NASA poured cold water on claims by Hindu news services that the US agency's spaceborne cameras had discovered the remains of the mythical bridge built by Rama across the Palk Strait.
"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," said NASA official Mark Hess.
NRI websites like Indolink.com and the Vaishnava News Network had run a story earlier this week saying that "space images taken by NASA" had revealed "a mysterious ancient bridge in the Palk Strait." The story gained currency when it was picked up, unquestioningly, by the PTI.
NASA said the mysterious bridge was nothing more than a 30 km long, naturally-occuring chain of sandbanks called Adam's bridge. Hess said his agency had been taking pictures of these shoals for years. Its images had never resulted in any scientific discovery in the area.
The Internet story further claimed "archaeological studies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to?about 1.75 million years ago" as does the age of the bridge. This, in turn, matched the age when the events of the Ramayana took place.
Historian B.D. Chattopadhyay of Jawaharlal Nehru University says the archaeological record says nothing of the sort. There is no evidence of a human presence in the subcontinent, he says, before roughly 250,000 to 30
RE:Ram setu is a myth
by Prashant Trivedi on Jul 26, 2007 04:24 PM Permalink
How naive can people get? Ram Setu I believe! This is preposterous! Ramayana is mythology. It is a great epic. The pictures shown in the photo do not prove anyting. It is just a rock formation and is making the ignorant ppl believe that there is some truth to it. The fanatics are cashing on, on the religious sentiments of ppl. If every literate person thinks objectively, he or she will realise this. Think scientifically and don't let your hearts rule your heads. yes, agreed we all believe in our religion. But we should not be blinded by it. Let mythology be mythology. It is this collective objective thinking that helps a nation grow and develop. Such idiocy ike calling a rock formation Ram setu just hampers a nation's progress. Great nations developed by letting their minds rule. Development is achieved by forward thinking. So pls my dear friends, let us not get carried away by a few fanatics' preposterousness.
RE:Ram setu is a myth
by Prashant Trivedi on Jul 26, 2007 04:40 PM Permalink
U seem to be more of an ignoramus than I imagined anybody could be. Just coz ur name is Viswamitra is no excuse to believe and behave in line with the thoughts prevalent in the sage's period of history. It is folks like u with ur fanaticism who hinder the economic and industrial progress of our great nation.
RE:Ram setu is a myth
by Vishwamithran TKB on Jul 26, 2007 04:42 PM Permalink
But I have seen the communists in India hindering the economic and industrial progress of our nation.
RE:Ram setu is a myth
by Vishwamithran TKB on Jul 26, 2007 04:30 PM Permalink
So many people and institutions had been pouring cold water on Hinduism. This is not an exceptional case. Why the hell are you posting this nonsese under a subject which has nothing to do with what you have written here? It seems that too much of Hindu bashing brought some mental imbalence to you and that is why whenever and wherever you see some space you tend to paste this sort of nonsese. Take care.
