Three year long botanical study confirms Ramayan is not a myth

Three year long botanical study confirms Ramayan is not a myth

People who belittle Ramayan as a mythology or a mere epic and Lord Ram as a fictitious character should be ready to give up their skepticism. Couple of years ago, two Chennai-based botanists came out with a three-year-long study which establishes that the Ramayan is a true life story authored by Valmiki, incorporating facts, figures, science and environment of the period.

All 182 plants (including flowers, trees, fruits) mentioned in the Ramayan have been found to be true. M Amrithalingam and P Sudhakar, the two botanists working with the CPR Environmental Education Centre, Chennai, said they could confirm the existence of the flora and fauna mentioned by Valmiki in the Ramayan.

“We tracked the route travelled by Lord Ram, Sita and Lakshman from Ayodhya in the north to south as part of their exile to the forest for 14 years. To our surprise, we could identify all the plant species in the Ramayan mentioned by Valmiki along this route,” Amrithalingam told The Pioneer. As a taxonomist, Sudhakar confirmed the plant variety with their Sanskrit and Latin names.

The duo commenced their journey from Ayodhya and reached Chitrakuta’s tropical and deciduous forest. “Valmiki knew his flora, fauna and the geography. What we found was that the same flora and fauna existed in the same places as written in the epic,” pointed out Nanditha Krishna, director, CPREEC, who supervised the project.

According to Krishna, the Ramayan is geographically very correct. “All sites in their route are still identifiable and has continuing traditions. It is not possible for a person to just write something out of his imagination and fit it into local folklore for greater credibility. Valmiki has not erred anywhere while specifying the plant species, flowers and wild animals,” she said.

Sudhakar pointed out that in the Ramayan, Ram, Sita and Lakshman were warned to be cautious while they entered Dandakaranya forests. “This forest had lions and tigers. Now there are no lions in the area. This is because they were killed by poachers over the centuries. But the rocks in the famous Bhimbetka has prehistoric paintings of lion and tigers together which confirm Valmiki’s observation,” he said.

Amrithalingam and Sudhakar journeyed from Dandakaranya to Panchavati and Kishkinda. “We found that Kishkinda has a dry and moist climate which synchronises with what Valmiki has authored,” said Amrithalingam.

Chitrakuta and Dandakaranya regions mentioned in the epic are spread across the modern day Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, according to Krishna. Panchavati, from where Sita was abducted by Ravan, is situated on the banks of River Godavari on modern Maharashtra. “Diverse types of animal and bird species of this region have been mentioned by Valmiki. These include hamsa (swan), karandava (coot), kraunca (pond heron), Mayura (peacock) and sarasa (crane). These are all visible in the region even today,” said Krishna. 

Lord Ram in his conversation with Sita and Lakshman speaks about the significance of plants and trees which they come across during their journey. “Even today we have Sthala Vriksha (trees associated with each location) and plants which are worshipped. Tulsi, banyan, punnaga are some examples to substantiate the theory that Ramayana is not just a story but a chronicle,’ said Krishna.

The research took them to Sri Lanka where too they found the flora and fauna which are all mentioned in the Ramayan. Ravan’s botanical garden was known as Ashoka Vana because of the presence of Ashoka trees. “The evergreen Ashoka Vana could be described as a garden where nature is portrayed in all its glory,” said Amrithalingam.

According to Krishna, Valmiki knew what he was writing about. “Unless he was thorough about the topography, geography and ecology of the region, he could not have provided such sharp and precise observation of the time, place and location,” she said. The findings of Amrithalingam and Sudhakar has been published in the format of a book titled “Plant and Animal Diversity in Valmiki’s Ramayan”.

~ Kumar Chellappan


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98 Responses to "Three year long botanical study confirms Ramayan is not a myth"

  1. pradeep  May 23, 2015 at 5:02 am

    my humble request… please post in hindi also…
    so more peoples can read and benefit.

    many thanks..

  2. Sidhu Iyer  May 23, 2015 at 6:29 am

    Every Hindu deep down knows that our knowledge is vast and advanced and true to every drop.I just donot understand why we are bent on trying to get approval/stamp from west that we were more advanced than any other civilization ?
    I feel our culture is ,great and was the most advanced. And definitely in the name of advancement right now we are going retrogressive and will pay for destroying the earth in name of so called advancement( in view of west and followed by east).

    • Uttam  October 26, 2015 at 3:40 am

      Very true

    • Rohit  April 15, 2016 at 1:31 pm

      I think our culture is great. I don’t think that is in dispute.
      But the article doesn’t provide evidence for events in the Ramayana mythology to be true. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

      The important question is..do you need the stories to be true to value your belief system. ??

      • Pooran  May 28, 2016 at 4:00 pm

        No. We don’t. However those with inclination and the skill to investigate such topics should be encouraged wholeheartedly. If we are positive, I am sure there would be a thing or two that would eventually benefit humanity as a whole.

      • sudhir  October 11, 2016 at 11:20 am

        read valmiki ramayan. u have internet . research by yourself.
        or be a blind follower. and blindly follow the fabricated and corrupted stories and theories about your culture and history. fabricated bymuslims during muslim rule and by british and westerners. who literally hate your culture and religion

  3. Paneendra  May 23, 2015 at 6:49 am

    Lets build a big meseum on Ramayana and Mahabarata theme, that should contain each verse of ramayana, along with the tree plants fruits real or photos, fossils, each place mentioned their history, all archelogics things excavated on ramayaana and mahabharat should be there.

  4. Vidyadhar Mishra  May 23, 2015 at 7:26 am

    One has to be a pig eater or a pig headed to say the Ramayan is fictitious

    • Uddhav  September 10, 2015 at 11:38 am

      Your comment reeks of immaturity. How can you justify your comment. You know nothing about people who raise valid points questioning this study or the existence of Ram or the existence of God. When you can show beyond reasonable doubt that Ram existed or God exists or what God is then pass judgment on others. Blind faith results in ISIS.

      • Dravid  October 25, 2015 at 8:55 am

        Well said Sir. If I write a novel based on imaginary people and events I have to support it with today’s environment. I worship even my grandparents as gods though they did not have magical and supernatural powers. People like these would make even Chotta Bheem a god after a few centuries citing the tv footages as evidences.

      • Jaggie  October 26, 2015 at 11:17 am

        Uddhav – When it comes to blindness, it should not be on both sides. Sometime we will have to use our logic which can turn out to be much powerful than science, which is still maturing. None of the guys who have been commenting as science experts, know nothing about science themselves. For ex., Einsteien himself was a great believer of God and never questioned his existence. In deed when you actually dig deep into science, you realize that science is actually nothing and is just a wrapper around things that don’t have any scientific explanation.

        Coming back to the proof, instead of scientific evidences, you can think in terms of possibilities. This research might not prove the existence of SriRam, but it proved the path taken by him by coinciding it with the order of the plants found. Secondly, this path also coincides with the Geographical entities that we can verify now. Finally, without having any assistance from GPS or google maps, Sriram figured out that Rameswaram was the nearest place in Bharat to reach Srilanka and he also made a bridge. Now again, that bridge might be a natural one, not made by Sriram, but still he figured it out right?.

        Still it may not prove the existence of Sri Ram, but it proves the existence of the author who actually wrote the story with so many geographical and botanical coincidences. It means, the author actually traveled all along. He identified places suitable for areas including that of Sugreeva etc., He also went into Srilanka somehow to identify places suitable for Ravana’s kingdom. In deed there have been evidences like temples, ruined forts, floating stones etc., all along that can be verified even now.

        It may not prove the existence of Sri Ram, but it proves something. Even in this era of everything at our behest, you and me can’t sit and write a story that can coincide so well and we are talking about many ages ago when they came up with a story that has a fascinating match of so many evidences. So, there is a hell lot more than to think about the possibilities than the stupid questions of these immature people with their puny knowledge of science can come up with, to contradict something that was so indigeneously written.

        Give them benefit of doubt!!!… The tenets of Indian civilization stand tall on tolerance. It existed for longer period than these childish religions that just popped up and are preaching intolerance. If ISIS had to happen, it would have happened long ago, particularly during those centuries when a bunch of outsiders of a violent faith began torturing the natives.

        • Divya  October 14, 2016 at 3:32 am

          Jaggie please do proper search before conclusions first Einstein never believed in God that’s reason he was able to trust existence of energy in space E=mc2. N
          Second I ask you though if we believe in existence of Rama, Sita, Ravan. What great did Rama do? He was a great king, trustworthy husband and strong warrior. I don’t see any point to call him God please.

    • Kurush  October 17, 2016 at 9:37 am

      The Hindu deity Shiva regularly hunted pigs do you include him amongst pig-eaters you have mentioned above or is your list selective?
      Please refrain from this stupidity.
      This is an interesting study but does not prove or disprove the existence of Rama
      A myth is always based on a kernel of truth or a series of events in the hoary past which have grown over time and been given divine attachments.
      We have no clue which Ramayana was used here as there are dozens of versions all attributed to Valmiki
      No one knows if one person wrote it or it was added to as it moved all over India
      If it was added to as it spread obviously the people living in each region would know the animals, birds and plants endemic to their areas and would make the correct additions.
      Lets see this in perspective and lets not get carried away.

  5. Balaji Venkatachari  May 23, 2015 at 1:26 pm

    There’s a doubt that Sri Rama existed. The point is we have been starving for facts and figures to prove that same who have habits and questioning divine creation. Human beings don’t have knowledge to understand ” Paramathma” dwell in every
    living being. As long as they don’t understand themselves how are they going to understand divine existence.

    • Uddhav  September 10, 2015 at 11:46 am

      One million earths fit in our Sun. There are around 400,000,000,000 suns in our galaxy the Milky Way- akash ganga. There are over 100,000,000,000 galaxies some much bigger than ours in the visible universe. So effectively there are more Suns in the universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of the world put together. It’s just too big to know anything about it all of it. Religion is just primitive humans explanation about the world around them. The Sapt rishi in the sky are millions of light years away from each other. Go open a book on science for knowledge and the Ramayan for entertainment

      • Chandran  July 31, 2016 at 5:08 am

        Hope science some day gets equipped to explain Ramayana. Till then read Ramayana for knowledge and science for entertainment.

  6. Lincoln Pillay  May 23, 2015 at 2:30 pm

    WE do appreciate the time and effort it would have taken these researches to re-trace the steps of Shri Rama, Shri Sita, and Lakshmana.

    There is another method of verifying Ramayan and existence of Divine beings and this is through Sahaja Yoga – please visit http://www.sahajayoga.org and take your self-realization – it takes a few minutes, is free, and brings about many positive changes to a human beings life …and also not to forget: takes one closer to becoming themselves i.e. becoming the spirit …

  7. Indian  May 23, 2015 at 2:46 pm

    Destruction of our cultural heritage by invaders for last 1000 years damaged our confidence in us. After independence appeasement policy by Congress govt further made Hindus shaky.
    So now some of us ridicule our own heritage and some of us trust outsiders more than their own country men.
    I hope present Modi Govt is going to instill confidence about our own superiority.

    • Uddhav  September 10, 2015 at 11:49 am

      Respect should be commanded not demanded.
      Do something that deserves respect now! Don’t demand respect because hanuman or ram lived in India thousands of years ago and you live here now.

      • Ash  January 23, 2016 at 7:26 pm

        Respect is neither commanded nor demanded…..it is earned. Hinduism does not have a need to earn it on contrary we need to earn the respect and how, by becoming man of knowledge, but then you wouldn’t be knowing it!! Being born in India and in all probability in a Hindu family does not automatically entitle one to know about the meaning of divinity, God, Rama etc or any of the numerous philosophies called Upanishads. Modern generation is only in haste to comment without even having read or understand a single book. Most just pick up some vague lines here and there about Hinduism and feel that they know everything that is to be known. Especially people who are into science are neither here nor there. How advance science is caught in the throes of uncertainty principle or how quantum mechanics will put the most improbable stories of Ramayana to shame is of no concern of a college going/gone science student. It was once remarked by Einstein how he wished he had the confidence of a college going sophomore about the structure of the atom and electrons. For beginning pls read Indian Philosophies 1&2 by Sir.Radhakrishnan, our first President.

      • Chandran  July 31, 2016 at 5:13 am

        The Taliban has done your bidding, they respect only the now and present. They destroyed Bamiyan Buddha and ISIS has destroyed heritage sites in Iraq because they do not respect the past.

  8. Manu  May 23, 2015 at 3:39 pm

    I like Mr Paneendras idea of having a museum with verses from Ramayana and the associated flora/ fauna species. Can be tastefully done for developing both Sanskriti and an interest in Botany. Can be made a tourist icon if done well.

  9. Frank  May 23, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    I don’t doubt that Lord Ram actually existed, however the fact that the fauna and geographical descriptions match current understanding does very little to prove the story of the Ramayana. Sorry, but all it shows is that the story matches those descriptions and that’s about it. With all due respect I think articles like this can harm people taking the sanatana dharma seriously more than helping it sometimes.

  10. Manoj  May 23, 2015 at 10:29 pm

    Frank, your remark is curious to say the least.

    Kudos to the researchers’ hard work.

    People who wrote such a huge text, realism about many aspects – the long journey, artefacts like the pamban bridge, stories that persisted down the ages, despite active ridicule, cannot be baseless. Of course cynics and those who believe in white man’s burden are different – they are so invested in their own superiority they dont want to see the truth.

    I think Hindus need to stop trying to justify ourselves to the barbaric and decadent west, and start serving the planet and humanity in the best possible way we know. Let that be our legacy to the world.

    • SKB  May 31, 2015 at 6:43 am

      There are many other stories that has persisted down the ages…for ex, the stories of Indra, kama etc…and there are many greek mythologies too. So as per your argument these are not baseless…do you actually believe lightning and rains were caused based on the whims of a god? No right. Having unquestionable faith is not good. You can see that from the current terrorists like ISIS and Al-qida. It is necessary to understand the WHY.

    • Bapi  July 25, 2015 at 7:10 pm

      science and sentiment shouldn’t mix. Frank is correct in his deduction.

      By the way Hanuman didn’t know much about botany did he? He uprooted a whole hill to bring back some plants which we should try to rediscover, this would be a better project than making a museum.

    • Bharat  September 2, 2015 at 4:29 pm

      I agree with Frank’s deduction. Logic requires you to have sound connections between an observed phenomenon and the conclusion. For e.g. here the observed fact is that “Every species of organism that Valmiki wrote about and their locations are true” and the conclusion this article makes is “Because valmiki gets the species and location of plants, the ramayana itself is true”.
      In reality, all it can say is “ramayana *may be* true”. To convincingly conclude that ramayana is true with this data one will have to either get more direct evidence or disprove the alternatives.
      For e.g. alternate conclusions can be,
      Could valmiki have known about the same species and their locations without ramayana actually taking place? – Yes, there is a possibility of that and it is not disproven by the current study
      Other example for such logic would be Karvalo by Purnachandra tejaswi or Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. Both of them get all the locations, names and topography correct but their work is classified as fiction. Something to think about.
      Having said that, I worship rama and I do not think that belief should affect how we treat logic and scientific evidence.
      Good day!

  11. MP Udayanarayana  May 24, 2015 at 3:01 am

    By belittling Hindus -on their Innocence , Negligence & Non unity – to establish their superiority -discarded all our samskaar & samskruthi as Non sence.
    Imprints -so called Educated Rascals are further damaging -Every thing Of our own- even today
    Time to Act & React has Come !!!

  12. Sameet  May 24, 2015 at 8:34 am

    The Ramayana provides the reader a way of understanding Dharma and guides people towards Sanatana Dharma Frank. Your comment (*imho) highlights that you’re unable to grasp the concept of Santana Dharma as it is narrow minded and dogmatic.

    Remember that one cannot learn Sanatana Dharma through one page reading, but through multiple teachings and scriptures.

    With regards to the main topic here, the journey that these “educated” Botanists have taken shows a real passion for our religion, culture and scriptures. With so many people walking away from Hinduism because of a lack of faith and limited understanding, this provides a shining light and a beacon of confidence that the Ramayana carries a strong message of not only God, but also a philosophy about the meaning of life and how we should live.

    Excellent work!

    Hari Om…..

  13. rajneesh  May 24, 2015 at 9:35 am

    I like the idea of mr paneendra , manu , manoj that a museum should be build with all facts & artifacts, like the floating stones at rameshvaram. places of concern in India Srilanka Male Indonesia etc. Modi & his ministers should stop boasting and do some long lasting & concrete work. He is simply more focused on promoting himself & his larger than life image.

  14. Sita Rama Murthy Bulusu  May 24, 2015 at 11:29 am

    Hearty congratulations to Shri Amirthalingam and Shri Sudhakar on their outstanding Botanical research. I had visited Sri Lanka in 1970’s and my interaction with local citizen in Kandy (Temple of HolyTooth of Budha) confirmed that “Sita Elia” or Ashoka Vana existed there. In the Sri Lankan port city of Trincomalee (Trikonamalai) there is a Shiva Temple containing the Shiva Linga worshipped by Shri Rama before waging war on Ravana and his army. It has also been established beyond doubt that there was a man-made bridge from about Rameswaram / nearby seashore village and another seashore village on Sri Lanka shores. Anthropologists might have confirmed the existence of the Rakshasas / demon-like humans in Sri Lanka. All these go to prove that Ramayana is a real story and not a myth created by the great sage Valmiki.

  15. SaiG  May 24, 2015 at 2:20 pm

    Though i have no doubt in HIS existence, wish there is more info and other facts investigated 🙂

  16. Ali Adravi  May 24, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    I don’t want to hurt anyone. I have some questions if anyone help me to understand:
    1. Balmiki was a dacoo, how he knew everything about Ram and Sita?
    2. How sita came in this world?
    3. Hanuman ( a monkey) can fly and took the Himalaya mountain from one place to other, where is that mountain these days?
    These are the points which are hard to believe, might be you can give a proper reason.

    • Natarajan  September 12, 2015 at 11:52 am

      Mr Ali Adravi. How Valmiki was reformed is well explained in the initial chapters. How Sita came in this world also clearly mentioned. The hill which was lifted by Hanuman is not traced as yet. But we all know what happened to Ayodhya Ram mandir several centuries ago. The hill might hv also been clean shaved by some greedy groups.

    • Chandran  July 31, 2016 at 5:48 am

      Why don’t you put these question to the one you follow? One of my friends who belongs to your religion believes that ahmed came to India and learnt about OM. He went back chanting omomom. People thought he is chanting MO and called him Mo ahmed. Now I don’t know if this person you want to ask the questions.

  17. Pradeep Simha Tirunagari  May 25, 2015 at 12:11 pm

    Many people may not understand English. Telugu version is needed for this essay. Any how, thanks for the great information.

  18. Thiyagu  May 25, 2015 at 1:43 pm

    Wow..great breakthrugh..Please investigate the presence of ten heads…. It Would be a great enlightment..

  19. shishir gole  May 25, 2015 at 3:57 pm

    How long we are going to swim in history? OK it was there but let us come out of it and we work for balanced progress

    • Sanskriti  May 26, 2015 at 3:42 pm

      History is what inspires the future generations.


      Equally important are whom we chose as our role models and how they influence our very thoughts.

  20. Srinivas Duvvuri  May 25, 2015 at 5:19 pm

    Nice. But this is not enough. We must make a documentary for these kind of researches and quests. Like how they do in Discovery and National Geographic. I am sure the current govt. will have a department that might even help with funding.

    I would encourage such researchers to make documentaries so these will spread a lot faster.

  21. usha  May 26, 2015 at 11:08 am

    Every literary work does clearly describes geographical, planetary, people, lifestyle, economic period -contemporary. (for eg :Andal tiruppavai, nachiar tirumozhi) All through the world it is like that.BUT in India, due this so called ‘secularism. and anti -brahmin movement.(which is irrelevant. and out dated) What a loss! our children are not. really open to the true greatness of ‘Jambhudveepa, Baratah khanda ‘.

  22. Pingback: Trogodišnje botaničko istraživanje dokazuje da Ramayana nije mit

  23. Maity  May 27, 2015 at 5:06 pm

    I have a concern here.
    I agree all the plants and places mentioned in the Ramayana existed or still exists.
    But in what logic that makes the Ramayana a ‘true story’?

    In 90% the fictions, authors use reference of true name of the places, and components.
    All the name of the places and trees and buildings used in a sci-fi movie (say Jurassic park, or X-men, or even our Krish :P) actually exists in the reality. Does that mean all these movies are true incidents?

    • Anil  September 14, 2015 at 7:51 am

      I totally agree with your comments….

    • Rajesh  September 20, 2016 at 8:08 pm

      Remember you are talking about 3000 + years ago when there’s little technology to even think of writing a fiction that long with that accuracy. As someone mentioned above, Rameswaram is the shortest path to Sri Lanka. How did Valmiki know ? Did he have a map with GPS? If botanical study confirms the existence of the same set of plants, animals etc. that proves the correlation.

      This is the same logic that the westerners use for Jesus’ existence eventhough there’s no mention of his post teenage and the whole world believes it. But we in India has to show DNA proof for Ram eventhough it was several thousand years before Jesus?

      So what else can be shown as ‘proof’ to be acceptable after so many thousand years? The satellite image of the bridge is not enough when the same people were questioning it before the satellite age. Now botanical study is not enough. Correct locations, geography, astronomical factors etc. is not enough? Does it mean Valmiki was an unbelievably skilled man with so much premonition that he could write all this just by sitting in a forest? Did he travel so many thousand kilometers and crossed the sea to reach Srilanka just to write a book that many years ago? How many books are available in today’s world of that size written in that period ? I bet there was not even half of that literature existed in that period.

      Also, funny to see people questioning the logic. Even in Science, many theories are based on ‘hypothesis’ and the conclusion based on that. It’s not based on 100% proof but based on certain assumptions. May be this can be called ‘Ram’s existence based on botanical study’ hypothesis ?

  24. Santhosh  May 28, 2015 at 10:00 am

    Let’s be honest, this proves nothing but wisdom of Valmiki who might have travelled to all these places.

    • charan  May 28, 2015 at 2:30 pm

      So many doubts, why—please be honest??
      The idea that Ramayana is mythology(and not history) is NOT an Indian one, even traditionally we consider(ed) it as “Itihasa”(i.e History) and not as “Purana”—it was started by British because that does not fell into their Biblical chronologies; which is also continued by our own “secular” historians.Today, there are many(yes, many) scholarly articles that speaks about Ramayana as History—and whether we like it or not, current Indian history is sure to change in a big way, because of the evidences.We really do NOT have any honest reasons(other than those ideologically convoluted ones) to consider “Ramayana as mythology”—and it is already known. to archeologists at least, that Indian history has a cultural continuity—and this proves that Ramayana and Mahabharatha are histories.This is not a nationalistic jingoist claim–rather, it becomes a great unifying factor for the nation.
      If it is all myths, then why did we remember it for so long? Many myths across all the cultures of the world have been developed for a cultural purpose—but all have been forgotten,even in India; but then why is it that Ramayana is being remembered, with an unparalleled accuracy?And why do we not take pride in our history?
      Probably “western universalism” is too fashionable a paradigm, that cannot be erased from people`s minds.Probably (modern)India is the only nation, which considers mythology as history and history as mythology !! Unfortunately, today we have reached such a situation that we rarely take conscience on our great history……………..
      Thank You

  25. Dr. Gopal Matathe  May 28, 2015 at 8:21 pm

    It is a nice study but the conclusion drawn (as evidenced by the title) is incorrect. All it means is that Valmiki knew the geograph and the region very well.

    • Chandran  July 31, 2016 at 5:31 am

      Shove your conclusion up your behind.

  26. charan  May 31, 2015 at 2:52 pm

    For all the sceptics, please note: it is already accepted by historians–not the school of agenda-oriented historians–have already accepted (even though,Mainstream Media tries it`s best to ignore the recent research) that Ramayana is History.Period.
    Please introspect, before you become questioning everything that is “originally Indian”.And please, refer to our own ingenious historical texts and argue; instead of personal ideological opinions, we have had enough of “them”.And please,think twice before calling anything as “hindu conspiracy” or “nationalistic rhetoric”,because, whether we like it or not, Truth will remain Truth, irrespective of our biased judgements.Please be “truth-seekers” and not “opinion-makers”.
    It is time for Indians to lift their head up,with humility and confidence, and say that “We are the World`s oldest and greatest civilization for a reason; and we will preserve it.”
    Thank You.

    • Uddhav  September 10, 2015 at 11:32 am

      Charan so the Ramayan was real. So what? The Muslims came in 1000 AD slaughtered all the male ram bhakts raped the women and neither Ram laxmam hanuman shiv Krishna etc ect did anything to stop that. The ancient Egyptians built the pyramids doesn’t mean the current Egyptians can. Lets talk about the authenticity about the Ramayan and Mahabharata when we can replicate the things in them. There is no point in dreaming about real or imagined past grandeur when we live in filthy corrupt cities. We spit and defecate in our public places our youth are sex starved perverts and we subject our women to humiliation by constat harassment. Yeah a king called Ram may have lived but what actual good did he do for society? Even in the story he kills Wali by deceit. Let’s the stupidity of a senile king impact his wife’s life looses his wife to another king kills or has killed thousands upon thousands of people to get her back and then chucks her out when she is pregnant. And this makes him a great role model? what did he pass on to humans that was used throughout the ages that followed him. Did he invent the internal combustion engine. He had a plane in the story. Where are their ruins. Who else had them? Why didn’t Indians have fighter plane squadrons to fight Alexander or Mohammed of ghazni? Living in the past gets you backward.

      • Chandran  July 31, 2016 at 5:33 am

        That is because traitors like you were supported the invaders.

  27. Geet  June 1, 2015 at 3:24 am

    This can’t even be called research, the Ramayana did happen and the divine incarnated itself to help man understand the virtues to be followed in life. What happened around twenty thousand years back can’t be matched with vegetation in existence today. The land and its people may have been very different all these years ago. The Ramayana definitely did happen given that so many characters are involved and so many intricate stories happened which is beyond any one individuals imagination. This research is useless. Divine saints have shown the path to tread by devotedly following the teaching of Lord Rama. Ramayana needs no proof only proof we need is whether we have Ramayana’s teachings in our daily lives, thoughts and actions. There was a monkey that coveted another’s wife (Vali) and a daemon king who coveted another’s wife (Ravana). Such people still exist today. Following the teachings of the Ramayana is the only proof that it happened not this useless research!!

  28. ABHI  June 23, 2015 at 11:32 am


  29. mEThinks  June 24, 2015 at 6:02 pm

    OK, Yesterday I saw a movie “DDLJ” , I think it happened in real because when I verified a city called London exists and lots of pigeons were still found in London , you can still find the sarsoon ka kheth in the country side of punjab, and surprisingly found pigeons in the fields too. Sorry but this is how it sounds.

    • Arun  September 11, 2015 at 4:05 am

      This is what exactly came into my mind. You articulated it very well.

    • Chandran  July 31, 2016 at 6:03 am

      Shove your conclusion up your behind.

    • Chandran  July 31, 2016 at 6:11 am

      yoUThinks, to know the answer to your question you should wait 10000 years and your great grandchild to the power of 100 will be asking the where is the proof you saw DDLJ?

  30. Bharat  August 28, 2015 at 6:25 pm

    The reasoning for Ramayana to be a true story given in this article is ridiculous. Different trees grow in different places and different climate. Someone may visit the places to know about the trees and use those names in his/her story, it does not mean that the story should be true. I don’t want to say that Ramayana is a myth. But there should be some better reasoning to make it believe.

  31. A  September 10, 2015 at 7:52 am

    This proves nothing. Most of fiction writing uses real topographical data available today, it doesn’t make it real. Imagine if in 500 years someone picked up a copy of 1984 and started teaching/believing it as fact from the actual year 1984, it would seem stupid because it is not and can’t be argued as fact simply because the flora and fauna match the time and location. Another point about this study and article is that it takes the word of ‘krishna’ as real and true. For that to happen, you have to first prove that krishna existed, then use his existence to prove that ramayana is true.

    Honestly, flying monkeys an burning bridges sounds more like Oz than reality.

  32. Dileep  September 10, 2015 at 10:18 am

    Adam’s Bridge is the biggest proof

  33. Abhishek  September 10, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    Any idea about the Sanjivani.. Did you get it in the himalayas. Please don’t tell that it’s an extinct plant species.

  34. Arun  September 11, 2015 at 4:09 am

    People are trying hard to prove it not to be a myth. It’s completely alright. But coming up with obscure facts is not commendable. As other people have already commented, they are judging it too quickly. Its like saying in Avatar movie, sun rises in the east, so Avatar must be true.
    Many educated people unable to reason is disheartening. I think the reason behind this behavior is that as logic disproves all the beliefs they grew up with, they wouldn’t want carry forward the topic. But I agree that Ramayana is definitely a great epic which teaches us the way a human being should live. Having said that, I think there are many wrong notions depicted at least under today’s circumstances. I still would love to read it as fiction.

  35. max  September 11, 2015 at 7:57 am

    You mean Ram Setu. Please refer to it as Ram Setu.

    • Dinesh  September 14, 2015 at 7:34 pm

      The bridge known as the Adams bridge from India to Lankha who built that !!!

  36. Puneet AH  October 25, 2015 at 5:14 am

    Did Valmiki actually accompany Ram, Lakshman and Sita..? If not, how does he know each and every event from there life..? Who narrated the story to him? If one of Ram, Lakshman and Sita had actually narrated Valmaki, do you think they could remember all the minute details of 14 years of there life in forest?

    • Vik  January 27, 2016 at 6:14 pm

      Good question, if u read Ramayana then u get it.
      Ram was historical character person.Ram which is mantra of Lord vishnu.
      If someone name is ram then it does not mean that he is God. Same as ram was a ordinary person who has 16 qualities related dharma karma, etc. So ram is called marayada purushottam ram.
      When bhrahma asked to narad that who has 16 qualities on this earth?then narad went to valmiki and asked above question. Valmiki said, ram has 16 or more than its qualities.
      Then narad told to bhramha that an ordinary person has 16 qualities who is living on earth.
      Then bhrahma got surprise.Then bhrahma gave a special vision to valmiki to write the story on rama and sita.
      By special vision, valmiki was able to see everything what happening to ram during lifetime.
      Now a question can arise in your mind. Which special visions??
      If modern world has online video conferencing, online video recording,wirless recording etc then in ancient, it may be something in otherform.
      If u read Ramayana, u will acquaint the pushpak viman which had no sound.
      Today, Our scientists discovered supersonic aircrafts which has no sound because its frequency is too high so human being can not hear this type of frequency.

  37. Anand  October 25, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    During which age did this epic occur?In real time terms, how many years ago was that?

  38. Killer  October 26, 2015 at 1:41 pm

    Then what the researchers say about Monkeys (Hanuman and the team) and Bears (Jambava) speaking in human languages.

  39. ArunR  October 26, 2015 at 6:08 pm

    Unfortunately this only proves that Valmiki did his research quite thoroughly and matched his epic to the physical characteristics of the area. Authors like Stephen King and Dan Brown do the same thing for accuracy.

    • atul mamtora  November 11, 2015 at 3:02 am

      I think you got this exactly right. We want to justify something and finding circumstantial evidence to treat them as facts.

  40. shiva  October 27, 2015 at 5:02 am

    I am fed up with the word “mythology” on mahabharatha and ramayana
    It is indeed a history of our nation. We all should accept it, and learn and celebrate the values illustrated by two mahapurushas. It will make the world better place for leaving.

  41. uday  October 27, 2015 at 9:12 am

    Get well soon boy’s. after ages your grand grand son’s will say you even not born to their ancisters.

    Study English to live in this world but don’t think English is the world. You people seems to be completely lost. Valmiki went to all the places and wrote a story to establish Ramayana is not a Myth. If you think that is true u r lost. You are also in the same paradigm which you think the others are.

    Good luck

  42. Rama Pichika  October 28, 2015 at 6:22 am

    Did you read the book called The Hindus An Alternative History
    by Dr. Wendy Doniger? She is a professor of the History of Religions

    She tells me they are not factually true. You talk to her

    • atul MAMTORA  November 11, 2015 at 3:11 am

      Ms.Doniger has got lot right in her book,she is hiding mirror to us and the image we see is not pretty. I used to hope that at this stage in Indian democracy after 65 years ,we will have outgrown this nonsense written in article.Unfortunately I am wrong.Wendy’s book is banned in India.

    • Chandran  July 31, 2016 at 5:34 am

      You are free to worship Wendy.

  43. charan  November 12, 2015 at 3:47 am

    I request all the readers to go to the bed soon, before all our great-great-great grandchildren start calling us as “myth”; and hence,please save all of our collective ashes in some liquid helium and preserve it by burying in it a deep cave of ignorance, so that the future generations of enlightened souls,say after thousand years from now,can start “believing in our empirical existence”; or, let us keep all of our possible physical archaeological records,i.e., after our death, to the posterity, so that they “at-least respect and treat us them with some,at-least some,dignity of considering us as historical characters of yore”.
    Yes,go back to sleep again,no one knows truth,because,no one cares about truth, because no one deserves truth.Period.
    Truth always dies in the hands of egoistic souls.Sad.

  44. Dr Madhavan  March 20, 2016 at 3:00 pm

    A clarification requested
    Sita is abducted from Bank of River Godavari near Badrachalam of AP
    There is temple
    There is a holy spot where Sita mata seems to have taken bath in a river let
    There is Sokhal Rama temples
    Ravana plane landing etc
    But you mention that Sita Mata was abducted from Maharshtra
    Which is correct
    Please enlighten


    • Chandran  July 31, 2016 at 5:50 am

      Ask this question to your comrades in dandakaranya and gadchiroli forests.

  45. mgowardhan  April 15, 2016 at 2:33 pm

    Ramayana and Mahabharta in both flora/fauna/geography and geology everything matches with location. It idepends upon individuals knowledge or exposure to trust it or not. I don’t believe in god, but I believe in existence of Ramayana and Mahabharata.

  46. Devansh  April 16, 2016 at 11:45 am

    Comments are required to be moderated?

    Talk about hypocrisy, why dont you let the posts go through. No wonder i see so many biased opinions

  47. rishaba  April 17, 2016 at 4:28 am

    I’m truly disappointed and saddened by certain comments in this topic.. I am 45 now, and, till 42, I was a hard-core atheist criticising many of our cultural and religious issues and icons.. But trust me.. when I involved myself in reading or referring many such books for stage-bashing.. I could. in a due course of time, feel the transformation of my inner conscience. True the idolising of Shiva, and Muruga may be a form of hero-worship, but what would you say about the Siddhars in the Western Ghats, who are still believed to exist in immortal forms.. Its a very deep subject, and I really pity for people like Uddhav.. Better believe what you have been taught.. All other religions in this world is thriving only on this principle.. To question a belief needs high knowledge and morality..We average humans can never achieve that level.. Please trust me when I say this..because I have seen enough downfalls in atheism….

    • Muralidharan  April 18, 2016 at 5:09 am

      This claim of atheist or rationalist credentials until a sudden revelation changed everything is a familiar ploy of many hardcore believers ( who at best did what many youngsters do- take only a casual interest in their religion) who want to give an impression that they are more rational than the atheists. Look at what little rationality is there in your arguments – vague terms like inner conscience, immortal forms, need for high knowledge and morality that can have any meaning that you ascribe to them. You want us to learn from you? Then talk things that are sensible. No one grudges you a happy religious life free of reason but don;t expect other to agree with you merely based on your statements.

  48. Muralidharan  April 18, 2016 at 5:40 am

    I find the title of the book by the two botanists on ” Plant and animal diversity in Valmiki’s Ramayana ” best explains the true merit in their findings. Which means little more than how Valmiki managed to describe the flora and fauna of the locations real or imagined. Hundreds of authors have done similar things in their stories – plant names in a fictional story does not make it anything else. Why should one doubt that valmiki or any fairly observant storyteller of that era, knew the names of the plants in a large part of the continent. Does omissions of names of some common plants or animals make any difference to the story. Looking at it another way – what evidence does one have that many of the fabulous and supernatural incidences that defy logic in the epics are real events like many like to believe?

  49. Swetachalapathi Sonti  April 18, 2016 at 6:33 am

    I do not understand this fixation with Proving Ramayan and Mahabharat as history. What if they are not ? We venerate these puranas for the path of Dharma that they teach us to follow . The ideals set by Rama are more important than whether a king called Rama existed. This is what kabir meant when he said ” Naam Ram se Jyada Bhai naam Ram se Jyada” . After completely abandoning this path of Dharma why are we trying to hanker after the people who have shown that path of Dharma ?

  50. Anand Bakshi  May 23, 2016 at 7:52 am

    Lord Rama appeared in Treta-yug. After Treta-yug comes Dwapar-yug & then the Kali-yug.The present era is Kaliyug . Mahabharta occured at the end of Dwapar-yug..This unit of time used in our scriptures along with the depiction of planet positions make the whole description as a scientific document. However other details which are very descriptive do always have the tendencies to be manipulated with the passage of time..Hence such researches are a MUST to keep the authauntic character of such documents intact. So the researchers require to be congratulated.

  51. karthik  June 8, 2016 at 5:24 pm

    in order to rebuild our great culture ,we need to consecrate each and every corner of this country

  52. Saraswathi.j  June 12, 2016 at 4:54 am

    Always I do not know why people argue about our past ,for the present we are living on this earth is it not true or not? So in the comming future generations may question themselves like us , whether we live on this earth or not and made all these scientific wonders ,because all these may not be there for future generation,like Rama,Krishna or other people we met in our Itihasas , just like in the present we are existing on the earth ,they also exist and passed away ,we also one day pass away into the past , just accept they also live on this earth just like us as human …but their good actions made them Gods that is all…………..

  53. vijendra Kumar  June 16, 2016 at 5:08 am

    The research should be available to public and to all Hindus to read and make their own minds. At the moment we all talking through hear say. We don’t know the actual conclusions the authors made we just reading somebody else’s assessment of the study

    To those who argue that Valmiki could have researched about all these places, the fauna, flora, place, weather traditions practices etc all through India and Sri Lanka same as Strphen King and other modern writers, I ask you enlighten us on how this research was carried out in that yug when there was no vehicles or planes to travel , no telecommunications, phones, no developed sciences, botany, researches, books and magazines, no medical sciences and definitely no Internet. Can you really compare it with the information available at disposal of modern authors today?

    Height of ignorance and stupidity to compare writers of two vast yugs and that too between great Valmiki with mere Stephen King.

    To one Uddhav, you don’t appear to know much about free will and karma, a raja’s dharma , how the world must demise and annihilate so that a new one can begin etc. that Shri Tam and Krishna have given us Ramaysn and Mahabharata maybe you should devout some time reading and understanding them you will understand stand and find many answers there. If I give you answers you will not listen so it is better you find out yourself. And if you read the Vedas you will Find why Hinduism is the most scientific religion and why millions of western people are embracing yoga, karma, and meditation.
    And what is science? Some people can think science explain s everything. Can science explain the spiritual realm? NO becsuse science can only explain what it can measure. Science is just a baby. And where did consciousness come from? How did Big Bang happen? According to science itself by remaining dormant since ever, if nothing has caused a change, Big Bang should never have happened!!!

    And to those who think reading the past, knowing the past is s waste of time, we need to know the past to prevent same mistakes in future. Don’t mix this with dwelling on the past and not living present. They are two companies merely different things.

    • Chandran  July 31, 2016 at 5:56 am

      Right said, that Uddhav thinks he is Einstein’s descendant. Science is something that relies on maths and physics which in turn believes in imaginary numbers and imaginary mass.

  54. Dabeesingh  June 22, 2016 at 6:49 am

    Very interesting and factual

  55. Dr. Bidlan  July 30, 2016 at 10:04 pm

    To all the great guys of this and not this discussion: Those who exhibited their attitude of arguments with ignorance. First thing I would like to say is “NOT IGNORANCE, BUT THE IGNORANCE OF IGNORANCE IS THE DEATH OF KNOWLEDGE”.
    For most of you under the above category, few of my questions to you are:

    can you prove that Mr. Mohandas KAramchand Gandhi was thrown out of the first class Railway compartment?

    Can you prove the present world’s calender exhibiting ”AD”? Why AD? Who & Whay exhisted before this era?

    Can you prove the So CALLED Discovery of India by a sailor from other continent?

    Can you Prove that the Mr. Uddhav and related people remember their date of Birth? Do they also remember their parents and families? If So, can they Prove? Do they carry any proven evidence with them that they were born to the same parents and on the same date as they document?

    Is there any need for them to mention their DoB and their parent’s name in getting any of the benefits from the society? If so, why do they use the data they have without scientifically proving it to themselves?

    If they do not wish to remember the history, they should forget even their birth, ,parents, nationality, their first lessons during childhood and even their earned degrees and the source of income. Can they do this?

    There are many questions… for more you can arrange for a healthy and fruitful discussion… not arguments for the sake of proving your ignorance about your existence.

    Well, coming to some other arguments: how can you prove that the number mentioned by Uddhav about the earths, suns, galaxies, etc., is correct? how can he say the correct number of earths that can fit in the sun? and blah! Blah!

    OK. Uddhav, finally, in one of his arguments agreed that Hanuman, Ram and Sita existed. Thanks Man for finally revealing your innerself and the true Uddhav who knows from inside that these are not just fictious charactes and they were REAL.


    1. If you all take up the Archaeological Survey of India’s excavation and other research documents, you will be surprised to know that they have already proven beyond any doubt that these events were real and did happen.

    2. The ASI, also gave sufficient proofs for the occurance of MAHABHARAT earler than RAMAYAN.

    3. While we Indians/ Indian Gongress Alliance Governments were bent upon creating the illusions that these were mythological stories, the American Research & NASA had proved that the Ramsetu is a Man made one and dates back to the period of Ramayan.

    Friends, there can be many more evidences that can prove beyond doubt for the DOUBTFUL Characters of this country that the MAHABHARAT & RAMAYAN did occur in real.So did the Krishn and Ram.

    People who do not have knowledge argue a lot: those who are not aware of genetics would still argue for the existence of any traits being transferred from parents to their children/ grand children/ great grand children/…..
    People with ignorance would also argue the existence of infections because they did not see any organisms that cause them.
    people with ignorance can argue many non-sense things because they are ignorant: One can even ask Uddhav and his group (please imagine your name if you agree with Uddhav’s arguments) : has he seen HIV causing AIDS? Has he seen the Air travelling in his arteries and veins? Have you people observed the digestion taking place in your cells? Have you ever seen air filling the balloon? Have you ever seen the oil burning and releasing energy for your cooking/running the motors? Have you ever seen how many new cells are born every day in your body? Have you ever observed the number of cells dying in your system? have you ever seen the brain nerve cells working for you? Have you ever imagined why water wets and fire burns you? have you ever imagined why Companies nowadays just give warranty that too for a few months? Why earlier, say 30 years ago, companies used to give Guarantee for many years for their products? why the construction of today can’t stand long enough while the old constructions still stand erect? Its all because the knowledge people have today is just in the form of papers carrying written degrees. Not the real knowledge. If the companies have worth employees and management with proper knowledge then their products would carry Life Time Guarantee. this itself proves that the knowledge and calibre today’s best technicians, companies and scientists have is degraded compared to that of 30 years ago. This speaks volumes for those who have brains and logic.

    Had a wonderful time to expain you all these in a nutshell.

    Still I would end with : THE REVERSED/ UPSIDE DOWN POT WILL NEVER GET A DROP OF WATER. To fill yourself with right knowledge place yourself in the right position with open mind. Otherwise, I brought the horse to the Pond; to drink or not to drink is in your hands.

  56. Dr. Bidlan  July 30, 2016 at 10:42 pm

    Many of you might be ignorant about the Patents of Yoga, Basmathi rice, Neem and Haldi have been filed America. Do you know that these actually belong to the Great India? Just because people like you try to slit the throat of your own kith and kin, by placing dirty and filthy arguments regarding the culture and scientific Hindu practices, others have taken advantage and we remained slaves for centuries. only thing we can ask such people who do not believe ad respect Hinduism as Science, to leave this place called Hindustan and reside in a country that can tolerate their behaviour/

  57. M.S.PARTHASARATHY  July 31, 2016 at 8:47 am


  58. Dinesh  October 11, 2016 at 8:20 am

    Sorry guys my thought was ram was not a god and superpowers
    But he was so kind and wonderful leader we know that our poets and peoples consider king as a informer from god so every thing mentioned in our history is true exept the gods instead of great kings

  59. Narayanan shanker  October 12, 2016 at 9:47 am

    Kindly think about these:- King dasarath ruled for 60000 years, Ramji ruled for 11000 yrs, Ravan ruled for 5000000 years – Are these possible.
    Man talking to vanars- even now it is not possible.
    A human flying without wings- Is it possible.
    One God cannot fly but his sewak can fly.
    Can a bird [jatayu], a bear[jambavan] can talk?
    If these are false, then Ramayan is a myth. Vali moving to south sea in the morning and western sea and coming to Kishkinda in a day – cannot be true?
    The height and weight of Kumbakarnan- Not possible as per data available- tallest human and heaviest humans ever lived- search google.

  60. TP  October 13, 2016 at 8:55 am

    well said DR Bidlan

  61. Anand Gupta  October 14, 2016 at 7:22 am

    So he found the sanjeevani booti that can revive the dead……..where is it?


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