Excerpts from Ramayana and Mahabharata on Sethu Mandir heritage Valmiki describes in the Great Epic, Ramayana, the construction of Sethu in detail. %u201CHe sings with gusto of the noise and confusion of the gigantic project. The Vaanaras (special tribes in the southern regions having features such as prominent and strong jaws) went to the mountains and forests and, plucking rocks and trees, dragged them to the shore. The bigger Vaanaras brought big boulders and threw them into the sea. As they fell down, the water splashed sky-high. Nala%u2014Vishwakarma%u2019s son and the project leader%u2014stood and supervised their labours. The leaders in charge of companies kept them active. On the top of the rocks and trees, when the base was firm, a dressing of grass and little pieces of wood was given to produce a level surface. The noise raised by the dam-builders drowned the roar of the ocean. The construction was complete. The new path shone across the sea like the milky way in the sky.%u201D [Ref.: C. Rajagopalachari, Ramayana, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 29th Edition, 1996, p. 274-275). The Sethu Mandir is a sacred monument because of its association with Shri Rama who said: Mother and Motherland are greater than heaven. (Jananee janmabhoomischa swargaadapi gareeyasi).
Ram Sethu is referred to as Nala%u2019s Bridge in the Great Epic, Mahabharata: %u201Cwhich even today, popular on earth as Nala%u2019s bridge, mountain-like, is sustained out of respect for [Lord] Rama%u2019s command. (Nala was son of Viswakarma) (MBh. 3.267.45)
