Palk Strait to Gulf of Mannar- An Archaeological Exploration

Dr. T.Satyamurthy

Introduction

Alexander Rea conducted archaeological excavation (1903-04) at Adichchanallur, District Tuttukudi and had recorded that the findings there were very unique and felt that all cultural assemblages in the far south had its origin or influence from here only. Scholars like Kennedy K.A.R. had discussed in detail and concluded that all such assemblages like megalithic burials can even be regarded as an overflow of from south India. According to Maloney C.T. even the experimentation in the early state formation especially between regions of the far south of the peninsular India and Sri Lanka situated on both the sides of the Palk straits have many common features.
S.K.Sitrambalam of Sri Lanka had taken for study the urn burial site of Pomparippu, south of Mannar and found striking similarity in between them and such sites in Madurai, Thirunelveli and Ramanathapuram Districts.

While Pomparippu holds the Iron Age key of far South the archaeological site Mantai, District Mannar, Sri Lanka had yielded artefacts from Palaeolithic Age to 17th century AD and they are analogous to the findings in the main land. The cultural oneness of Sri Lanka and the far south of India derives one to probe whether the travel route even during the Iron Age period and later was through water way or by Land. A thorough examination is made here with the available archaeological and numismatic evidences to trace the sea passages used by sailing ships in ancient times to cross the area which separate Sri Lanka from India.

A cursory look at the sketch map illustrates the problems of navigation in the above area. Separating the gulf of Mannar on the south from the strait on the north is a chain of islands, reefs, shoals and shallows, consisting of island of Mannar, Ramar Bridge also known as Adam’s bridge, the island of Pamban and Ramesvaram.

The geographical location that connect the Indian main land and Sri Lanka which are culturally united in early period are known as Palk Strait(India) and the Gulf of Mannar (Sri Lanka). Not to scale

Significantly the strait is flanked by two ancient temples Ramanatha temple and Thirukedeswaram temple on Indian and Sri Lanka Sides respectively. In Indian side it attains importance because of its association with Ramayana epic and equally on the other side also the Mantai is significant as the place is associated with Mandothari, the daughter of Mayon the spouse of Ravana. In fact the place name Mantai may be a variation of Mandothari.

However place Mantai is found in Tamil Saiva literature especially in the songs of Thirujnana Sambhandar and Sundaramurti Nayanar of 7th-8th century AD. Again Manickavasakar the author of Thiruvasakam refers to Siva here as conferring Boon on Vandothari (Mandothari) consort of Ravana which is found corroborated by place name already suggested. Thirujnasambandar describes Thirukedeswaram as Mattottam a mango groove on beach, but more vivid description figures in Sundaramurti Nayanar songs. He mentions the place as located on the banks of the Palari River and inundated by the water of Bay of Bengal.

With the available Tamil epigraphical records both in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, it can be concluded that the Cholas contributed much for the enlargement of temple there. It was known as Rajarajeswaram and the town was named as Rajarajapuram. It was as good as the Brhadisvara temple at Thanjavur. Many munificent gifts of Bronzes were made by Cholas to Thirukedeswaram. The Chola inscription from Puncheri speaks much about the glory of this temple and the kings of Sri Lanka patronized it until the Portuguese and western power had empowered Sri Lanka. The European Companies had converted the Thirukedeswaram Temple and the adjoining Mantai site into a fortified defence Head Quarters.

Another Siva temple referred to by these Saiva saints in Tamil Devaram hymns is the rock cut temple Thirukonesvaram at the western Sri Lanka. Sekizhar in his Periyapuranam hints about their visit to these places but had not indicated the route. As crossing the ocean was a taboo in religious literature the availability of land pathway cannot be ruled out.

It is clear from the above that both the ends at Palk Straits in India and the Gulf of Mannar at Sri Lanka were culturally united and could have contacts through these ends only from Ramayana period to that of late medieval period. Had they used the Ramar Palam known as Adam’s Bridge or naval Boat to reach the other end? Was it possible to navigate safely in between these ends? These are some of the problems that require our probe.

Roman Gold coin hoards reported so far in Indian subcontinent show that the Roman trade activities were more in west coast through the Muzuries, the early historic Chera port. Gold coins of Roman Imperial period were unearthed from Eyyal, Valuvalley; Kumbalam from Kerala and the Western Numismatists have established that rounding the Kanyakumari to reach the east coast was not possible by Roman Sailors. Corroborating all such evidences available it was concluded that the Roman trade especially with the east coast was through the south eastern countries as the sailors could not navigate through the Palk Straits.

Nevertheless, it is important to recount what the Dutch and Portuguese writers have to say about the navigability of the Pamban channel in Indian side and Mannar on Srilanka side, because specific information from earlier sources are scanty. Baldcus the Portuguese writer, who was present at the military action of Dutch Force occupying Mannar i.e. Thirukedeswaram in Sri Lanka records in 1697 AD the Mannar Passage was so inconvenient on account of shallowness that no vessel can pass with out first being unloaded. He further states that the channel between Mannar and Main Land is not over knee deep and can be crossed in half an hour. The early Portuguese Writers de Barros and do couto group all islands Pamban, Ramesvaram, Adam’s Bridge and Mannar Island and gave a collective name “Shoals of Chilaw”. They mention that in the entire area in dry weather the shallow sea was very clear and the rock bed at the bottom could be seen. They speak of “two very narrow channels at Ramesvaram and Mannar through each of which only small SUMACA can make it way, and that too when the sea is high.

In regard to the Pamban passage, the evidence suggests that in Dutch and Portuguese times it was of lesser depth than the Mannar passage. In 1663 the Dutch Governor of Ceylon wrote that the Pamban ‘meaning Snake River, owing to its numerous curves and windings, was hardly six feet depth at highest tide... The Portuguese writer de Queyroz says that the Pamban channel was less than two fathoms deep and shallower than the Mannar Channel, and that vessels going through had to “tanear”, i.e. to unload their cargo.

However, it is A.M.Ferguson; the distinguished translator unfolds the history of the Ramesvaram Channel which never existed earlier. According to Hunter’s Imperial Gazetteer, XI.22, the ancient records preserved in the temple of Ramesvaram mentions that in the year 1480AD a violent storm breached the isthmus, and that, despite efforts to restore the connection, subsequent storms rendered the breach permanent”. He further comments that “I cannot find that the pioneer work of the Portuguese in the cutting of the channel has been noticed by the writers on the subject. According to anonymous writer of Primore Honra (1.24) the actual cutting of the channel was carried out by Joao Fernandez Correa in 1549, when the Jesuit Father, Antonio Criminal, was murdered by natives.

C.W.Nicholas raises a vital question, did the Pamban passage exist before 1549, or was it an artificial work of that year whose construction was facilitated by the storm-made breach of 1480? Ferguson accepts the evidence that Portuguese cut first navigable passage. A straight rocky barrier, presenting a wall-like appearance on the northern side (THE MASSES OF ROCK” of Baldaeus, the row of cliffs” of Becker, and the Great Dam” of modern charts), based on sandstone formations and consisting of large masses of rock with a flat upper surface, now stretches for about 6,000 feet between the Indian mainland and Pamban island: through a 200 feet gap in the great dam runs the Pamban passage. The rocky barrier is a natural and partly artificial causeway over low, sandstone based isthmus.
This is also corroborated by literary reference in Sinhalese work Culavamasa wherein the Sinhalese invasion of Pandyas during the reign of Parakramabahu (1153-1186 AD) was found narrated. In the absence of Pamban passage Mantai was the embarkation point from which the troops had to operate. It is derived from the above by scholars like Nicholas that there was no navigable Pamban passage and that the isthmus was continuous from Pamban Island on both sides. During that period Mantai of Sri Lanka was a great Seaport, the Pamban passage did not exist and the only navigable seaway between Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait was the Mannar passage.
It is clear from the above that the obstructions in the form of geological Natural formations or man made structures prevented navigation in between Ramesvaram and Sri Lanka. A clue whether it existed as a walkable pathway or road is hinted by Pliny the Roman writer in the beginning of the first millennium A.D. Quoting earlier writers, Pliny says, that the sea between the Island i.e. Sri Lanka (tapobane) and India is full of shallows not more than six paces (two and of fathoms) in depth, but in some channels so deep that no anchors can find the bottom. For this reason ships are built with prows at each end to obviate the necessity of their turning about in channels of extreme narrowness. The tonnage of these vessels is 3,000 amphorac” (about 75 tons). The Sinhalese Ambassadors who went to Rome in the reign of Augustus are reported to have said that the seas between India and Ceylon were “of a vivid green colour and that a great number of trees grew at the bottom so that the rudders of ships frequently break their crests off; by trees.” The description tempts to indicate an onshore journey than off shore.

Conclusion

There can be no doubt that the Romans during their long period of friendly trade with Ceylon from the first century to 3rd centuries made regular use of Mannar passage on both onward and return voyages. Evidences of using the Palk Strait for navigation in the ancient period could not be established. It is now obligatory for marine archaeological Investigators to thoroughly scan the area to find out the nature of pathway in between the Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar.

Bibliography

Alexander Rea, 1915, Catalogue of the pre historic Antiquities, Madras.
Baldaeus, Culavamsa, (Trans) Ceylon Historical Journal, Vol VIII
J.R.A.S. (C.B) Vol XX Barros and Couto, 184.
De Queyroz, Translation of the Memoir of Hendrick Becker (1716) 4, 5.
Kennedy K.A.R. 1975, the physical Anthropology of Megalithic Builders of South India and Sri Lanka, Canberra.
Maloney, C.T,1968, The Effect of Early Coastal Traffic in the Development of Civilization in South India, Pennsylvania Journal of the R.A.S. (C.B), New Series Vol.VI Special Number10, pp75/80.
Nicholas.C.W, 1990, the Northwest Passage between Ceylon and India, Sri Lanka and Silk Road of the Sea, Colombo
Satyamurthy, T, 1992, the Roman Gold Coins from Kerala, ThiruvanatnapuramUniversity History of Ceylon, Vol1.PartII.

About

Dr T.Satyamurthy,having retired from the Archeological Survey of India started R.E.A.C.H. Foundation to preserve our cultural properties. Under his guidance, the Sangam period Muruga Temple near Tiger Caves Mamallapuram was excavated and rediscovered. He has undertaken extensive excavation in Aadhichanallur, near Thirunelveli, after 100 years of preliminary excavation by the British. Scientific research conducted on these findings have opened many new unknown facts like Adhichanallur existed 4000 years ago and has given materials to revise the date of Tamil Brahmi scripts. His discoveries were turning points in the research of History of Tamil Language and Culture. Under his guidance the Thanjavur Big Temple Chozha paintings were digitally documented and displayed in the Big Temple premises- a real feast to the eyes for Art lovers.