RAM SETU

AN ENGINEERING MARVEL

- Dr. D.K.Hari & Dr. D.K.Hema Hari, Founders, Bharath Gyan

Adam’s Bridge, also known as Rama Setu, is a chain of limestone shoals, between Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, off the southeastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar Island, off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka.

The question is whether this bridge is a natural formation or is it a manmade construction? Let’s take a closer look at Rama Setu, from a rational, scientific and logical perspective.

According to Ramayana, on Nala’s advice, after surveying the sea and identifying a natural and undulating outcrop (visible exposures of bedrock) from the sea bed, the Vanora, leveraged the outcrop and piled different varieties of trees on it, some of which were in bloom during that period, to create a wood cushion and then he put large boulders followed by smaller stones to create a causeway over the sea. (Nala was a vanara of the Rama army and had great technical capabilities in designing and constructing the bridge.)

The steps in constructing the bridge seem to be no different from those employed by modern-day civil engineering and construction companies.

How was it possible to build a 35-kilometer bridge in just 5 days?