A Glorious Hindu Legacy: Indic influence in Southeast Asia.

Hinduism in Cambodia

According to an ancient Sanskrit inscription, Cambodia was born from the water. Being the oldest Indianised state in Southeast Asia, its religion was Hinduism. Cambodia boasts the largest temple complex in the world, named Ankor, from the Sanskrit meaning "the capital city".

It was built in the ninth century C. E. in honor of the Hindu god Lord Vishnu. The complex extends over an area more than twice the size of Manhattan and took thirty-seven years to complete.

Angkor Wat was dramatically rediscovered in 1860 by the French naturalist and explorer Henri Mouhot, 1826 -1861) a French naturalist and explorer, who exclaimed:

“It is grander than anything left us by Greece or Rome.”

"At the sight of this temple, one feels one's spirit crushed, one's imagination surpassed. One looks, one admires, and, seized with respect, one is silent. For where are the words to praise a work of art that may not have its equal anywhere on the globe? ... What genius this Michalangelo of the East had, that he was capable of concaving such a work.''

(source: Le Tour du Monde 2-1863-299).

He was staggered by his discovery. There was a city so vast and so sophisticated that it must have been built by people with an advanced knowledge of engineering, science, mathematics and art. The young Frenchman soon sent word back to Europe telling of the most beautiful lost city ever to be discovered. The monumental scale, grandeur and beauty of Angkor justifies its reputation as one of the world’s great creations.

Mouhot wrote: What strikes the observer with not less admiration than the grandeur, regularity, and beauty of these majestic buildings, is the immense size and prodigious number of the blocks of stone of which they are constructed. In this temple alone are as many as 1532 columns. What means of transport, what a multitude of workmen, must this have required, seeing that the mountain out of which the stone was hewn is thirty miles distant!...."

(source: Angkor: Heart of an Asian Empire - By Bruno Dagens p. 140 -141).

The Majestic Angkor Wat.

“No Sultan’, ‘no Mikado, No Viceroy of India could offer his guests a comparable spectacle.”

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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Lord Alfred Harmsworth Northcliffe (1865 - 1922) remarked when he went to Cambodia as a reporter for his newspaper,

“No Sultan’, he cabled, ‘no Mikado, No Viceroy of India could offer his guests a comparable spectacle.”

(source: The Road to Angkor - By Christopher Pym p. 176 - 180).

Christopher Pym, author of Ancient Civilization of Angkor and The Road to Angkor has observed:

"Angkor is the ancient capital of the Khmer empire, a fabulous city of ruins buried deep in the jungles of Cambodia. The most striking of Angkor’s ruins are Angkor the Great, a walled cit with five enormous gateways, and Angkor Wat, a huge temple with five towers which soar majestically above the surrounding forest.

The most astonishing thing about Angkor is the size of the ruined buildings, and the way in which many of them are still locked in the clasp of giant rain-trees with orchids trailing above the sculptures and monkeys swinging in the darkness into sunlight through the deserted galleries. For Angkor was once the ‘lost city’ par excellence, and some of its temples are still hard to reach and enter.

Both Khmers and Chams were Hinduized peoples, and their cultures flowered as the result of the intermarriage between Hindu settlers from India and the indigenous tribes of the Indo-China peninsula."

(source: The Road to Angkor - By Christopher Pym p. 1 - 15).

Cambodia

Both Khmers and Chams were Hinduized peoples, and their cultures flowered as the result of the intermarriage between Hindu settlers from India and the indigenous tribes of the Indo-China peninsula."

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) poet, author, philosopher, Nobel prize laureate. Tagore was deeply critical of the British Raj in India.

He has remarked:

“To know my country in truth (he writes) one has to travel to that age when he realized her soul and thus transcended her physical boundaries.”

Benjamin Rowland ( - 1972) Curator of American Art and author of The Art and Architecture of India

"Perhaps it might be compared’, ‘to the impression that would be produced on a wanderer in another millennium coming suddenly upon the ruins of Manhattan rising silent and empty above the Hudson."

(source: The Art and Architecture of India - By Benjamin Rowland and The Road to Angkor - By Christopher Pym p. 176 - 180).

Angkor wat is the largest religious monument in the world. Built by Suryavarman II in the 12^th century to honor Lord Vishnu. Its bas-reliefs show episodes from the life of Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, as related in the Indian epic, Ramayana; scenes from another Indian epic, The Mahabharata; and some ‘historical’ court scenes. Angkor wat is also an observatory, the sun rises directly over the temple on the day of the summer solstice, the beginning of the solar year in the Hindu calendar. Its dimensions reflect Hindu notions about time. Beautiful as it is, in its day Angkor wat was even more impressive, its towers gilded in gold and its exterior painted white.

(source: Southeast Asia – A Concise History – By Mary Somers Heidues p. 40 – 41).

Lord Shiva.

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Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell (1892- 1969) 5th Baronet, in his book Escape with Me - an Oriental Sketch Book (1941) has rated Angkor as:

"chief wonder of the world today, one of the summits to which human genius has aspired in stone, infinitely more impressive, lovely, and, as well, romantic, than anything that can be seen in China.”

(source: The Road to Angkor - By Christopher Pym p. 176 - 180).

“The great edifice of Angkor Wat with its huge lotus-bud-shaped towers, the glory of Khmer architecture and of its founder Suryavarman II stands out above them all. It is a spectacle of beauty, wonder and magnificence. One is struck by its sheer enormity. It is 5,000 feet by 4,000 feet. What brilliant scenes in Khmer history had this causeway witnessed. Armies had marched, cavalry had galloped, priests had walked in procession with all the ceremonial of their office. “

The bas-reliefs are one of Angkor Wat’s greatest treasures and outstanding attractions. In the lower terrace they continue for over half a mile, which gives some idea of the vastness of the temple. Every stone is decorated. The bas-reliefs are about 8 feet high. The whole effect is that of an almost endless tapestry in stone. The subjects are principally religious, of legends and of war.

Angkor Goddess in Venice Museum.

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The scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharat take up nearly half a mile, and the total number of figures of men, animals and birds has been calculated to be nearly 20,000. There are combats between opposing forces who are mounted on elephants. Hundreds of elephants have been sculptured on the walls, and illustrate some incidents from these two epics; warriors fighting from chariots, scenes from the lives of the God Rama and his wife Sita, who was kidnapped by the demon Ravana, armies of men and monkeys. Vast stretches depict Khmer victories on land and sea, naval pageants, victory marches with bands and banners. The God Vishnu is mounted on a garuda; there are invocations to the Hindu trinity, goddesses, and guardian deities.

The sculptors were fortunate in being provided with a most sensitive, ideal and endless canvas upon which to exercise their talents. This was polished sandstone. They used about 4,000 feet of it. The bas-reliefs decorate eight panels, four of which are over 100 yards long.

Everything about Angkor Wat is on a massive and lavish scale, as if time, expense and labor were of little importance. The bas reliefs in the majority of cases are executed with exquisite beauty, and the most minute attention to detail, symmetry and proportion.

Apsara dancing in Cambodia today.

In Hindu sacred stories, Apsaras are heavenly nymphs of great beauty and charm, often represented as dancers at the celestial court. In a number ofstories, the Gods sent Apsaras to earth to distract and seduce sages practicing austerities - especially those who are gaining alarming levels of yogic power through their concentrated meditation. Apsaras would also reward heroes who fell in combat, rushing to the battle site and carrying them into heaven.

(source: webmaster's own collection of photos taken during a recent visit).

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

Refer to Cambodia's Cultural Arts.

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Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) the great British historian. His massive research was published in 12 volumes between 1934 and 1961 as `A Study of History'. Author of several books, including Christianity: Among the Religions of the World and One World and India.

He wrote about Angkor in The Observer, he called it 'A Foretaste of Nirvana', saying that "one could spend the ret of one's life sitting there."

(source: The Road to Angkor - By Christopher Pym p. 176 - 180).

Shiva linga - Preah Kan and Ganesha bronze, Angkorwat.

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(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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James Ferguson author of History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, wrote in 1876,

"To the historian of art the wonder is to find temples with such a singular combination of styles in such a locality - Indian temples constructed with pillars almost purely classical in design, and ornamented with bas-relief so strangely Egyptian in character."

(source: Angkor: Heart of an Asian Empire p. 43).

S. Sarin has written: "The Cambodian country, with its own language, knows Sanskrit as well since the dawn of history and some learned scholars speak of Indo-Khmer culture, as the aspects of question are interconnected to one another. So viewed, the deep cause of the noble sense of gratefulness in Cambodian behavior is firstly due to the Ramayana, which had been well-known, for example through the bas-relief of Angkor Temples." In Cambodian language, Tin (three) Gun meaning "knowing, acknowledging what has been done, grateful." In Cambodian way of speaking, people have Tin, and Gun (guna), "quality."

(source: Indian Epic Values: Ramayana and Its Impact - By G. Pollet p.222 -228).

Ram killing the golden deer in the Ramayana, Angkorwat.

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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Cambodia's national flag, which features the imposing facade of Angkor Wat, the 12th century Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu, is only one of the symbols of how deeply internalized India is in the collective consciousness of the Cambodian people.

(source: Cambodia embraces India's pride - By Shobori Ganguli - dailypioneer.com 4//11/02).

Refer to Angkorwat image - World Heritage Tour. For more refer to chapters on Sacred Angkor and Glimpses XVI - Glimpses XIX.

For a documentary on Hindu temples, refer to The Lost Temples of India.

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Follow up history of Cambodia
US Aggression in Cambodia

Mark Twain (1835-1910) also known as Samuel Clemens, one of the most widely loved and celebrated American writers since his first books were released in the late 1860s.

He was also quite vitriolic about missionaries who justified imperialism as an extension of the religious duty.

"I bring you the stately matron named Christendom," he wrote angrily, "returning bedraggled, besmirched, and dishonored from pirate raids in Kiao-chou [Tsingtao, China], Manchuria, South Africa, and the Philippines, with her soul full of meanness, her pocket full of boodle, and her mouth full of pious hypocrisies."

"Notwithstanding their passioned opposition, the anti-imperialists were fighting rearguard actions against faits accompli in the Philippines and elsewhere, leading Theodore Roosevelt, secretary of the Navy, virile expansionist, and later president, to deride them as "men of a by-gone age having to deal with the facts of the present."

(source: American Imperialism - vi.uh.edu). Watch We are Warlike people - By George Carlin.

For U.S political and military intervention, refer to Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace – By Gore Vidal

Refer to World Conquering Creeds in chapter Glimpses XVI.

“The moneyed elite in the United States have long coveted their neighbors' land, resources, and cheap labor forces. Eager to invade, annex, and exploit, the plutocracy began to disseminate the warped notion of Manifest Destiny in the Nineteenth Century. Purporting to have the unwavering support of the Almighty, the "superior" Anglo-Saxons rationalized slavery, the Native American Genocide, the conquest of half of Mexico, the annexation of Hawaii, and their eradication of over 300,000 "savages" in conquering the Philippines.”

(source: Hell Awaits, America - rense.com).

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One might want to recall that American intervention in Cambodia was a disaster for the Cambodians. American and South Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia in April 1970, the North Vietnamese simply moved westwards, deeper into Cambodian territory. The chaos of post-invasion Cambodia, which led to the takeover of power by the murderous Khmer Rouge.

The American role

The responsibility for the rising popularity of the Khmer Rouge rested with the successive US administrations which prosecuted a protracted and brutal imperialist war throughout Indochina in the 1960s and 1970s, destroying millions of lives and devastating industry and agriculture. Prince Sihanouk had sought to maintain his country's distance from the war in Vietnam through a policy of neutralism. He refused to act against Vietnamese supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh trail, which ran through eastern Cambodia. At the same time he kept silent about US military actions against Vietnamese forces operating on Cambodian soil.

The Nixon administration finally broke with Sihanouk in April 1970, backing a CIA-directed military coup that installed General Lon Nol and sent Sihanouk into exile in Beijing. One month later Nixon announced the invasion of Cambodia by 20,000 US and Vietnamese troops.

Cambodia was transformed into a battlefield with Lon Nol's troops fighting the Khmer Rouge and American and Saigon troops in combat with NLF and regular North Vietnamese forces. The country's population experienced the most intensive saturation bombing in world history. During nearly five years of bombing raids, from 1969 to 1973, some 532,000 tons of bombs were dropped on Cambodia, more than three times the tonnage dropped on Japan in all of World War II.

Under the impact of the bombing and widening warfare, Cambodian society disintegrated. By 1974, 95 percent of Cambodia's national income came from US aid, much of it siphoned off into the pockets of corrupt military officers. Two million out of the seven million people were homeless. Annual rice production had plunged from 3.8 million tons to only 655,000 tons. Much of Cambodia's farmland remains even today untillable because of bomb craters and unexploded ordnance.

The major responsibility for this social catastrophe lay with Nixon and his principal foreign policy aide, National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger.

The bombing of Cambodia was carried out as a secret and illegal operation--secret, at least, from the American people, if not from the victims in Cambodia, or the thousands of American military personnel who participated in the attacks, or the American reporters in Vietnam who knew of the bombing raids but kept silent.

The Khmer Rouge in power

It was only after the American intervention in Cambodia that Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge began to win wider support.

From a badly organized and poorly equipped force of less than 5,000 men in 1970, it grew to be an army of around 70,000 when, in April 1975, the Lon Nol dictatorship finally collapsed. Out of a population of approximately 8 million people, Pol Pot's regime killed one-quarter.

The Khmer Rouge targeted Buddhist monks, Western-educated intellectuals, people who appeared to be intelligent (for example, individuals with glasses), the crippled and lame, and ethnic minorities like ethnic Laotians and Vietnamese. They were thrown into the infamous S-21 camp for interrogation.

(source: US aggression in Cambodia - wsws.org and Pol Pot).

Watch We are Warlike people - By George Carlin. For U.S political and military intervention, refer to Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace – By Gore Vidal

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Large Symbols Like Peruvian Signs Found on Gujarat Hillside

Vadodara, Gujarat, India. August 6, 2006: Geologists have discovered a striking archaeological feature on a hillock in the Kutch district of the western Indian state of Gujarat. This feature is shaped like the Roman numeral VI. Each arm of this feature is a trench that is about two meters wide, two meters deep and more than 100 meters long. The feature has evoked the curiosity of archaeologists because such signs have mostly been observed so far in Peru. The team, led by Dr RV Karanth, a former professor of geology at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara, Gujarat, has been involved in a palaeoseismological study of the Kutch region for the past 11 years Palaeoseismology involves the study of sediments, landforms and other geological evidence of past earthquakes to unravel their history and determine the nature and occurrence of present-day earthquakes. This feature was discovered at a hillock 3km from the sleepy oasis township of Khavda, which is also known as the gateway to the Rann of Kutch, an extensive salt marsh of western India and southeast Pakistan between the Gulf of Kutch and the Indus river delta.

Dr. Karanth says such trenches have not been noticed elsewhere in the region. Archaeologists, he says, can now pursue further research. Geometric lines and animal shapes etched into the desert plain by people of the Nazca civilisation (AD 1-700) of Peru are well known. "But such signs on hill-slopes have not been reported from Peru," says Dr. Karanth. He says that one of the prominent explanations given for the Peruvian features is that they may have been constructed to make astronomical observations and calculations. "The Tropic of Cancer passes through Kutch. So if this structure is man-made, it is likely that the slope of the hillock was utilized for making certain astronomical calculations in the past," explains the geologist. Interestingly, there are numerous indications to suggest that Harappans were well-versed in astronomy. The straight streets of that time were oriented in the cardinal directions - east, west, north and south. Linkages between ancient Harappan scripts and latter Vedic texts also suggest that Harappan priest-astronomers tracked the progress of various planets and mapped the sky. Dr. Karanth has also discovered ruins of a fort-wall, houses, storage tank and a temple on the hilltop.

(source: Large Symbols Like Peruvian Signs Found on Gujarat Hillside - bbcnews.co.uk). For more refer to chapter on India on Pacific Waves and Vimanas.

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Vedic India and the Primordial Tradition

Vishnunabhi is the navel of Lord Vishnu, the emanation point of the cosmos.

According to John Major Jenkins, a leading independent researcher of ancient cosmology:

"Our understanding of the true age of the ancient Vedic civilization has undergone a well-documented revolution. Feuerstein, Frawley, and Kak have shown conclusively (In Search of the Cradle of Civilization) that the long-accepted age of the Vedic culture—erroneously dated by scholars parading a series of assumptions and unscientific arguments to roughly 1500 BC—is much too recent. Evidence comes from geological, archaeological, and literary sources as well as the astronomical references within Vedic literature. The corrected dating to eras far prior to 1500 BC was made possible by recognizing that precessional eras are encoded in Vedic mythology, and were recorded by ancient Vedic astronomers. As a result, the Indus Valley civilization appears to be a possible cradle of civilization, dated conservatively to 7000 BC. Western India may thus be a true source of the civilizing impulse that fed Anatolia in Turkey, with its complex Goddess-worshipping city-states of Çatal Hüyük and Hacilar. However, there are layers upon layers of even older astronomical references, and legends persist that the true “cradle” might be found further to the north, in Tibet or nearby Central Asia.

The work of these three writers shows that biases and assumptions within scholarly discourse can prevent an accurate modeling of history and an underestimation of the accomplishments of ancient cultures. The analogous situation in modern Egyptology and Mesoamerican studies also requires that well-documented new theories — often exhaustively argued, interdisciplinary, and oriented toward a progressive synthesis of new data — should be appraised fairly and without bias.

Next to the Australian aborigines, the Vedic civilization is perhaps the oldest continuous living tradition in the world. Its extremely ancient doctrines and insights into human spirituality are unsurpassed. We might expect that its cosmology and science of time has been as misunderstood as its true antiquity. In looking closely at Vedic doctrines of time, spiritual growth, calendars, and astronomy, we will see that a central core idea is that of our periodic alignment to the Galactic Center. And, according to these ancient Vedic beliefs, the galactic alignment we are currently experiencing heralds our shift from a millennia-long descent of deepening spiritual darkness to a new era of light and ascending consciousness. "

Lord Vishnu is the infinite ocean from which the world emerges - Lord is shown lying down on a thousand-headed snake (named Shesha or Ananta Nag - Timeless or Ageless snake).

According to ancient Vedic beliefs, the galactic alignment we are currently experiencing heralds our shift from a millennia-long descent of deepening spiritual darkness to a new era of light and ascending consciousness. "

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Vishnunabhi: Yugas and Galactic Center

One of the oldest writings in Vedic literature comes from a pseudo-historical god-man called Manu. René Guénon pointed out that Manu belongs to a family of related archetypal figures, which include Melchezidek, Metatron, St Michael, Gabriel, and Enoch. As an angelic inspiration for the rebirth of humanity at the dawn of a new era, or Manvantara, Manu is the primal law-giver, and his laws were recorded in the extremely ancient Vedic text called the Laws of Manu. Much of its contents describe moral and ethical codes of right behavior, but there is a section that deals with the ancient Vedic doctrine of World Ages - the Yugas. Manu indicates that a period of 24,000 years — clearly a reference to precession — consists of a series of four yugas or ages, each shorter and spiritually darker than the last. In one story this process of increasing limitation is envisioned as a cosmic cow standing with each leg in one quarter of the world; with each age that passes a leg is lost, resulting in the absurd and unstable world we live in today—a cow balancing on one leg.

According to the information in the Laws of Manu, the morning and twilight periods between the dawn of each new era equals one-tenth of its associated yuga, as shown in the following table:

Dawn Era Dusk Total Name

400 + 4000 + 400 = 4800 years. Satya Yuga (Golden Age)
300 + 3000 + 300 = 3600 years. Treta Yuga (Silver Age)
200 + 2000 + 200 = 2400 years. Dwapara Yuga (Bronze Age)
100 + 1000 + 100 = 1200 years. Kali Yuga (Iron Age)
12,000 years

In Vedic mythology, a fabled dawn time existed in the distant past, when human beings had direct contact with the divine intelligence emanating from Brahma—the seat of creative power and intelligence in the cosmos. This archaic Golden Age (the Satya Yuga) lasted some 4800 years. After the Golden Age ended, humanity entered a denser era, that of the Silver Age, lasting only 3600 years. In this age, humanity’s connection with the source was dimmed, and sacrifices and spiritual practices became necessary to preserve it. The Bronze Age followed, and humanity forgot its divine nature. Empty dogmas arose, along with indulgence in materialism. Next we entered the Kali Yuga—in which we remain today—where the human spirit suffers under gross materialism, ignorance, warfare, stupidity, arrogance, and everything contrary to our divine spiritual potential.

As the teachings tell, Kali, the creator-destroyer Goddess, will appear at the end of Kali Yuga to sweep away the wasted detritus of a spirit-dead humanity, making way for a new cycle of light and peace. Notice that the Manu text takes us from a pinnacle of light to the ultimate end-point of the process—the darkness of Kali Yuga. And notice that the four ages, when the overlap period is added, amounts to only half of the 24,000-year period of the Vedic Yuga cycle.

(source: Galactic Alignment - By John Major Jenkins).

Lord Vishnu - 5th century.

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The Indian astronomers went even further, giving a physical reason for how the dual star or binary motion might allow the rise and fall of human consciousness to occur. They said that the Sun (with the Earth and other planets) traveled along its set orbital path with its companion start, it would cyclically move close to, then away from, a point in space referred to as Vishnunabhi, a supposed magnetic center or "grand center". They implied that being close to this region caused subtle changes in human consciousness that brought about the Golden Age, and conversely, our separation from it resulted in an age of great darkness, the Kali Yuga or Dark Age. "When the Sun in its revolution around its dual comes to the place nearest to this grand center, ... (an event which takes place when the autumnal equinox comes to the first point of Aries), dharma, the mental virtue, becomes so much developed that man can easily comprehend all, even the mysteries of the Spirit."

(source: Lost Star of Myth and Time - By Walter Cruttenden). Also refer to Hamlet's Mill - By Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend.

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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Ram Sethu - The Earliest and largest carbon-fiber reinforced civil engineering structure known to man
Floating stones found in Rameshwaram

Do stones float in water? The answer would be a certain no. But in the island of Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu, stones, it seems, do float in water. Difficult to believe-but it's a reality.

Floating stones of Rameshwaram have a mythological twist to it. According to the Hindu mythological epic Ramayana, which was supposed to have taken place over 17 million years ago, Lord Rama and his army of monkeys used stones to build a bridge across the Palk Strait to link Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka. Legend as well as archaeological findings indicate the first signs of human inhabitation in Sri Lanka date back to the primitive age and it is assumed that the bridge's age is also almost equivalent.

Sign Petition - Save Ramar Sethu. Refer to Save Ram Sethu and The Bridge of Ram and Dharmagraha

That is the memory so beautifully adopted by the Geological Survey of India in its logo, which describes India in this line etched at the bottom of its insignia -- Aasetu Himachal, meaning India is spread between the Bridge and the Himalayas. That is the Ram Setu Bridge on the southern tip of our motherland, an identity of the nation, under destruction now.

For more on Ramayana, refer to chapters Vimanas, Hindu Scriptures, Dwaraka, War in Ancient India, Survarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor.

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G. Mohan Das, a local historian and caretaker of the stones in the temple, said that these stones could have been the kind used to build the mythological bridge.

"The history of these floating stones is that when Lord Rama made a bridge to trek to Lanka to bring back his consort Sita, these are the same stones used. But today's educated people do not agree to it. They believe it is a coral which is in Australia, Chennai, in small islands. We believe there is no difference in these stones. Both the stones do not have air in them. The composition is the same and it has 40 kinds of chemicals," he said.

Space images taken by NASA reveal a series of rock outcrops in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka. Some historians say these could be the part of the mythological bridge linking Indian peninsula with Sri Lanka island.

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NASA Photos Reveal Bridge to Lanka

NASA’s statement accompanying the above photograph says:

“The bridge's unique curvature and composition by age reveals that it is man-made. Legend 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 and the bridge's age is also almost equivalent.”

According to the Ramayana, Lord Rama built a bridge to Lanka in ancient times, and the new photos greatly intrigue Hindus.

Space images taken by NASA reveal a 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 bridge´s unique curvature 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 the a primitive age, about 1,750,000 years ago and the bridge´s age is also almost equivalent.

This information is a crucial aspect for an insight into the mysterious legend called Ramayana, which was supposed to have taken place in tredha yuga (more than 1,700,000 years ago).

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

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.

According to encyclopedia.com(rä´me) or Rama's Bridge, chain of shoals, c.18 mi (30 km) long, in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka. At high tide it is covered by c.4 ft (1.2 m) of water. A steamer ferry links Rameswaram, India, with Mannar, Sri Lanka. According to Hindu legend, the bridge was built to transport Rama, hero of the Ramayana, to the island to rescue his wife from the demon king Ravanna.

(source: http://www.indolink.com/Religion/r091702-130924.php and Floating stones found in Rameshwaram).

15 kg Rameshwaram rock that stays afloat

Weighing 15 kg, the rock does not sink in water. The devotees believe it is a fragment of the "rocks huge as autumn clouds'', as described in Valmiki Ramayan, used to built the Ram Setu by Nala, the son of Vishwakarma.

Mahavir Mandir Trust secretary Acharya Kishore Kunal said he brought this "floating'' stone from Hanuman Temple at Rameshwaram. "I was told that during the devastating cyclone of 1964 many such floating pieces from the Ram Setu were found scattered near Rameshwaram,'' he said.

"The availability of these floating stones gives evidence to the account of Valmiki on the construction of Ram Setu which is described the Yudha Kand of the Ramayana,'' he said.

Sage (Rishi) Valmiki writing the Grand epic of The Ramayana.

"Divine poem, ocean of milk!"

"Whoever has done or willed too much let him drink from this deep cup a long draught of life and youth........Everything is narrow in the West - Greece is small and I stifle; Judea is dry and I pant. Let me look toward lofty Asia, and the profound East for a little while. There lies my great poem, as vast as the Indian ocean, blessed, gilded with the sun, the book of divine harmony wherein is no dissonance. A serene peace reigns there, and in the midst of conflict an infinite sweetness, a boundless fraternity, which spreads over all living things, an ocean (without bottom or bound) of love, of pity, of clemency."

Such was the first and enduring impression made on Jules Michelet (1798 -1874) French writer and historian by the Ramayana.

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Sage Valmiki wrote:

"Now let a wondrous task be done, By Nala, Vishwakarma's son, Who, born of one of Vanar race, Inherits by his father's grace, a share of his celestial art, Call Nala to perform his part, And he, divinely taught and skilled, A bridge athwart the sea shall build... Then the great bridge of wondrous strength was built... Rocks huge as autumn clouds bound fast, with cordage from the shore were cast...''

(source: 15 kg Rameshwaram rock that stays afloat - The Times of India Date: October 3, 2007),

The Rama Sethu is a man-made formation.

S Badrinarayanan, former director of Geological Survey of India and a member of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) says the Adam's Bridge was not a natural formation.

He has opined that:

"Coral reefs are formed only on hard surfaces. But during the study we found that the formation at Adam's Bridge is nothing but boulders of coral reefs. When we drilled for investigation, we found that there was loose sand two to three meters below the reefs. Hard rocks were found several meters below the sand. Such a natural formation is impossible. Unless somebody has transported them and dumped them there, those reefs could not have come there. Some boulders were so light that they could float on water. Apparently, whoever has done it, has identified light (but strong) boulders to make it easy for transportation. Since they are strong, they can withstand a lot of weight. It should be preserved as a national monument."

Such a natural formation is impossible. Unless somebody has transported them and dumped them there, those reefs could not have come there. Some boulders were so light that they could float on water. Apparently, whoever has done it, has identified light (but strong) boulders to make it easy for transportation. Since they are strong, they can withstand a lot of weight. It should be preserved as a national monument,” he opined.

He also cautioned that once the channel connected the turbulent Bay of Bengal and the calm Gulf of Mannar, it could spell doom for the southern Tamil Nadu coastline. During the tsunamis, it was Adam’s Bridge and Sri Lanka that saved the southern coastline when Nagapattinam and other northern shores were ravaged.

“Such comforts would not be there in future if this man-made barrier is cut open,” he added.

(source: Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project: A Good Thing Done Badly! - By Sundara Krishnaswami indiacause.com and Dummy’s guide to Ramar Bridge - mumbaimirror.com).

Hindu Baiting and a Cowardly Deed?

A Non-Hindu Christian Congress Party Union Cabinet Minister for Culture Mrs. Ambika Soni spoke like an Occidental Christian Despot of the Middle Ages when she recently informed the Lok Sabha:

''There is no archeological or historical evidence regarding the existence or otherwise of the Rama Sethu Bridge or Adam's Bridge in Rameswaram''

Ram Sethu aerial photo.

"rocks huge as autumn clouds'', as described in Valmiki Ramayan, used to built the Ram Setu by Nala, the son of Vishwakarma.

(photo source: Contributed by a visitor this website).

From the original Ramayana of Maharishi Valmiki down to Kamba's great work in Tamil and Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas, the story of Lord Ram has been told and retold in almost every language of the world. The Ramayana's story was by no means confined to India and, "its fragrance has traveled across the whole of South and Southeast Asia ."

Hindu Baiting and a Cowardly deed? - The unsavoury saga of the UPA Government first denying the existence of Lord Ram through an affidavit in the Supreme Court, thus unleashing outrage across the nation, and then hastening to deny its earlier denial through a fresh affidavit.

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The Union Minister for Shipping T.R.Balu and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi are committed to the supreme Dravidian cause of destruction of the Rama Sethu Bridge just in order to deal a death blow to the sacred feelings and susceptibilities of millions and millions of Hindus in India and the world. Karunanidhi and T.R.Balu, deathly enemies of Eternal Hinduism, have shown again and again that they are no less ignorant than Mrs.Ambika Soni in their Himalyaan ignorance of historically established facts about the Rama Sethu Bridge or Adam's Bridge .

Historical Records of Rama Bridge

To silence if not to outwit the arrogant, irresponsible Cabinet Ministers in high office in New Delhi and Madras today, I would like to cite a few references from printed books and documents where there are textual references to Rama's Bridge or Adam's Bridge or Sethu Bandhana.

Marco Polo (1254 -1324) was a Venetian trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in his book IL MILIONE (''The Million'' or The Travels of Marco Polo). He visited several ports in India. A book ''On The travels of Marco Polo'' translated by Marsden into English was published in England in 1854. In this book Rama's Bridge has been described as SETABUND-RAMESWARA which only means Setu-Bandha (page-380).

The Rameswaram temple

Lord Ram worshiped Lord Shiva at Rameswaram with Lakshmana and Hanuman at his side.

(source: British Library).

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A Catalogue of the Mammals in the Museum of the Hon. East-India Company, East India Company Museum written by Thomas Horsfield (1773-1859), was published in England in 1851. In this Catalogue, Rama's Bridge was used as a reference point to define the expanse of Bharatam. We can see from this Catalogue, adequate pointers to the rich biodiversity of the flora and fauna of Rameshwaram and its environs.

Sir William Jones (1746-1794) in his ''Discourses delivered before the Asiatic society'' published in 1801 (p. 29) has observed as follows:

“The characters, in which the languages of India were originally written, are called Nagarai, from Nagara, a city with the word Deva sometimes prefixed, because they are believed to have been taught by the Divinity himself, who prescribed the aritificial order of them in a voice from heaven. These letters, with no greater variation in their form by the change of straight lines to curves, or conversely, than the Cusick alphabet has received in its way to India, are still adopted in more then twenty kingdoms and flates, from the borders of Cashgar and Khoten, to Rama’s Bridge, and from the “Sindhu to the river of Siam. Nor can I help believing”

Arnold Hermann (1835) in his ''Historical researches into the politics, intercourse, and trade of the principal nations of antiquity'' translated from the German into English, Oxford University Press (p.89) wrote:

“Six years before Christ. The particular object of this inscription is to record the liberality of a certain renowned conqueror named Deb Pal Deb, who overran all India, from the sources of the Ganges to Rama’s bridge at Ceylon, which “is celebrated in the Ramayana.”

William Yates, 1846, A dictionary of Sanscrit and English, designed for the use of private students and of Indian colleges and schools, Baptist Mission Press, (p.821)

"Samudra m. A Shark, a whale; Rama’s bridge, marine mari"

The entry, samudraaru or samudraarah is given the meaning: Rama's bridge.

Vanara Sena Rama Setu Sculpture at
The Prambanan Temple in Indonesia.

The Ramayana has massively influenced the entire Asian landmass, there are probably as many versions and interpretations of the Ramayana as there are Rama-bhaktas. All variants are legitimate, like myriad paths in quest of the Ultimate Truth. From Sangam poetics to the bhakti of the Alwar saints, the classical rendition of Kamban, the grand philosophy of Ramanuja, the soulful depths of Thiagaraja, and the sheer energy of Therukuttu (street theatre), 'what was built forever is forever being built.'

For more refer to chapters on Suvarnabhumi, Sacred Angkor and Glimpses XII to Glimpses XIX.

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Charlotte Speir Manning, George Scharf, 1856, ''Life in Ancient India '', Oxford University Press (p. 117).

“Rama and all the allied forces marched down to the Coromandel coast , and making a bridge by casting rocks into the sea passed quickly into Lanka. Vestiges of Rama’s bridge may still be seen, occasionally much inconvenience to navigators, who are obliged to lighten heavy burdened vessels before they can pass the rocks and sandbanks of “the Straits of Manaar. After fighting a few battles, the…”

Lodovico de Varthema, George Percy Badger, John Winter Jones, 1863, The travels of Ludovico di Varthema in Egypt , Syria , Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix, in Persia , India ..., Published for the Hakluyt Society, London (Translated into English from the original Italian edition), (p.185)

''...The expedition of Ram to Ceylon, and his victory over Rhavan or Rhaban, King of that island, is one of the fables of Hindu mythology, but he passed into the island at the strait, since called, by the Mohamedans, Adam's Bridge. The whole country round, in consequence of this, preserves the memorial of his conquest. There is a Ramanad-buram on the continent close to the Bridge; a Rami-Ceram, or country of Ram, the island close to the continent; [Rameswaram, called Rammanana Kojel by Baldaeus, and Ramonan Coil by D'Anville;] and a Point Rama on the continent.

The Bridge itself, formed by the shoals between Rami-ceram and Mannar, is Rama's Bridge; and in Rami-ceram is Ramar-Koil, the temple of Ram . This Koil or temple (Koil means temple in Malayalim) is undoubtedly the origin of Koru; and the repetition of it three times in Ptolemy is in perfect correspondence with the allusion to Ram at the present''

(source: Rama Sethu: Historic facts vs political fiction - IV – By V Sundaram - newstodaynet.com)

Lord John Sinclair Pentland (1860 – 1925) was Governor of Madras from 1912 to 1919. He visited Rameshwaram in 1914 when Sir Alexander Tottenham (1873-1946) was the District Collector of Ramanathapuram. Lord Pentland was so overwhelmed by what he saw in Rameshwaram that he wrote as follows to Lord Hardinge, the then Viceroy of India:

"'For me Rameshwaram, very much like India as a whole is the real world. We English men live in a mad house of abstractions. Vital life in Rameshwaram has not yet withdrawn into the capsule of the head. It is the whole body that lives. No wonder the English man feels dreamlike: the complete life of Rameshwaram is something of which he merely dreams.... I did not see an English man in India who really lived there. They are all living in England , that is, in a sort of bottle filled with English air.... History can be events or memory of events.... along the Bay of Bengal the Madras Presidency runs, with the well-governed city of Madras at its centre and the sublime and glorious temples of Tanjore, Tiruchi, Madurai and Rameshwaram adorning its Southern boundaries. And then Adam's Bridge- a reef of sunken islands' beckons us across the Palk Straits to Ceylon , where civilisation flourished more than 2000 years ago....Linga stones may be seen in many places on the highways in my Presidency. Hindus break upon them the coconuts which they are about to offer in sacrifice. Usually the phallic ritual is simple and becoming; it consists in anointing the stone with consecrated water or oil, and decorating it with leaves. At the Rameshwaram temple, the Linga stone is daily washed with Ganga water, which is afterwards sold to the pious, as holy water or mesmerized water has been sold in Europe . All these are a little part of my beloved Presidency - indeed my favourite India . Right from the dawn of history, India is extraordinarily continuous in time. In space, on the other hand, it is extraordinarily discontinuous....from early times in India , it is ethnology, philology, and archaeology that give and will give us some notions of the truth. From archaeology much can be expected. I would earnestly request you to direct the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to undertake an extensive and intensive survey of Rameshwaram and its beautiful environs, particularly with reference to the historic and primordial Adam's Bridge'.

This very request of Lord Pentland has been made again by Dr Subramanian Swamy in his letter to Mrs Ambika Soni last month.

(source: Rama Sethu: Historic facts vs political fiction - I - By V Sundaram - newstodaynet.com). Watch video on Save Ramsetu and Watch History of Ayodhya - videogoogle.com.

Hugh Joseph writes:

"I read the story headlined above with great interest. This is a story of major significance, as understanding its implications will turn the entire world of Science and History on its head. This bridge, according to accounts in the Ramayana and the Srimad-Bhagavatam, was constructed in the age know as Treta, over 2 million years ago.

How did the writers without super space-ranging satellites know about the existence of this bridge? In these ancient accounts, written over 5,000 years ago, we find discussions of, among other things, space travel, inter planetary travel, what we call UFOs and what we mistakenly call ETs. This is not only the History of the planet Earth, but also of this Universe, (a mediocre universe among many millions of universes).

Here one can also learn the real undisguised and uncontaminated truth about God. Our man-made religions are of little or no value when compared to the stunning and breathtaking revelations found in the pages of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Ramayan, Bhagavad-gita, etc."

(source: rense.com. For more refer to chapter on Vimanas).

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A unilateral war to wipe out Hinduism and Hindu heritage

"In the contemporary world, there is an intensification of the on going war against Hindus whether by the jehadi pornographer Artist M F Husain trashing the most sacred Hindu objects of veneration, abetted by their own obscene elites, or the brazen denunciation of their ancient epic, the Ramayana by some ASI low-life."

- Dr. Gautam Sen, Director of Gandhi-Einstein Foundation and Professor (retd) politics of the world economy, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Apart from being the ancient-most sacred symbol of Hindu faith and heritage, Ram Sethu symbolises Bharat.

Religion is a matter of faith. And for Hindus, Ram Sethu is the ancient-most and sacred symbol of their faith, heritage and history. To save Ram Sethu is to save Bharat. Though as per Arnold Toynbee, "Civilizations die from suicide, not murder", a unilateral war is being waged by anti-Hindu forces to wipe out Hinduism and Hindu heritage from earth the way other native cultures and religions have been erased all over the globe. The proposed demolition of Ram Sethu by the Congress-led UPA government is a similar assault on symbols of Hindu religion and Hindu heritage. To save Ram Sethu is to save vast thorium deposits which can meet Bharat's long term energy needs. Saving it also saves vast areas of Bharat from future tsunamis.

Why this undue haste?

The undue haste with which the government is proceeding with Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP) shows that it is bent upon demolishing this holy monument. Surprisingly, while five other better and cheaper routes which do not destroy this shrine are available, the route that destroys Ram Sethu has been selected.

Former Supreme Court Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer has cautioned that this project would undermine India 's security concerns with American presence in Sethusamudram waters. Besides, he has mentioned that "The callousness with which such a big project is conceptualized and implemented is an unpardonable act." Moreover, he has termed the project as "an open challenge to age old Hindu beliefs", and has called upon "every Indian to see that this historic and holy monument is protected."

Remember Ram's message

Sakand Puraan has a touching request from Bhagwan Ram to the future rulers to save Ram Sethu in these words: "Bhooyo bhooyo bhavino bhoomipaala natva natva yaachte Ramchandrah / Samanyo ayam DharmaSethur naranaam kaale kaale paalniyo bhaviddhih" which means, " Ramchandra humbly and repeatedly requests the future rulers to protect this Dharma Sethu at all times." Since instead of protecting Ram Sethu,