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This blog is the result of 21 years of primary research by Mrs. Saroj Bala on a hugely misrepresented topic 'Ancient Indian History', for which she devised a unique methodology of reading ancient Indian literature and verifying the results with modern sciences. Top research organizations (like ISRO and ASI), scientists and Sanskrit scholars have contributed towards her work and the findings are expected to add new dimensions to the study of ancient history.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Zee news full coverage in 4 parts
Pushkar Bhatnagar book
Revealed through -
Another publication of I-SERVE, giving
sequential sky views of events narrated in Valmiki Ramayan
Home
delivery done by Flipkart and amazon. Links given below -
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam inaugurating 2011 National Seminar
National Seminar on
“Scientific Dating of Ancient
Events Before 2000 BC…….’-at New Delhi on
Amazing facts about ancient India Revealed through -
Presentations/discussions done by more than fifty eminent
scientists and great scholars from all over India and valedictory address
delivered by Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal, the then Cabinet Minister of India -
Sunday, September 27, 2015
2011 Seminar - Links for photos
Click for photographs
Part -1 photos are of Seminar on 30 - 31 July.
These pertain to inaugural address by Dr APJ
Abdul Kalam for
National Seminar on "Scientific
Dating of Ancient Events before 2000 BC"
Part 2 is of
valediction address by Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal, the then Minister of Science
and Technology.
Seminar on 30-31 July 2011 (Amazing facts about ancient
India)
Also includes photographs of eminent scientists, who
presented as well as endorsed the conclusions about dates of Rigveda and
Ramayan. Their list is attached. They included scientists from Astronomy,
archaeology, geology, anthropology, paleobotany, oceanography, remote sensing
along with Sanskrit scholars.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Exhibition Invitation
Exhibition Invitation
You are cordially invited to visit this unique exhibition "Cultural Continuity from Rigveda to Robotics" from 17 to 23 September, 2015 (11 AM to 7 PM) in Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhawan, Ferozshah Road, NewDelhi. The Invitation and brochure are attached.
Exhibition also takes you through the eventful journey of remote past revealing how and when Ganga became the most venerated holy river of India in place of Saraswati.
We are looking forward to media coverage of the event. Would be glad if someone can help or provide us the contact. Please call me on 9958008787.
For more details please refer to the link below:
Brochure
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7sc_kCxAb4oN0JWNXFvRWx3TUk/view?usp=sharing
Invitation
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7sc_kCxAb4oc2dOWmpCR2Q3VDA/view?usp=sharing
Brochure
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7sc_kCxAb4oN0JWNXFvRWx3TUk/view?usp=sharing
Invitation
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7sc_kCxAb4oc2dOWmpCR2Q3VDA/view?usp=sharing
Yours sincerely
Saroj Bala, IRS (Retd. Member, CBDT)
Director, I-SERVE Delhi Chapter
Director, I-SERVE Delhi Chapter
Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Harappans were Vedic People – say the deciphered Indus seals
Skyviews of
astronomical references in Rigveda & Ramayan have revealed that these
represent the sky observed between 9000 BP and 7000 BP, whereas those of
Mahabharata could be observed around 5000 BP. The archaeological excavations
along the ancient courses of Saraswati and Indus rivers have reconstructed the
history of Harappan Civilization which flourished in Indian Subcontinent
between 6000 BP to 3500 BP. These have revealed that Harappans represented post
Vedic civilization and there was continuity of culture since the Rigvedic era
besides the other evidences.
In addition to all these evidences
which through light on the continuity of culture during the Holocene and since
Rigvedic Era, a very large number of seals found from Harappan sites have
supported the conclusion that Harappan were Vedic people. Various attempts made
earlier to decipher these seals had failed because attempts were being made to
decipher these in isolation without taking into account the contemporary or
previous language and literature. . In fact the seals could have been
deciphered only after reading the Vedic literature and Rigvedic Sanskrit
because a script cannot be independent of language.
Dr. S.R. Rao & Dr. N. Jha appreciated
the point that a script can’t be deciphered by using a non-existent language.
That is why they made most successful attempt at deciphering the Harappan seals
as they read these in the context of Vedic words & Vedic language. Dr.
N.Jha referred to Nighantu, a concise glossary of key vedic words compiled by
sage Yaska, referred to in Shanti parva in epic Mahabharata and
to Nirukta (Shanti Parva.342.73, 93, 89).
After comprehensive analysis of
script on the seals and its consistency with Vedic wsords and expressions, he concluded
that the language of the seals represented the Vedic Sanskrit while the writing
itself is proto-alphabetical, representing an intermediate stage in the
evolution from a primitive consonantal (syllabic) system to the scientific
alphabetical writing, which is the unique achievement of the Indian civilization.
In Indus writing, a
word consists of a string of consonants, whereas vowels were to be supplied
keeping the context in mind. Where ever the word was to begin with vowel, a ‘U’
shaped symbol was provided. In this way Dr. N. Jha very convincingly deciphered
most of the seals. The details of such decipherment given in his books e.g.
‘VEDIC GLOSSARY ON INDUS SEALS’ reflect that Harappans were Vedic people, who
combined the Aryans an well as the Dravidian culture, which has continued in
India till date. Some of the examples are given below:
Swastika figurines:
The swastika on a Harappan
tablet (left), and on pottery of the early historical era (top right: Rupar;
bottom right: Ahichchhatra). (@ASI)
Seals from Harappa
The Swastika symbol is an apt example of link between Vedic &
Harappan cultures. The word swastika stands for svasti-ka i.e. ‘maker of welfare’. Both of the above signs appeared
in Vedic literature and were also used in many Vedic ceremonies. The right
figurine in particular represents sacred panca-svasti mantra found in Yajurveda (25.18-19), where the word
‘Svasti’ appears five times as:
तमीशानं
जगतस्तस्थुषस्पतिं धीयञ्जिन्वमवसे हुमहे वयम्।
पूषा नो यथा
वेदसामसद् वृधे रक्षिता पायुरदब्ध: स्वस्तये।। यजुर्वेद (25.18)
स्वस्ति नs इन्द्रो
वृद्धश्रवा: स्वस्ति न: पूषा विश्ववेदा:।
स्वस्ति
नस्तार्क्ष्यो अरिष्टनेमि: स्वस्ति नो बृहस्पतिर्दधातु।। (25.19)
We invoke him who may bring
us welfare,
May the respected Indra
guard our welfare,
May the omniscient Pushan
guard our welfare,
May the Universal Creator
guard our welfare,
May the Great Protector
bring us welfare.
Similar invocations are found in
Rigveda as well. It is important to take note of the fact that such Swastika
seals were found during excavations from several Harappan sites including
Harappa, Mohenjodero, Lothal and Kalibangan.
The Pranavakshara / OM & Ashvattha sign:
One look at these seals depicting Om combined
with Ashvattha leaves will bring before our minds eye several references
in Vedas. The maker of these seals obviously was a tremendous designer and had
good knowledge of Vedas
Fig.1 Fig.2
(Mohenjodero “seal with motif of a two
headed Unicon & the pipal tree in OM Shape after S.R. Rao)
Such seals have
been found from several Harappan towns. When viewed from different angles,
these convey different Vedic Expressions. In Fig.1 the seal represents the
couplet of Mundakopanishad (2.2.4)
which says that “Om is the bow, the soul is the arrow, and Brahma is the
target. With full concentration, aim at the target and strike, to become one
with Brahma, just as the arrow becomes one with the target”.
It also represents a stanza (shloka)
of Bhagavadgita (15.1). “The Ashvattha tree has its roots above and branches down;
this symbolizes the Vishva Vriksha
with branches below and God above. One who understands this has understood the
Vedas.
In Fig.2 the Sanskrit/
Devnagari ‘Om’ apparent.
Bull seals representing Indra
Fig.1 Fig.2
Seal from Harappa
In Vedic literature God Indra is associated with
the bull as the symbol of strength. (Rigveda.1.7.8 & 1.139.6). In Fig.1 the
script engraved was decephered as Indra by Dr. N.Jha. Such seals have
been excavated from several Harappan towns, perticularly Harappa and
Mohenjodero.
Pashupati seal and Shivlinga
(from Harappa &
Kalibangan)
(Indus seal © ASI)
Mohenjodero ‘seal 420’ after ‘S.R.Rao’
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. The above two
figurines do not need much explanation. Both represent Lord Shiva, who is
worshipped by Vedic Aryans, by Harappans as well as by modern day Indians in
the same shape and form. These should be adequate enough to establish the
connection between Harappan & Vedic civilization and continuity till date.
The inscriptions on 2nd seal need some explanation. To
decipher the inscriptions one need to understand the Niruktas and Nighantus. The
inscription is deciphered by N Jha as ‘ishaadyattah
maaraah’, which means ‘Evil adversaries controlled by Isha (Pashpati Seal)
0308 Mohenjodaro seal
Seal with a motif of a man holding or keeping apart
two tigers. This seal reminds us of king Bharata, son of Shkuntala
& Dushyant and ancestors of kauravas & pandavas of
Mahabharata.
There are many more such instances
of Indus seals having inscriptions of Vedic expressions. Thus there is no doubt
that Harappans represented the post Vedic civilization and artifacts as well as
the seals found were similar to the descriptions in Rigveda
Bibiliography:-
Saroj Bala, Kulbhushan Mishra. 2012. Historicity
of Vedic and Ramayan Eras
N.S. Rajaram. 2006. Sarasvati River and the Vedic
Civilization
Michel Danino. 2010. The Lost River (on the trail
of the SARASVATI)
Dr. N. Jha. 1996. VEDIC GLOSSARY ON INDUS SEALS
K. S. Valdiya. 2002. SARASWATI (The River that
Disappeared)
Bhagwan Singh. 1995. THE VEDIC HARAPPANS
S. R. RAO. 1991. DAWN AND DEVOLUTION OF THE INDUS
CIVILIZATION
H. H.
WILSON. 2001. RIGVEDA SAMHITA
श्री राम शर्मा. आचार्य. 2003. ऋग्वेद संहिता
M. N. DUTT. 2008. MAHABHARATA
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Genetic affinity of the Bhil, Kol and Gond mentioned in epic Ramayana
Genetic study of Ramayana tribes rejects Aryan invasion
theory and supports indigenous common ancestry of Indian populations
An
international team of researchers consisting of geneticists, anthropologists
and Research Scholars have found that Ramayana, composed around 7,100 years
ago, is a chronicle of events and characters recorded by Sage Valmiki and is
not a work of fiction. They also found that North Indians & Dravidians
share their genetic profile; they have lived in India for more than 12000 years
and there is no evidence of any Gene –inflow.
Normally it is
being taught in schools and colleges in India that Aryans immigrated into Indian
Subcontinent from Central Asia around 1500 BC and that the aboriginal Indians
who were uncivilised at that time were defeated and pushed towards south &
they became Dravidians whereas invading Aryans occupied North India and are
settled there till date. This view was based on linguistic guess work but many
scientific researches like astronomy, archaeology, paleobotany, and space
imagery have been providing evidence that this Aryan Invasion theory is
incorrect, having no scientific basis.
Institute
of Scientific Research on Vedas had earlier reported that skyviews of planetary
references in Ramayana could be seen sequentially 7100 ago and that
several archaeological and paleobotanical evidences had supported these dates
for Ramayana era Latest in the series are the genetic studies. A paper
published in the internationally reputed journal PLOS ONE has thrown light on this
issue by utilizing the data obtained from Valmiki
Ramayan and testing this with the genetic studies carried out by using
advanced genetic research and tools. The research team comprised of:
1. Geneticist,
Dr Gyaneshwer Chaubey, from Estonian Biocentre, Tartu
2. Traditional
Anthropologist, Prof. V.R. Rao, Anthropology Department, Delhi University
3. Ramayana
Scholar, Mrs. Saroj Bala, Director of the Institute of Scientific Research
on Vedas
4. IITian
from Delhi, Mr. Anurag Kadiyan,
The team extracted detailed information
about Indian tribal populations from the oldest epic Valmiki Ramayana and tested their concordance and
discordance with the high resolution genetic data. This was an
interdisciplinary project between the scientists and scholars from India and
from Estonia. It took around three years to complete this research project.
To begin with, the team
selected three main tribal populations, namely: Kol (e.g. Guh Nishad), Bhil
(e.g. Bhilni) and Gond (from Dandakvan area), and extracted references to these
tribes from different chapters of Ramayana, along with their geographic
locations. Then they, particularly Dr. Gyaneshwar Chaubey, scanned hundreds of
thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms among these three ancient tribes,
and also compared the results with their neighboring populations and other
world populations.
The analysis, conducted using various statistical methods/tools, suggested that:
· These tribes have been living in India for last
more than 12000 years and there are no evidences of any gene inflow.
· The genetic structuring of these ancient tribes
is largely similar to their contemporary tribal and caste populations,
suggesting genetic continuity of Indian population for more than 10000 years.
· Further, extent of genetic component sharing among
different populations reflected their similarity with other Indian populations
establishing that these were primarily founded over indigenous component,
having continuity since last over ten thousand years.
The team
has also concluded that all Indians from North or from South, irrespective of
their caste and tribal affiliations, share a common genetic ancestry, which is
undoubtedly founded over the indigenous ASI component.
Title: Genetic affinity of
the Bhil, Kol and Gond mentioned in epic Ramayana
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
RAMAYANA AND GENOME STUDIES
Sky views, generated
through Planetarium software, of planetary references in Valmiki Ramayana
relate sequentially to the period around 5100 BC i.e. 7000 BP. There is some
very interesting corroboration through DNA studies.
Indian history has recorded that Shri Ram s/o
Raja Dashrath, belonged to Surya Vansh and he was the 64th ruler of this
dynasty. Most of the names and other relevant particulars of previous 63 kings
are listed in Vishnu Purana (Chaturth Ansha, Chapter 5), Srimad Bhagwat Purana
(Navam Skandha, Chapter 13), Valmiki Ramayan (Baal Kaand, Sarga 70-71).
Manu was the first king, Iksavaku second,
Harishchandra was 33rd ruler, whereas Sagar was 40th and
Bhagirath was 44th ruler of Suryavansha. There are also names of 62
successors of Lord Ram listed in these ancient books. Thus the dates of
Suryavanshi rulers get pushed back by around 2000 years i.e. to 9000 BP. It is
obvious that it would have taken at least 2000 years for the civilization to
develop practices relating to agriculture and irrigation, trade and industry,
navigation and shipping, urban planning and civil administration; leading to
formation of large kingdoms and the institution of kingship. It would have
taken a few thousand years, after the beginning of the Nutan Yug, for the evolving society to attain the level of
intellectual, philosophical, cultural and scientific activity as is evident
from the contents of Vedas and Ramayan.
Almost all the major Genome studies carried
out for the Holocene (nutan yug) period, including those carried out by Kenneth
A. R. Kennedy and Cavalli-Sfroza, have revealed an amazing correlation of the
genealogy with the genetic profile of humans settled in Indian Subcontinent
since the Holocene (about 11000 years). These have also corroborated the
development of civilization revealed through Vedas and Epics. Almost all the
Genome studies have concluded that
genetic profile of people of the Indian subcontinent has remained the same for
last more than 55000 years. For last 11000 years, this genetic profile is of
culturally developing people who had started speaking a structured language and
were taking cooked food. It has also been concluded that the Dravidians
as well as north Indians have common ancestors and both are originals of India,
have common genetic profile and had common ancestors.
A very interesting study was recently
conducted by Dr. Gyaneshwar Chaubey of Estonian Biocentre. He scanned genepool of three most ancient
tribes mentioned in Ramayana, i.e. Kol (e.g. Guh nishad), Bhil (e.g. Bhilni)
and Gond, and compared the results with their neighboring populations and other
world populations. It was concluded that the genepool of these tribes was
primarily founded over indigenous component, having continuity for last over
ten thousand years. Is it not a most emphatic rejection of Aryan Invasion
theory, and corroboration of astronomical dates of Ramayana references?
Suggested Readings:-
1.
2.
Cavalli-Sforza LL, Feldman MW (2003) The application of molecular genetic
approaches to the study of human evolution. Nat Genet 33 Suppl: 266-275.
3. Chaubey G,
Metspalu M, Kivisild T, Villems R (2007) Peopling of South Asia: investigating
the caste-tribe continuum in India. Bioessays 29: 91-100.
4. Chaubey G The
demographic history of India: A perspective based on genetic evidence
(http://hdl.handle.net/10062/15240). PhD.
Universitatis Tartuensis, Evolutionary Biology;(2010)
5. Kazanas N
(1999) The Rigveda and Indo-Europeans. Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental
Research Institute
6. Tiwari SK Tribal roots of Hinduism. Sarup &
Sons; (2002)
7. Kapil
Kapoor and Sheshagiri Rao, Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Vols. I and XI) India Heritage Research Foundation-USA
8. Rajaram
N.S. and David Frawley, The Vedic"Aryans" and the origins of civilization : a literary and
scientific perspective: World
Heritage Press.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
GANGA - faith and reality intertwined (a fascinating story)
Story of origin of Ganga narrated in valmiki ramayan -
'Descending
from the sky-high Shivalinga peaks of Himalayas, Ganga got entangled in the
mighty serpentine glaciers spread all around like matted coils of Lord Shiva's
hair and thus continued to meander in the Gangotri glaciers for many years.
With the superhuman efforts of Suryavanshi king, Bhagirath, its waters were
brought to the terrestrial planes and it flowed through the path dug by Sagar
putras/sainiks and its waters flowed right upto Rasatala ie.samudra, and thus Bhagirath could offer tarpan to his
sixty thousand ancestors'.
It
is described also as Tripathaga as it carves its way from heaven (i.e. Shivalinga
peaks), through matted coils of Shiva's hair (i.e. mighty gangotri glaciers) and
finally flows in subterranean region, right upto Ganga sagar.
This
in short is the story of origin of Ganga narrated by Rishi Vishwamitra to Shri
Ram (Ramayan, Baal kand, sargas 38 to 45)!. For those who are looking for
divine interpretation - Ganga descended from heavens, got entangled in
Jata-joot of Lord Shiva and then came to earth. For those who are looking for
rational and scientific meaning, Ganga (Bhagirthi) descended from Shivalinga
peaks, meandered through Gangotri Glaciers and flowed through the plains of
northern India, right upto Rasatal (Gangasagar), the route for which had been
dug out under the orders of raja Sagar. Let us look at just one picture of the
region to appreciate that both divinity and reality aspects are correct and
represent wonderful poetic skills of Valmiki Ji -
Astronomical
dates of sky views depicted by Aadi Kavi Valmiki Ji at the time of important
events in Lord Ram's life match sequentially around 5100 BC. Lord Ram was the
64th ruler of Suryavansh, whereas Sagar was its 40th ruler and Bhagirath 44th
ruler. This will take us to around 6000 BC (8000 BP).
Raja
Sagar was worried that north western Bharatvarsha was getting flooded whereas
eastern areas of Indian sub-continent were suffering from acute water
shortages. Consequently he made a plan to divert waters from Himalayas to the
eastern areas right upto Bengal areas and then, as was the custom in those
days, he commenced a Yajna (sacrificial performance), which was to be concluded
only when sacrificial horse was brought back from such far off destination.
The
horse was taken to Kapil Muni's Ashram, probably modern day Gangasagar, Sixty
thousand sons (Sainiks of Sagar) were sent to dig out the route right upto
Rasatal (1/39/15,19,21).When they came back without the horse after carrying
out digging, they were sent back by Raja Sagar to redig on the same route and
then due to shortage of water combined with inhospitality of Kapil Muni, they
all died (1/40/11). For next 32 years, Sagar could not think of any concrete
plan to divert Himalayan waters towards the East through the dug-out path and
died after about 32 years. His grandson Anshuman made efforts for 32 years but
could not get the Ganga waters reached for the tarpan of his ancestors.
Similaly his successor Raja Dilip made efforts for another 30 years but could
not succeed.
Raja
Bhagirath was coronated as the 44th Suryavanshi samraat. However, in order to
save his praja in the north west from
deluge and in the east from draught and in order to reach Ganga waters to
rasatal for the tarpan of his ancestors, Raja Bhagirath went to Himalayas after
leaving the affairs of the kingdom on his mantris,
For several years he carried out research and exploration, observing the
Shivalinga peak from the hill top which was shaped like the tip of the thumb,
and was later named as Bhagirath peak (1/43/1).
Finally
with the blessings of Lord Brahma and lord Shiva, he succeeded in identifying
the mighty Gangotri glaciers, looking like jata-joot of Lord Shiva, in which
Ganga waters were entangled (1/43/4,7). After some more research, he identified
and also partly created the route through which waters could be carried to the
wide spread routes got dug by his ancestor Raja Sagar and thus succeeded in
completing the kalyankari project
which his ancestors had started 1/44/1,28,12). In this manner sacred Ganga
descended from the sky on Shiva's forehead and then flowed onto the earth;
roaring, tumbling and gliding, it reached the sea (gangasagar). (refer -
1/43/15,23,24).
Sea
level fluctuations fully support the above details and reveal very clearly that
water level in the sea rose drastically during 8000 BP to 7000 BP. Look at the
sea level curve prepared by Dr. Rajiv Nigam of National Institute of
Oceanography (NIO). Surprisingly reference to this phenomena has also been made
in Yudhh Kaand of Valmiki Ramayan (6/19/31 & 6/22/50), where Vibhishan is
mentioning to Lord Ram that the sea should reveal the shallow water route for
construction of a bridge because its waters had been augmented by ancestors of Lord
Ram.
Remote
sensing imagery explained by Sharma and Bhadra of ISRO Jodhpur centre seems to
be corroborating these details and time line. Further somewhere around 5000 BP,
Yamuna, which was a tributary of Sarasvati got diverted to Ganga.
Archaeological reports support these conclusions with plethora of evidence. Thus,
in early Rigvedic period Sarasvati was the mightiest river, whereas in later
Vedic age Ganga, Sindhu and Sarasvati were worshipped as the mighty rivers.
Slowly Sarasvati disappeared as it became non perennial and ephemeral. Ganga
emerged as the symbol of life and emancipator of mankind. She is worshipped as the
divinity in flow.
For
some related details refer to -
1) Saroj Bala and Kulbhushan Mishra. 2012. Historicity of Vedic and Ramayan Eras: Scientific Evidences from the Depths of Oceans to the Heights of Skies. Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas. Abridged editions also available in English and Hindi.
Srimad Valmiki Ramayana (Hindi)
Srimad Valmiki Ramayana (English)
Friday, June 15, 2012
Scientific Dating of Vedic and Ramayan Era
Ecological perspective
History of the Holocene (post last ice
age) deserves to be rewritten based on multi-disciplinary scientific evidences.
Aryan invasion theory was propagated based on linguistic guesswork, religious
hearsay and old outdated archaeological reports. Christianity has long back
discarded its 18th century beliefs that world got created on 23rd October, 4004
BC, Biblical flood occurred in 2400 B.C. and that civilizations started
expanding and migrating in around 1500 B.C. It is almost unanimously accepted
by the scholars and scientists that there have been several cycles of
civilizations and that last ice age ended around 10000 B.C., ushering in the
beginnings of Holocene i.e. Nutan Yug.
The melting of ice caps naturally got
started near the Equator, resulting in discharge of huge quantities of water
which first flowed in the form of rivers in South India. The civilizations
developed, populations multiplied over hundreds of years resulting in water scarcity.
More adventurous started migrating northwards - initially towards central India
and later on towards the Himalayan rivers in the North. Thousands of years of
water security provided by Saraswati, Indus and Ganga river systems and world's
most fertile planes cultivated around them naturally facilitated the
extra-ordinary development of culture and civilization from around 8000 B.C. After
thousands of years water supply from ice-caps started depleting, tectonic
movements resulted in drying up of rivers like Saraswati, trade relations
flourished and more adventurous people started moving towards Central Asia and
Europe. Thus there was neither any end of Vedic civilisation due to imaginary
Aryan invasion theory nor were Dravidians 'aboriginal savages' of North India.
The rise and fall of Vedic Civilisation is thus attributable to ecological
cycle post last ice age and not to any 'Aryan invasion'.
Sky
views in Rigveda
There are 53 references in Rigveda as
prayers offered to Aswinis at dawn. The description clearly points to the
observation of the pair of stars in the Aries constellation (referred to as
Aashvin or Asvini) just before sunrise as a ritual to mark the year beginning.
Using Planetarium software, we find that the Winter Solstice occurred on 19
December, 7000 BC at 0735 hrs as shown in Figure 1. This is the earliest
reference to Vedic calendar with year beginning at Winter Solstice, found in
Rigveda (5-77-1/2; 1-46-14; 7-69-3/2). Heliacal rising of Ashwini Nakshatra
(Aries) can be seen to occur on 5th January, 7000 BC, marking the year
beginning (Fig. 1).
Fig. 2: Sky on Jan 05, 7000 BC, 0649 hrs shows heliacal rising of Asvini Nakshatra after Winter Solstice, marking the year beginning
(RgVeda 5-77-1/2; 1-46-14;
7-69-3/2).
A thousand years later, Winter Solstice no longer occurred near Aries (Asvini) due to precession. As a result, Ashwinis were no longer rising heliacally as before. They were still below the horizon at sunrise around Winter Solstice time. The Winter Solstice had moved to Revati by 6000 BC. Thus the precession of Equinoxes and Solistices was being observed by Rigvedic Scholars.
The Sky of 19th December, 6000 BC at sunrise on the Winter Solstice day shows that Ashvini gave way to bright star Chitra (α Vir) on opposite side (Western horizon). A full Moon in Chitra Nakshatra provided a new time marker in the sky and heralded the lunar month naming system-Chaitra, Vaisakha etc. (Rigveda: 5-74-1,2 and Tait Samh. 7-4-8). See Fig. 2 -
Winter Solstice opposite Citra - Sky of 19 Dec 6000 BC at sunrise
shows that Asvini gave way to bright
star Citra on opposite side
(western horizon). It began to be used for determining the year beginning. A
full Moon occurring in Citra heralded the lunar month naming system-Caitra,
Vaisakha etc (Tait. Samh. 7-4-8).
Most
amazing is the fact that reference to Agastya Muni (who composed some Slokas of
Rigveda) first observing star Canopus (star Agastya) from Vindhyas refers to
the sky view of 18th Dcember, 5100 BC. Lord Ram also visits Agastya Muni's
Agnishala and sequential astronomical dates of important events in Shri Ram's
life also are of around 5100 BC!
Recommended Readings:
1. Saroj Bala and Kulbhushan Mishra. 2012. Historicity of Vedic and Ramayan Eras: Scientific Evidences from the Depths of Oceans to the Heights of Skies. Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas. Abridged editions also available in English and Hindi.
2. Subramanian Swamy. 2008. Rama Setu: Symbol of National Unity.
3. Srimad Valmiki Ramayana (Hindi).
4. Srimad Valmiki Ramayana (English).
Recommended Readings:
1. Saroj Bala and Kulbhushan Mishra. 2012. Historicity of Vedic and Ramayan Eras: Scientific Evidences from the Depths of Oceans to the Heights of Skies. Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas. Abridged editions also available in English and Hindi.
2. Subramanian Swamy. 2008. Rama Setu: Symbol of National Unity.
3. Srimad Valmiki Ramayana (Hindi).
4. Srimad Valmiki Ramayana (English).
5. Sita Ram, Rai Bahadur.
1932. Ayodhya Ka Itihas
(in Hindi). New Delhi: Arya Book Depot, Karol Bagh.
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