Historical Rama Book review

The Ramayana is one of the best-known epics of India and has inspired thousands of generations throughout the world. I have taken great inspiration from this work and produced several drawings inspired by scenes from it. So when I saw the book Historical Rama by D.K. Hari and D.K. Hema Hari I was very enthusiastic to read it. I had wondered about the historical roots of Indian epics such as The Ramayana and The Mahabharata when I read them. Both works have immense spiritual depth and profound knowledge. But the seemingly fantastical imagery of some scenes in these works might make their historicity unclear to the reader.

Historical Rama is an in-depth look into the question of whether or not Rama was indeed a historical king of ancient India. The authors of this work use an exhaustive inter-disciplinary approach to addressing this question. These scholarly disciplines include Literature, Geography, Archaeology, local traditions/lore, and the newly emerging science of Archaeo-Astronomy- which involves determining a date based on planetary alignments input to a software called Planetarium. The research conducted by the authors present a solid argument that Rama was indeed a historical king of India, who is determined to have lived approximately 5000 BCE.

One of the strongest arguments in favor of Rama being a historical king come from the existence of a bridge between India and Sri Lanka known as the Nala Setu, also called Adam’s Bridge. This bridge is believed to be a manmade structure, and the only account in all world literature or history that describes such a bridge being built is The Ramayana. Those familiar with the story would know that Rama’s wife Sita was abducted by the demon Ravana, king of Sri Lanka. Rama sets out with his brother and an army of Vanara, who are described as monkeys. The question of whether or not Hanuman, Rama’s ally, and his Vanara brethren were literally monkeys is addressed in the book, but is not the focus. It is this army that builds the Nala Setu bridge to Sri Lanka.

The authors believe that because the Nala Setu is the oldest known manmade structure on Earth it should be recognized as a World Heritage site. Not only is the historicity of Rama’s kingship proven in the book, but this work also explores newly developed and fascinating new research methods- such as Archaeo-Astrology- that will most likely affect the way research regarding ancient history is conducted in the future.

For anyone with an interest in ancient history, world cultures and heritage, academic research, literary epics and the way they relate to the world, or even the lives of persons who are believed to be Divine, I would recommend Historical Rama. It is a work that can be appreciated by anyone with a love for learning about the roots of the world’s richest cultures.