Introduction To Hindu Scriptures

This article presents information relating to the similarities between two human personifications of God, Lord Krishna and Lord Jesus but it will not discuss or speculate on the historicity of either.

Background: What are the Hindu Scriptures?
There are enough Hindu Scriptures to fill up a library, but the following represent some of the most widely used.

The Vedas
The Vedas are a collection of four texts written in Sanskrit (from the Indo-European language family)  that represent the earliest set of Hindu Scripture and are considered to be divinely revealed.  Their earliest origin so far has been traced back to the people that occupied the steppes of Central Asia.  They are referred to as Aryans or Indo-Aryans.  Aryans migrated into the Indus Valley from the steppes of central asia in the second millenium BCE, bringing  with them the Veda, an oral tradition of knowledge primarily concerned with ritual.  The Veda is thought to have existed as oral tradition from 2300 BCE to 1200 BCe before it was finally written down. The Aryan culture intermingled with the culture of the Indus valley to produce the Hindu tradition, and the Veda emerged as Hinduism most sacred authority.

The vedas are organized into four volumes called Samhitas, and each is concerned with a particular aspect or ritual.
- The Rigveda is the oldest and most important. It contains over a thousand hymns of praise to Gods and Goddesses called Mantras and they are used in rituals.
- Yajurveda which gives instructions for sacrifices
- Samaveda contains melodies, the songs had to be just right to be effective
- Atharvaveda spells and incantations for healing rituals

The Upanishads
The Upanishads were composed in the Axial Age between 800 - 400 BCE.  They are considered to be divinely revealed knowledge and the authors are unknown.  They were intended to be "A Path of Wisdom" to try to escape the cycle of reincarnation, Bagavad Gita. They require renunciation of worldly attachments and introspection.


The Baghavad Gita
The Baghavad Gita is the most popular and it represents a comprehensive overview of Hindu Religion.  It is commonly referred to as "The Gita".  It is the text of a conversation between Krishna (the God Vishnu in human form) and a soldier called Arjuna shortly before the start of the Kurukshetra war.  It is considered by Hindus to be a practical guide to life.

Bhagavata Purana
Bhagavata Purana is known to have existed before 500 BCE. is so important that it is sometimes called "the Fifth Veda". It is notable for its emphasis on the practice of devoted worship (bhakti), for redefining dharma and for the depth of its description of God in human form. The Bhagavata and the Bhagavad Gita are used by the Hindu faith group called the Vaishnavas to demonstrate Vishnus authority over the other forms of God.

Lesser scripture but important for the text the follows
the Kalki Purana is believed to have existed before the 1500's and was derived from the earlier 18 major Puranas which were in existence prior to 500 BCE.

Dharma-Sastras
written about the first century CE, or about time of Jesus. It covers the topic of Dharama. It clarified what Dharma was and how it applied to each Caste in the Hindu Social Heirarchy.

Shared Mythic Elements
Arguments can be found that claim that Horus, Mithra and Krishna are all the same myth modified for the audience, applied to Jesus, and/or that in the missing eighteen years of Jesus story that he actually lived and studied in Tibet during his eighteen years that are unaccounted for and taught modified concepts from the Vedas. Here is a link to two videos from a passionate British Hindu detailing the evidence to support the Krishna, Jesus, Tibet relationship.

This Video does not seem to be scholarly or authoritative, but it does give a good introduction to the concept of syncretism with regard to the inclusion of aspects of Hinduism into Christianity. Below the link is my summary of the video.

From YouTube: Jesus, Krishna and India: Part 1. Similarities between Krishna and Christ.



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These are only two videos made by one evangelist, but there are many variations of this tale that are hundreds of years old. The key here is that they all claim to be the truth, and they all claim to have evidence, so then it all boils down to the evidence and I think we can all agree that in all cases the evidence is circumstantial and largely unverifiable. Yet that doesn't stop them from promoting and endorsing this view to be taken up by others. The analog is the Christian Evangelist.

JESUS, THE REST OF THE STORY (SO THEY SAY)
There are claims that Jesus was taken to India and studied there during the missing 18 years of his life. During the new testament he was referred to as teacher, or the Hindu equivalent, Guru. There are also claims that he survived crucifixion and returned to India where he continued his teaching and where he finally died.

Here is a link to the previous article outlining some similarities between Hindu Folklore and Christian Folklore
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WISDOM LITERATURE OF THE NEAR EAST
The Link between Biblical cultures and East Asia is undeniable.
MAGI FROM THE EAST from The Church of God Daily Bible Study
"Magi, from the Greek word pronounced magoi, originated as a religious class from Babylon or Persia."
Babylon was in modern day Iraq, Persia is now Iran, has a border with Pakistan, and Pakistan is where the Indus River is, the origin of the Ancient Vedic Civilization and where India gets its ENGLISH name.

babylonian captivity

====
WORD
matt 16:16 "you are the christ, the son of the living god"

The words Krishna and Christ are similar in many different languages. They all seem to have the same root.

Greek "KRISTOS", used to translate into hebrew "meshiac"
Sanskrit equivalent is "Krista" which is a variant of "Krishna"
a Bengali word for Krishna is Kristo

==
BIRTH
massacre of the innocents
Matthew 2:16 (New American Standard Bible)
16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.

Born in counter-intuitive places,
Bagavata Canto 10, 1:65-66 - Krishna in a prison cell
Luke 2:7 - Jesus in a stable

==
SHEPHERD
- John 10:11, "I am the Good Shepherd",
- Krishna depicted as a herder, two of his titles are "finder of cows" and "protector of cows"
Asiatic mythology: a detailed description and explanation of the mythologies, By J. Hackin, et al

===
TEACHINGS
BHAGAVAD GITA

"The Bhagavad Gita, usually considered part of the sixth book of the Mahabharata (dating from about 400 or 300 B.C.), is a central text of Hinduism, a philosphical dialog between the god Krishna and the warrior Arjuna."
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm#gita
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ALPHA AND OMEGA
- Revelation 1:8 "I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending saith the lord, 'which is, and which was, and which is to come, the almighty'"

- Bhagavad gita, 10:20: "I am the supersoul, O Arjuna, seated in teh heart of all living entities, I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings"

KINGDOM OF GOD
luke 4:43 told people to gout and preach the kingdom of god
mark 1:15 "the kingdome of god is at hand"

Video index: 3:58
- bag gita 2:72 "That [living free from desires] is the way of the spiritual and godly life if one is thus situated even at the hour of death, one can enter into the kingdom of God."

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MAT 8:22 "Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead"

Video Index: 4:27
- bag 2:11 "While speaking learned words, you are mourning for that which is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead"

----------
rom 2:11 "for there is no partiality with god", or NIV "god does not show favortism"
bag 9:29 "I envy no-one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all"


---------
Video Index: 5:03
- Matt 5:44 Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you"

BAG 12:18 "One who is equal to friends and enemies; who is equipoised in honor and dishonor such a person is very dear to me"

----

Video Index: 5:33
- John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the father, but by me"

BAG 10:8 "I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from me"

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RIDER ON A WHITE HORSE
Revelation 6:2) "And I saw, and behold a white horse and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering and to conquer"

v6:49
rev 19:11-13, 15-16) "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew but he himself...and his name is called The Word of God...and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations...and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS"

Kalki Purana:
Hindus believe that in when the world is intolerably wicked, Vishnu will come to earth in the tenth and final Great Incarnation as a human (avatar) riding a white horse named Kalki.
v8:13
- history of oral traditions and the danger of uttering the scriptures improperly
- hindus weren't concerned with chronological time so it wasn't common to keep track of times and dates of origin
The purana were mentioned as the "fifth" veda in Chandogya Upanishad (500 BCE) but the first written versions only go back to the Gupta Period from ~300-500 CE.

If the written version were preserved intact when they were written, then we have a record of a myth that existed in 500 BCE turning up in a new testament document from ~ 100 CE.

Brief Introduction To The Upanisads

This is the second article in a series of Brief Introductions to Hindu Scriptures. As with other ancient religious texts, these are generally considered to be divinely revealed. Divinely revealed information has all the problems identified by Information and Data Quality Dimensions, the most obvious are the Intrinsic dimensions of Accuracy, Believability, Objectivity and Reputation. Hinduism is the oldest religion and the Upanishads are generally considered "commentaries" on The Vedas.

The Upanishads
The Upanishads (or Upanisads, as I understand it, the "s" is spoken as an "sh") were composed between the Axial Age between 800 BCE and 1800 CE.  They were originally composed as oral tradition, then over time were written down.  They are considered to be divinely revealed knowledge and the authors are unknown.  They were intended to be "A Path of Wisdom" to try to escape the cycle of reincarnation. They require renunciation of worldly attachments and introspection.


Bagavad Gita

Brief Introduction To The Vedas

[Revised 20091103] This is the first article in a series of Brief Introductions to Hindu Scriptures. As with other ancient religious texts, these are generally considered to be divinely revealed. Divinely revealed information has all the problems identified by Information and Data Quality Dimensions, the most obvious are the Intrinsic dimensions of Accuracy, Believability, Objectivity and Reputation.  Hinduism is the oldest religion and the Vedas are its foundation.

I recommend browsing the articles embedded links and resources at the end for a better understanding of the material.

The Vedas are a collection of texts written in Sanskrit from the Indo-European language family of which most Western Languages are a member of.  The Vedas represent the earliest set of Hindu Scripture and are considered to be divinely revealed.  Their earliest origin so far has been traced back to the people that occupied the steppes of Central Asia. Those people are referred to as Aryans or Indo-Aryans.

Aryans migrated into the Indus Valley (modern Pakistan) in South Asia from the steppes of Central Asia in the second millennium BCE, bringing with them the Veda, an oral tradition of knowledge primarily concerned with ritual.  The Veda is thought to have existed as oral tradition from 2300 BCE to 1200 BCe before it was finally written down. The Aryan culture intermingled with the culture of the Indus valley to produce the Hindu tradition, and the Veda became Hinduisms most sacred authority.

The Veda is not structured using any organizational scheme a modern person would recognize and do not present any ordered theology.  The texts, at times, are inconsistent with each other.  However, the Veda is organized into four volumes called Samhitas, and each is concerned with a particular aspect or ritual.

•  The Rigveda (description; text online) is the oldest and most important. It contains over a thousand hymns of praise to Gods and Goddesses called Mantras and they are used in rituals. It discusses the Cosmic Order or Holy Law called Rita. A similar concept to Rita is the Greek concept of Logos, which appeared sometime between 500 - 400 BCE and which appears in the Gospel of John between 100 and 200 CE incarnated as Jesus. The English words Rite, Ritual, and Right are all derived from the same root as Rita.  Rita is concerned with order, harmony and morality. The Rigveda Hymn Of Creation (one of many cosmogonies it contains) has similar elements to Genesis.
  
•  Yajurveda gives instructions for sacrifices
•  Samaveda contains melodies, the songs had to be just right to be effective. The concept of sound, language and spoken word was very important to Hindus.  In the later Hindu Scriptures known as the Upanishads, Hindu cosmogeny has the sound of the Universe being created as AUM, and AUM is also regarded by some as being one of the names of God as well as a symbol for God. This importance of sound and word is similar to the universe being spoken into existence in the book of Genesis.
• Atharvaveda contains spells and incantations for healing rituals 

The Vedas were maintained and studied by the Brahmins (Priestly class) and were intended to be hidden from the rest of the population because their information was considered to be dangerous if not handled properly.

As mentioned above, the Vedas contain many conflicting cosmogonies, but generally the Veda says that reality is composed of three parts and was created by "That One" who ordained Rita. It says that 33 additional Gods or Devas were created that inhabit those parts and that they are not omniscient or omnipotent and that they are subject to Rita. The full pantheon of Gods expanded to the thousands. Hinduism is known as a "Henotheistic" religion which permits the worship of one God and the recognition of others.

The most referenced God in the Vedas is Indra. Indra was a God of Battle that brought success in War, similar to the Hebrew concept of Yahweh in the first five books of the Bible known as the Torah or Pentateuch. One of his other duties was as a God of Weather, similar to the Hittite God of Asia Minor in the Second Millenium BCE, and Marduke of Mesopotamia.  Indra slayed a Dragon of the waters, similar to Mardukes victory over Tiamat and similar to what Yahweh says about himself in the Book of Job. Leviathan, the Dragon of the waters, also makes an appearance in Psalms and Isaiah.

The second most referenced God is Agni. He was a God of Fire. This kind of fire worship has a parallel in Zoroastrianism, with burning as a symbol of purity, and in the Old Testament practice of burnt offerings.

Another Deva, Rudra, was known as "The Howler", he had no friends, he lived in the wild and was responsible for giving diseases to humans and healing them. He dressed in animal skins and had matted hair, an image similar to the biblical description of John the Baptist.  Rudra is believed to be a prototype of the God Shiva. 

Resources 
A Short History of Religious and Philosophic Thought in India by Swami Krishnananda

Lord Krishna, Human Manifestation of God, 3000 years before Jesus

Hindu is the oldest religion known to man so far. It has been argued that Christianity borrowed heavily from Hinduism. Lord Krishna was the physical manifestation of one of the Gods of the Hindu Trinity who is named Vishnu. Vishnu came to earth as a Human 5000 years ago to battle evil and show people the right way to live. This is an introduction to Lord Krishna, the human manifestation of the God Vishnu.

Folklore Typologies: Similarities between Krishna and Biblical Characters
There are striking similarities between the stories in the Christian Bible and the Stories that make up the Scriptures of Hinduism. Here is a link to ReligiousTolerance.org where they discuss Similarities between Jesus and Krishna. I will explore this topic in a follow on article done in parallel with this one.

Hare, Hare, Hare! Step right up and hear about Lord Krishna!
I was exposed to the Hindu Scriptures as a Christian pre-teen living in Europe. At that time, I supposed that since Hinduism was so much older, and Israel was so far away from India, that Christianity must be a result of a misunderstanding of Hindu Scriptures and Ideas carried over from India by visitors. I was almost converted. I realized that the Jews didn't think Jesus was the messiah because he didn't qualify and it was uncharacteristic for Yahweh to diminish himself to become a human. No-where in Christian scripture does Jesus unambiguously declare that he is Yahweh in human form, however, it is a characteristic of Vishnu to appear in human form periodically. In my young mind I thought, Jesus was a strikingly different "person" than the Yahweh of the old Testament, Jesus was similar to Krishna and the teachings of Jesus were similar to Hinduism. Therefore, Christianity should be an extension of Hinduism rather than Judaism.

However, since everyone I knew, especially every adult I knew, was a Christian, I was persuaded that Hinduism was mythology, Christianity was "A Religion", Jesus was the one and only God in Human Form. As a Christian adult, I revisited the Hindu Scriptures to see what was so compelling about them, but I didn't feel the same pull towards Hinduism as I did as a child. Maybe our Psychologist Contributors Valerie or Marlene can elaborate on that phenomena.

The Bhagavata Canto 10, The Story of Lord Krishna, and The Birth of Lord Krishna
The Primary reference I used was Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, (Bhagavata Purana) but since then they have begun improvements to the site and the links are no longer available. They do provide an alternate site which you can reach from site above or from the links I provided below.

The Bhagavata Wiki
The Bhagavata Wiki, Canto 10-1
Be patient, it takes a while to load. Also there is a link on that page to a site that claims that Jesus Christ was an Incarnation of Vishnu. Good luck disproving that, evangelical.

The links above are a little hard to follow since it is a translation, so the references below are a little more "Layman Friendly".

Simplified Story of the Life of Lord Krishna from YouTube
Short Video
Radhekrishn.com


Longer Video of the birth of Lord Krishna


Article on the historicity of Lord Krishna
Here is an article on the Historical Krishna where the following summary is derived in part. "Search for the Historical Krishna", Prof. N.S. Rajaram

Summary taken from the article

"In summary, we may safely conclude that technical and literary evidence from several independent sources point to the traditional Kali date of 3102 BC as being close to the actual date of the Mahabharata War. We have therefore overwhelming evidence showing that Krishna was a historical figure who must have lived within a century on either side of that date, i.e., in the 3200-3000 BC period."

Summary of the story of Lord Krishna
Lord Krishna is regarded by Hindus and the incarnation of the God Vishnu. They believe that Vishnu is one of the Gods that make up the Hindu Trinity and is believed to be the lord of the universe who takes human form and is the lord of all creation, all things, all time. Through him people will know what is real, meaning comes only from god. Whenever there is too much evil in the world he takes human form to deal with it.

If you watched the video above, and you know your bible, you probably noted quite a few similarties to the stories in the Christian Bible. Here is an abbreviated list of some of the ones I noticed. The simplest explanation of how the stories can be so similar is if they are Folklore, in other words, the same story structure with the details changed to suit the audience.

- Evil king will be overthrown by a savior (The Messiah)
- The Birth of God on Earth prophesied (Various Biblical Prophesies)
- Virgin birth [depending on the Hindu "denomination"] (Mary)
- Devaki was the mother of Krishna and therefore all divinity (Mary)
- The Kings killing of the sons to attempt to kill the God-Child (Herods action)
- Escape of the central characters with the help of God (Acts 5 and 12)
- Receding of the waters during an escape (Red Sea)
- Talking Snake (Adam and Eve)
- Baby was raised by foster mother (Moses)
- Baby raised by peasants (Moses and Jesus)

Other Similarities outside the scope of the Video that are part of the Krishna Story
- Mischevious boy (Similar to Jesus going to temple as a boy and non-canonical stories of Jesus as a child)
- River associated with Holiness and cleanliness (Baptism in the river)
- Krishna wrestled a snake by the river and won (by the river Jacob wrestled an angel, God or his brother depending on how its interpreted)
- Sacrifice out of love (similar to teaching of Christ)
- Picking up a mountain (to hold over his followers as shelter to protect them from heavy rains caused by another angry God, Faith can move mountains)
- Killing a Giant Serpent (Yahweh slaying the Leviathan)
- Krishna would return when things got bad (Second Coming)
- Krishna was Pierced, killed, and taken up to Heaven (Jesus Stabbed by soldier, body disappearing, later taken up to heaven)

Any form of an argument a Christian can use to defend Christianity can be used interchangeably to defend Hinduism and Lord Krishna.
However, it is more likely that since the stories about Krishna predate Judeo-Christian scripture, then it seems that the similarities in the stories about Moses, Jesus and in Acts are pre-existing folklore structures with the details changed to suit the audience.

Below is an incomplete list of events in Lord Krishnas life with my notes as to the Chapter and verse in the Bhagavata Canto 10.
I only noted enough to make my case and leave the rest as an exercise for those interested in comparative religion studies.

Chapter 1, verses are listed above the line

1:29
- Princess Devaki got married to Vasudeva

1:30
- Her Evil Brother Prince Kamsa drove the coach on thier wedding day

1:34
- While driving the coach, a spiritual voice told Prince Kamsa that "Devaki will have eight sons and the eighth son will kill him"

1:65-66
- He put his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva in prison

- They had sons in jail and each one was killed by Kamsa to prevent Lord Krishna from being born.

1:69
- Prince Kamsa overthrew his father put him in prison and took the throne,

Chapter 2:8-9
- Vishnu says he will put himself in the womb of Devaki to be born.

Chapter 3:31
- One evening during thunder and lightning, the eighth child was born and they saw that it was the lord Vishnu as vishnu said he would do in Chapter 2:8-9

3:48
- Since the child was in danger of being killed, Vishnu put the guards to sleep and freed the father

3:49
- The father took the baby out into the stormy night and the great serpent accompanied them spreading its hood over them to protect the child

3:50
- As the father approached the river Jumna, it parted to let the father cross,

3:51
- The father went to a house where a woman had just given birth, and the father switched the babies, and Vishnu was raised by the family never knowing the difference.

[MISCHEVIOUS BOY: Similar to Jesus leaving his parents to go the temple]
- The boy was mischievous, he stole sweet milk and distributed it to the other people and animals in the town
[MISCHEVIOUS BOY]

[HEROD: Event similar to and event related to Herod]
- But Kamsa summoned and demons and spirits to search for the child
[HEROD]

[LEVIATHAN, HOLY RIVER: Similar to an event related to a story about Yahweh slaying Leviathan in Job, similar to the event where Jacob wrestled an Angel, God or his brother (depending on the interpretation) and similar to Jesus going into the river to be Baptized, similar to the tradition to the belief that baptism is a sort of rebirth, cleansing, new beginning or relinquishing the bad and accepting the good]
- One day, wrestling and playing by the river, they saw that the river was poisoned, so Krishna jumped in to kill the Giant Serpent that was poisoning the river.
- He danced on the serpents head and set if free, cleaning up the river making the river Holy once again.
- Kamsa saw the giant serpent and its children in the river and knew that it had been defeated by Krishna,
[LEVIATHAN, HOLY RIVER]

[HOLY RIVER]
- Krishna made the land around the Holy River beautiful. Krishna went down by the river and danced with all the women that were there.
[HOLY RIVER]

[SACRIFICE OUT OF LOVE]
- One day Krishnas surrogate father was preparing a sacrifice to Indra the rain god in order to bring rain. The people were afraid that Indra was angry at them. Krishna said that people should sacrifice out of love not fear, so the sacrifice was not appropriate and would be better spent if it were directed to worship the things they love and to sacrifice to the cows and mountains
[SACRIFICE OUT OF LOVE]

[MOVING THE MOUNTAIN]
- So they did and Indra got angry and sent a terrible storm, so Krishna lifted the mountain and used it as an umbrella for the town.
[MOVING THE MOUNTAIN]

- After the storm Krishna got the invitation and he went with his friend Bellarama.
- Krishna and Bellarama killed the combatants and ordered the guards to kill them, so Krishna killed the evil king and returned the real king to power.
- Krishna battled many evils during his lifetime

[VISHNU WOULD RETURN WHEN THINGS GOT BAD]
- Krishna vowed to return to fight evil whenever it occurs.
[HE WOULD RETURN WHEN THINGS GOT BAD]

[PIERCED, KILLED AND TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN]
- There were many other events in the life of Krishna but the last thing Krishna did was to meditate under a tree in the forest, before being shot by mistakenly by a hunter and taken up to heaven.
[PIERCED, KILLED AND TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN]

Other references, related links

Google Videos Search for the story of Lord Krishna

List of Videos about Krishna on Google

Information about the Hindu Trinity, Hindu Trinity

Video about Dwarka, City of Krishna. Hindu pilgrims go there to worship. Hindu scripture says that the original Dwarka was destroyed by the sea. Archeologists think they have discovered parts of it extending 19 miles offshore of present day Dwarka, just like scriptures described.

Hindu God 1, Scientists 0

An Army of Monkeys? Puhleese!

Report on Hindu god Ram withdrawn

Hindu hardliners say the project will destroy what they say is a bridge built by Ram and his army of monkeys.

Scientists and archaeologists say the Ram Setu (Lord Ram's bridge) - or Adam's Bridge as it is sometimes called - is a natural formation of sand and stones.

In their report submitted to the court, the government and the Archaeological Survey of India questioned the belief, saying it was solely based on the Hindu mythological epic Ramayana.

They said there was no scientific evidence to prove that the events described in Ramayana ever took place or that the characters depicted in the epic were real.

Hindu activists say the bridge was built by Lord Ram's monkey army to travel to Sri Lanka and has religious significance.

Why does anyone want to destroy the bridge? To boost the economic and industrial development in the region of course!

The canal project proposes to link the Palk Strait with the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka by dredging a canal through the shallow sea.

This is expected to provide a continuous navigable sea route around the Indian peninsula.

Once complete, the canal will reduce the travel time for ships by hundreds of miles and is expected to boost the economic and industrial development of the region.

Some people will believe anything won't they?
It's amazing what people will fight over. A naturally occurring bridge, or a stretch of land between the Mediterranean sea and Jordan, or invitro fertilization, or stem cell research……