It is very much reprehensible that the unrelenting Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi, in whose state Ramar Sethu is situated and Saint Thyagaraja, the great Ram bhakta lived, chose to question the very existence of Lord Ram instead of being proud of this valuable heritage handed down to posterity by him. Adding insult to injury, Karunanidhi, further questioned which Engineering college did Ram get an Engineering Degree from. Here is a counter question?from which Engineering College (s) the builders of the innumerable grandiose temples of Tamil Nadu and other states as well as the Grand Anicut got their Engineering Degrees and so also the Engineers who constructed the Harappa-Mohanjo Daro townships? Despite the absence of present day Engineering Colleges, in olden days Engineers surfaced out of experience, study, practice, etc. just like doctors, astronomers and so on.
Lord Ram in flash and blood
If in case Ram did not exist as per Karunanidhi'sconviction, how could Valmiki say that an abandoned and pregnant Sita, wife of this ?non-existent? Ram, stayed in his Ashram, gave birth to twins?Lava and Kusha, who were taught by him, made them memorise the whole Ramayana which they beautifully recited while marching towards Ayodhya to participate in the Aswamedh yajna?
This brought about instant wide publicity to the epic poem. How could Valmiki mention the planetary position at the time of Ram'sbirth? All these and much more were possible because Lord Ram and Valmiki were contemporaries and existed in flesh and blood. ?The characters in the numerous stories and novels written by me are not real? admits Karunanidhi to support his hypothesis about non-existing Ram. But is it not a fact that none of these fictitious characters physically lived with Karunanidhi at any point of time? Here lies the striking difference between Karunanidhi'sand Valmiki'swritings.
Construction of Ramar Sethu
Coming to the Sethu itself, since it was constructed under the orders of Lord Ram, it came to be known by his name just as Shah Jahan got the title of the builder of Taj. Actually, according to Valmiki, as per Lord Varuna'ssuggestion, the entire construction work was conceived, executed and supervised by Nala, the son of Vishwakarma, the great Engineer/Builder and Architect of the gods. So, now Karunanidhi should put the question to Nala and not to Rama. Valmiki also furnished daily progress report for five day of construction of the bridge as 14, 20, 21, 22 and 23 yojanas, totaling 100 yojanas.
Indication of tsunami
Lord Varuna'sfailure to appear at the end of three day'stapa by Ram infuriated Ram who was about to shoot Brahmastra into the heart of the sea to make it dry. At that time there were great disturbances in the sky and earth. Darkness descended, lightning flashed in the skies, mountains removed, storms uprooted trees and above all the sea was churned, rose-high and began to cross its limits. Here is a depiction of occurrence of a tsunami. May be on account of this, the rising sea brought forth sand dunes under sea along the whole length of the yet to be constructed Ramar Sethu over which later on the monkeys fixed the boulders, trees and the like. That is why Valmiki says that these materials did not go down under sea water but stayed above the water level. Even huge machines too were employed in the construction of this bridge, says Valmiki.
Karunanidhi says that he has not hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. A blind man will not realise the pain inflicted on another person by his punches delivered wittingly or otherwise. Let Karunanidhi remove his dark glasses and see the truth in bright daylight. Though a proclaimed atheist, being a Chief Minister, he should not meddle with religious sentiments of millions of people both in Tamil Nadu and other states. What does religion matter to our atheist whose utterances against religious matter are nothing but a deliberate provocation for indulging in violence.
(The author can be contacted at G-45/1, Sahakaranagar PO, Bangalore-560 092.)
