Setu Samudram project: Puri seer calls for Parliament gherao

Puri, Aug 11 (UNI) Puri Goverdhan peeth Sankaracharaya Swamy Neeschalananda Saraswati today urged people to gherao Parliament to prevent the destruction of the sacred and religious Ram setu.

Addressing newspersons here, the Sankaracharaya said people of the country should pledge their support with the Acharyas, Gurus and saints to enable them to protect the Ramsetu to exert pressure on the Centre to scrap the Setu Samudram canal project.

Reiterating his earlier stand on the Ramsetu, the Puri seer said it was constructed by Hanuman, Nal and Neela, the followers of Bhagwan Ram in 'Tretaya Yuga' during the accession of Sri Lanka.

It was a means of transport and communication between the two countries till 1480 AD. The descriptions in the religious texts also matched with the NASA finding through an analysis of a satellite photo taken from space, which said it was a man-made structure built 1.75 million years ago.

Swami Neeschalanada Saraswati said there were elaborate descriptions of the construction of the Ramsetu, its consecration and sacredness in the religious texts and condemned the Centre's move to go ahead with the project.

He demanded that the government declare it as a national heritage monument and scrap the Setu Samudram canal project as millions of Hindus were religiously and emotionally attached to the Ramsetu.

The Puri seer said if the project was taken up despite strong protest from the Hindus across the country, a great religious history and a world heritage monument would be lost for ever.

A press release issued by the peeth described Ramsetu as a treasure house of rare flora and fauna whose ridges help protect the coasts of two countries from Tsunami.

UNI