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Jul 071('
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Introduction
The above image are the satellite photographs of the Palk Straight – The ocean passage between South India and Sri lanka. The ocean floor here is shallow and is not navigable and so no ships navigate via this region. All ships which want to move from western world to the eastern world or vice versa via the Indian ocean currently take a longer route of going around the country of sri lanka. Even the ships of India which have to move between the western and Indian coastlines of India take this longer route of going around Srilanka.
The Project
Now, the government of India has come up with a project (in fact it is a project which was suggested long back during the British age itself, but has reached the definitive stages of implementation only now), called the Sethu Samudram Project.
The intentions of the project are good. To remove a silt of about 48 million cubic meters in the palk straight at a cost of Rs 2,427 Crore (24,270 million), and create a channel 167 km long to make the sea in this region navigable. This will shorten the distance between the east and west coasts by about 780 km for the ships! They no longer will have to take the longer route around Srilanka. This will also be a source of greater financial income to India as all international shipment now can pass through the Indian seas in this region with the benefit of this shorter distance, saving about 30 hours of time!
This new canal construction is also said to increase the Naval security of India due to the obvious reasons of making the connections between western and eastern naval sectors of India shorter and easier and more importantly independent of dependency on Srilanka!
Ancient India
Now a bit about ancient India. The ancient Indian text Ramayana talks about a bridge being built in the seas of Palk Straight by the then king Rama of North India who wanted to take an army to the kingdom of Srilanka. This bridge is said to have been built from Dhanushkodi, a place in South Indian coastal region near the sea facing Srilanka, to Mannar in Srilanka.
Satellite Photographs
The satellite photographs at the top of this article are of the Palk Straight. Clearly visible to a naked human eye can be seen a line connecting the main land of India to Srilanka in these photographs. This is exactly at the same place where Ramayana talks about a bridge being constructed by Rama and his army to cross over into Srilanka. It is visible from Dhanushkodi of India to Mannar in Northwest Srilanka and is about 48 kilometers long.
Controversy
The Hindus call this bridge Ram Sethu and is a sacred structure for them since it is mentioned in their ancient texts. The proposed Sethu Samudram project is going to destroy this structure. It is a different question as to whether this is a man made or god made or natural structure. (Well, for a hindu everything natural is God made!). The issue here is that this project in its current proposed format is definitely going to destroy this structure. The controversy is that do we need to have economic progress at the cost of our cultural heritage? In this materialistic world some people might look at everything in terms of money. But the spiritual center of the world, the Indian masses don’t look at it that way.
Let me make it clear, it is totally a different question as to whether this bridge is man made or is it a natural formation, the answer for that question has to come from a thorough unbiased scientific investigation by a committee of national and international experts on the subject. The need to save this structure is that it has been mentioned in the ancient texts and hence definitely is of a cultural value and has historical significance.
Man made or Natural?
Before going deep into any related scientific evidence of whether it is man made or natural, let us see what common sense says. Can a natural formation so precise as 100 m occur all across the way from Indian to srilankan coast line? Is there any other such geological landmark on this planet? How did this happen? What is the scientific evidence for a natural formation like this?
Or if it is not natural, then what is the scientific evidence that this is a man made construction? If it is mad made, then the material which this bridge is made up of should not have its origin in the seas.
Here is what the Department of Earth Science of the Government of India has to say about it
The Geological logging of the bore holes drilled in the inter tidal areas of Ram Sethu reveals very interesting details. In all the bore holes the top portion is seen to be occupied by recent marine sands. In almost of all the boreholes between 4.5 and 7.5m the borehole intersected hard formations, which have been found to be calcareous sand stones and corals. It is to be pointed out here that Corals are comparatively less dense, compact and somewhat easy to carry.The Corals normally grow atop compact to hard formations for the purpose of stability, and as the sea level rises, the Coral colony grows up vertically to maintain water depth of 1 to 2 m, which is essential for their survival. In the case of Ram Sethu area, we observe that the Coral formations hardly occur 1 to 2.5m in length and resting on loose marine sands. Most of these coral rock pieces are seem to be rounded pebbles of corals. These things appear to point these coral rock pieces and pebbles have been transported and placed in these areas. Since the calcareous sand stones and Corals are less dense than 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 Ram Sethu ridge and this is analogous to modern day causeway.
In support of these observations there are many archaeological and geoarchaeological evidences on the south east coast of India around Rameswaram, Tuticorin and the western coast of Sri Lanka. There are raised Teri formations that supported a rich assemblage of mesolithicmicrolithic tools indicating the presence of strong human habitation and activity in these areas as early as 6000 to 7000 years BCE and as recent as 2000 years BCE. On Sri Lanka side there are indications of human habitation extending to late Pleistocene (about 11,000 BCE) based on bone and fossils of human and animal form. All these point to a flourishing human activity on both side of Adams Bridge and probably when the sea levels were just right the link between India and Sri Lanka could have been established.
Arguments
The very first argument in favor of a man made bridge is the ancient references to this structure in the ancient texts of India.
Then comes the nature of the structure. Can natural accumulation be so precise? Look at the photograph again. It defies common sense to say it is natural unless and until one is extremely biased for whatever reasons OR unless one provides a very concrete scientific evidence of how it occurred. Not just use some pseudo-scientific language like It is natural sand and coral formation. From where, why so precise? Did the corals decide to build a bridge?
Some people argue that it is not a real bridge. Well, yes, nobody is saying that Rama had built a concrete bridge like we build today, a real motor-able bridge with supporting pillars etc. Even ancients texts say that this bridge was built using sand and rock boulders! Rocks from the mountains were transported to the construction site using machines says the original text valmiki ramayana
Hastimaatraan mahaakaayaah paashaanaamshacha mahaabalaah parvataamshcha samutpaatya yantraih parivahanti cha 2-22-58, Valmiki Ramayana
which means Vaanara with huge bodies and mighty strength uprooted the elephant sized rocks and mountains and transported them using machinery!Let me be frank. Till I saw this photograph and realized that this was a shallow sea between India and Srilanka where Rama is said to have built the bridge, I was thinking that the bridge is actually a myth. My thought was how can once construct a bridge across a sea by a few thousand people throwing sand and rock boulders into the sea water?
But now on looking at the photograph and realizing that it is a shallow sea and not a narrow straight, it doesn’t really seem like an impossible task to do one such construction. Note that as per the ancient texts, the bridge was said to have been built not as a permanent structure to connect the two lands, but only to serve one single two-way journey for an invading army from India into Srilanka.
Some people say that the ancient Indian texts are nothing but a mythology. Well, anybody who says this I must say, either
- has not read these ancient Indian texts (look at some of the scientific explanations in these ancient texts in other parts of this blog) OR
- is totally prejudiced in believing what he believes than in what it is OR
- has no general knowledge and is not aware about the recent archaeological findings. For instance, earlier they thought the story in Mahabharatha of Dwaraka being flooded by the seas after the war was a myth, until the ancient city of Dwaraka was found submerged in the seas of Gujarat. They used to say that the river Saraswathi mentioned in these ancient texts was a myth, unless dried up river bed of this river was discovered in North India.
My question is what if we today destroy this Ram Sethu, the bridge, and then tomorrow find a proof that this was indeed a man made construction? Will we get back the bridge, by paying all the money that India has earned by destroying this bridge? Can the lost heritage be brought back?
According to one Oceanographer, the construction of the Sethu Samudram Channel may also increase the risk of tsunamis on the coasts of South India as this shallow water has been protecting the calm sea on this side of the Gulf of Mannar from the wild sea of Bay of Bengal! See this article .
Another issue is that the world’s 30% Thorium reserves are found in the coasts of Kerala. Exposing the Kerala coastline to the rough sea will wash away most of this Thorium into the sea! The fast breeder Thorium based nuclear reactors that Indian scientists are trying to build are based on the fact that we have these large deposits of Thorium which we can use to remove our dependency on other countries like USA and Austrialia for nuclear fuel like Uranium to our nuclear reactors. What will be the result if this monumental blunder project washes away all our Thorium reserves? Will the project be an economic gain then? Even if the Thorium deposits don’t get washed away immediately, the next tsunami in this region will definitely take most Thorium with it into the sea!
It has to be noted that this narrow straight and shallow waters and Ram Sethu is what saved the shores of Kerala from a major disaster during the December 2004 Tsunami!
Awareness
It is interesting to observe that be it Ram Sethu, or the Dwaraka in the seas, etc it is always that the western science, researchers, archaelogists, etc that have been telling the Indians, see here, you have a great tradition, science and culture. The government of India or Indians have done very little to dig into our past history and culture. Forget even structures outside the mainland, there are still numerous un-excavated territories in the main land of India itself! If not for the NASA satellite photographs, the Sethu Samudram channel would have been built, without us even being aware about the destruction of this structure nor the existence of it!
Here is a link to one of the NASA photographs http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/images/ESC/small/ISS006/ISS006-E-23695.jpg
Here are some related links:
http://www.hindujagruti.org/activities/campaigns/religious/ramsetu/
http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_070508.htm
Below is a video presentation from youtube about Ram Sethu and the effects of Sethu Samudram. The next video is an aerial view of Ram Sethu (called Adam’s bridge by British). One can see whether it looks like a man-made or a natural structure!
Related posts:
90 Responses to “A Blunder called Sethusamudram”
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Uday says:
Ram built it to defeat Ravan, that is obvious and not even debatable. I think we should study it, analyse it, and get rid of it because the navy needs a channel to secure our waters against modern day Ravans eg China and Pakistan.
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Sethusamudram if allowed will be another large money making business for the politicians and will add yet another item in the list of corruption scams in this country.
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harit says:
gud article
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Tapan Nanda says:
Hi Gurudev,
Its really a nice article. I had read about this sometime back but finding all the information and a helthy atmosphere to discuss actually attracted me. I truely beleive in destiny and Hindu culture. Remember Lord Krishna himself never took any effort to save Yadu vansh because they have reached a level where they need to be destroyed to save other. If Rama sethu was suppose to be destroyed then it will eventually but that doesnt give anyone any authority to destroy.
Similarly i beleive currently whatever is happening against Hinduism or mankind or faith will definitely punished by God in some form only in its own time….. In any case dear friends and Hindus please keep faith and trust your own religion… it will go on for ever….
I have added this blog link in my own page. Please keep posted new stuffs.
Thanks and Regards
Tapan -
Raghupathy Nair says:
It is absolutely NECESSARY to Preserve, Ramsethu,A bridge made by Hindu GOD Sree RAM.
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KIRAN says:
Dear Gurudev,
Nice article.Now I am in srilanka. About Ramayana, and bridge, any thing is existing in lanka? if so pls tell me the details
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Rajesh says:
Great Article Gurudev Ji.
Please continue with the great work. Surely congress government will do everything to destroy anything to do with hinduism and ultimately hindus in the name of “”Secularism”". It is a fashion for sundry morons to talk of secularism and destroy hindu culture at the same time. How many of these morons will advocate the destruction of kabba at mecca in the name of secularism? None.
Why- Because they are scum.
These scoundrels will get what they deserve in due course of time- Which is shite in their mouth and on their face.Thanks,
Rajesh -
Gurudev…
I fully… cent percent agree with you. I share the same sentiments and ideology, what you have. Its really good to see that there are people into thinking, and seeking reasons on issues…
Hari Om.
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Karuna says:
Thankyou Gurudev,
Very inspirational thoughts. I will remember this .
Karuna
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Thanks Karuna
Yes you are absolutely right about the need to make people aware about the facts. Reality delayed is reality denied!Blogging is just the first step in this direction.
Instead of waiting for some authority, why not we ourselves become one
As Gandhiji said, be the change you want to see in the world!
If we think we can, we can! -
Hello Gurudev,
I am impressed by your factual knowledge; your good job in creating interest in people in the topics undertaken is clearly noticed in the various links I have read in only the past 2 days that I have come to know to be existing. I only have a suggestion, it will be really fantastic if you could somehow bring it out for the world to know through some kind of documentary movie that can reach masses; to be honest,I accidentally got directed to your web links; and I am really grateful that this happened to me; but how many people can be this lucky? Awareness is the answer to some issues that you have raised; and if somebody who has some kind of authority (to make some kind of influencing decisions to materialize the preservation of such historic remains) reads and understands and values such gifts from our ancestors, I would consider all of us lucky and really this discussion that we have and the initial thought brought out by you will not be useless and left just to discovery only for discussion purposes. Sure this forum is just the beginning and we should continue to have this. Keep up the good job, Gurudev.
Karuna
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Maduraikkaran
Where have I ever said it is trivial or politically complicated? Please read my comment again. I have clearly stated that these are “”simple issues to resolve”" and “”politicians have MADE it complicated”" for their own votebank purposes. If politicians really want to solve it, it wont take more than a day to sit across the table and come out with practical solutions. They simply lack the guts and will to do so because resolving the problem will remove their votebank. Thats it.
Who has to resolve the problem? Isnt it the politicians of the states? What have they done to solve it? Everybody knows what the problems are. How many have offered practical solutions other than pitching emotions to get votes? When Devegowda after becoming prime minister suggested to Mr Karunanidhi to build another dam across cauvery dedicated only to supply water to Tamilnadu using the funds from the center, why did Karunanidhi reject it? Wouldnt it have solved the problem?
When you have only one glass of water, and there are two people who are thirsty and when both want that entire glass of water, which of the following options make sense?
To fight over the one glass of water? Or to explore ways to get another glass of water so that both are happy finally?And as for the sethusamudram issue, you are saying as if I am some politician who is trying to take political mileage of this issue by blowing it out of proportion!!! I dont need any voter to come and vote for me nor have I stood for any elections, personally there is no material gain or loss for me whether the bridge stays or goes.
On the other hand if the bridge goes then its not just the bridge’s cultural heritage that will get destroyed, endangering rare marine life forms, loss of livelihood for thousands of fishermen families in Tamilnadu cutting across religions, the tsunami danger to the west coast of India endangering thousands of lives, the danger to the vast reserves of thorium deposits in the shores of kerala, etc and etc.
See my article http://hitxp.wordpress.com/2007/10/01/sethusamudram-an-indepth-analysis/And all this to gain what? Complete economic nonsense which will be a loss making venture from day one. Look at the CNN-IBN report which clearly states that this project if implenented will be a white elephant.
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/49195/sethusamudram-project–security-concerns–environmental-issue.html
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/01inter.htmThe country will also lose a important part of its heritage and culture. For me Rama is a historical person who walked on this planet.
As for the sethusamudram, Shoals are an after formation on top of the bridge. Where did the rocks come from? Natural?? Ask any geologist. Even the head of the Geological Survey of India has clearly said that the formation is man made. Corals always grow on rocks, but here you see sand beneath the corals along the entire stretch!
The geo/archaeological findings of teri formations, finding of large amounts of mesolithic-microlithic tools and human fossils on both sides of the bridge by Department of Earth-Science in March 2007. What does it suggest?
S Badrinarayanan, former director of Geological Survey of India and a member of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) says that Ramsethu is NOT a natural formation.
“”Coral reefs are formed only on hard surfaces. But during the study we found that the formation at Adam’s Bridge is nothing but boulders of coral reefs. When we drilled for investigation, we found that there was loose sand two to three metres below the reefs. Hard rocks were found several metres below the sand.Such a natural formation is impossible. Unless somebody has transported them and dumped them there, those reefs could not have come there. Some boulders were so light that they could float on water. Apparently, whoever has done it, has identified light (but strong) boulders to make it easy for transportation. Since they are strong, they can withstand a lot of weight. It should be preserved as a national monument.”"
See http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/31slid2.htmThe most unfortunate thing is that we doubt our own culture in the name of being ’scientific’.
Mahabharatha was thought to be a myth till city of Dwaraka was unearthed under the seas of Gujarat. Vedic rivers were thought to be mythological till satellite images showed the now dried up mighty saraswati river that once flowed in north India. See http://hitxp.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/saraswati-darshan-the-revelation-of-sarasvati-river/
Same about Ramsethu now.Even if it is natural, given the fact that it is associated with the sentiments of the majority in this country, does it make sense to destroy it? Hindus also believe that lord shiva resides in mount Kailash. Tomorrow if somebody says let us destroy this mountain to build a trade route between India and China, will you go for it saying there is no proof that shiva stays there so lets destroy it?
The marine life in the gulf of mannar is protected under the wildlife protection act of 1972, and yet the project has been approved without getting environmental clearance from the concerned departments!! How can anybody call this ’scientific’?
See what those who want this bridge to be destroyed say. “”it is natural and not man made”"!, even if for a moment we agree that it is natural, so what? they say “”since it is natural, its ok for us to destroy it”"!
What a cruel human attitude towards nature! As if natural things exist only for humans to destroy it. Which is why there is so much of pollution in the world today, for we dont care about nature. Isnt it our duty to protect nature, especially beauties like this? Any other country in the world with this type of structure would have converted it into a tourist spot.While the western researchers are trying to find archaealogical evidences about where the mythical city of Troy, land of Atlantis etc existed, we in India are debating about the structures being natural or man made, without any proper research. Has any of these ’scientific’ minded people here, ever spoken about first doing a complete scientific research in the depths of the seas here before going ahead with its destruction. They simply DECLARE it to be natural. The ASI of India which never conducted any research on it saying it does not come under its jurisdiction, files an affidavit in the court saying its natural! See
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/49197/did-lord-ram-exist–asi-never-studied-ram-setu.htmlFinally, its for the readers to decide whether what I wrote makes any sense or not.
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Hi gurudev
It is surprising and disheartening that you brush aside those issues which are affecting the poor delta farmers survival as trivial and politically complicated.
Is it why the Team hindutva is complicating the issue by relating the tidal sand bar to Ram, so that it will never resolved?
Interestingly I read an article about shoals and giving you the link here for you perusal and comments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoals
Point to be noted: I born as a Hindu, and brought up as a secular rationalist and not an atheist.
lovingly yours
maduaraikkaran -
maduraikkaran says:
Hi Gurudev
Happy new year to you!!!!
It is surprising and disheartening that you are brushing away those issues (which are affecting the respective state delta formars’ daily life & survaival) as trivial and politically complicated.
Is it why you are politisizing and complicating the Sethu issue by relating it to RAM, so that it will never get resolved?
Is it why you people are proviking the general public in the name of God?
(Point to be stressed here: I born as a hindu, brought up as a seculer rationalist and not an atheist.)
Interstingly i happened to read an artcile relating to shols (tidel sand bars). i have given the links below. I request you to kindly put in your view points here.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:WayaWayasewa.jpg
lovingly yours
maduraikkaran -
Thanks vijay and Thekkadath for the links…
Maduaraikkaran, these disputes are relatively simple issues to resolve, unfortunately the politicians have made it complicated for their own benefits!
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dear Gurudev
It is quite interesting article . It shows that you are a subject specilaist.
If you have posted any of these topics please highlight and give me the link
1. Mullaiperiyar issue
2. Kaveri water dispute.I thing these two are the pressing problems of Tamilnsu people.
Waiting to see your views on these.
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vijay says:
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1136422
“”The controversial Adam’s bridge off the Tamil Nadu coast could be “”man-made”" and has an “”echo in the ancient mythological epic, the Ramayana”", says a government publication tabled in parliament last week – a development that could put the Congress-led government in a piquant spot.”"
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Thanks a lot Shweta!
Yes, truth doesnt need any believers, if somebody doesnt believe in the truth, then they are the losers, not the truth
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shweta says:
Hi Guru,
Must say this is an excellent one. Such great compilation. Your work really needs to be spread all over. And, for the people who still think Indian Ancient texts are not truth, shake your minds, read the facts written here and many other proofs available on net and then judge again… YES!, It is Truth.Thanks Guru, once again.
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Sriram says:
Hello all,
I have written my opinion twice here. However by writing comments/opinions will not save RAMA SETHU, so please Register yourself with Vishwa Hindu Parishath (VHP) so we all Hindus can fight for the GOD’s right.
Jai Sriram
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When the Sethusamudram project was revived, for the nth time, environmentalists expressed their concern that it would cost far more than the project documents suggested. The dredging costs have been highly underestimated, many say. Their concerns came out of recent scientific literature that suggested that the annual sediment load in the Palk Bay causes a sea depth reduction of 1 cm per year.
Further studies have even suggested that the sedimentation rate could, in fact, be 25-75 times higher! But, every new document of the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP) seemed to ignore all literature after 1989. Not surprisingly, many of the more recent scientific papers suggested that the sedimentation siltation rates in the Palk Bay and surrounding areas were far higher than what was earlier believed.
Like the literature review of the SSCP project documents that stops at 1989, the hydrodynamic modelling studies measure only normal’ wind speeds (up to 31.5km/h) to calculate various other parameters like sedimentation and siltation. Cyclones are a common occurrence on the south Tamil Nadu coast.
An analysis of the Global Tropical and Extra Tropical Cyclone Climatic Atlas (GTECCA) by experts validates this position by highlighting that the project area is visited by a cyclone with wind speeds greater than 64.82 km/h every three years. Again, it seems ingenious that the project documents could ignore the cyclones and its effect on siltation in the SSCP area. The method followed in the project documents helps create a project that significantly underestimates the amount of dredging required both capital and maintenance by using data that allows it to peg the cost to around Rs 2,500 crore. In fact, the project documents go so far as to suggest that the Palk Bay region of the canal will not need any maintenance dredging, ignoring scientific studies of the last 15years! This structure of the project documents is important as the practice in India is that once a project is approved, it stays approved. While academics and scientists might come in post-hoc to analyse the cost over-runs that have taken place, the current project approval system does not allow for a review (leading to rejection) of the project due to significant cost increases. This makes the pre-project phase the only viable time to protest. Even at this time, project documents seem to be selective in their use of data to support favourable conclusions. The reality of SSCP could be dredging contractors delight as it will probably be necessary to dredge for posterity in the entire project area, making it an excellent method of spending government money indefinitely. For opposing SSCP on legitimate and rational grounds, many environmentalists were branded anti-national’. They could not understand the economics of the project and the significant benefits for shipping that SSCP would bring about. The benefits the documents said would be for 70% of the ships in the world with draughts less than 10 m. But the Paradip and Jawharlal Nehru Port Trust ports do not seem to believe them as they are deepening their draughts to 16 m and 15 m respectively. Nor does the reality that 62% of the bulk cargo carried today is carried in vessels of 60,000 DWT and above! A KPMG report on India’s shipping says that the trend has been that the maximum size of the bulk carriers has increased steadily from 75,000 DWT in 1970s to approximately 183,000 DWT in 2005. The project proponents argue that bulk cargo will only be a small part of the cargo that uses the canal. It will be petroleum and tankers that would use the canal. DPR, chooses however, to ignore the fact that most very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and tankers in ballast (when empty) have draughts that are in excess of 12 m. Even most of the coastal tanker traffic consists of what is called LR-I size tankers which load to about 11.1 metres draught, and hence will not be able to transit the canal (which allows only 10m draught).Rational arguments and scientific method do not support the conclusions drawn by the project documents. The shipping purpose as highlighted by many, including ET earlier, is very limited as it benefits just 30% of those the project documents claim it will benefit those using coast-to-coast shipping. On the job creation front, never mind that a large part of the jobs created will be on dredging, which, in addition to be an extremely limited creator of jobs, is practically a monopoly of non-Indian firms? And as a Port Authority official said, thanks to the Dredging Corporation of India being so involved in the Sethusamudram project, many other ports have been forced to start hiring foreign contractors for maintenance dredging in the ports. The other benefit of the project is in the development of the most backward’ areas of Tamil Nadu and the unmeasurable creation of jobs through the development of ancillary industries. The livelihood job losses of fishermen do not seem important enough for them to be quantified in the detailed project report (DPR). What seems appropriate is a comment in response to an earlier article in ET on the public purpose of SSCP. A reader suggested that projects like SSCP cannot be justified on the basis of such baniya economics’. The public purpose was so mystically large that it was impossible for us to quantify the benefit or justify a project of such national importance! It is then when you I understood! Projects like this are after all a matter of faith you believe them to be so beneficial despite all data suggesting otherwise. It is important to reject all the negatives and costs of the project like high sedimentation rates, low draught, limited use for coastal and non-coastal vessels and just blindly believe that the benefits are greater than the costs. From now on, there is no need for expensive consultants, project reports, techno-economic feasibility studies and environmental impact assessments. It is just sufficient to believe that a project is a good one! It’s all a matter of faith…isn’t it? -
He wont apologize
There is no point in trying to argue with those who are determined not to get convinced… -
We all need to understand one thing here,every body is in agreement with the Ramasethu as an man made bridge, however this is been argued in the Political way which is not right. CM of Tamilnadu Karunanidhi is not doing right as everyone knows that he is making this issue for his political benefits. CM should understand that he living in Hindustan and Tamilnadu is in Hindustan, he better respect the values of Hindus as 75% of Tamilnadu population is Hindus. CM should apologize all the Hindus in the world.
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JC Joshi says:
Gurudev, I am glad you liked it.
Who says ‘Sanatan Dharma’ is boring:-)
Krishna however demands one to ’surrender’ in the Creator. And there is no bar – of age, sex, caste, creed and so on, – to do so, otherwise Prahlad, Dhruva etc, wouldn’t have figured in the stories and ‘child prodigies’ wouldn’t have been seen today!Best Wishes to all ‘Hindus’, which actually refers to all humans, for essence of Indu (Sanskrit), Moon (English), or la lune (French root word of lunatic), is housed in the head of all animals, and in a relatively higher proportion in elephant, the animal that has the most evolved memory and whose head was attached to Ganesha’s, and therefore in all human forms too, symbolically as the essence of planet Mars… And it believably is the cause of different types of ‘mental disorders’ in all humans who have apparently arrived on earth for ‘treatment’ as per the ‘wise ancient Hindus’ who didn’t get affected by it through ‘Yogic exercises’ that lead to zero thoughts…and so on…
Hari ananta, Hari katha ananta! -
Gurudev Namaskara!
“”Bazar se gujra hoon khareedar nahin hoon, etc!”"A passerby, an old man, saw a young man smoking a cigarette in front of a grand mansion. He asked him how many cigarettes he consumed per day, and so on, and worked out the expenditure he had thus incurred on smoking only till that date. And finally concluded that had he saved all the infructuous expenditures, he could perhaps have one day been the owner of the edifice behind him!
After hearing his long worded computations, the young man asked the non-smoker old man if he owned that building. The answer to the question obvioiusly was no!
The young man then informed him that he himself was the owner of it!
An Urdu poet, about everyone attempting without the knowledge of the language, to do shayari (that is, writing poetry) said to the effect, that it isnt a grass that can be eaten by every donkey!
Hindu Mythology, similarly, informs each human being that he/ she, in fact, is the owner of the entire universe himself/ herself! But, to realize it, It is a matter of use of the Third or Minds eye duly corrected for achieving 6/6 vision of the inner self! -
Sen
The controversy is not just about religion.
As stated in http://hitxp.wordpress.com/2007/10/01/sethusamudram-an-indepth-analysis/* Economically this project doesnt make any sense
* There are security risks in this project
* It will cause natural destruction
* It will snatch away the livelihood of thousands of people
* Destroy a heritage site. Partial destruction is still a destruction!
Today its 300 meters, tomorrow another 300 to widen the channel, than another 300 to allow parking, another 300 to build some pathway, things simply keep adding on.. you cant have a heritage site and modern construction activity sitting together in one placeWho said “”nature has destroyed most of the bridge”" ?
The sea levels during the days of Ramayana was lower than today, and today because of the higher sea level the bridge is under water, and there is coral growth on top of it. Thats all.
There are many underwater wonders around the world which are being used as tourist spots by setting up underwater systems for people to see these sites. Can we develop such a system here.Yes this might be a bit late. But better late than never, isnt it? All these things had to be done by the congress led governments and the ASI. But they never did it!!
You said “”We learn that 3/4 th of the Rs 2400 crore project is completed ( nearly 1800 crore of taxpayers money already spent)”". I dont know from where you got these figures. Can you please quote the source.
If this figure is true, then I can bet that most of the money would have been swallowed already. Just because the destruction has already started, you are suggesting to complete the destruction!!!I am glad that you quoted about ASWAN dam.
Similar to this ASWAN dam project, the original canal proposed while BJP led NDA was in power, was to build Sethusamudram canal without harming any part of Ramsethu.
Now why the hell did this stupid UPA government change the alignment and is hell bent on destroying the Ramsethu?
Given the fact that the new alignment which destroys the Sethu (which definitely is not like how ASWAN dam was built), is economically more costly! Please see http://hitxp.wordpress.com/2007/09/19/ramsetu-nda-vs-upa/Finally, as you said “”by saying Ram lives in our heart and so we can destroy Ram sethu”", going by this argument of yours we can become too materialistic and money minded because this argument allows to destroy every single cultural heritage or religious site in the country, because feelings lives in our heart anyway
Thats not the way how people look at it, else nobody would have gone out on religious piligrimages, be it Mecca or Madina or Kashi or Varanasi. -
sen says:
Hi,
What I was trying to say was,
1. Its not ok to destroy some structure which is being worshipped everyday by millions (eg Temples on the Land). It should be ok to me if only 300 mts of a 37 km long bridge which many of us didnt bother or look at even so far, is dredged for the sake of a new passage.
2. Anyways Nature (God) has already destroyed most of the bridge
3. Its a Govt we elected (although I voted for the Opposition) that is doing the work ( which includes educated officials/planners who concieved this plan) and not to be compared with Thieves who plunder others property.
Regds,
Sen
on a lighter note, my granmas legacy lives in my heart and not in the Gold she wore, same way Ram lives in my heart and not in any bridge that he built -
Hi Sen,
You sound like you are ok with the thief ransacking your house is doing a good job! And in the case he leaves behind a gold chain, you will be thrilled and celebrate its safety that at least that didnt get stolen. And its not like you were wearing your gold or counting your money every day!! And then you realize that gold left behind by your grand mother’s mother was part of the loot. And all you have is probably a piece of that legacy left!!!
Is it really ok??? What are you trying to say?
Regds
Kavitha -
We learn that 3/4 th of the Rs 2400 crore project is completed ( nearly 1800 crore of taxpayers money already spent) what is the point in stopping progress at the cost of 300 meters of heritage , we have the remaining 37 km of the bridge intact to celebrate and worship. (Which we didnt do all these years)
Out of more than a lakh pilgrims visiting Rameshwaram every year, we are not sure if even 1000 of them took the trouble to visit this ancient spiritual site for any worship all these years? Thanks to the controversy over this project we are now awakened to the importance of this bridge which we can anyway continue to worship or offer as a Tourist attraction after the Canal work is completed.
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About preserving ancient heritage and Development in other countries, I can remember of the ASWAN dam in Egypt which threatened to submerge the ancient temples of Nubia and how UNESCO stepped in to preserve these sites and also the DAM was constructed .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_High_Damhttp://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Exhibits/AncientNubia/JPEGs/Photos/61.7.619.jpg
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Hi Gurudev,
A very clearly written article indeed. I have taken the liberty of linking up your article to my blog as we are talking about the same subject with similar sentiments.
Just wanted to inform you.
My blog is: http://indiatemple.blogspot.comWarm regards,
Kavitha Kalyan
Thekkadath 
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