Ram Setu man-made? Discovery Science Channel says so, with scientific proof

The debate whether Ram Setu or Adam’s Bridge (as it is known globally) existed, has been given a fresh life after Discovery Communications-owned ‘Science Channel’ aired a promo providing scientific evidence to a man-made bridge between India and Sri Lanka.

The bridge, which stretches for 30 miles has been a matter of controversy, and in 2007 the then union minister of state Kapil Sibal argued that there is no scientific evidence to prove that Ram Setu is man-made. However, he also said that the faith of the people should be respected. 

The investigations of the team will be aired on the Science Channel in a show called What on Earth in an episode called Ancient Land Bridge.

The Promo aired by the science channel uses satellite imagery from NASA and other pieces of evidence to prove the existence of Ram Setu. The promo explains that the rocks connecting India and Sri Lanka are sitting on a sandbar, also known as a shoal and the investigators believe that the sandbar is natural, but the stones sitting on top of that sandbar, are not. 

The promo features Dr Alan Lester, a renowned Geologist, who says that “there are Hindu legends that Lord Rama placed a bridge here connecting India to Sri Lanka”.

He further adds  “there are stones that have been brought from afar and set on top of sand bar island chain”

The ‘string of pearl’ as one investigator puts it, connects Dhanushkodi in India with Mannar Island in Sri Lanka. 

To ascertain the legitimacy of the findings, the researchers used techniques to date the sand and the stones. An Archaeologist featuring in the promo, Chelsea Rose says, “the rocks on top of the sand actually predate the sand”. Scientific analysis reveals, claimed the promo, that the rocks are 7,000 years old but the sand is only 4,000 years old.

The promo dates the construction of Ram Setu sometime 5,000 years ago and also called it a superhuman achievement.

Speaking on the development, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said, "The U.S. scientists have come forward to say what we already knew...I have said this in the Supreme Court itself that three retired directed generals from Geological Survey of India gave a report which was placed in the apex court to show that this is man-made".

Swamy added that the Director Generals of Geological Survey of India after retirement formed a committee and they had come to a conclusion that Ram Setu is a man-made thing because corals cannot be found in the middle of the ocean.