Is Ceylon the Lanka mentioned in Ramayana?

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> > Shyamasundara (das) ACBSP

> > 31-Mar-04 02:57 (21:57 -0500)

> > Vedic Astrology (Symposium hosted by

>Shyamasundara Das)

> >[1311]

> >

> > > http://www.skyimagelab.com/hanmonbrid.html

> >

> >On this website there is the assertion that Ceylon

>was Lanka of the

> >Ramayana. The assertion is also made using typical

>offensive

> >language of

> >mundane scholars regarding Sastras.

> >

> >Today is Ramanavami(2004) on this date last year I

>started reading the

> >Ramayana

> >(full edition). In the Ramayana we learn that Lanka

>was 100 yoganas

> >from the

> >mainland. Since a yogana is about 8 miles that

>would mean that it

> >was about

> >800 miles from the mainland. Much further than

>current Sri Lanka aka

> >Ceylon.

> >Also the Suryasiddhanta mentions that the meridian

>which passes

> >through

> >Ujjain also passes through Lanka. (The

>Suryasiddhanta and all of the

> >Jyotish

> >literature uses the meridian passing through Ujjain

>as the reference

> >point

> >just as today the meridian of Greenwich is used for

>astronomical

> >calculations and time keeping.) Ujjain is 75

>degrees 47 minutes east

> >of

> >Greenwich if you look south in the Indian Ocean the

>closest land

> >would be

> >the Maldive Islands in the Lakshadvip Sea (100,000

>Islands sea). So

> >I would

> >suggest that is the actual area of the original

>Lanka not Ceylon

> >which only

> >recently (1972) renamed itself as Sri Lanka. The

>actual Lanka is

> >submerged

> >and only some of its highest points are above the

>ocean. In any case

> >the

> >real Lanka was several hundred miles to the South

>West of current

> >Ceylon-Sri

> >Lanka.

> >

> >Ceylon has been known by that name for at least

>2500 years. It was

> >the name

> >that the Romans, Greeks and Persians knew it by

>(Greek traders in the

> >Ptolomiac and Roman empires regularly went to South

>India and even

> >onto

> >China via the well known trade route starting from

>Alexandria,down

> >the Nile,

> >portage accross to the Red Sea, down the Red Sea

>and then straight

> >accross

> >the Arabian Sea to modern Kerala. This is how Saint

>Thomas, disciple

> >of

> >Christ, got to South India and why Kerela has 20%

>Christians since

> >that

> >time. The many hordes of Roman dinari (gold coins)

>that have been

> >excavated

> >in the extreme south of India also attest to this

>fact.

> >

> >In ancient times it was also called Taprobane

>(especially by the

> >Greeks) and

> >Serendip, which was derived from Sanskrit for

>Sinhala Dvipa, the

> >island of

> >Singhalese. The Singalese were orginally from the

>Kalinga region

> >(Orissa)

> >and invaded the island some time before 500 BC. It

>morphed into

> >Ceylon from

> >Serendip.

> >

> >The English word Serendipity--which is finding

>something unexpected

> >and

> >useful while searching for something else entirely.

>For instance, the

> >discovery of the antibacterial properties of

>penicillin by Alexander

> >Fleming

> >is said to have been a serendipitious discovery--is

>etymologicaly

> >derived

> >from its possession by the heroes of the Persian

>fairy tale "The

> >Three

> >Princes of Serendip"

> >

> >In any case by what ever name you call it modern

>Sri Lanka-Ceylon is

> >not the

> >Lanka of the Ramayana because it is much too far to

>the North East by

> >several hundreds of miles from the location of

>Lanka indicated in the

> >Ramayana and the astronomical Siddhantas and other

>Jyotish

> >literature.

> >

> >yhs

> >

> >Shyamasundara Dasa

> >

> >www.ShyamasundaraDasa.com