Laxman Setu?
We Hindus are very fond of claiming greatness of our ancient ancestors. One of the objects of our vanity is "Ram Setu' supposed to have been a bridge built by a monkey engineer across the sea between Sri Lanka and India. People assume it to be a bridge because that is one one of the minor meanings of the Sanskrit word 'Setu'. Its primary meaning is " A ridge of earth, mound, bank,causeway, dam" (SANSKRIT-ENGLISH DICTIONARY, VAMAN SHIVRAM APTE, p. 613). The the process of its formation as described in Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Kanda, Sarg 22 confirms that it was just a ridge of earth, not a bridge under which movement from left to right and backward would be possible without getting wet.
However, for the sake of pleasing our people, let us assume that it was really a bridge, just like other brides, over sea surface permitting movement under it from one side to the other. If so, these great engineers or their colleagues or descendents should also have been able to build a "Lakshman Setu" near Rishikesh. Why did the pilgrims have to rely on some antiquated system until the "Lakshman Jhula" was built by the British engineers in the late nineteenth century? The absence of a "Laxman Setu" proves that the Ram Setu was NOT a real bridge as the Hindu Swaggers boast it to have been.
So, dear readers, we do need to stop using mythological evidence to brag about the greatness of our ancient predecessors. It is better to focus on solving our problems currently facing us.
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