Palk Strait

Palk Strait

The Palk Strait is a strait that lies between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the island nation of Sri Lanka. It connects the Bay of Bengal to the northeast with the Gulf of Mannar to the south. The strait is 40 to 85 miles (64-137 km) wide. Several rivers flow into it, including the Vaigai River of Tamil Nadu. The strait is named after Robert Palk, who was a governor of Madras Presidency (1755-1763) during the British Raj period.

It is studded at its southern end with a chain of low islands and reef shoals that are collectively called Adam's Bridge (or the original name Rama's Bridge). This chain extends between Dhanushkodi on Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Talaimannar in Mannar in Sri Lanka. The island of Rameswaram is linked to the Indian mainland by the Pamban Bridge.

The shallow waters and reefs of the strait make it difficult for large ships to pass through, although fishing boats and small craft carrying coastal trade have navigated the strait for centuries. Large ships must travel around Sri Lanka. Construction of a shipping canal through the strait was first proposed to the British government of India in 1860, and a number of commissions have studied the proposal up to the present day. The most recent study of the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project, as it is now called, was an environmental impact assessment and a technical feasibility study commissioned by the Tamil Nadu government in 2004.

Like the English Channel, the Palk Strait has been taken up as a challenge by many long-distance swimmers.

The Indian epic poem "Ramayana", written thousands of years ago in Sanskrit and an important Hindu text, recounts how Rama, with the help of an army of vanaras, built a bridge of stones across the sea to Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from the Asura king Ravana. The Ram Karmabhumi movement, encouraged by a NASA satellite photograph which they say proves that remnants of this bridge still exist, was formed to prevent the shipping canal from being built.

The name Adam's Bridge is a later play than Rama's bridge and derives from the story that South India or Sri Lanka was the site of the biblical earthly paradise, and that Adam's Bridge was created when Adam was expelled from paradise.

External links

* [http://palkbay.wikicities.com Palk Bay on wikicities]

References

*1911


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Palk Strait — ▪ strait, Bay of Bengal       inlet of the Bay of Bengal, between southeastern India and northern Sri Lanka and bounded on the south by Pāmban Island (India), Adam s (Rama s) Bridge (a chain of shoals), and Mannar Island (Sri Lanka). The strait… …   Universalium

  • Palk Strait — geographical name strait 40 miles (64 kilometers) wide between N Sri Lanka & SE India connecting Gulf of Mannar & Bay of Bengal …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Palk Strait — /pɔk ˈstreɪt/ (say pawk strayt), /pɔlk/ (say pawlk) noun a channel between southern India and northern Sri Lanka. About 64 km wide …  

  • Palk Strait — [pôk; pôlk] an inlet of the Bay of Bengal that separates northern Sri Lanka from the coast of Tamil Nadu in India. It lies to the north of Adam s Bridge, which separates it from the Gulf of Mannar …   Useful english dictionary

  • Strait — A strait is a narrow, navigable channel of water that connects two larger navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of… …   Wikipedia

  • Robert Palk — Sir Robert Palk, 1st Baronet (December 1717 ndash; 29 April 1798) was an English cleric and politician. He is mostly known for his involvement with the British East India Company and his term as governor of the Madras Presidency.Early lifeRobert… …   Wikipedia

  • PALK'S STRAIT —    the channel which separates Ceylon from the mainland of India, 100 m. long and 40 m. wide, generally shallow.    See ADAM S BRIDGE …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • PalkStrait — Palk Strait (pôk, pôlk) A waterway between southeast India and northern Sri Lanka. It is known for its reefs and treacherous waters. * * * …   Universalium

  • Indian Ocean — This article is about the water body. For the Indian fusion music band, see Indian Ocean (band). The Indian Ocean, not including the Antarctic region. Earth s oceans (World Ocean) …   Wikipedia

  • Adam's Bridge — (Tamil: ta. ஆதாம் பாலம் transl|ta|āthām pālam ), also known as Rama s Bridge or Ram Setu (Tamil: ta. இராமர் பாலம் transl|ta|irāmar pālam , Sanskrit: sa. रामसेतु IAST|rāmasetu ) [also spelled Rama Setu , Ram Sethu , Ramasethu and variants.] , is a …   Wikipedia

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