Australia’s geological past unexpectedly collided with mythology this week after a video of Indian spiritual guru and kathavachak Aniruddhacharya went viral, claiming the continent was created when Lord Ram ordered divine weapons to be discarded into the sea after the Ramayana war.
Aniruddhacharya narrates that following the battle between Lord Ram and Ravana in Lanka, the battleground was littered with “thousands and lakhs of swords” left behind after countless soldiers were killed.
He says the sheer number of fallen warriors — including what he describes as Ravana’s “one lakh sons” and “one and a quarter lakh grandchildren” — resulted in mountains of weapons. The speaker claims Lord Ram then instructed his forces to load the weapons onto ships and throw them thousands of kilometres away to ensure they would never be misused.
According to this explanation, the site where these arms were deposited became known as “Astralay” — eventually, he asserts, evolving into the modern name Australia.
The video has triggered sharp, and often amused, reactions online. Many social media users criticised the claim as misleading, while others circulated memes highlighting the growing trend of mythological reinterpretations being presented as historical fact.
Historians and scientists were quick to dismiss the statement, noting that no archaeological or geological evidence supports any link between the Ramayana and the formation of Australia. Experts reiterated that continents form through tectonic activity over millions of years, not through the disposal of ancient weapons.
Researchers also cautioned that such unverified claims spread rapidly on social media, often blurring the line between cultural storytelling and factual history.
In fact, the name Australia has nothing to do with “Astraalay” or any mythological armoury. It comes from the Latin term terra australis, meaning “southern land”. Early European mapmakers used the phrase to describe a hypothetical large landmass in the southern hemisphere. When the continent was eventually charted by European explorers, the name Australia became formally adopted in the early 19th century.
In short, Australia’s name is rooted in geography and Latin etymology — not ancient weapons, ships, or the Ramayana.
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