Adams Bridge/Hanumans Bridge

[NirmalaMaya]

Space images taken by NASA (from the NASA Digital Image Collection) reveal the mysterious ancient bridge in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka. The recently discovered bridge, currently named as Adam´s Bridge, is made of chain of shoals, c.18 mi (30 km) long.

The unique curvature of the bridge and composition by age reveals that it is man made. The legends as well as Archeological studies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to a primitive age, about 17,50,000 years ago and the bridge's age is also almost equivalent.

"his information is a crucial aspect for an insight into the mysterious legend called Ramayana, which was supposed to have taken place in Treta Yuga (more than 17,00,000 years ago).

In this epic, there is a mentioning about a bridge, which was built between Rameshwaram (India) and the Sri Lankan coast under the supervision of a dynamic and invincible figure called Rama who is supposed to be the incarnation of the Supreme Being.

This information may not be of much importance to the archeologists who are interested in exploring the origins of man, but it is sure to open the spiritual gates of the people of the world to have come to know an ancient history linked to the Indian mythology."


I am not sure how I wanted to start out this post, so perhaps quoting NASA is the first step :). I would like to know everyones opinion on this..as I really do not know my own opinion on it.
I am a devout Hindu and some would believe it is my duty to believe that this bridge in fact was created by Rama/Hanuman/Etc, but it does raise some questions in my mind.

I do own a copy of the Ramayan and in the epic God in the human flesh (Rama) had his army of monkies (led by Hanuman) to build a bridge of rocks slightly under the water so that they could all cross to get to the island of Sri Lanka to defeat the demon Ravan and get Ramas wife Sita back from him (whew!). Rama lived during the TretaYug which you can read about above..
I find this all very interesting..but perhaps the thing that racks my brain the most...
Why would they call it ADAMS bridge? :confused:

[Some Friggin Guy]

If I had to take a guess (and it is nothing more than a guess) it is most likely being referred to as "Adam's Bridge" due to it having been named by an American agency. America, being a primarily judeo-christian society, would understand something dating back to the early days of humanity as being associated with the biblical Adam, at least as far as a naming convention goes.

This is not to say that NASA is claiming that the structure was created by the biblical Adam, just that they named it after him.

Again, this is only a guess.

[NirmalaMaya]

In India its taken the popular name of Hanumansetu or SitaSetu/Ramasetu, etc.

I just do not think it is fair that they would call it Adams bridge.

[Some Friggin Guy]

I won't disagree with you there, however, NASA didn't ask me.

Oh, by the way, check your PMs.

[evildave]

Better links...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam's_Bridge

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Adam's%20Bridge

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=17736

[Some Friggin Guy]

The alternate name Adam's Bridge derives from the notion that the biblical Garden of Eden was Sri Lanka

From Dave's second link.

So, I was both right and wrong.

[SkepticPete]

umm what is this number.............17,00,000?

[Some Friggin Guy]

Originally posted by SkepticPete
umm what is this number.............17,00,000?

I'm not entirely sure, but this numbering system appears consistant within the descriptions of the Chatur Yugas that I can find on the net.

Like here (http://www.urday.com/yugas.htm)

Though other sites (http://www.soulwise.net/25h-cdn.htm) use the more recognizable (at least to me) comma reference.

This could, perhaps, be a cultural difference?

[triadboy]

Perhaps this is a "just-so" story. A natural "bridge" was recognized by the ancients and a story developed to explain its existence.

[ceo_esq]

I'm not aware of anyone having tried to identify the biblical Garden of Eden with Sri Lanka, although one particularly lush region is sometimes called Eden by analogy.

Interestingly, however, it appears that at least some Muslims believe Adam and Eve traveled to what is now Sri Lanka after being expelled from Eden.

Adam, of course, is also a Koranic figure, and the geographic associations with Adam within Sri Lanka are probably attributable to local Muslims.

A significant minority (roughly 15%) within both India and Sri Lanka are either Muslim or Christian.

[NirmalaMaya]

Hmm.
I was raised Muslim, and I have never heard any Muslim equate Eden with somewhere outside of the Middle East.
Even at one time the country I am from was a very beautiful paradise..but no Eden :)

Anyhow,
Yes some people do believe that South India/Sri Lanka was Eden..it has something to do with the Lemurians or some crap...totally unbelievable if you ask me. You can read up on it if youd like :)

[Checkmite]

The unique curvature of the bridge and composition by age reveals that it is man made. The legends as well as Archeological studies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to a primitive age, about 17,50,000 years ago and the bridge's age is also almost equivalent.

This is odd. I've found the apparent source of the above-mentioned article (http://www.skyimagelab.com/hanmonbrid.html?source=3DGS21), which is a place that sells space-related photos. However, according to that place,

The bridge´s unique curvature and composition by age suggests that it may be man made. The legends as well as Archeological studies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to the primitive age, about 1,750,000 years ago. [emphasis mine]

There is a big difference between "reveals that it is man made" and "suggests that it may be man made". In addition, the last clause - that the "bridge's age is almost equivalent" - simply does not appear anywhere in the article. Did you make these changes, NirmalaMaya?

In any case, you left out the most important part of the article:

Some believe that this mythological story occurring millions of years ago where "Monkey people" assist King Rama to cross to Sri Lanka is exactly that - mythology. It is, however, NOT mysterious if you learn the facts.

The literary and archeological data point to a more reasonable timeframe around 1900 B.C.E. when Prince Rama was assisted by Hanumant, a leader of a small tribe known as 'Vahner' to enhance the natural rock formation between India and Sri Lanka to cross it to move in troops and arms for a war with a Lankan King. The word 'Vahner' was mistranslated into Sanskrit as 'Vanara' which means 'Monkey' and the mythology grew from there. Given that nearly 4000 years have passed since this Epic, it is understandable that most people have forgotten the underlying historical basis for the mythological Ramayana Epic.

[NirmalaMaya]

Did I make any changes to the article? No. Chances are wherever I got the article from, and wherever you got the article from...are two different places.
Things sometimes do happen that way..
I wish you wouldve taken this threads date into consideration before you posted. It would have really curbed me from wasted the 5 minutes it took me to type this.

[Checkmite]

Originally posted by NirmalaMaya
Did I make any changes to the article? No. Chances are wherever I got the article from, and wherever you got the article from...are two different places.


In that case, wherever you got the article from should be suspect, since they are apparently willing to edit others' material in order to help suggest things that simply aren't true. I would be very reluctant to trust anything else from such a source, Maya.

[NirmalaMaya]

I didnt "trust" any source. I simply copied and pasted some random source into the text box to give others an idea of what I was on about. What I trust and what I do not, should be of no concern to you. Thanks.

[Checkmite]

Originally posted by NirmalaMaya
I didnt "trust" any source. I simply copied and pasted some random source into the text box to give others an idea of what I was on about. What I trust and what I do not, should be of no concern to you. Thanks.

You're missing the point, which is only that whatever "random source" you got this stuff from has been shown to be less-than-honest. It has no credibility, which means you should no longer consider it a viable source for information. On the other hand, if the error here is not yours, but rather was committed by this source, there's no reason for you to be acting so defensive - chill dude. :cool:

[Skeptical Greg]

Interesting article here..

Adam’s Bridge across Palk Straits only 3,500 years old.. (http://www.gisdevelopment.net/news/viewn.asp?id=GIS:N_ytfseizr) Because of such divergent littoral currents, there remained a current shadow zone between Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar and hence the sand brought by the currents had been dumped in a linear pattern in the current shadow zone. Corals might have accumulated over these linear sand bodies, later on Ramasamy said.

So the land bridge is only the sand, which had begun accumulating in the current shadow zone 3,500 years back, and continues to the present day. Therefore, the age of the Adam’s bridge could only be 3,500 years old, he asserted.



Seems to be a reasonable alternative to the idea that Rama did it.