It is indeed exciting to hear of NIO's plan to study the Ram Sethu between India and Sri Lanka. The Ram Temple in Ayodhya does not fascinate me as much. I urge the NIO to carefully video all proceedings so as to make a documentary on the same.
Some years ago, much excitement had been caused by the mythical Ram Sethu. At a scientific event held in Margao at the time i had asked a leading scientist regarding the time period of the Mahabharata. He had suggested to me that it was a fictional piece of work.
It is odd but there is more physical evidence for existence of Ravana than for Ram. With the exception of course of Ram temples in India. Recently a cave was discovered in Africa containing skeletons of monkey like humans. Possibly the missing link between evolution of man from the monkey. It would help explain Hanuman's Vannara Sena.
As a yogi I once visited the mythical Saraswati river where it goes underground now. I washed my face in it but didn't drink of it. The tragedy of Ancient Indian History is that a lot of it lacks scientific evidence. As a result, Indian citizens often feel culturally orphaned when speaking of our ancient past.
It is interesting also to know that NIO will also be studying the ancient port of Gopakapattnam in Goa.
VINAY RODRIGUES, Margao
