Adam’s Bridge (Rama

Setu):
Adam’s Bridge which is
commonly we called as
Rama Setu. The bridge is
30 miles long and
separates the Gulf of
Mannar from the Palk
Strait. The sea in this area
is very shallow which is
being 1m to 10m deep in
the places. There are
some controversies
regarding with this Rama
Setu and one of them is
its structure. Some people said that the bridge’s structure is natural while others including
former Geological survey of India director S.Badrinaryanan claims that this structure is
man made. The Madras high court, the highest court of law in Tamil Nadu (the state
declaired the bridge is man-made.

The bridge is located at the place called as Dhanushkodi which is nothing

but the tip of the Rameswaram in India while it ends at Mannar in Srilanka. This bridge is
made up of floating stones. References of these places have been found in Ramayana.
The scientific age of determination of the structure is also in the question. But the
professor S. M. Ramasamy said that the age of the Rama’s bridge could only be 3,500
years. After carbon dating of the beaches it has been found that it matches with the dates
of Ramayana.

Hindus believe that this bridge was built by the Rama which is one of incarnation of Lord
Vishnu to rescue his wife Sita who was abducted to Lanka by Ravana, as mentioned in
the Ramayana.
 Adam's Bridge seen from above the Mannar island, Sri Lanka

This is something very interesting that the beach sand of the Adam’s bridge is rich in
heavy minerals like Thorium. As well as it is a natural habitat for some rare corals. Also it
has been found that Rama’s bridge might have acted as a protection wall during Tsunami
disaster occurred in 2004.

The govt. of India has approved a

multi-million dollar
Sethusamudram Shipping Canal
Project to create a ship channel by
dredging the shallow ocean floor
near Dhanushkodi. However some
political parties and Hindus
organizations oppose this dredging
of the Rama’s bridge. As this
destruction may creates impact on
ecology of that area, potential loss
of the Thorium deposits as well as
increase in the risk of tsunamis.