The promo of an upcoming show on Discovery Communications-owned Science Channel, has made the claims that the Ram Setu bridge between India and Sri Lanka was not formed naturally but it is man-made, and if these claims are true, they can prove to be one of the biggest discoveries in recent times about the much talked about Ram Setu.
The Show called ‘What on Earth’ will air the episode called Ancient Land Bridge on the Science channel. The promo of the show has given out plenty of details already, in the promo American geologists and scientist are seen talking about the bridge and explaining how it could be man-made.
This discovery certainly puts its weight behind the Hindu mythological text in Ramayana that claimed that Lord Ram built the Ram Setu Bridge to travel to Sri Lanka. However, the promo does not state when the promo will be aired.
Are the ancient Hindu myths of a land bridge connecting India and Sri Lanka true? Scientific analysis suggests they are. #WhatonEarth pic.twitter.com/EKcoGzlEET
— Science Channel (@ScienceChannel) December 11, 2017
Sethusamudram shipping canal project
It acquired political prominence when the Indian government planned the Sethusamudram shipping canal project, meant to create a shipping route through the Gulf of Munnar. Ships that currently sail from the West coast of India bound for the eastern hemisphere currently have to circumnavigate Sri Lanka because the Gulf of Munnar is shallow and cannot be used by ships. The Sethusamudram project aims to reduce the distance the ships have to travel.
The News18 report said that this would reduce the distance between India’s west and east coasts by about 350 nautical miles, saving about 10-30 hours of sailing time. A bridge would also add to India’s exchequer through shipping fees, it was felt.
However, doing so would damage the Adam’s Bridge section of the maritime border between India and Sri Lanka. The matter reached the Supreme Court, with several petitions challenging the government’s plan of dredging the Ram Setu to construct its shipping channel.
To resolve this dispute, the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) was tasked with researching if the chain of islands were man-made or historic, said a report on The Telegraph. The BJP, which was in the Opposition at the time the project was first conceived, had been opposing it citing people’s beliefs that Lord Ram created the path to reach Lanka to rescue Sita and that the islets should be protected.
In March this year, ICHR chairman Y Sudershan Rao said their research could influence the government’s plans for the future of the Sethusamudram project. “We will look for material confirmation on whether it was a natural phenomenon or some human efforts were there,” Rao was quoted as saying in the report.
The problem, however, Rao said, is that there was a “dark period” in history — between 4th Millennium BC and the 1st Millennium BC, and that they were trying to analyse this period in greater depth.
