ABSTRACT
I began this book with a reference to the contemporary status of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa as a foundational religious text. The epic’s religious dimension has been at the heart of a number of public controversies in India in recent years, such as the well-publicized series of court disputes in 2007 related to the land mass known as Rāma Setu or Adam’s bridge. The Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project sought (and still seeks) to build a channel between the southern coast of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, which would involve digging up the Rama Setu, traditionally considered to be the bridge built by Rāma to cross over to Laṅkā, as described in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa. Hindu nationalists mobilized opposition to an affidavit submitted by the ruling Congress government.
