A good article, echoing the sentiments of most of the believers in Hindu mythology. To put things in perspective, I am not much of a believer in Ram being an avatar of Vishnu or some of the other things that Ramayana says. It is possible that there was a prince called Ram and it was common for many kings and princes to be perceived as divine incarnations. The story could have been about this prince and may have been jazzed up by the imaginations of the original author, by such things as pushpaka vimana, vanara sena etc. On the other hand, the story could have been entirely fictional. Ram may or may not have existed, Ramayana may or may not be just a fictional story. However, all of this does not matter at all. The point is that there are millions of people in the country who strongly believe that an avatar of Vishnu called Ram existed and constructed this bridge on his way to Lanka. The Govt in Tamil Nadu may be composed of atheists (pseudo, in many cases), but most of the people they govern are not. Therefore, the Govt simply has to respect the sentiments of the people and leave Ram Setu project alone. In case of a dispute over the truth and validity of Ram, Ramayana or Ram Setu bridge, the right thing to do would be to allow the issue to be tackled by historians, archeologists and scientists from relavant disciplines - not by the Govt., courts and politicians. Till a date when a clear account of history can be made available to the public, there could be no sensible option
