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SUBMERGED TEMPLES FOUND OFF TAMIL NADU COAST lor centuries, local fishermen on the Re of Mahabalipuram in India have believed that a Great Flood con- sumed a city over 10,000 years ago ina single day. This story was recorded by British explorer J. Goldingham, who visit- ed the area in 1798. The legend says there were six temples submerged beneath the water, with the seventh temple still stand- ing on the shore. Author Graham Hancock thinks he's found them. "I have long regarded Mahabalipuram, because of its flood myths and fishermen's sightings, as a very likely place in which discoveries of underwater structures could be made, and I proposed that a diving expe- dition should be undertaken there," says Hancock. He instigated a diving expedition to the area in April 2002, working with the UK Scientific Exploration Society (SES) and India's National Institute of Oceanography. The SES says: "A joint expedition of 25 divers from the Scientific Exploration Society and India's National Institute of Oceanography, led by Monty Halls and accompanied by Graham Hancock, has dis- covered an extensive area with a series of structures that clearly show man-made attributes, at a depth of 16-23 feet offshore of Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu. "The scale of the submerged ruins, cov- ering several square miles and at distances of up to a mile from shore, ranks this as a major marine-archaeological discovery, as spectacular as the ruined cities submerged off Alexandria in Egypt." The NIO says: "A team of underwater archaeologists from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) has successfully unearthed evidence of submerged struc- tures off Mahabalipuram and established first-ever proof of the popular belief that the shore temple of Mahabalipuram is the remnant of a series of a total seven of such temples built that have been submerged in succession. The discovery was made dur- ing a joint underwater exploration with the Scientific Exploration Society, UK." These investigations reveal stone masonry, remains of walls, scattered square and rectangular stone blocks, and a large platform with steps leading up to it. Most of the structures are badly damaged and scattered in a vast area, with barnacles and mussels growing on them. There are two locations, and the construction design and area are about the same at each. One possible dating for the ruins is between 1500 and 1200 BC. The Pallava dynasty, which ruled the area during this time, constructed many similar temples. Yet archaeologists believe there was no culture in India 6,000 years ago capable of building anything that grand. Could such a culture have been lost during the Great Flood, which is legendary in many different cultures, all over the world? Hancock says: "I have argued for many years that the world's flood myths deserve to be taken seriously—a view that most Western academics reject. But here in Mahabalipuram, we have proved the myths right and the academics wrong. "Between 17,000 years ago and 7,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age, terrible things happened to the world our ancestors lived in," Hancock says. "Great ice caps over northern Europe and north America melted down, huge floods ripped across the Earth, sea level rose by more than 325 feet, and about 15 million square miles of formerly habitable lands were swallowed up by the waves." (Source: Unknown Country website, October 24, 2002, http://www.unknowncountry.com. See images at http://www.grahamhancock. com/underworld/mahabalipuram1.php1) NASA IMAGES REVEAL 1,750,000- YEAR-OLD MAN-MADE BRIDGE pace images taken by NASA reveal a Sins ancient bridge in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka. The recently discovered "bridge", currently named Adam's Bridge, is made of a chain of shoals approximately 30 kilometres long. According to media reports, the bridge's unique curvature and composition by age reveals that it is man-made. Legends as well as archaeological stud- ies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to a primitive age, about 1,750,000 years ago, and the bridge's age is almost equivalent. This information is a crucial aspect for an insight into the mysterious legend of the Ramayana, which was supposed to have taken place in the tredha yuga, more than 1,700,000 years ago. In this epic, there is mention of a bridge which was built between Rameshwaram (India) and the Sri Lankan coast under the supervision of a dynamic and invincible figure called Rama, who is supposed to be the incarnation of the Supreme. (Source: Hindustan Times, Oct. 10, 2002, http://www. rense.com/general30/nasa.htm) NASA image from http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/iams/images/earth/STS059/lowres/20143034.jpg 62 = NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com DECEMBER 2002 — JANUARY 2003