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Rama's BridgeRama's Bridge or Adam's Bridge is a chain of limestone shoals, between the islands of Mannar, near northwestern Sri Lanka, and Rameswaram, off the southeastern coast of India. The bridge is 30 miles (48 km) long and separates the Gulf of Mannar (southwest) from the Palk Strait (northeast). Some of the sandbanks are dry, and nowhere are the shoals deeper than 4 feet (1 m); thus, they seriously hinder navigation. Sea levels rose about 10 or 20 metres in the 6th millennium BCE to reach levels similar to today, so in 6000 BCE the "bridge" would have been above sea level. The name Rama's Bridge has to do with the Hindu mythology. According to the Hindu epic Ramayana (Chapter 66, The Great Causeway), the bridge was constructed at Rama's request by his subjects. The alternate name Adam's Bridge derives from the Christian mythological notion that the biblical Garden of Eden was Sri Lanka. Rama's Bridge is clearly visible in satellite photos, such as the one taken by NASA shown here. This has resulted in claims by some Hindu groups that the bridge is evidence that events narrated in the Ramayana epic actually took place, and are not just myths. NASA spokesman Mark Hess released a cautious statement, distancing the Agency from such claims: - "The images ... may be ours, but their interpretation is certainly not ours. ... Remote sensing images or photographs from orbit cannot provide direct information about the origin or age of a chain of islands, and certainly cannot determine whether humans were involved in producing any of the patterns seen."
Archeological studies of the bridge are ongoing, and some archeologists claim to have found additional evidence suggesting that the bridge is man-made. For instance, some researchers from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, announced that the "bridge" is only 3,500 years old. However, their article linking the bridge to Ramayana has attracted rebuke from the mainstream scientific community The bridge has helped Rama cross the ocean to reach Sri Lanka to rescue Sita from a Monster called Ravana who was then the ruler of Lanka. It is in the legend that the Vanara Sena (the army of monkeys) has helped Rama to build this bridge. The presence of the bridge in the satellite photos itself is a matter of great curiosity. Did "Ramayan" really happen? External links
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