This is an interesting anecdote from the great epic Ramayana, the story of Prince Rama by the revered sage Valmiki.
Lord Rama had to build a bridge across the ocean with the help of an army of monkeys to wage war against the demon king Ravana who had kidnapped his wife Sita. His trusted aide, Hanuman, played an active role in building the bridge.
One day Rama came up to watch the construction. He noticed that Hanuman had a line of monkeys standing in front of him with big boulders and rocks. Hanuman took a big boulder from one monkey and wrote the name Rama on it. He threw it into the ocean. The rock just floated on the waters without submerging. Hanuman repeated the same thing with other boulders and rocks. This way the bridge was being laid on the ocean waters.
Rama watched this with amazement. He started wondering how this could happen. How could mere writing of his name on the stone make it float on water? He wondered if it had anything to do with Hanuman. He thought of trying it out himself to find out.
He felt that if this was due to Hanuman’s faith and if he himself had none of that faith, it would be very embarrassing. So he waited till it was dark. He wanted to make sure that no one was watching him try out the power of his name.
In the darkness he did not see Hanuman watching him go to the sea shore. Rama slowly crept near the waters and took a stone. He wrote the name Rama on it and threw the stone into the ocean. The stone promptly sank into the waters.
Immediately there was a huge shout. Rama turned around to see that all the monkeys had silently gathered there to watch him throw the stone into the waters. At their head was Hanuman, roaring with laughter that Rama himself could not keep the stone afloat. Rama felt terribly sheepish.
Suddenly Hanuman turned to the hordes of monkeys and asked, “Seriously, do you know why that stone did not float on the waters?”
The monkeys shook their heads. Hanuman said, “When I let go of the stone, I think of Lord Rama and his power holds the stone on the water, Now when Rama himself lets go of the stone, who can save it? So the stone sank in the water.”
Rama was pleased with Hanuman’s interpretation of the incident.
The above anecdote is said to refer to Adam’s Bridge, a chain of limestone shoals, between Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka. Geological evidence suggests that this bridge is a former land connection between India and Sri Lanka. The bridge is 50 km-long and separates the Gulf of Mannar (south-west) from the Palk Strait (northeast). Some of the sandbanks are dry and the sea in the area is very shallow, being only 1 to 10 metres deep in places, which hinders navigation. It was reportedly passable on foot up to the 15th century until storms deepened the channel: temple records seem to say that Adam’s Bridge was completely above sea level until it broke in a cyclone in 1480.
Images of India postage stamps and sheetlet on Ramayana issued in 2017 courtesy: https://azimvth.org/