A new TV show by Science Channel owned by Discovery Communications claims that the land bridge connecting india and Sri Lanka known as Ram Setu, also called Adams Bridge has been proved to be man made by scientists investigating the structures.

Satellite images from NASA and quotes by scientists and geologists from Indiana University Northwest, University of Colorado Boulder, and Southern Oregon University were used on the show to drive home the point.

Ram Setu had become the centre of controversy in 2005 when the government proposed the Sethusamudram shipping canal project that would have required dredging the area. The project was opposed citing the mythological importance of the bridge.

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Ram with the help of a vanara sena built the bridge to rescue his wife Sita from the Rakshasa king, Ravana.  At present, the bridge extends from Pamban Island near Rameshwaram in India to Mannar Island off Sri Lanka and is 50km long.

According to the show, oceanographers said that the stones in the satellite images are sitting on a sandbar which is only 4000 years old, but studies reveal that the rocks on top of it are 7000 years old.

The show says, “There are stone that have been brought from far and set on top of the sand bar in the island chain. How these stones got here is a mystery. These results suggest the structure in the satellite image is not natural but built by humans. Some scholars believe the ancient text referred to a time 5000 years ago. At this point in history, building such a long bridge would have been a super human achievement.”