ADAM'S BRIDGE or RAMA'S BRIDGE, a chain of sandbanks between the Island of Manaar, near the north-west coast of Ceylon and the Island of Rameswaram, off the Indian coast, and lying between the Gulf of Manaar on the south-west and Palk Strait on the north-east. More than 3om. long, it seri ously hinders navigation. Some of the sandbanks are dry, and no part of the shoal has a greater depth than 3ft. or 4f t. at high water. Though dredging operations were begun as early as 1838 they never succeeded in maintaining a channel for any save vessels of light draught and have now been abandoned. Geo logical evidence shows that this gap was once bridged by a con tinuous isthmus, which, according to temple records, was breached by storm in 1480. These banks and shoals are traditionally sup posed to be the remains of a huge causeway constructed by Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, to facilitate passage of his army from India to Ceylon for the rescue of his abducted wife Sita.