SriLanka to hype Ramayana

SriLanka is going to use the Ramayana to attract Indian tourists in a big way.

"The SriLanka Tourism Development Authority has formed a committee to work out a scheme to promote 34 sites associated with the Ramayana," the body's chief, Mr S. Kalaiselvam, said.

According to the Ramayana, Ravana brought Sita to SriLanka in a Pushpaka Vimanam which landed at Werangatota, about 10 km from Mahiyangana, east of the hill station of Nuwara Eliya, a hill station.

Sita was taken to Goorulupota, now Sitakotuwa, about 10 km from Mahiyangana on the road to Kandy. She was housed in a cave at Sita Eliya on a highway that links Colombo with Nuwara Eliya. North of Nuwara Eliya, in Matale district, is Yudhaganapitiya, where the Rama-Ravana battle took place. Dunuwila is the place from where Rama shot the Brahmastra that killed Ravana. Ravana was making battle plans in a place called Lakgala.

Ravana's body was placed on the rock at Yahangala for his subjects to pay their last respects.

To wash off the sin of killing a Brahmin that Ravana was, Rama prayed at Munneswaram in Chilaw, 80 km north of Colombo. At Manaweri, north of Chilaw, is a temple Rama is said to have gifted. There are also many sites associ ated with Hanuman.

No proof that Lord Rama existed: ASI

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Rama or the other characters in Ramayana.

This assumes significance in the backdrop of the raging political controversy over the Sethusamudram Project. Referring to the Ramayana, the ASI affidavit said there is no historical record to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the character, or the occurrences of the events, depicted in the Ramayana.

In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the ASI said the Centre stated that the contents of the Valmiki Ramayana, Tuslidas's Ramcharit Manas and other mythological texts cannot be a historical record to prove the existence of the characters mentioned in the book.

The ASI said the Ramar Sethu is not a man-made structure, but rather a natural formation made up of shoals/sand bars, which are possessed of their particular shape and form due to several millennia of wave action and sedimentation.

The ASI affidavit was in response to two writ petitions filed by Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy and one Ram Gopalan, who had sought an assurance from the government that there would be no destruction of the Ramar Sethu during the construction of Sethusamudram Project.

The Supreme Court on August 31 put on hold demolition of the Ramar Sethu, a mythical bridge situated south-east off Rameswaram, connecting the Talaimanar coast of Sri Lanka, for carrying out the ongoing Sethusamudram Project.

Additional solicitor-general Gopal Subramanium made repeated pleas that the apex court could wait till Centre would file its affi davit. But the Bench wanted assurance from the Centre that it will not carry any activity at the site which will damage the Ramar Sethu till the matter was heard.

"If you (Centre) are in a position to say that ongoing construction would not in any way damage Ramaar Sethu we will consider you," the Bench observed several times during an hour-long hearing.