The epic, Ramayana, recently in the news because of the Sethusamudram controversy, was a great childhood favourite of ours. Lord Rama was deeply etched in our young minds, and we imagined him fighting all kinds of demons and emerging victorious in his battle against the mighty Lankan king, Ravana.

Years later, it was by sheer coincidence that while golfing at Nuwara Eliya in Sri Lanka I learnt about a place known as ‘Sita Eliya’. According to the locals, this was the original Ashok Vatika, where Sita was detained by Ravana. After numerous visits to the area one gleaned some enticing glimpses into the various phenomena that Valmiki described in his epic. Incidentally, only a very small population in the area actually regard Lord Rama as a divine being. The dilapidated Ashok Vatika, although now a temple, is visited only by a handful. Yet it seems to hold secrets and statues preserved over many centuries.

To the immediate left of the temple flows a stream of fresh water that apparently descends from the mountains. The stream, about 15 feet wide, ends in a small pond at the base of the temple. On the left of the stream is a flat rock which bears a large imprint of a foot on it. It is believed to be that of Lord Hanuman who is mythologised as having visited Sita in the the form of a giant. The fine foot impressions are amazingly clear to date.

What is most incredible is that on the left of the stream, the colour of the soil across hundreds of acres of land is black. This is in complete contrast to the light brown soil that lies to the right side of the stream. According to Valmiki’s Ramayana, Hanuman had burnt Ravana’s Lanka to ashes. I was also equally astonished to see the presence of a mountain on the beach near Ruma Sulla, about 150 km north of Colombo. Surrounded by the ocean and sandy beaches, it looked almost out of place there. It was as if someone had manually picked up a huge mass of soil from some place else and placed it on this stretch of sand. On the mount grows the most wondrous herbs and medicinal plants. The soil on the mountain does not appear to match other soils in Sri Lanka. Strange, isn’t it, how all these details recall Valmiki’s Ramayana? Of course, it is impossible to prove that the events related in that epic bear the stamp of historic authenticity. Suffice it to say that the epic continues to inspire the faith of millions in this country.