How Long and Wide was Rama Setu?

 Why Today’s Sri Lanka is NOT Ravana’s Lanka

I did not know that current Sri Lanka was not even called so until 1972 and how it is not even 100 miles from the Indian shores, which means it couldn’t have been the 100 Yojana (which is approximately supposed to be around 800 miles) of ocean that Shri Hanuman jumped to cross over. The depth of the ocean between Sri Lanka and India is not deep enough even today for the vanaras to build a bridge. So, it couldn’t have been Ravana’s Lanka!

Then Where is Ravana’s Lanka?

According to the explanation on the location of Lanka given by the monkey king Sugreeva to Hanuman (as the text from Ramayana above), the location of Lanka is like this:Surya Siddhanta states that Ravana’s Lanka is said to be zero meridian. Today’s Simhala (Ceylon or Sri Lanka) is five hundred miles from this point. The darker vertical line as indicated in the map above, indicates the prime meridian line and therefore, Ravan’s Lanka was in the area I have circled in red. With time, the entire area is now submerged under water. This topic itself is very intriguing and I will be sharing more on this topic as I research more. However, let’s move to the next interesting fact the book presents based on Valmiki Ramayana.  

How Long and Wide was Rama Setu?

According to Valmiki Ramayana, the Rama Setu was 80 miles (10 Yojana) wide and 800 miles (100 Yojana) long.This is another proof that current day’s Sri Lanka cannot be Ravana’s Lanka which is not even 100 miles away from today’s India’s shores even after water levels have risen since.

How Shri Rama Defeated an Army of 14000 Soldiers in Just 72 Minutes!

The book shares the history of the battle between Shri Ram and the army of Rakshasas led by Kar and Dushana! It’s amazing to read the description of the battle and how Shri Ram killed and defeated an entire army of Rakshasas comprised of 14000 warriors in just 72 minutes! Now, that’s not a feat achievable by man, right? But how about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where one atomic bomb was enough to kill millions? This simply indicates what kind of weapon systems were available and how advanced was science and technology back then! They must have been far more powerful in the past, it really makes somebody wonder how amazing the people were back then.  

The Magnitude of Global Search for Sita

After her kidnapping by Ravana, the search for Sita was very difficult. Ravana could have hidden Sita anywhere in the world. And therefore, there has never been a global manhunt that was bigger than this search for Sita as evident from the text in Ramayana where there are mentions of places that fall in today’s Indonesia, South America, Atlantic Islands, Iraq, Kuru region in South China, Russia, most part of Central Asia and then some descriptions that indicate even some mountain ranges in North America (topic open for further research). Thousands and thousands of Vanaras (monkeys), searched the entire planet for Sita and as the story goes, Hanuman found Sita in Lanka. This was the magnitude of search operation headed by Vanara Raj Sugreeva that put the foundation for Shri Ram’s attack and Lanka of Ravana! The book has a lot more location names, more colorful maps, and factual information. Read the book to know more!   I would suggest anyone and everyone get hold of this easy-to-understand book in the English language to get some great insight into the life and conduct of Shri Rama and how his life and message from his life are applicable in the modern world. Once you read the book, please feel free to share your thoughts.