Ramar Setu - Myth or History

My uncle Dr.Mitra kindly allowed me to publish some of his articles on my blog. Many thanks to him. Please read on.

The current hot debate and the political tug of war going on about Ramar Sethu issue, is being mishandled without clarity and direction. It is a total lack of understanding on the part of the UPA govt. and sheer opportunism on the part of the Hindutva brigade and DMK.


Let us break it up into its constituent issues, First is the debate about Rama and the second is the economic need for dredging a channel.

Addressing the first issue - Any mythology has its roots in historic events. Events that happened a long time ago before image capture technologies, print and communications came into existence. The knowledge and comprehension of the small, primitive, illiterate populations that existed several millennia ago, was limited. Events that happened in their lifetime, that made a profound impact on their lives, were remembered and passed down generations as stories, fables and legends. This was mostly as word of mouth. To keep them interesting and keep the legend alive, larger than life metaphors and interesting figures of speech were added. This is what is done even to day in marketing and media to make a story captivating. In their long journey through time, these narrations passed down several generations, metamorphosed to acquired new hues. As the original events were exemplary, they were used as a reference points for social examples, cohesion and control. Generation after generation, people followed the example and others were made to do so. When great sages put them down in writing, their literary prowess added another facet to them. Poetry, Songs, literature, ballads and other art forms blossomed around to give additional dimension. These real life events with their growing size of following came to be religions. This thought process of people who passionately believe in any philosophy tying to get others to join them, happens to day, albeit in a more subtle and sophisticated manner with modern communications! These legends have survived time travel through wars, social growth and unimaginable social changes and space age. This is true for all religions and some more recent political philosophies.


There is no for and against argument for this. It is not only irrelevant but also shallow to debate the existence Ramayana the way we know it today or see on TV. One should accept that its roots firmly lie in history, recorded or before that. Its origins might even lie beyond India, as we know today. This should never become a conflict between believers and those who don’t. It is beyond the purview of a few bureaucrats, politicians, and sociologists or for those matter religious zealots to conclude this issue. If there is no historic evidence, are we going to discard our way of life, the rich culture, literature and social fabric that is woven around it? Certainly not! If there is no proof of gods, do we destroy the great temples that are part of thousands of years of our history? Do we burn Annamayya's and Thayagaraya’s great works? Do we destroy countless volumes of extraordinary, exquisite poetry and literary works? In one word do we destroy our entire past? What is this debate all about?? Let us not try to revisit and alter history.

I fail to even understand Mr. Karunanidhi’s rhetoric! On the one hand he says that Ramayana did not happen. In the same breath he argues that Ravana was a Brahmin and Ramayana was a battle between Aryans and Dravidians. If this were true, there seems to be contradiction here. He questions which engineering qualification Rama had, to build the Sethu! Can Mr. Karunanidhi say which engineering degree the builders of the great pyramids and monuments of Egypt had? Can he tell us what qualifications the builders of the Great Wall of China had or the architects of Inca cities and Maya pyramids in central and South America, Mohanjodaro and Harappa?.


Equally intolerable is the response of his opponents. Their intolerance to any civilized debate is obvious by their attacks on Selvi’ house and burning TN bound buses resulting in deaths of two people. Those unfortunate souls may not even be Mr. Karuna’s supporters.


With the constant erosions of coast line and shifting land masses, it is quite possible that all the reef we see from satellite might have been a land mass with only a small gap which ancient people could have quite easily crossed. Why do we have to imagine that the gap that is being discussed was always as it is now, 26 kilometers long? This whole debate whether there is historic evidence is irrelevant. All religions belong to people who wish to live in that cultural milieu. It certainly is not the prerogative or private property of people or organisations that want to use them for their narrow political, communal or geo-political gains. No one is the custodian of any religion.


Let us examine the second aspect of the controversy. To dredge or not to dredge a small strip of the reef that is blocking a shipping channel. This has to be judged purely on the economic need and utility and the benefits it would bring. Panama canal, Suez, and several others are examples. These have made tremendous difference to the world at large. All the great dams that were built, throughout the world, submerged countless villages and habitations en route. What happens when dams and large irrigation projects are built that bring vast tracts of lands under cultivation and feed millions of hungry people? Are not temples, great historic monuments and countless deities that are in the villages, submerged? Wherever possible they have been moved to a different place or museum as in Nagarjuna Sagar that submerged entire Buddhist Temple complexes. There are countless examples all over the world. When simple road widening or flyover has to be built, don’t we move or remove religious monuments small and large? Most bpeople, religious and other wise, are perfectly happy with this. It is the people who wish to make political capital, that are debating this issue. Not because of any great religious devotion but for their narrow selfish, short-term gains. Are the religious objectors to Sethu opposed to building dams, large irrigation projects or roads and for that matter, any development? I don’t remember Mr. Narendra Modi opposing Narmada Dam project or Mr. Vajpayee opposing building great high ways while he was PM. They must have destroyed a few temples and deities in the process!


The Ramar Sethu issue has to be taken up or dumped based on whether there is conclusive evidence of substantial economic benefit and proof of clearly established environmental safety, short and long term. This has to be discussed purely on these criteria and not on faiths, political opportunism or large kick backs people in important places can make out of a nice juicy project of this size.


Gods are not going to oppose measures that bring food and prosperity to the hungry. Gods are not going to stand in the way of progress. I certainly do not believe Lord Rama would!

Dr.Mitra, 19th Sept 2007