Rama’s Bridge

Rama's Bridge is also known as Adam's Bridge or Rama Setu. Rama’s Bridge is a network of natural limestone sandbars located between Pamban Island and Rameswaram Island off the southeastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar Island off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka. According to geological data, this bridge may have once served as a land link between India and Sri Lanka.

You've probably heard the Ramayana, in which Ravana kidnaps Sita and afterwards Rama constructs Rama Setu (also known as Rama's Bridge) with Hanuman and others to save his wife. In this article, you will learn how this bridge was built, why it was built, and who helped Rama to build a bridge.

Rama’s Bridge

Short Story of Ramayana

Author Valmiki mentions a bridge crossing the ocean to unite India and Sri Lanka in the famous Indian epic Ramayana, which was written thousands of years ago. The nearly 24,000-verse epic poem tells the story of the godly prince Rama and his fight to save his kidnapped wife Sita from the evil king Ravana, who ruled Sri Lanka.

The crown prince Rama was made to give up his claim to the throne and live in isolation for 14 years. Sita, his wife, was kidnapped by the evil demon king Ravana while he was in the forest and carried to Sri Lanka. Rama gathered an army of monkeys and led them to Sri Lanka, where a lengthy war started. Ravana was ultimately defeated, and Rama returned to his house with his wife to be crowned king.

Rama’s Bridge

Ram Setu (Rama’s Bridge) was first mentioned in Valmiki’s Ramayana, a Hindu epic. The bridge is thought to have been constructed by Lord Rama's Vanara Sena on Nala's (who helped Rama to build a Bridge) orders so that Lord Rama could travel to Lanka and rescue his wife Sita. According to legend, the name of Lord Rama was written on the floating rocks, which made the pumice stones unsinkable. The bridge was then used by Rama's army to cross the sea and reach Sri Lanka. This bridge is also known as India Sri Lanka Bridge.

Rama’s Vanara Sena Writing on Stones

Adam’s Bridge separates the Palk Strait (northeast) from the Gulf of Mannar in the southwest and is 48 kilometres (30 miles) long. Navigation is made more difficult because some of the areas are dry and the local seas are rarely deeper than one meter (3 feet). Until storms deepened the waterway in the 15th century, it was supposedly accessible on foot. Records from the Ramanathaswamy Temple claim that Adam's Bridge was above sea level before a cyclone destroyed it in 1480. You may still see a trace of a connecting strip between the two countries if you look at satellite images of this region today.

Summary

In this article, we discussed Rama’s Bridge which has many other names like Adam’s Bridge, India Sri Lanka Bridge, and Rama Setu. In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Nala, a vanara (monkey), is credited as the bridge's engineer. The Rama Setu covers the ocean between Rameswaram (India) and Lanka, which is thought to be Sri Lanka today, allowing lord Rama's army to travel to Lanka. Another name for the bridge is Nala Setu or the bridge of Nala. The construction of the bridge is credited to both Nala and his twin brother Nila and another vanara. Rama Setu bridge connects India and Sri Lanka. We hope you enjoyed reading this article, in case of any doubts feel free to ask in the comments.