A month ago, the Central Advisory Board on Archeology, a body under the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), affirmed the proposition for a underwater exploration project to determine the age of the Ram Setu.
The exploration proposed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, (NIO) will likewise explore the process behind the formation of Ram setu.
“The historicity and the date of ‘Ramayana’ remain a debatable subject among historians, archaeologists and scientists. It is proposed to carry out scientific and underwater archaeological studies to understand the nature and formation of the Ram Setu and its surrounding area,” the proposal note says.
Ram setu is a chain of shoals, between Pamban Island (Rameswaram Island) off the south-eastern shore of India and Mannar Island off the north-western bank of Sri Lanka.
Sindhu Sadhana or Sindhu Sankalp, the research vessels of NIO will be utilized in this undertaking to gather samples of the sediment situated at 35 to 40 metres below the water level.
The investigation will likewise focus on whether there are any submerged habitations around Ram Setu.
“The proposed study will be founded on archeological relics, radiometric and thermoluminescence (TL) dating for geological time scale and other supporting environmental data,” Prof. Sunil Kumar Singh, Director, NIO.
“Radiometric method will be utilized to discover the age of the structure which is accounted for to comprise of coral or pumice stones. Corals contain calcium carbonate that will help us discover the age of the structure and obviously the time of Ramayana,” he added.