Radioactivity was discovered by J J Thomson in the 1896 triggering the era of the atom - the beginning of Nuclear Physics. In just over 100 years, we have achieved so much with applications ranging from medicine, power and weapons. While that is the general believe you will find many Sri Lankans would disagree.

The claim

Many Sri Lankans believe in King Ravana. A mythical king that is believed to rule Sri Lanka as around 5000 BCE. The Dadumonara (දඩුමොනර) - King Ravana's vehicle is believed to be capable of flight. It is advanced to the extent it can perform interstellar travel.

This king, 5000 years ago, is claimed to have achieved not only nuclear fusion, but also fission. Some say the Dadumonara was actually powered by a fission reactor.

I noticed a thread saying that Americans collected palm-leaf manuscripts from Afghanistan. They claim that acquisition of the manuscripts was the main reason to invade Afghanistan. They say Americans first learnt about this technology from a vast archive of manuscripts the British stole from Sri Lanka when they colonised.

The facts

The rough location of the said kings castle is known given the description of the geography. How ever no castle remains have been discovered nor of his famed vehicle the Dadumonara. In retrospect the Egyptian buildings still stand today form the same era. If structures couldn't survive that long how can a palm-leaf manuscript do?

With all these technology, one has to wonder why Ravana fought wars with swards and spheres instead of a nuclear attack from space.

The story behind Ravana, described in Ramayanaya and other sources is very interesting. How ever that is what it is, just another story, as true as Thor and his hammer is. I believe people built stories around capable leaders. There has been no time in history that we humans were as advanced as we are today.

If you are looking for a book on nuclear physics, don't go in search of Ravana's manuscripts. Head to Amazon or any book store and you will find many.