Adams Bridge Archives

Adam’s Bridge – indicating a primordial bond – By Arundathie Abeysinghe A chain of pale gold limestone shoals that stretch between *Mannar Island, off the Northwestern coast of Sri Lanka and Rameswaram, off the Southeastern coast of Tamil Nadu indicate an ancient connection between Sri Lanka and India by land. According to chronicles, during the British Colonial Era, the British had named this chain of limestone shoals as “Adam’s Bridge” after the theistic legend regarding *Adam, the first man on the Earth. The British were of the view that Adam had used this bridge to reach *Adam’s Peak. The Bridge is also known as “Rama’s Bridge” or “Ram Setu”. The Indian epic *Ramayana has also described a bridge over the ocean connecting India with Sri Lanka. According to the epic the credit of constructing the Bridge is attributed to the ape army that was assisting *Rama in his war ...

A Journey to Mannar and the ‘Dancing Islands’ – 1 – by Nimal Chandrasena “Imagine being on one of those legendary islands of ‘Adams Bridge’ or ‘Rama Setu’ of the Ramayana fame! Many centuries ago, this 30 km stretch was a natural bridge connecting Sri Lanka to the southern tip of India; now, the ocean has reclaimed its own, leaving a only a chain of sprinkled islands. On 9 December 2011, I and a few friends were standing on the second island of the chain of limestone shoals between the Rameshwaran Island, off the south-eastern coast of India’s Tamil Nadu and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka. If the legends and folklore regarding Rama, Seetha, Ravana and Hanuman are to be believed, this ‘bridge’ is a critical part of the Sri Lanka’s past. The Indian Ocean gently lapped my feet; and the warm sand ‘sucked’ at my ...