ICHR will study if Ram Sethu is man-made Ram Sethu, history in focus

The Indian Council of Historical Research will undertake a two-month pilot project on ‘Ram Sethu’ — the land bridge that connects India and Sri Lanka — later this year to archaeologically “ascertain” if the structures were built naturally or were “man-made”.

ICHR chairman Y. Sudershan Rao told the media that the project would run from October to November.

“One of the major projects that we are going to initiate is the Ram Sethu pilot project which will seek to ascertain or find out if these structures were results of natural phenomenon or man-made,” he said.

As per Indian mythology, Ram Setu or Adam's Bridge, was built by the vanar sena — the army of monkeys — for Lord Rama and his warriors to cross over to Lanka.

These marine structures have been at the centre of a controversy after it was revealed that the proposed Seethusamudram shipping canal project would destroy parts of the Ram Sethu.

Asked if the findings would be compared with the Ramayana, Mr Sudershan Rao told the media: “Our purpose is to explore it from archaeological standpoint.”

On another front, the ICHR will hold a seminar next week to “fine-tune” the current understanding of antiquity and continuity of the ancient civilisation in India.

Titled ‘Antiquity Continuity and Development of Civilisation and Culture in Bharat (India) up to 1st Millennium BC’, the seminar intends to present the findings of “recent researches in history and sciences, and allied disciplines and discuss their relevance to update Indian history in respect of its remote past,” the ICHR said on Friday.