Rama Setu: Reality, by Smt. Saroj Bala

A set of remarkable monographs by Smt. Saroj Bala on the hisoricity of Shri Rama and Rama Setu. These include a summary of the surya vams’a lineage and also a review of Pushkar Bhatnagar’s work, ‘Dating the era of Rama’ using planetarium software. Dhanyavaadah. Kalyanaraman   

Monday, September 24, 2007

Amazing Facts with Pics. about Ramsetu & Lord Rama

We, Indians, are the products of one of the oldest civilisations. We need to be really proud of our ancient history and cultural heritage. However, during the British Rule, we developed an inferiority complex, which adversely affected our quest to unearth facts relating to our glorious past. But our young and educated men and women, being born and brought up in independent India, are capable of unearthing the true facts and are confident enough to evaluate these objectively.
Shri Ram being most basic to Indian ‘ethos’, it is necessary to know who is Shri Ram? Was he really born? If yes, when and where? As is believed by crores of people did he really put his feet on the territory of India from North to South, reducing the sufferings of mankind and ensuring victory of good over evil? Let us have a look at historical facts –
The story of Shri Ram’s life was first narrated by Maharishi Valmiki in ‘The Ramayan’ which was written after Shri Ram was crowned as the king of Ayodhya. Maharishi Valmiki was a great astronomer as he has made sequential astronomical references on important dates related to the life of Shri Ram indicating the location of planets vis-a-vis zodiac constellations and the other visible stars (nakshatras). Needless to add that similar position of planets and nakshatras vis-a-vis zodiac constellations is not repeated in thousands of years. By entering the precise details of the planetary configuration of the important events in the life of Shri Ram as given in the Valmiki Ramayan in the software named ‘Planetarium Gold’ corresponding exact dates of these events according to English calendar can be known.
Sh. Pushkar Bhatnagar of Indian Revenue Service had acquired from USA the software named ‘Planetarium Gold’ (of Fogware Publishing) which is used to predict the solar/lunar eclipses and distance and location of other planets from earth by the scientists and astronomers. He entered the relevant details about the planetary positions vis-à-vis zodiac constellations narrated by Maharishi Valmiki and obtained very interesting and convincing results, which almost determine the important dates starting from the birth of Shri Ram to the date of his coming back to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. Sh.Pushkar Bhatnagar has given very authentic and convincing details of these dates in his book titled ‘Dating the Era of Lord Ram’ published by Rupa & Co., some extracts from which are being summarised in the succeeding paras.
Date of Birth of Lord Ram: Maharishi Valmiki has recorded in Bal Kaand Sarga 18 and Shloka 8 & 9 (1/18/8,9) that Shri Ram was born on 9th tithi of Chaitra month during day time when the position of different planets vis-à-vis zodiac constellations and nakshatras (visible stars) was as under:-
i) Sun in Aries ii) Saturn in Libra
iii) Jupiter in Cancer iv) Venus in Pisces
v) Mars in Capricorn vi) Lunar month of Chaitra
vii) Ninth day after no moon viii) Lagna as Cancer (cancer was rising in the east)
ix) Moon on the Punarvasu (Gemini constellation & Pollux star)
This data, was fed into the ‘Planetarium Gold’ software, the results indicated that this was exactly the location of planets/stars vis-à-vis zodiac constellations on the 10th of January noon time in the year 5114 BC if viewed from latitude/ longitude of Ayodhya (250N 810E). Thus Shri Ram was born on 10th January in 5114 BC (i.e. 7117 years back). By making use of software to convert solar calendar into lunar calendar, it was found that this date also happened to be the 9th day of Shukla Paksha in ‘Chaitra’ month and the time was around 12 to 1 noontime. This is exactly the time and date when Ram Navmi is celebrated all over India till date. The relevant sky view generated by Planetarium Software is enclosed.
Planetary Positions on 10th January 5114 BC – Navmi of Chaitra Month

25degrees N 81DegreesE Jan 10, -5114 12.30 Printed by Planetarium
Date of exile of Shri Ram – In Valmiki Ramayan it is mentioned in Ayodhya Kand (2/4/18) that Dashratha wanted to make Shri Ram the king because Sun, Mars and Rahu had surrounded his nakshatra and normally under such planetary configuration the king dies/or becomes a victim of conspiracies. Zodiac sign of king Dashratha was Pisces and his nakshatra was Rewati. This planetary configuration was prevailing on the 5th of January 5089 BC and it was on this day that Shri Ram had to leave Ayodhya for living in the forests for 14 years. Thus he was 25 years old at that time (5114-5089) and there are several shlokas in Valmiki Ramayan which indicate that Shri Ram was 25 years old when he left Ayodhya for his 14 years of exile.
Solar Eclipse during war with Khardushan – Valmiki Ramayan refers to the solar eclipse at the time of war with Khardushan in later half of 13th year of Shri Ram’s living in forests. Valmiki has also mentioned that it was Amavasya day and planet Mars was in the middle. When this data was entered, the computer software indicated that there was a solar eclipse on 7th Oct., 5077 BC (Amavasya day) which could be seen from Panchvati (200N 730E). On that date planetary configuration was the same as has been described by Valmiki i.e. Mars was in the middle, on one side was Venus and Mercury and on the other side were Sun and Saturn.
Solar Eclipse on 7th October 5077 BC during war with Khar Dushan

20 degrees N 73 degrees E, Panchwati Printed by Planetarium
Other important dates – Only six of the twelve constellations remain above the horizon at the same time. Valmiki Ramayan contains graphic and poetic details of eight constellations during Hanuman’s return journey from Sri Lanka to Sunaabh Hill in the middle of the sea which apparently took about four and a half hours from 6:30 AM to 11 AM. All these details of planets and Nakshtras with reference to eight constellations described in Sarga 57(1,2,3) of chapter 5 tally exactly with the sky view generated by the software for the morning of 14th Sept. 5076 BC.
Slide showing Hanuman’s return from Lanka on 14th September 5076 BC

7 degrees N 80 degrees E – Colombo, Sri Lanka Printed by Planetarium

On the basis of planetary configurations described in various other chapters of Valmiki Ramayan, the date on which Ravana was killed works out to be 4th December 5076 BC and Shri Ram completed 14 years of exile on 2nd January, 5075 BC and that day was also Navami of Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month. Thus Shri Ram had come back to Ayodhya when he was 39 years old (5114 – 5075).
Satellite Images of Rama’s Bridge
In Valmiki Ramayana, it is mentioned that Shri Ram’s army constructed a bridge over the sea between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka. After crossing this bridge Shri Ram’s army had defeated Ravana, the Demon King. Recently NASA had put pictures on internet of a 30 k.m. long bridge, the ruins of which are lying submerged in Palk Strait between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka (pictures enclosed). In fact, Valmiki Ramayan refers to “Nal” as an expert shilpkaar in construction of bridges like Vishvakarma and he got the stones, rocks, trees brought by Vanar Sena adjusted on the route where sea had the least depth and the other Vanras were holding long ropes on both the side for holding the material together. (6/ 22/ 46 & 60 to 73) The construction of Ramsetu completed in five days by connecting the existing land route consisting of islands, rocks and shoals.

NASA Picture of 30 Km long Rama Setu in Palk Strait between Rameswaram & Mannar, Srilanka
This bridge was being used as land route between India and Sri Lanka for thousands of years. King Asoka’s son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra had used this bridge to go to Sri Lanka more than 2,300 years back. Muslims believe that Adam had gone to Adam hill in Sri Lanka for penance by making use of this bridge. A gazette notification issued by British Govt on Madras Presidency in 1803 has stated that Rama Setu was being used as land link between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka until 15th century AD when it got damaged and submerged due to cyclone and storm. Dutch and French maps drawn in 16 th and 17th centuries show this Rama Setu as operational land route between Rameswaram (India) and Talai Mannar (Sri Lanka) – available in Saraswati Mahal Library, Tanjore.


These pictures of Ramsetu available on Google Earth very clearly indicate human activities along with the natural formations – See the boundaries !

To what extent there was manual intervention in connecting the gaps between the shoals and islands is a matter for multi disciplinary archaeological- geological- oceanographical and ecological research and such research has never been carried out
SEQUENTIAL DETAILS OF PLACES VISITED BY SHRI RAM DURING 14 YEARS OF EXILE
Many researchers, including a colleague Dr. Ram Avtar, have researched on places visited by Shri Ram during 14 years of exile. They sequentially moved to the places stated as visited by Shri Ram in the Valmiki Ramayan. Starting from Ayodhya, they went right upto Rameshwaram. They found 195 places which still have the memorials connected to the events relating to the life of Shri Ram & Sita. The locals believe that Shri Ram had actually visited these places. Ayodhya Kand Aranya Khand & Kish Kindha Kand (chapters 2, 3 & 4) give sequential and graphic details of these places which mostly included Rishi Ashrams located along several river banks. These details can be divided into 5 phases.
1st PHASE – GANGETIC BELT – Shri Ram visited several places which included:
They went to Tamsa Nadi Tal(Mandah) – 20 KM from Ayodhya, thereafter crossed Gomti river (map – 2 to 7). Then they reached Ganges and entered Shringverpur (Singraur) which was kingdom of Nishadraj Guh and is famous for Kewat prasang (20 KM from Allahabad).
After crossing Yamuna near Sangam they reached Chitrakoot on UP & MP borders – memorials include Valmiki Ashram, Mandavya Ashram, Bharat Koop etc. still exist. After Bharat Milap they left Chitrakoot and went to Atri Ashram located in Satana in MP.
2nd PHASE IN DANDAK VAN – Alongwith Laxman & Sita, Shri Ram extensively travelled through this land of rivulets and water bodies and dense forests around MP and Chhatisgarh. The places visited included:
They roamed around in Dandak Aranya area and visited Sharbhang and Sutikshan Muni-ashrams in Satna [map-36-41]. Thereafter, they visited several Rishi ashrams in MP & Chattisgarh areas, along Narmada & Mahanadi rivers for 10 years, and then came back to Sutikshan Ashram. Several memorials in Panna, Raipur, Bastar & Jagdalpur still exist which include Mandavya Ashram, Shringi Ashram, Ram Laxman Mandir etc.
After crossing many rivers, lakes, hills and forests they went to Agastya ashram in Nasik. As per Valmiki, weapons made in Agnishala were given to Shri Rama by Agastya Muni in this Ashram.

3rd PHASE ALONG GODAVARI
Shri Ram, Laxman and Sita travelled along Godavari. From Agastya Ashram they went to stay in Panchvati – a place with 5 Vata trees located on banks of Godavari in Nasik [map – 116]. This place is famous for Sharoopnakha episode and war with Khar & Dushan – memorial at Janasthan, referred to in Valmiki Ramayan, is still exist.
There are memorials at the place where Mareech was stated as killed; these include Mrigvyadheshwar & Baneshwar. Infact, Nasik area is full of memorials for eg. Sita Sarovar, Ram Khund & Triambakeshwar
After this incident, Sita was abducted by Ravana, who also killed Jatayu -memorial ‘Sarvatiratha’ in Taked Village, 56 KM from Nasik, is still preserved.
4th PHASE ALONG TUNGBHADRA & KAVERI

Shri Ram and Laxman extensively travelled through these areas in search of Sita.
After meeting Jatayu and Kabandh they moved towards south to reach Rishyamook Parbat. On way they visited Shabari Ashram in Pampasarovar area which is now known as Sureban in Belgaon and is still famous for Ber trees [map-146,147]
After crossing forests of Sandalwood, many gardens and water bodies, they went towards Rishiamook. Here they met Hanuman and Sugreev, and were shown Sita’s ornaments. Shri Ram killed Bali in this area.
Rishiamook and Kishkindha are located in Hampi, Distt. Ballari of Karnatak.
5th PHASE ON THE BANKS OF THE SEA
Rama with Sena marched towards the sea after crossing Malay Parbat, Chandan forests, many rivers and ponds they went along Kaveri River and details of travel narrated in Valmiki Ramayan tally with the existing memorials:
Ram sena first camped in Koddikarai but later moved to Rameshwaram for construction of bridge and there are many memorials to commemorate this event in Chhedukarai. After surveying the sea area the place was found unsuitable for constructing the bridge. Therefore Shri Rama shifted the entire army to Rameshwaram. After surveying the place for 3 days, suitable area was identified and the bridge was constructed under the supervision of great shilpakar Nal. In Rameshwaram, particularly from Dhanushkoti the boatmen still take visitors in glass boats to show remains of Rama’s bridge, but it is considered fashionable to call it Adam’s bridge instead of calling it by its historical name i.e. Rama’s bridge. Sri Lankan Govt. wants to construct a land route over this submerged bridge (Pamban to Mannar) whereas Govt. of India wants to blast it for shipping i.e. Sethusamndaram project. Shri Jaisurya, Energy Minister of Sri Lanka had proposed construction of land route between India and Sri Lanka on this submerged Ram Sethu.

Ancestors of Shri Ram
Indian history has recorded that Shri Ram belonged to Surya Vansh and he was the 64th ruler of this dynasty. The names and other relevant particulars of previous 63 kings are listed in ‘Ayodhya Ka Itihas’ written about eighty years back by Rai Bahadur Sita Ram. Professor Subhash Kak of Lousiana University (USA), in his book “The Astronomical Code of the Rgveda” has also listed 63 ancestors of Shri Ram who ruled over Ayodhya. The ancestors of Shri Ram have been traced out as under: –
Shri Ram, S/o King Dashratha, S/o King Aja, S/o King Raghu, S/o. Dirghabahu, S/o King Dilipa-II, S/o. King Visvasaha and so on )_________ (all listed) _________ King Sagar (40th Ruler) __________ Satyavadi Harish Chandra (32nd King) _________.
Professor Subhash Kak has also traced out 29 descendants of Shri Ram starting with his son Kusa f/o Atithi, f/o Nisadha, f/o Nala _________ (all listed) _________. 95th Ruler of Ayodhya being Brhatksaya.
Ancestors and descendants of Shri Ram who was the 64th Ruler of Surya Vansh
1. Manu
2. Iksvaku
3. Vikuksi-Sasada
4. Kakutstha
5. Anenas
6. Prithu
7. Vistarasva
8. Ardra
9. Yuvanasva
10. Sravasta
11. Brihadasva
12. Kuvalasva
13. Drdhasva
14. Pramoda
15. Haryasva
16. Nikumba
17. Samhatasva
18. Akrsasva
19. Prasenajit
20. Yuvanasva
21. Mandhatr
22. Purukutsa
23. Trasadsyu
24. Sambhuta
25. Anaranya
26. Trasadsva
27. Haryasva II
28. Vasumata
29. Tridhanvan
30. Trayyaruna
31. Trishanku
32. Satyavrata
33. Hariscandra
34. Rohita
35. Harita, Cancu
36. Vijaya
37. Ruruka
38. Vrka
39. Bahu (Asita)
40. Sagara
41. Asamanjas
42. Amsumant
43. Dilipa I
44. Bhagiratha
45. Sruta
46. Nabhaga
47. Amabarisa
48. Sindhudvipa
49. Ayutayus
50. Rtuparna
51. Sarvakama
52. Sudasa
53. Mitrasaha
54. Asmaka
55. Mulaka
56. Sataratha
57. Aidavida
58. Visvasaha I
59. Dilipa II
60. Dirghabahu
61. Raghu
62. Aja
63. Dasaratha
64. Rama
65. Kusa
66. Atithi
67. Nisadha
68. Nala
69. Nabhas
70. Pundarika
71. Ksemadhanvan
72. Devanika
73. Ahinagu
74. Paripatra
75. Bala
76. Uktha
77. Vajranabha
78. Sankhan
79. Vyusitasva
80. Visvasaha II
81. Hiranyabha
82. Pusya
83. Dhruvasandhi
84. Sudarsana
85. Agnivarna
86. Sighra
87. Maru
88. Prasusruta
89. Susandhi
90. Amarsa
91. Mahashwat
92. Visrutavant
93. Brihadbala
94. Brihatksaya
From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Bengal to Gujarat, everywhere people believe in the reality of Shri Ram’s existence, particularly in the tribal areas of Himachal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and the North East. Most of the festivals celebrated in these tribal areas revolve around the events in the life of Shri Ram and Shri Krishna.
The events and places related to the life of Shri Ram and Sita are true cultural and social heritage of every Indian irrespective of caste and creed and therefore it is common heritage. After all, Shri Ram belonged to the period when Prophet Mohammed or Jesus Christ were not born and Muslim or Christian faiths were unknown to the world. India was also known as Bharat (means-land of knowledge) and Aryavrata (where Arians live).
During Ram Rajya, the evils of caste system based on birth were non-existent. In fact Maharishi Valmiki is stated to be of Shudra class (Scheduled Caste) still Sita lived with him as his adopted daughter after she was banished from Ayodhya and Shri Ram’s children Luv & Kush grew in his ashram as his disciples. We need to feel proud of the fact that Maharishi Valmiki was perhaps the first great astronomer and that his study of planetary configurations has stood the test of times. Even the latest computer softwares have corroborated his astronomical calculations, which prove that he did not commit any error. Shabari is stated to be belonging to Bheel tribe and the army of Shri Ram, which succeeded in defeating Ravana was also formed by various tribals from Central and South India. The facts, events and all other details relating to the life of Shri Ram are the common heritage of all the Indians including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Muslims and Christians etc.
The scientific details narrated about clearly indicate that Shri Ram was born 7000 years back. Hence, discovering the details relating to Shri Ram’s life would be lot more difficult as destruction caused by floods, earthquakes and invasions etc. would be far greater. But should that stop our quest for learning more and more about our cultural heritage?
As Indians, let us all take pride in the fact that Indian civilisation is the most ancient civilisation surviving on planet earth and it is certainly more than 10,000 years old. Therefore, let us reject the story of Aryan invasion in India in 1500 B.C. as motivated implantation. In fact Max Mueller, who was the creator of this theory, had himself rejected this theory. Let us admit that during British Rule, we were educated in the schools based on Macaulay school of thinking which believed that everything Indian was inferior and that entire ‘Indian literature was not worth even one book rack in England’. If there were similarities in certain features of Indian people and people from Central Europe, then automatic inference drawn was that the Aryans coming from Europe invaded India and settled here. No one dared of thinking in any other way. Therefore, there is urgency for the historians and all other intellectuals to stop reducing Indian history to myth. There is need to gather, dig out, search, unearth and analyse all the evidences, which would throw more light on ancient Indian civilisation and culture.
It is saddening that even after 60 years of independence; archeological survey of India has not constituted a multi disciplinary team consisting of archeologists, divers, geologists and oceanographers to carry out the research around Ram Sethu area. After all when such a team was constituted, the submerged city of Dwaraka was found 1.5 kilometer away from the existing Dwaraka. Therefore, instead of certifying the non-existence of Ram Sethu without any credible research, the need is to carry out scientific research. Not only this, with the development of new scientific methods, the old history written on basis of linguistics will have to be discarded. There is a need to constitute a history team in order to carry out research pertaining to most ancient period and this team should consist of Sanskrit Pandits, Astronomers, Archeologists, Geologists and Space Scientists. This team should be asked to carry out and correlate research activities in order to rewrite the history after verifying the authencity and dating of most ancient events of Indian history.
There is need for the print and the electronic media to take note of these facts and create atmosphere which would motivate our young and educated youth to carry out research and unearth true facts about ancient Indian civilisation and wisdom and would also encourage them to put across the results of their research before the people fearlessly and with a sense of pride!

Bibliography

1) “Srimadvalmeekiya Ramayan . Published by Geeta Press, Gorakhpur
2) “Dating the Era of Lord Ram” by Pushkar Bhatnagar. Published by Rupa & Company.
3) “The Astronomical code of the Rigveda” by Professor Subhash Kar of Lousiana University (USA). Published by Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
4) “Ayodhya Ka Itihas” by Rai Bahadur Lala Sita ram (1932) Published by Arya Book Depot, Karol Bagh, New Delhi.
5) ‘Shri Ram Van Gaman Sthal” by Dr. Ram Avtar. Published by Shri Ram Sanskritik Shodh Sansthan Trust, New Delhi.
6) Ram Setu, Published by Rameswaram Ram Setu Protection Movement, Chennai

http://sarojbala.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html

Monday, October 1, 2007

Rama’s Bridge is natural as well as man-made

Rama’s Bridge is natural as well as man-made

Recent controversy about constructing the Sethusamudram canal by blasting Ramsetu has raised several questions in the minds of millions of Indians. The most important being whether this bridge is natural or man-made? Some people even allege that actually there has been no bridge or land route between Rameswaram in India and Talai Mannar in Sri Lanka. However, NASA website has shown many pictures of a bridge, the ruins of which are lying submerged in Palk Strait between Rameswaram (Dhanushkodi) and Mannar (Thalaimannar). The bridge is composed of a series of islands, rocks, and shoals and it is stated to be 30 kilometres long. It is found exactly at the location narrated in Valmiki Ramayan ! See NASA picture of this Bridge!

NASA Picture of 30 Km long Ramsetu in Palk Strait

between Rameswaram & Mannar, SrilankaThe existence of the bridge obviously cannot be denied! However to what extent there was manual intervention in connecting the gaps between the shoals, islands and rocks is a subject for detailed marine archaeological and geological research. This kind of research has never been carried out nor has any team been constituted so far. However, there is enough evidence about the existence as well as the use of this bridge in ancient Indian history, literature and travelogues etc.

Maharishi Valmiki has recorded in his Ramayan- (Yuudh Kand, sarg 22 and shlokas 45-73) that Shri Rama’s army constructed a bridge over the sea between Rameswaram and Sri Lanka. After crossing this bridge, Shri Rama’s army reached Sri Lanka, defeated Ravana and liberated Sita from his captivity. Valmiki has narrated in detail that originally Shri Rama’s army camped in Kodikarai but found that place unsuitable for constructing the bridge. Therefore, the entire army was shifted to Rameswaram. Research was carried out by Shri Ram for three days to find out a suitable location in the sea for constructing the land route so that the army could cross over to Sri Lanka. Finally, the suitable location was identified. Shri Nal was a famous shilpakar, who had the expertise similar to that of Vishwakarma in constructing the bridges, was requested to construct the bridge. ( 6/22/45).

After carrying out the survey, Nal declared that a bridge can indeed be constructed. The armymen of Shri Ram utilized various tools and implements for uprooting trees like Taar, coconut, mango, ashoka, bakul etc., and with the help of various yantras transported these trees, stones, and rocks to the seashore. Shilpakar Nal directed the armymen to stand with long ropes/chains on either side and filled the space in between with creepers, trees, stones and rocks and bound them together. The construction of Ramsetu was completed in five days by connecting the existing land route consisting of islands, rocks and shoals.

This bridge was being used as land route between India and Sri Lanka for thousands of years, though sometimes part of it was submerged under the seawater. King Asoka’s son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra had used this bridge to go to Sri Lanka more than 2,300 years back. Muslims believe that Adam had gone to Adam hill in Sri Lanka for penance by making use of this bridge. A gazette notiication issued by British Govt on Madras Presidency in 1803 has stated that Ramasetu was being used as land link between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka until 15th century AD when it got damaged and submerged due to cyclone and storm. Dutch and French maps drawn in 16th and 17th centuries show this Ramasetu as operational land route between Rameswaram (India) and Talai Mannar (Sri Lanka) – available in Saraswati Mahal Library, Tanjore.

As per the Government of India “there are no archeological or historical studies which confirm the existence of Ramsetu bridge between India and Sri Lanka in ancient times.” Apparently this statement only reflects ignorance of Himalayan proportions about many fundamental historical, archaeological, geological as well as geographical facts. If only somebody had even opened the websites – Google Earth which contains interesting as well as authentic pictures of submerged Ramsetu and http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/ which displays most authentic historical atlas of South Asia and has placed pictures of Ramsetu for the period starting from vedic era and 5th century BC to 19th century AD along with nomenclature of Ramsetu prevailing at the relevant times, the conclusions arrived at would have been quite different !.

These pictures available on Google Earth very clearly show Rama’s Bridge, these also prove the role of humans along with the natural formations – See the boundaries!

To what extent there was manual intervention in connecting the gaps between the shoals and islands is a matter for multi disciplinary archaeological- geological- oceanographical and ecological research but no such research has ever been carried out

In the ‘Historical Atlas of South Asia’, prepared by Joseph E. Schwartzberg (1978) and placed on its website by the university of Chicago, there are more than 20 maps giving historical as well as geographical evidence about the existence of this Ramsetu and its use as land route between India and Srilanka during last more than 2500 years. In some of the maps it is shown as a complete bridge used as land route and in some others a part of it is shown as submerged :

On page 3 of Chapter on “India of the Vedas and the Epics”, route followed by Sri Rama for traveling from Ayodhya to Sri Lanka has been shown and picture of this bridge has clearly been included in the map(p.13)

During the time of Mauryan empire (321 – 181 BC), exchange of embassies between King Asoka of India and Tissa of Sri Lanka and visit of Asoka’s son Mahindra are shown as undertaken by partly using land route between Koti (Dhanushkoti) and Tambapanni (also known as Mahatirtha). In an Ajanta painting the scene of landing of King Vijay in Ceylon in about 3rd century BC has been depicted along with elephants, horses and foot soldiers which obviously was possible only if land route was used for traveling from Rameswaram to Sri Lanka (p.18).

[During this period it was not a complete bridge, being partly submerged]

During the Satavahan- Sak- Kushan Age (1 – 300 AD) Schwartzberg has shown this Ramsetu being used as land route between India and Sri Lanka and has stated that it was known as Rameswaram Koti at that time
.

As per this atlas, during the age of Gurjara- Pratiharas, Palas and Rashtrakutas (700 – 975 AD), the region across the Ram Setu constituted the limits of the regions under the control of Rashtrakuta Kings. In fact, entire Sri Lanka has been shown as part of kingdom of Rashtrakutas and Ram Setu has been shown as the land connection connecting the entire kingdom (p.31).

The kingdom of Chola rulers also included the whole of Sri Lanka, the boundary drawn in red dotted lines apparently includes the Rama’s bridge, as per map on page-32 of the Atlas.

In this historical atlas of south Asia prepared by Joseph E. Schwartzberg in 1978, during the time of Khiljis and Tughluks (1290 – 1390 AD) Ramsetu has been shown as a land route between Rameswaram and Sri Lanka and the prevailing name has been stated to be Setubandha Rameswaram.[page-41 of the Atlas]

According to Hunter’s Imperial Gazetteer, XI.22 (translated by A.M. Ferguson) the ancient records preserved in the Rameswaram temple mention that a violent storm in 1480 AD breached this bridge and subsequent storms rendered the breach permanent. This fact is corroborated by the two maps drawn in 16th & 17th centuries by Netherlands and by a French map drawn in 18th century.

From 16th century onwards there are some references to two narrow channels, known as Pamban and Mannar through each of which only very small ships could make their way and that too when the sea was high. Reference to this has also been made by Dutch Governor of Ceylon in 1663.

James Rennell (1742 – 1830) was the first Surveyor General of the East India Company and is also known as Father of Indian Geography. A map of Hindustan got prepared by him with the help of Sir Joseph in 1788 has named this bridge as the RAMA’s BRIDGE and the same is available in Saraswati Mahal Library, Tanjavor. However in the later 1804 version of the map, the name RAMA’s BRIDGE has been replaced with the name ADAMS BRIDGE! Hence the RAMA BRIDGE becomes the ADAMS BRIDGE and the psychology behind the same needs no explanation!

A picture of the bridge downloaded from NASA website, two pictures downloaded from Google Earth and maps extracted from Atlas of Sourth Asia have been shown above. Is it not amazing that for Schwartzberg, an authority on the geo-historical mapping of South Asia and for the University of Chicago the existence of Rama’s bridge is a historical, geographical as well as an archeological fact but many in India are not ready to acknowledge even its existence!

As per estimate made by the inter-government panel on climate change (NASA, Global Change Master Directory) the rise in the sea level during the last 7000 years has been about 2.8metres which roughly corresponds to 9.3 feet. The remains of Ramasetu are found submerged nearly at a depth of 9-10 feet. Thus, obviously this bridge was capable of being used as land route 7000 years back.

The astronomical calculations made by using the software Planetarium Gold with reference to the sequential planetary configurations corresponding to the important events in the life of Lord Rama made in Valmiki Ramayan have revealed that Shri Ram was born on 10 th January in the year 5114 B.C., which also happens to be ninth day of Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month. He left for his 14 year exile on 5 th Jan. 5089 B.C. and he came back to Ayodhya on 2nd Jan 5075 B.C. (Source: “Dating the era of Lord Ram” written by Shri Pushkar Bhatnagar and published by Rupa & Co) . Thus, as per Valmiki Ramayan, the bridge was constructed almost 7,000 years back!

Indian history has recorded that Shri Ram belonged to Surya Vansh and he was the 64th ruler of this dynasty. The names and other relevant particulars of all the previous 63 kings are listed in ‘Ayodhya Ka Itihas’ written about eighty years back by Rai Bahadur Sita Ram. Professor Subhash Kak of Lousiana University (USA), in his book “The Astronomical Code of the Rigveda” has also listed 63 ancestors of Shri Ram who ruled over Ayodhya. The ancestors of Shri Ram have been traced out as under: –

Shri Ram, S/o King Dashratha, S/o King Aja, S/o King Raghu, S/o. Dirghabahu, S/o King Dilipa-II, S/o. King Visvasaha and so on )_________ (all listed) _________ King Sagar (40th Ruler) __________ Satyavadi Harish Chandra (32nd King) _________.
Professor Subhash Kak has also traced out 29 descendants of Shri Ram starting with his son Kusa f/o Atithi, f/o Nisadha, f/o Nala _________ (all listed) _________. 95th Ruler of Ayodhya being Brhatksaya.

Many researchers, including a colleague Dr. Ram Avtar, have researched on places visited by Shri Ram during 14 years of exile. They sequentially moved to the places stated as visited by Shri Ram in the Valmiki Ramayan. Starting from Ayodhya, they went right upto Rameshwaram. They found 195 places which still have the memorials connected to the events relating to the life of Shri Ram & Sita. The locals believe that Shri Ram had actually visited these places. Ayodhya Kand Aranya Kand & Kishkindha Kand, Sundar Kand and Yudhha Kand (chapters 2-6) give sequential and graphic details of these places which mostly included Rishi Ashrams located along several river banks. These details can be divided into 5 phases-

1) Gangetic belt– the places at which memorials exist include-Tamsa Nadi Tal (Mandah), Shringverpur, Bhardwaj Ashram ( near Allahabad), Chitrakoot on UP & MP borders, Valmiki Ashram, Mandavya Ashram, Bharat Koop etc.
2) Dandakvan area– existing memorials include- Sharbhang and Sutikshan Muni-ashrams in Satna, which include Mandavya Ashram, Shringi Ashram, Ram Laxman Mandir etc. in MP & Chhattisgarh areas, Then after crossing many rivers, lakes, hills and forests they went to Agastya ashram- weapons made in Agnishala were given to Shri Rama
3) Along Godavari river– from Agastya Ashram they went to stay in Panchvati which is famous for Sharoopnakha episode and war with Khar & Dushan. Nasik area is fully covered by memorils like Sita Sarovar, Ram Kund & Triambakeshwar
4) Along Tungbhadra and Cauvery– after meeting Jatayu they move towards south to reach Rishyamook On way visit Shabari Ashram in Pampasarovar area- now known as Sureban in Belgaon still famous for Ber trees. Rishiamook and Kishkindha are now located in Hampi, Distt. Ballari of Karnataka
5) On the banks of sea- Ram sena first camped in Koddikarai but later moved to Rameshwaram for construction of bridge .Existing memorials include Chhedukarai and Dhanushkoti from where the boatmen take visitors in glass boats to show remains of Rama,s bridge

These are only some of the evidences listed which prove the historicity of era of Lord Ram and authenticity of the events related to his life. Every single part of India from Jammu and Kashmir to Rameswaram and from the Eastern Coast to the Western Coast has memorials relating to the era of Lord Ram, who is an integral part of Indian ethos.

Even then no effort was made by the Govt. of India after independence to conduct any scientific research and/ or develop this underwater cultural heritage along with other many geo-historical sites relating to the life and times of Lord Ram for the purposes of tourism and preservation of heritage. For some mysterious and inexplicable reasons, many Indians have been taking pride in denying the existence of our most ancient true cultural heritage. But the scientific research and evidence being gathered by western countries has been proving just the opposite. The satellite imaging, geo-historical mapping and archaeological studies, carried out by USA, Germany, France and many other countries enlighten us and prove that our glorious heritage, narrated in Vedas and Epics (including Ramayana & Mahabharata ) was real narrating true historical events around which myths were woven by devotees during thousands of years. Lord Ram was true historical hero with unprecedented qualities and Ramasetu was indeed constructed by connecting the existing chain of islands, rocks and shoals in the Palk Strait. After 60 years of independence it is time to come out of our inferiority complex and feel proud of our most ancient culture and civilization. We need to create atmosphere which would motivate our young and educated youth to carry out research and unearth true facts about ancient Indian civilisation and wisdom and would also encourage them to put across the results of their research before the people fearlessly and with a sense of pride!

Saroj Bala
(Author is posted as Director General of Income Tax at NADT,Nagpur)

‘Lord Ram was born in 5114 BC’
8 Nov 2003, 0212 hrs IST , Sunit Bezbar
“Ram was and is for real. He was born on January 10, 5114 BC,” Saroj Bala, IRS, Commisioner of Income Tax says, calmly, with the assurance of one who has tangible facts.

Taking on the contemporary historical interpretation of Ramayana as a religio-literary text, and Lord Ram as a semi-mythical figure, is this unassuming person who zealously devotes her spare time to research in history when she’s not playing the tax mandarin.

And she has chosen the unusual combination of astronomy, Internet and literary texts to provide us a startling picture of Shri Ram. This might change the way we look at history and religion. We might refuse to begin reading Indian history from that comma, or hyphen called ‘Indus Valley.’ We might have to stretch the beginnings by a few thousand years because, as Saroj Bala says – Ram was born on January 10, 5114 BC.

Excerpts of an interview with the lady who has the intellectual courage to go beyond the obvious:

What got it all started…

As an amateur historian, I’ve always been interested in Indian culture and heritage. I am proud that we’re Indians and the products of one of the oldest civilisations. However, British rule changed us; we developed a sense of being somehow inferior.

But I could never reconcile to theories like the theory of Aryan invasion to India in 1500 BC. That would make Indian civilization only 3,500 years old.

And if you choose archaeology to dig beyond 7,000 years, you’d have to dig more than 60 metres – something not being done in India as yet. So, archaeology is not the only answer. There’s a lot of objective research of another kind that needs to be carried out in earnest.

So, how can we say Ram was born on January 10, 5114 B.C…

My colleague Pushkar Bhatnagar of Indian Revenue Service is the real originator of this theory. He acquired a software named Planetarium, used to predict planetary movements and configurations.

By entering in this software, precise details of planetary positions vis-à-vis zodiac constellations described by Maharishi Valmiki in the Valmiki Ramayan, it is possible to determine important dates starting from Shri Ram’s birth-date to the date of his return to Ayodhya.

More than just Ram’s date of birth…

The results have not just thrown up Shri Ram’s date of birth; it has actually traced the entire sequence of incidents throughout Ramayan.

Pushkar Bhatnagar starts with tracing Ram’s birth. Then he moves ahead in the narrative. Valmiki Ramayan states Ram was 25-years-old when he went to exile. When the configuration of planets described at this point is fed into the software, the date thrown up matches perfectly with Ram’s age at that juncture of his life – 25 years.

Again in the 13th year of Ram’s exile, during a war with Khar and Dushan, Valmiki describes a solar eclipse. The software proves that on that given day there was indeed a solar eclipse (with Mars in the middle). This solar eclipse and the particular configuration of planets could be seen from Panchavati (longitude and latitude plainly shown in the software).

Hanuman Saw 8 Constellations while flying to Lanka…

In the Sunderkand, when Valmiki describes Hanuman crossing the sea and returning from Lanka to Rameshwaram, he gives details of 8 constellations. Usually, one can see not more than 6 constellations at a given point of time. But since Hanuman was flying across, and it must have taken him approximately 4 hrs to get there, he could see 8 constellations – in two hours one constellation would have moved out of sight and another become visible. So, in a period of 4 hrs he saw 8 constellations!

Historicising Shri Ram. Man or God…

After researching on Shri Ram, I do believe he’s a man who walked the earth in flesh and blood. There is an essential difference between the Valmiki Ramayana and the Tulsi Ramayana. Tulsidas was a devotee who looked up to Ram, but Valmiki was a contemporary. Valmiki has written Ram’s life-history, as a biographer does – he’s a contemporary of Ram, and this is not very different from what happens all over the world. Kings have always had their life-history written. The submerged bridge…

Recently, NASA had put pictures on the Internet of a man-made bridge, the ruins of which are submerged in Palk Strait between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka. This clearly should be treated as historical evidence that corroborates its mention in Valmiki Ramayana.

The puzzle of Indian history…

The presence of Ramayana, Mahabharata and Vedas cannot be explained by the short period between the decline of the Indus valley civilization and the Rig Vedic period. A civilization cannot suddenly burst into advanced writing.

One needs to look at various sources of history to re-build it. Especially when looking at ancient history. One needs to excavate, look at literature, ancient texts, astronomy.

Government apathy to archaeological diggings and investigation in this direction…

There’s been a very strange development in the media and the people of India. We have started seeing ancient India as something equivalent to the word ‘Hindu’. The very word Hindu came into circulation only after the advent of Islam in India. In Ramayana and the Vedas , there is no mention of the word ‘Hindu’. At the most, there is only mention of terms like ‘Aryavrat’ or ‘Bharatvarsh’ and residents here are called as ‘Aryans’. Since centuries, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs have been living in this country and it’s their land as much as it is to a Hindu. Anything that has happened on this land in the past is their common heritage. But, unfortunately, politicians with vested interests have divided the people on artificial religious lines and making it appear that anything related to ancient India was perhaps related to Hindu, which is not the case and should not be the case.

There has never been any strong will…

It is not that researches have been not taken place. There has been excellent work done by noted historians like Sir Alexander Cunningham and Dr Lal. Cunningham has written as many as 21 volumes on ancient Indian history. But one needs special permissions to access these texts.

Unfortunately, Cunningham’s work that has very important information has not seen the light of the day. Dr. Lal has pictured the ancient city of Dwarka and it can be read in ‘The lost city of Dwarka’. He has listed out 1000 artifacts. Only 9 crores needed to be sanctioned by the government in placing a transparent tube to the sea-bed that could allow people to see for themselves the wonder that was Dwarka.

And now people equate the sum total of ancient history to ‘a temple or no-temple’ at Ayodhya.

Delay in research also because science hadn’t arrived…

Without the aid of science it is practically impossible to manually calculate the exact planetary configuration 7, 000 years back. It is science which is going to validate our history and prove that it is much older than 3, 500 years.

What would be the implications of your research on the society?

I seriously feel that there can only be positive effects of my research. In fact, Indians should seriously re-look how old is our history and culture. This is not the end of the research; it’s just the beginning. People should be encouraged to do more in-depth research by all means such as archaeology, dating methods and oceanography.

Max Mueller had come up with the theory that Aryans had come to India in 1500 B.C. In the Internet, Max Mueller Foundations says that that they have re-looked at this theory and is of the opinion that this theory is no longer valid because Indian history is much older than that period. It’s just that people have to open up their minds and find out the answers for themselves.  

http://tinyurl.com/28vc9w