https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/rams-bridge-god-or-geology/
Many legends regarding ancient sites and land formations are highly interesting. This article details the formation of the Ram’s Bridge, a 50 kilometer submerged strait of limestone shoals linking India and Sri Lanka. Ramayana, an Indian poem depicts the creation of Ram’s Bridge as the aid of the god Vishnu who called upon warrior monkeys to build a bridge, allowing Ram to travel to Sri Lanka to save Sita from the demon Ravana who had kidnapped her. Similarly to post-colonial archaeology the author attempts to incorporate the voices of locals and religious groups into theories of how the site was formed. Because there is little detailed scientific research into Ram’s Bridge there are not many other theories to compare Ramayana to. The multivocal approach to understanding the formation is interesting, though perhaps the monkey warriors were not literally monkeys but the name or description of a primitive group of human warriors who pledged allegiance to the god.
There is debate amongst Indian groups on what to do with the site with cultural, economic, political, environmental and religious factors impacting potential decisions. A canal project has been proposed to create a shipping lane into India. Some religious groups argue that Ram’s Bridge is a sacred and historic site that is older than the Great Wall of China and in need of protection, while others such as the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), a branch of the Indian Ministry of Culture, view the site as nothing more than a collection of sandbanks protected by sedimentation with no evidence of it being man-made. Ecological concerns have stalled the canal project, however archaeological research has thus far been insufficient in proving the supposed significance of the site with critic of the data used in the ASI’s declaration as inconclusive. Possible post-processual critic of the ASI’s research would be that they may have attempted to find data to allow the construction of the canal, instead of attempting to be objective. There is also a case to be made that the perception of Ram’s Bridge as a holy site matters more than if it actually was historically, as its destruction would not affect the Hindu communities differently due to an academic paper challenging their beliefs. The impact the destruction of Ram’s Bridge would have on the groups believing in the legend of Ramayana should be taken into consideration even if the ecological concerns are alleviated, and the ASI’s declaration is verified.
Alok Tripathi’s research assignment into Ram’s Bridge will attempt to prove the validity of the legend of the bridge being man-made and searching for remnants of ancient civilizations. Although it would be interesting for more legends throughout the world to be proven to be at least partially true, finding a site near the bridge fails to prove that the people built the bridge as they could have even built the site to access the bridge more easily. Tripathi may also be looking for what confirms his theory or the pursuit of glory more so than a thorough archaeological dig. The primary dangers of Tripathi’s research is violence committed in the “defense” of the Hindu holy site, as the transformation of a Hindu holy temple into the Islamic mosque sparked violent riots and led to the death of approximately 2000 people, though Tripathi believes that because his research is academic it will not alienate or offend anyone. Tripathi’s findings will offend some, groups with economic or religious stakes in the site are unlikely to be objective and there is viable risk of violence or censorship of his findings.