New Delhi: The Culture Ministry hogged the limelight in 2007 -- thanks to the fiasco over the Ram Setu affidavit which made the Archaeological Survey of India a Ravana in the eyes of the Opposition.

The controversial affidavit filed in the Supreme Court almost cost the country's Culture Minister Ambika Soni her job after an uproar over the Ministry s contention that there was no proof -- historical or scientific -- about the existence of Lord Ram or a character in Ramayana. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had filed the affidavit in the apex court in September.

Denying that the Ram Setu or the Adams Bridge is a man-made structure, it said Ramacharitmanas by Tulsidas cannot be taken as a historical record to prove the existence of the character or occurrence of events depicted in it. Though the shipping link project was a prestige issue for the DMK and the Congress-led government recognised that the controversy has muddled the waters.

Now ships coming to the peninsula have to circumnavigate Sri Lanka. When completed, the project will shorten the journey by 785 km cutting down travel time by nearly 30 hours.

The affidavit was in response to three petitions transferred from the Madras High Court to the apex court, challenging the government's decision to construct the Sethusamudram canal by dredging a portion of the Ram Setu.

Source : PTI