Friday, May 3, 2013

Know the truth and reject Karunanidhi's Ram Sethu stir,

From



http://bharatkalyan97. blogspot.in/2013/05/karunas- anti-sethu-protest-on-may-15. html

Karuna's anti-Sethu protest on May 15. GOI, declare Ramasetu national monument. Let people become aware of the great heritage.



Survey of India Logo: AASETU HIMACHALAM – FROM CAPE COMORIN TO THE HIMALAYAS 1767 was the year Survey of India was established and mentioned on the logo.http://www.surveyofindia. gov.in/


One evidence for the historicity of the national monument, Ramasetu: The map shows SETUBANDHA http://dsal. uchicago.edu/reference/ schwartzberg/ A historical atlas of South Asia edited by Joseph E. Schwartzberg, Univ. of Chicago, 2006 Islamic expansion and changing Western views of South Asia, 7th-12th centuries p.33 Over 8000 pages of evidence were provided to the Hon'ble SC on the national monument.
KARUNA'S ANTI-SETHU PROTEST ON MAY 15
Friday, 03 May 2013 | Kumar Chellappan | CHENNAI
Come May 15, DMK chief M Karunanidhi, his family members and party workers will take to the streets demanding the demolition of Ram Sethu and construction of the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project. The SSCP, for which the works began in 2005, has been put on hold following the Supreme Court order staying the construction of the 167-km channel.
Karunanidhi says that there is no reference of Ram Sethu at any point of time in the history. He blames the Sangh Parivar for the campaign to preserve the Setu. The UPA Government led by the Congress is wavering in its stance on the Sethu and is yet to file any affidavit in the Supreme Court negating any evidence to prove that the Ram Sethu was built by Lord Rama.
The AIADMK Government led by Jayalalithaa filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court pleading the court to issue an order cancelling the works of the SSCP and declare Ram Sethu as a national heritage. This provoked Karunanidhi and his family to come out with an agitation.
Archaeologists and scientists are of the view that Ram Setu dates back to 5000 years. Though the Government of India has not yet filed any affidavit in the apex court regarding the authenticity of the Ram Sethu, the Union Railway Ministry has officially recognised that the Sethu was built by Lord Rama and his army of monkeys.

Marvels of South Indian Railway 1859-1951, a book published by Southern Railway and authored by S Subramhanyan, Divisional Railway Manager, Tiruchchirappallai, has devoted one full chapter to the visit of Lord Pentland, the then Governor of Madras to Dhanushkodi on February 24, 1914. The South Indian Railway Company welcomed the Governor by presenting him with a commemorative casket featuring the Ram Sethu (Page 73).

"The panels exhibit the present method of bridging the seas between India and Ceylon. The front panel represents the viaduct between the mainland of India and the Island of Rameswaram with a train passing over it. The back panel represents the old order of things. On the left hand side is the fortress in Ceylon which Lord Rama has set out to attack for the purpose of recovering his wife Sita who had been abducted by Ravan, the demon King of Ceylon.

In the middle is Rama's Army of monkeys crossing over the causeway which they had constructed. On the right hand side of it is Rama himself leading his hosts. The panel is copied from an ancient Sanskrit manuscript which was purchased by the India Office at London. The other end panel represents the temple at Rameswaram which Rama himself founded on his return from Ceylon. The casket was made in London by "Goldsmiths' and Silversmiths' Company", situated at No 112, Regent Street," Subramhanyan writes in the book which was published after years of painstaking research.

The book, priced at Rs900 was published by the UPA Government in 2010. Interestingly, the book is published at a time when the parliamentary committee on Railways is headed by Thalikottai Rajuthevar Baalu, Karunanidhi's representative in New Delhi.

S Kalyanaraman, former adviser to Indian Railways, is of the view that the memento presented to Governor Lord Pentland during his visit is significant. "The Englishmen are cautious and guarded while choosing the mementoes. They know its historical significance," he told The Pioneer.
Karunanidhi's argument against Ram Sethu is further demolished by The Setu and Rameshwaram, a book authored by Sanskrit scholar N Vanamamalai Pillai in 1929. The book has a foreword by Dewan Bahadur Sir CV Kumaraswamy Sastrigalm, the Judge of the Madras High Court. Pillai traces the history of Ram Sethu, the temple town of Rameshwaram and the Setupatis of Ramnad, the rulers of Rameshwaram.

He explains how the Kings of Ramnad got the name of Setupati. The reigning king of Ramnad was assigned the responsibility of guarding the Ram Sethu by Lord Rama himself, writes Pillai. "No pilgrimage to the Sethu can be complete without getting a look at the famous Setupati", said the Maharajah of Travancore during his address to the people of Ramnad. Pillai has quoted from Nelson's 1868 Madura Manual to drive home the authenticity of Ram Sethu and the role of Sethupaties as the official guardian of the bridge.

Shikaripura Ranganatha Rao, the doyen among the Indian marine archaeology has said: "This natural rock connecting the Mannar island with Rameshwaram island is now submerged in the sea owing to the rise in sea level during the last 4000 years or more but then it was perhaps in the Intertidal zone and likely to have been further raised by piling up of rubble to enable Rama's followers to reach Lanka." The husband-wife team of DK Hari and Hema Hari has brought out the book Historical Rama with all available scientific evidence in the world to prove that Ram Sethu is a reality and not a mythology.

The icing on the cake happens to be the Survey of India, the National Survey and Mapping Organisation of India which was set up in 1767. It is the oldest scientific department. The logo of the Survey of India has the words Aa Sethu Himachalam inscribed on it. Aa Sethu Himachalam means "from the Sethu to the Himalayas".
Notes:

Malabar Bowen map (1747) drawn by Netherlands shows Ramarcoil I (that is, Rama temple).

Map drawn by Joseph Parks, Australian Botanical explorer (1788) shows Ramar Bridge (Map in Sarasvati Mahal Lib., Thanjavur), the map Hon'ble TR Baalu saw !

Map of 1804, by James Rennel, First Surveyor General of India, renamed Ramar Bridge as Adam's bridge
Madras Presidency Administration Report, 1903 and a Travelogue, 1744 refer to the bridge

Glossary entry: Adam. …"Called the bridge of Rama… It really joined Ceylon to India until 1480, when a breach was made through rocks during a storm. A subsequent storm enlarged this and foot traffic then ceased…Partly above and partly below water; but when covered has now here above three or four feet of water…"
Source: Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency./C.D. Maclean (1903). New Delhi, AES, 3 Vols., 2440 p., Contents: Vol. 1: Chapters 1-9 Containing: The Principal Articles of the Manual Arranged so as to Conform to the Order of Subjects in the Yearly Presidency Administration Report. Vol. 2: Appendices Containing: Articles and Statements, Supplementary of the Articles in Vol. 1 Arranged Under General Heads. Vol. 3: Glossary of the Madras Presidency: A Classification of Terminology, a Gazetteer and Economic Dictionary of the Province and Other Information, the Whole Arranged Alphabetically and Indexed.
Travelogue
A book by Alexander Hamilton, 1744, A New Account of the East Indies: Giving an Exact and Copious Description of the Situation, P. 338 describes his visit to 'zeloan' (alt. spelling for Ceylon) by walking on the bridge.
Asiatic Society, 1799, Asiatick Researches: Or, Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal, P. 52 refers to the bridge called Setband (alt. spelling, setuband like Allahband; setu-bandha), broken in 3 places. It also notes "The people call it a bridge; or otherwise it appears to have wood growing on it, and to be inhabited."

Research report:
Asiatic Society 1799:
Asiatick Researches: Or, Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal, P. 52 refers to the bridge called Setband (alt. spelling, setuband like Allahband; setu-bandha), broken in 3 places. It also notes "The people call it a bridge; or otherwise it appears to have wood growing on it, and to be inhabited."

Hon'ble Mu. Karunanidhi cites evidence for Rama Setu, there is also evidence from Sangam literature. In a book titled, Ramanathapuram District Gazetteer published in 1972, Mu. Karunanidhi, the then Chief Minister writes a foreword and praises the contents
The book refers to Rama Setu (also called Adam's bridge or Nala Setu).

'setu' in all bharatiya languages means 'man-made bund'
English word 'bund' comes from Bharatiya word: bandha
Valmiki describes the construction of Sethu in detai (85 shlokas).
hastimaatraan mahaakaayaaH paaSaaNaamshca mahaabalaaH parvataamshca samutpaaTya yantraiH parivahanti ca Valmiki Ramayana 2-22-58 Vaanara having huge bodies, with mighty strength uprooted elephant-sized rocks and mountains and transported them by mechanical contrivances (yantraih).

Vedavyasa refers to Nalasetu
nalasetur iti khyāto yo 'dyāpi prathito bhuvi rāmasyājñāṃ puraskṛtya dhāryate girisaṃnibhaḥ MBh. 3.267.45 
.... which even today, popular on earth as Nala's bridge, mountain-like, is sustained out of respect for [Lord] Rama's command. (Nala was son of Vis'wakarma) Kalidasa's Raghuvams'a (sarga 13): Rama, while returning from SriLanka in pushpaka vimaana: "Behold, Sita, My Sethu  of mountains dividing this frothy ocean is like the milky way dividing the sky into two parts"
Kaavya in Prakrit by Setubandha Kavya by the King Damodara Sen (5th Century).
King Pravarasena II (550-600 CE) called "Setu bandha or Ravanavaho, Dasamuha Vadha"

Evidence from Sangam literature:
1.kadunter iraaman udanpun.ar seetaiyaivalittakai arakkan vavviya jnaanr-ainilamcer madaran.i kan.d.a kurangincemmukap perunkil.ai izhaippolindaa anguaar-aa a varunakai yinidu per-r-ikume (Pur-anaanoor-u paadal 378)

When Arakkan Ravana abducted Sita who came with Rama, the ornaments removed from her body and thrown by her to the ground, the monkey families adorned themselves erratically with these ornaments. People enjoyed seeing this sight.

2.venve_r- kavuniyar tonmudu ko_d.imuzhangirum pauvam iranku mun tur-aivelpo_r iraaman arumar-aikku avittapal veezh aalam po_lao_viyavintanr-aal iv azhunkaloore (Akanaanoor-u paadal 70)

Before Sri Rama embarked upon his journey to Sri Lanka, he sat below a big banyan tree on the banks of the sacred Setu (tiruvan.aikkarai) and was engrossed in conversation with his friends. The birds on the banyan tree were chirping. Sri Rama stopped the chirping by his command. 


Ancient Setu (Aryachakravarti) coins of Jaffna, 13th century and Parantaka Chola copper plate (10th cent.)Setupati coinage, 16th and 17th century Obverse: Sri Ganapati, seated.Reverse, in Tamil, Se-Tu-Pa-(Ti missing). Tamil script. (Nagaswamy R. 1979. Thiruttani and Velanjeri Copper Plates. State Dept. Of Archaeology, Tamilnadu. Madras. See: L'Hernault F. 1978. L'Iconographie de Subrahmanya au Tamilnad, Institut Francais d' Indologie. Pondichery, p.111, ph. 63.) The copper plates indicate that Aparajitavarman went to Setutirtha.

Rama Setu: ancient monument of international importance, whether man-made or natural; even a stone or a cave or a river is a monument under the 1958 Act. So it is that Brahmasarovar and Majuli island are declared national monuments.

New Delhi, Mar 06, 2007: Government on Tuesday said there are no archaeological studies that reveal the existence of a Ram Setu bridge between India and Sri Lanka. However, a NASA satellite picture has shown the existence of a stretch of land bridge in the Palk Strait between the countries, Minister of Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today. She informed the house that as there are no archaeological studies to confirm the fact, the government was not planning to take any preservation initiative in this direction.http://zeenews.com/ articles.asp?aid=358346&sid= NAT
Two issues are intertwined in the Ramasetu saga: 1. Setusamudram Shippin Channel Project (SSCP); 2. Protection of Ramasetu as national monument.
Both issues have been deliberated upon in many fora. See, for example, the following list of blogposts which document 1) that SSCP as a navigation project does not make nautical sense, 2) that as noted by many studies SSCP does not also make ecological or economic sense and 3) that it is a national imperative to declare Ramasetu a national monument; indeed, it is world heritage since memory of Rama is venerated all over the globe. For the arguments related to SSCP, it should be noted that it is a transportation project to provide for movement of goods from west coast of India to the east coast. The objectives of a transportation project can be met without SSCP, for example, by providing for Marine Cooperatives as Special Marine Economic Zones along the coast line of India to provide for the abhyudayam of coastal people, by building a freight corridor between Vizhinjam, Cochi and Tuticorin to Kolkata by improving the Vizhinja, Cochi and Tuticorin ports as international container ports, by providing for oil/gas pipelines from the west to the east, etc. etc.

Why should Ramasetu be protected? It should be protected because it is a monument for dharma, the global, perennial ethic, because Sri Rama is called Ramo vigrahavaan dharmah, the very embodiment of dharma, whose life was to protect dharma and to set up Ramarajyam for abhyudayam as dharma in action. This memory is indelible and should be cherished and celebrated the world over. The national poet, Subrahmanya Bharati envisioned a day when Setu will be further strengthened as a causeway embankment to act as a bridge between India and Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean Community.
This bridge of the Indian Ocean Community (IOC) should become the beacon for strengthening the IOC as Rāṣṭram, an enlightened path for abhyudayam, general welfare of a third of humanity.
Cumulative list of blogposts (May 3, 2013):
  
 
        
4/29/13
        
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2/28/13
        
2/27/13
        
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8/21/11
 
        
8/18/11
              
S. Kalyanaraman, Ph.D.
National President,
Rameswaram Ramasetu Protection Movement.
3 May 2013







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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Unconnected post: As you predicted earlier, Congress seems on a definite downward spiral of mis-governance and corruption. Modi is on an upward spiral. Do you see elections this year and will Modi emerge, finally, as the leader and PM?

May 4, 2013 at 9:46 AM

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