Easter and an Army of Monkies
Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:23 pm
In Hindu mythology, the incarnation of Vishnu known as Lord Rama was engaged in a war with some enemies. Lord Rama had at his disposal a faithful army of monkies. It is believed that Adam's Bridge was built by this army of monkies between Sri Lanka and India.
In fact, the Indian government has wanted to remove some of the limestone shoals and create a shipping passage through this area, and has actually been duking it out with Hindu hardliners who believe that this rock and sand formation, as built by Lord Rama's army of monkies, may not be destroyed. The Indian government actually submitted a report to the Indian Supreme Court expressing the opinion of experts that Lord Rama in fact did not exist, and the government was forced to withdraw this report in the face of massive demonstrations by the faithful.
Christians may well smirk at the idea that people really believe that Lord Rama's army of monkies built Adam's Bridge, but let's consider for a moment what is being celebrated today, on Easter.
We're celebrating the myth that a man was crucified and died in agony by the hand of the Romans, at the behest of the Jewish religious establishment, that his body was laid into a tomb, and that after three days this body was reanimated and this same man appeared to some of his followers and taught them, empowered them, and then floated up into the sky as if going up to some place above the sky called Heaven, someday (real soon now...) to return again.
To be entirely honest, I don't think we've got much to crow about with respect to the Hindu's and the Ram Setu. They've got their mythology, and we've got ours, and ours seems more realistic and plausible only because it's the one we grew up with.
So, Happy Easter! Remember the dead man whose corpse reanimated after three days and eventually floated back up to some castle in the sky. He's coming back again, you know, real soon now.
In fact, the Indian government has wanted to remove some of the limestone shoals and create a shipping passage through this area, and has actually been duking it out with Hindu hardliners who believe that this rock and sand formation, as built by Lord Rama's army of monkies, may not be destroyed. The Indian government actually submitted a report to the Indian Supreme Court expressing the opinion of experts that Lord Rama in fact did not exist, and the government was forced to withdraw this report in the face of massive demonstrations by the faithful.
Christians may well smirk at the idea that people really believe that Lord Rama's army of monkies built Adam's Bridge, but let's consider for a moment what is being celebrated today, on Easter.
We're celebrating the myth that a man was crucified and died in agony by the hand of the Romans, at the behest of the Jewish religious establishment, that his body was laid into a tomb, and that after three days this body was reanimated and this same man appeared to some of his followers and taught them, empowered them, and then floated up into the sky as if going up to some place above the sky called Heaven, someday (real soon now...) to return again.
To be entirely honest, I don't think we've got much to crow about with respect to the Hindu's and the Ram Setu. They've got their mythology, and we've got ours, and ours seems more realistic and plausible only because it's the one we grew up with.
So, Happy Easter! Remember the dead man whose corpse reanimated after three days and eventually floated back up to some castle in the sky. He's coming back again, you know, real soon now.