Ram Setu or Adam’s Bridge is believed to be constructed by Lord Rama from the Indian epic the Ramayana. The bridge, as per the religious books, was built to rescue Sita (Rama’s wife) from Sri Lanka, where she was kept confined by Ravana. The man-made bridge is said to be built by Rama’s vanara sena (monkey army).
Here are some other interesting facts about Rama Setu:
1) If geologists and archaeologists are to be believed, the rocks of the bridge are over 7000-years-old, while the sandbar is about 4000-years-old. This implies that the rocks were brought here from some other place.
2) This ancient bridge is basically a chain of natural limestone shoals, connecting Rameswaram Island (also known as Pamban Island) in Tamil Nadu and Mannar Island in Sri Lanka.
3) It is said that the bridge was walkable until the 15th century. But then the storms deepened the channel and made it inaccessible. According to the Ramanathaswamy Temple records, the bridge was above sea level until a cyclone destroyed it in 1480.
4) The bridge also finds mention in the western world in Ibn Khordadbeh’s Book of Roads and Kingdoms, wherein the bridge is referred to as Set Bandhai or Bridge of the Sea.
5) Rama Bridge is also known as Adam’s Bridge. As per some sources, Adam (the first human) crossed the bridge from Sri Lanka to India after he was expelled from the Garden of Eden or Garden of God (the Terrestrial Paradise is a biblical paradise), and that’s why it got the name Adam’s Bridge.