Did Ram exist?
Fundamentalist Hindu parties in India are up in arms against the central government for wanting to demolish Adam’s bridge (called Ram Setu by orthodox Hindus) in a five hundred million dollar project to dredge a passage which would reduce the time taken by cargo ships by thirty six hours to sail from India’s west coast to its eastern shore. The row erupted after the Archaeological Survey of India submitted an affidavit claiming that the bridge was not man made and there was no evidence that Ram ever existed.
Of course we have known this all along (since the events depicted in the Ramayana are supposed to have taken more than a million and a half years ago, when modern man had not yet appeared on the planet). And geologists say that the bridge is a submerged stretch of limestone shoals that formed naturally about five to seven thousand years ago. So this casts further doubt on Ram’s existence.
But if Ram never existed, the claim that the Babri Masjid was built on his birthplace is false, and there was no need for the BJP and Shiv Sena to demolish the mosque, an event which resulted in the killing of thousands of persons.
But like our militants, those across the border are also not willing to listen to anything which challenges their cherished beliefs. They want anyone who doubts Ram’s existence to be tried for blasphemy.
Other posts by Shakir Lakhani
- No limit on foreign exchange taken out of Pakistan - November 12th, 2008
- Some questions about the "forex" scandal - November 11th, 2008
- Enjoying life after sixty - November 7th, 2008
- A Hussein in the White House - November 5th, 2008
- Why are poor Pakistanis always punished? - October 31st, 2008
- Pakistan's Economic Crisis: we're responsible - October 29th, 2008
- How Wall Street operates - October 23rd, 2008
- We’ll always have corruption - October 19th, 2008
- If Pakistan goes to war with United States of America - October 9th, 2008
- Killing of Christians in Secular India - October 1st, 2008
Thank you for reading this post. You can now Read Comments (4) or Leave A Trackback.
Post Info
This entry was posted on Sunday, September 16th, 2007 and is filed under Current Affairs . Tagged with:You can follow any responses to this entry through the Comments Feed . You can Leave A Comment, or A Trackback.
Previous Post: Micro Credit Banking »
Next Post: Software Freedom Day 2007 at FAST-NU Karachi »
September 16th, 2007 04:13 GMT
i heard abt the existance of any such bridge last year.
is that, what according to Hindu Myth, provided ram a passage to srilanka over the indian ocean??
btw, there is a very intersting that abt Ram, south indians believe that SITA(ram’s wife) concensually moved to Srilanka to live with RAVANA(ram’s rival and alleged abductor of SITA) and north indians believe that ravana kidnapped Sita and forced her to marry him.
anyways nice post, dont know if the said bridge ever existed, there should be a full fledge independent investigation into this matter.
Btw, have you heard of ADAm’s peak in Srilank. its also considered as a Sacred peak by hindus and budhist,
check out the following link,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Pada
September 16th, 2007 14:03 GMT
Different colors of religious fanaticism on view!
September 4th, 2008 12:51 GMT
well….what can i say. i went on Google earth and i saw at the tip of india lies a bridge made of sand and stone going to Sri Lanka. perhaps Ram did exist.
September 4th, 2008 12:59 GMT
Please read the scriptures. Narad asked Vishnu to give him a new face because he isn’t satisfied with the one he has, and he is about to go to a palace full of suitors to win a bride.
Vishnu (thinking Narad as ungrateful for what the lord already provided him) gives him an ape looking face.
Narad doesn’t even look at his reflection because he knows Vishnu would have given him the best looking face!
Narad goes to the palace and everyone laughs at him.
Narad rushed back to Vishnulokh and curses Vishnu to lose his wife in his next life.
later on….NArad tells Shiva about his wrong doing and asks vishnu for forgiveness. lord Shiva said that the curse cannot be taken away, but because i know you are truly sorry narad, i will assume the form of Hanuman swami to serve the lord in his next life, with the same face you were humiliated with. this way you will feel satisfied and forgiven.
this is why Sita had to leave Ram