Building Ram Setu

How could an army of countless vanaras cross the ocean? Vibhishan advised praying to the ocean god. Ram spread kusha grass on the shore and sat with folded hands. One day passed, then a second, then a third. The ocean gave no reply.

Then Ram asked Lakshman for his bow and arrows. He said: the ocean has mistaken my humility for weakness. As soon as he fitted an arrow, the sea churned and its creatures trembled. The ocean god himself appeared with folded hands.

The ocean god said: Lord, my nature is to be deep and fathomless; I cannot change that. But in your army are Nal and Neel. Nal is the son of Vishwakarma. Whatever stones they place, I will hold up. Ram released his arrow in another direction instead.

Then the work began. Vanaras uprooted trees, rocks and hills and carried them over, and Nal and Neel fitted them together. In the Valmiki Ramayan, the bridge, a hundred yojanas long, was built in five days. Popular tradition says the stones on which 'Ram' was written floated on the water.

In the Ramcharitmanas, before the bridge was built, Ram set up a Shiv linga on the shore and worshipped it. That place is famous today as Rameshwaram. Then the whole army, shouting 'Jai Shri Ram', marched across the sea towards Lanka.