patronage to Benny Hinn and justifying M.F.Hussain’s paintings?
Answers and counter-questions supported with facts are most welcome!
Regards,
Tushar
2800 crore rs is 7 billion $ isnt it? Isnt that a giganormous figure by any standards?
It is shame on hindus who are not able oppose such brutal attack.I beg all hindus to oppose this project and protect hinduism.
Be united and repond to attack on hinduism every time, this wil protect the unique culture in the world .
Let pople in future know that a religion called hinduism exists atleast.
Regards,
Ram
This is an attack by christian community on other religions, whcih is a shameless religion and always attacks and converts pople into ints religion.it doesn’t repect other religions and it has reponsibility to protect all culture across the world.
I wish pope reliase this truth.
If there is one true GOD and he is a HINDU then who are MUSLIMS and CHRISTIANS?
Does this mean that there are 2 or more GODS?
If not then why the hatred towards MUSLIMS and CHRISTIANS?
Is this something like CASTISM on a RELIGIOUS basis?
any answers?
I find Tushar’s mail interesting.
1. Being somewhat an insider there are some truths in some comments which are against the dredging operations. The economics of ecological and other income loss alongwith maintenance cost may overrun the little savings
2. We do not have direct proof of God but have temples, Churches, Mosques, Gurdwara, etc built for HIM. These we do not question. Demolishing any of these historical structure is bound to have repurcassions. So belief is a belief which should be respected
3. Till last century, Indian history was upto 1000 BC. After Harappa was discovered, it went to 3000 BC. Now we have discovered another site in Gulf of Cambay and it has taken our history back by another 5000 years to 8000 to 13000 BC. So our knowledge is limited by what we found. There are millions of years before that, which we did not discover yet. Government of India is not eager to explore the region – may be to safeguard the Western opinion of our history !!!!
4. Our history has been guided by Westerners who had vested interests also. The epics and the puranas may have been history to the inhabitants in the 8000-13000 BC era !!!. May be – may be not. But we do not know. So the verdict cannot be that there was no one called Ram
5. Scientifically, I would like have a coring done for the entire depth of the Ram sethu and get the analysis result. Compare the result with another core sample on the side of it.
Whether or not the Ramar sethu is linked to the mythology, unbiased analysis needs to be done taking everything into account and not driven by short term populistic agenda
We Indians need to be proud of the greatest philosophy what we have inherited. It is the backbone of the greatest harmonial living on earth which does not have any example near to it. Let this philosophy live through our belief and Hinduism.
PEOPLE OF 1000S OF YEARS AGO WERE BRAINLESS ….ARE WE BRAINLESS IN THIS 21ST CENTURY AND BELIEVE THAT RAMA OR RAMASETHU EVER EXISTED???
NO WAY.
CLOSE THE RAMASETHU CHAPTER AND GO AHEAD WITH THE PROJECT WHICH IS USEFUL FOR HUMANITY.
No matter what is being posted, it all boils down to the law of averages. Lord SriRam lives in the hearts and minds of more than let’s say by conservative estimates, atleast 60% of us Indians. That’s a huge huge number. Science, research and its ramifications have only been able to unravel a mere less than 1% of what may be real. Nobody knows what’s real. Everyone just tries to sound smarter. If logic can be applied so easily, then why is there a furore over this issue even after 1000+ years of Islamic oppression, 500+ years of British colonization and 20+ years of IT revolution. Ultimately we all have to go with the flow. Chances of banging your head against a rock and hoping that the rock will break is in all probability < than 0.0001%. So wake up and be smarter and moreover understand the importance of numbers!
Are we not losing sight of the actual import of what the Ramayana and “Sri Rama” and “Sri Sita” represent ?
Sri Rama and Sri Sita embody and carry the message of goodness, kindness, truth, honour, self respect and the importance of family. Does this message lose it authenticity or importance for the human psychi simply because Sri Rama or Sri Sita may be either historical or mythological figures ? Or does their message become any less meaningful because the Rama Sethu is or is not the bridge referred to in the Ramayana ?
Are politicians and commercial lobbyists with hidden agendas once again clouding minds and sentiment by disguising environmental issues with the cloak of human religious sentiment so that we the people win for them a political victory ? And in the name of whom – for Sri Rama who himself is the protector of all ?
Sincerely
GL
PS – There is so much evidence quoted by persons on both sides – scientific evidence, ancient texts, ancient maps ( see more links for these maps etc at http://world.worrylistener.com/2007/09/21/sri-ram-is-a-drunkard-the-rama-sethu-controversy/#more-6)
I AM A STUDENT AND SWYAM SEVEK OF RSS.I WANT TO PASS ONE COMENT.THE GOVERNMENT SAVING THE TIGERS.WHY? BECAUSE IT IS A HERITAGE OF INDIA AND IT IS GOING TO END.
ACCORDING TO IT,SHRI RAM SETU IS ALSO A HERITAGE IT IS NOT GOING TO END BUT SOMEBODY WANTS ITS END.ACCORDING TO ABOVE CONCEPT THE GOVERNMENT HAVE TO SAVE THE SHRI RAM SETU.
TODAY IN THE MARKET THE TWO RUPEE COIN WITH CROSS, IT IS THE PLAN OF ITLY (POP`S) GOVERNMENT. WHICH IS NOT RIGHT.
Not Sure who the Author is……..
A BRIDGE TOO FAR
The Lord surveyed the Ram Setu and said “Hanuman, how diligently and strenuously you and your vanara sena had built this bridge several centuries back. It is remarkable that it has withstood the ravages of the climatic and geographical changes over centuries. It is indeed an amazing feat especially considering the fact that a bridge at Hyderabad built by Gammon using latest technology collapsed the other day even before they could stick the posters on its pillars.”
Hanuman with all humility spoke “Jai Sri Ram, it is all because of your grace. We just scribbled your name on the bricks and threw them in the sea and they held. No steel from TISCO or cement from Ambuja or ACC was ever used. But Lord, why rake up the old issue now.”
Ram spoke “Well, Hanuman some people down there want to demolish the bridge and construct a canal. The contract involves lot of money and lot of money will be made. They will make money on demolition and make more money on construction. ”
Hanuman humbly bowed down and said “Why not we go down and present our case”
Ram said “Times have changed since we were down there. They will ask us to submit age proof and we don’t have either a birth certificate or school leaving certificate. We traveled mainly on foot and some times in bullock carts and so we don’t have a driving license either. As far as the address proof is concerned the fact that I was born at Ayodhya is itself under litigation for over half a century, If I go in a traditional attire with bow and arrow, the ordinary folks may recognize me but Arjun Singh may take me to be some tribal and, at the most, offer a seat at IIT under the reserved category. Also, a God cannot walk in dressed in a three-piece suit and announce his arrival. It would make even the devotees suspicious. So it is dilemma so to say.”
“I can vouch for you by saying that I personally built the bridge.”
“My dear, Anjani putra, it will not work. They will ask you to produce the lay-out plan, the project details, including financial outlay and how the project cost was met and the completion certificate. Nothing is accepted without documentary evidence in India. You may cough but unless a doctor certifies it, you have no cough. A pensioner may present himself personally but the authorities do not take it as proof. He has to produce a life-certificate to prove that he is alive. It is that complicated.”
“Lord can’t understand these historians. Over the years you have given darshan once every hundred years to saints like Surdas, Tulsidas, Saint Thyagaraja, Jayadeva, Bhadrachala Ramdas and even Sant Tukaram and still they disbelieve your existence and say Ramayana is a myth. The only option, I see, is to re-enact Ramayana on earth and set the government records straight once for all.”
Lord smiled “It isn’t that easy today. Ravan is apprehensive that he may look like a saint in front of Karunanidhi. I also spoke to his mama Mareecha, who appeared as a golden deer to tempt Sita maiyya when I was in the forest and he said that he won’t take a chance of stepping on earth as long as Salman Khan is around.”
” What I have seen are satellite pictures supposedly taken by NASA that shows a thin strip of land between Sri Lanka and India. It is probably a natural feature similar to the ones seen in the Florida Keys or the innumerable other semi-submerged natural bridges around the world. ” by gokulam
This natural feature makes more sense to build a brigde there by Lord Ram and his troops. ( darwin evolution thoery states that some man groups were monkeys at first, and slowly evoling , in the time of Ram we see this evidence ) AND NOTE DARWIN WASNT A HINDUSTANI.
Thus Ram would have completed the brigde with great ease. (every year the ocean rises abt 3cm, take this back to those times to get an idea of the landscape.)
…and for those non believers, ” YOU dont believe in Ram ( God) but you believe in Satan? ” kshatriya kajan lakhan
Science has not been able to tell me what happens when a body dies….. but my scriptures have!
wawaweewa…evolutionary theory supported by Ramayana. Atleast one religion not asking for Darwin’s head :)
Lakhan – your understanding of evolutionary theory is very simplistic and foolish, even to start refuting it. Please go through the below resource to get a grasp of it. – http://richarddawkins.net/
No. …I have correct Zakir Naik, he says Islam is part of Hindusium. …he may be right, every religion and science did copy the vedas. …aBhai i wil leave u to read darwin…
***
‘Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. He was the British naturalist who became famous for his theories of evolution and natural selection. Like several scientists before him, Darwin believed all the life on earth evolved (developed gradually) over millions of years from a few common ancestors. ‘ from charlesdarwin.net …these common ancestors are also mentioned in the vedas ( 5000 BC ) . …i dont no their names… I woNder if darwin and those 7 other scientist read some vedas, and taken ideas from the It?
Just like Hitler did. After all this long debate(were i won abhai ;) ) …My point is that science and men of Power(of every religion) have SECRETLY used the Vedas
To uplift themselves, Why dont we Acknowledge Ram Setu And then build a biggest brigde the world has ever see on top of RaM Setu, and then build a canal for the ships. And the bridge cAn open for ships at certain times. Thus a win win FOR both sides. Now people, Lord Kalki (Lord Vishnu LAST AVITAR ) may use this brigde we build. As u know that India and China are in competitioN. There wil come a time when these two nations would fight, kalki leads the pure indians ( moslim,christain jew and hindu etc) against Jin