Adam’s bridge in India! What? Well! Why not? You know what, I can bet that you also heard about the bridge before. The bridge I am talking about is the same bridge that is known as ram setu or Rama’s bridge. Along with the coast of Southeastern India a chain of shoals can be found connecting the island Sri Lanka and to India Rameswaram. NASA satellites passed over the Indian ocean in 2012 May. The image analyst of NASA Marc D’Antonio mentioned that a long string of pearl can be seen between two islands. The most compelling and interesting finding is that Rocks can be found in this same area of the ocean. When I saw the satellite picture I was totally amazed. The connection between India and Sri Lanka can be easily seen as well as identified by anyone. You don’t have to be a NASA specialist or a professional scientist to actually recognize Adam’s bridge.
The Rama Setu is separated northeast Palk Strait and Southwest Gulf of Manner. The total length of the bridge is 48 kilometre. The depth of the shoals are 1 to 10 meters deep, some of the sandbanks are totally dry. This tremendously hinders the navigation activity. Let me tell you another shocking fact! If you are in the 15th century you can actually walk through this bridge. But unfortunately, storms depend on the channel and now you cannot walk through the Rama Setu bridge. The bridge was totally above the ocean level till 1480 but a cyclone broke the channel.
Legends and stories regarding the bridge
If you are an Indian and you saw the satellite picture of the ram Setu you will definitely be reminded of Ramayana. But wait this is not it! The bridge is also known as Adam’s bridge. But why? Let’s dig into the path of facts and legends! Sri Lanka as well as the bridge is sacred for four religions; Hindu, Muslims, Christian and Buddhist. “Adam’s Bridge” is the name thought to be given by the East India Company. But there is a reason for that! The highest peak in Sri Lanka known as Adam’s Peak or Sri Pada. In this area a large footprint approximately 2 feet and 6 inches in length, can be found. In the case of Adam’s footprint, the legend says that the footprint was created by the first man on Earth aka Adam. According to the prophet, Muhammad Adam was felt to Earth along with Eve in this place. Few people say that the momentum of Adam’s fall from Heaven to earth was so strong that it created the footprint there.
Other people say that Adam was 90 feet tall. Creating a footprint by a large man like Adam is not impossible. Hindu believed that the footprint was made by Lord Shiva, On the other hand, Buddhist believed that the footprint is actually made by Lord Buddha thus the place is known as Sri Pada. Keep on reading because you are about to discover more shocking legends and facts in this blog! Do you know there is also a legend regarding the shape of the island Sri Lanka? Did you ever observe the shape of the land and think maybe the shape is quite similar to the shape of a teardrop. There is actually a legend present regarding this.
In the Quran, it is said 25 times that when Adam is taken out of paradise, he cried a lot because he was placed on the earth without Eve. And Sri Lanks is the Island where Adam was first placed. Thus the island took the shape of a teardrop. Eve was placed in Saudi Arabia. Adam tried to reach Eve but crossing the Arabian Sea is not possible even for a 90 feet long man. Thus he thought to use land instead of water.
This is the place where Adam’s bridge came into the scene. The bridge between India and Sri Lanka was made by Adam thus it is known as Adam’s bridge according to Christian and Muslim religion. Now come to the legendary story of Ramayana. The epic says, the protagonist Ram commanded monkey companions to build the Setu. The monkey engineers faced a challenging situation. The stone was not able to float on the water. Then they wrote the name ram on each of the stones and magically they started to float. Floating stones can still be found around Rameswaram.
Is it a man-made bridge or a natural bridge?
Now the question is the bridge is made by man or nature? Well! To be honest! It is a still debatable question with no constructive answer. But in this blog, we will be discussing some of the aspects,
- Scientists carbon-dated the rock and they are perfectly synchronized with the time of Ramayana which is 5000BCE.
- Science also claimed that the stones are basically pumice stones which are popularly known as volcanic rock. Few volcanic rocks can float on the water due to their low density. But the theory is highly declined with scientific research. No volcano can be found near Rameswaram. There is no record found about the presence of volcanoes in these areas. How did pumice stones appear there?
- Analysis of stones also revealed that the stones found in the area are not at all light weighted as the rocks that are found in the Rameswaram.
- On the other hand, a geographical character mentioned that Sri Lanka and India were once the same lands 65 million years ago. It can be possible that when Sri Lanka and India separated from each other a small mass of land connection remained. However, the scientific examination provides that the age of the bridge is not as old as the separation