Saturday, September 22, 2018

Hanuman and Rama Setu

Title :  Hanuman and Rama Setu
Size  :  19.5"x 29.5"



This paper collage is of Hanuman building the bridge to Lanka and is a commissioned piece.

Hanuman (the monkey God) is revered in Hinduism for his selfless dedication to God (Lord Rama). He is the symbol of energy and strength and also of great knowledge. He makes a late entry in the epic poem ‘’Ramayana’’ (the story of Rama).

Rama the prince of Ayodhya is assisted in the rescue of his kidnapped wife Sita by Hanuman.  Sita is held captive in the island of Lanka and Hanuman and the monkey army build a bridge to attack the kingdom of Lanka, defeat the demon king Ravana and rescue Sita. 

This artwork is about the building of Rama setu (Rama’s bridge) and Hanuman overseeing the construction.  He has the image of a forlorn Sita sitting in the grove on his mind. The monkeys are building the bridge. There is also a little squirrel that tries to help by carrying pebbles.

This is a short explanation of the story behind this composition.  In case, dear reader, you are interested in a less brief version, you can read the story here.  

Whether the Legend of Rama is a mythological story imagined by the author or a retelling of events that had already taken place as is mentioned in the Ramayana itself is hotly debated to this day. Fact is Lord Rama is venerated as an avatar of Lord Vishnu in the Indian sub-continent and as far away as Indonesia, Burma, Cambodia and Nepal.   And there are many legal cases pending in the Supreme Court of India on Property Title issues where parties seek to prove the historical accuracy of their claims. 

Today Rama Setu is called Adam’s bridge. 

Rameshwaram is a town on the Indian side named after Rama and here is a temple where the idol of Shiv Linga is said to have been installed by Rama before his foray into SriLanka.  The temple still exists.  The temple records say the bridge was walkable until 1480 A.D. after which the bridge broke up in a cyclone. Today it cannot be used for crossing from India to Sri Lanka as it is underwater and it also proves to be a hindrance to navigation as the water is too shallow and ships have to go around Sri Lanka due to this reef. 


This is a NASA photo showing photographic proof of such an overland connection at some point in time. However NASA have said it could not be determined if it was man-made or is a series of naturally occurring sand banks 30 kms long. 

Geological Survey of India’s report has concluded that this bridge was used as a means to travel between India and Sri Lanka about some 7,000-10,000 years ago.

Carbon dating has been done and it places this in the time-frame of when the Ramayana was supposed to have happened. 

So the debate continues...