Connection of Shiva Linga to Vatican

All religions are one and are derived from Vedic Sanatana Dharma. Famous historian P.N. Oak claimed that the word Vatican originally came from the sanskrit word “Vatika”, that “Christianity” came from the sanskrit words “Krishna-neeti”, (“ethics of Krishna” or “the way of Krishna”), and that “Abraham” came from the sanskrit word “Brahma”. He further claims that both Christianity and Islam originated as distortions of Vedic beliefs.

Vatican Church Compound Shaped as a Shiva Linga
Compare the two pictures below and you can see a striking similarity between the shapes of a shiva linga and the vatican church compound. Further if we look closer, we even see a perfect tripundra and bindu incorporated into their design.

In the following pictures let us compare the tripundra (three lines worn by Lord Shiva as tilak).

The word ‘Vatican’ itself is derived from the sanskrit word Vatika or Vatica, which means vedic cultural or religious centers. In sanskrit the word Vatika is used to describe a place, such as Ananda-Vatika, Ashrama-Vatika, Yagna-Vatika, etc. Such words and discoveries prove that the Vatican was a Hindu (Vedic) religious center before its incumbent was forced to accept Christianity from 1st century AD. Also, according to some reports, a Shiva linga was found during the excavation and is kept for display at Gregorian Etruscan Museum in Rome (details below). Hindustan indeed was Virat.
Siva Linga at Gregorian Etruscan Museum, Vatican City (Vatika)

This Siva Lingam is exhibited in Gregorian Etruscan Museum, Vatican City. This has the most important Etruscan collection in Rome, starting with early Iron Age objects from the 9th century BC. Encyclopedia Britannica mentions under the headings “Etruria” and “Etruscan” that between the 2nd and 7th centuries BC, northern Italy was known as Etruria. During archaeological excavations many such “meteoric stones mounted on carved pedestals (Siva Lingas on bases)” have been discovered in Italy. This Siva Lingam was dug-up from Vatican City itself. Many more must be lying buried under the Vatican’s massive walls and numerous cellars.
P.N. Oak’s Theories on Vedic Roots of World Religions
P.N. Oak claims that Christianity and Islam are both derivatives of Hinduism, and that the Catholic Vatican, Kaaba and the Taj Mahal were once Hindu temples to Shiva. In his book, “Some Missing Chapters of World History”, Oak claimed that the first civilisation was developed in India from which all world civilisations grew. He wrote books on this subject in three languages.
Intent on rectifying what he believed to be “biased and distorted versions of India’s history produced by the invaders and colonizers”, Oak has written several books and articles on Indian history and founded the “Institute for Rewriting Indian History” in 1964. According to Oak, modern secular and Marxist historians have fabricated “idealized versions” of India’s past and drained it of its “Vedic context and content”.
Oak claims that Christianity was originally a Vedic religion following Krishna and claims that Christianity was originally known by either the names Chrisna-nity or Krishna-neeti (with Oak stating these meant “The way of Krishna” or “The ethics of Lord Krishna”). These generally follow in line with Oak’s other theories and claims that the Vatican was originally called Vatika and that the Papacy was originally a “Vedic Priesthood” until Constantine the Great around 312 A.D killed the “Vedic pointiff” and installed in his place a representative of the tiny Christian sect. Oak also makes the claim that “Jesus went to India between ages 13 and 30 to learn Krishna-neeti (Christianity) from sages.”
Amen comes from Aum
When the Christians say “Amen” at the end of their hymns or to emphasize something, what they are saying is a corrupted form of “Aum” or “Om,” which is the standard Vedic form of addressing the Supreme Being through sound.
In the bible it is said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” That primordial divine word, which is one with God, is the Vedic syllable “Aum”. God manifests in creation as the Cosmic Vibration, which expresses itself as Cosmic Sound and Cosmic Light. The Cosmic Sound or Aum is the synthesis of all the sounds of the universe.

How Mantra works?

What is a mantra and how does it work?

Mantras are powerful sounds. Mantras are the sounds that when chanted produce great effects. These are chanted repeatedly and that is called japa. Japa is a key part of Hindu prayer.
Mantras are very rich in their meaning. While doing japa one can meditate on the mantra and its meaning. As the mind dwells more and more into that meaning, the mantra conditions the mind and takes it up to higher states and forms the path to the great liberation – eternal bliss.
What makes mantras so special as compared to the normal words? Mantras are not composed by humans. One may wonder how can that be possible. Especially given that there are sages associated with the mantras. The point to be noted is that these sages are not composers of these mantras, as we would normally compose sentences. They are not the inventors, but they are the discoverers of the mantra. They get to know the mantras in a state in which these words do not emanate from their thoughts, but they are just passive audience to it. Those who go deep in meditation and realize God may be able to get a feel of this situation.
To be such a discoverer, even though they are just passive hearers, needs great amount of qualification. Only the perfect one can unchangedly reproduce the mantra he has heard. The only one that is absolutely perfect is God. All other discoverers reproduce that mantra only as pure as their closeness to perfection.
Veda samhitas are full of mantras and hence have been preserved for ages in their pure form by utilizing the various techniques like patha, krama, jaTa, gaNa pATas, that ensure that the chanter clearly gets the correct letters and even the correct level of sound for each letter (svara). The chanters are advised to chant the mantras only after getting the right pronunciation of it, so that the mantras are preserved against deterioration over time. There would be gurus who initiate the disciple in a mantra. The guru ensures that the disciple got the mantra right, so that the person can chant independently as well as initiate others in that mantra. Ensuring this preservation, the vedas were passed on only through the tradition of guru and disciples and was never written down till the very recent past. (It is really amazing to note that without being written down the vedas have been preserved in pure form across the land by these techniques. Though the texts are freely available now for anybody to read, it would be important to ensure that these mantras are properly learnt and then chanted. This way the treasure that has been preserved so carefully over multiple millenniums does not deteriorate due to indifference.)
It is to be noted that many of the hymns of thirumuRai are known to have the great powers of mantras that are practiced even today.
While there are plenty of mantras available, there are a few that are chanted with high esteem by the shaivas. Definitely those are highly powerful ones that can lead the chanter on the great path to mukti (liberation). pranava, paNJchAkashra, gAyatri to name a few. For shaivites the Holy Five Syllables (paNJchAkshara) with or without combination of the praNava is the ultimate mantra.
Definition #1: Mantras are energy-based sounds.
Saying any word produces an actual physical vibration. Over time, if we know what the effect of that vibration is, then the word may come to have meaning associated with the effect of saying that vibration or word. This is one level of energy basis for words.
Another level is intent. If the actual physical vibration is coupled with a mental intention, the vibration then contains an additional mental component which influences the result of saying it. The sound is the carrier wave and the intent is overlaid upon the wave form, just as a colored gel influences the appearance and effect of a white light.
In either instance, the word is based upon energy. Nowhere is this idea more true than for Sanskrit mantra. For although there is a general meaning which comes to be associated with mantras, the only lasting definition is the result or effect of saying the mantra.
Definition #2: Mantras create thought-energy waves.
The human consciousness is really a collection of states of consciousness which distributively exist throughout the physical and subtle bodies. Each organ has a primitive consciousness of its own. That primitive consciousness allows it to perform functions specific to it. Then come the various systems. The cardio-vascular system, the reproductive system and other systems have various organs or body parts working at slightly different stages of a single process. Like the organs, there is a primitive consciousness also associated with each system. And these are just within the physical body. Similar functions and states of consciousness exist within the subtle body as well. So individual organ consciousness is overlaid by system consciousness, overlaid again by subtle body counterparts and consciousness, and so ad infinitum.
The ego with its self-defined “I” ness assumes a pre-eminent state among the subtle din of random, semi-conscious thoughts which pulse through our organism. And of course, our organism can “pick up” the vibration of other organisms nearby. The result is that there are myriad vibrations riding in and through the subconscious mind at any given time.
Mantras start a powerful vibration which corresponds to both a specific spiritual energy frequency and a state of consciousness in seed form. Over time, the mantra process begins to override all of the other smaller vibrations, which eventually become absorbed by the mantra. After a length of time which varies from individual to individual, the great wave of the mantra stills all other vibrations. Ultimately, the mantra produces a state where the organism vibrates at the rate completely in tune with the energy and spiritual state represented by and contained within the mantra.
At this point, a change of state occurs in the organism. The organism becomes subtly different. Just as a laser is light which is coherent in a new way, the person who becomes one with the state produced by the mantra is also coherent in a way which did not exist prior to the conscious undertaking of repetition of the mantra.
Definition #3: Mantras are tools of power and tools for power.
They are formidable. They are ancient. They work. The word “mantra” is derived from two Sanskrit words. The first is “manas” or “mind,” which provides the “man” syllable. The second syllable is drawn from the Sanskrit word “trai” meaning to “protect” or to “free from.” Therefore, the word mantra in its most literal sense means “to free from the mind.” Mantra is, at its core, a tool used by the mind which eventually frees one from the vagaries of the mind.
But the journey from mantra to freedom is a wondrous one. The mind expands, deepens and widens and eventually dips into the essence of cosmic existence. On its journey, the mind comes to understand much about the essence of the vibration of things. And knowledge, as we all know, is power. In the case of mantra, this power is tangible and wieldable.
Statements About Mantra
Mantras have close, approximate one-to-one direct language-based translation.
If we warn a young child that it should not touch a hot stove, we try to explain that it will burn the child. However, language is insufficient to convey the experience. Only the act of touching the stove and being burned will adequately define the words “hot” and “burn” in the context of “stove.” Essentially, there is no real direct translation of the experience of being burned.
Similarly, there is no word which is the exact equivalent of the experience of sticking one’s finger into an electrical socket. When we stick our hand into the socket, only then do we have a context for the word “shock.” But shock is really a definition of the result of the action of sticking our hand into the socket.
It is the same with mantras. The only true definition is the experience which it ultimately creates in the sayer. Over thousands of years, many sayers have had common experiences and passed them on to the next generation. Through this tradition, a context of experiential definition has been created.
Definitions of mantras are oriented toward either the results of repeating the mantra or of the intentions of the original framers and testers of the mantra.
In Sanskrit, sounds which have no direct translation but which contain great power which can be “grown” from it are called “seed mantras.” Seed in Sanskrit is called “Bijam” in the singular and “Bija” in the plural form.
Let’s take an example. The mantra “Shrim” or Shreem is the seed sound for the principle of abundance (Lakshmi, in the Hindu Pantheon.) If one says “shrim” a hundred times, a certain increase in the potentiality of the sayer to accumulate abundance is achieved. If one says “shrim” a thousand times or a million, the result is correspondingly greater.
But abundance can take many forms. There is prosperity, to be sure, but there is also peace as abundance, health as wealth, friends as wealth, enough food to eat as wealth, and a host of other kinds and types of abundance which may vary from individual to individual and culture to culture. It is at this point that the intention of the sayer begins to influence the degree of the kind of capacity for accumulating wealth which may accrue.
Mantras have been tested and/or verified by their original framers or users.
Each mantra is associated with an actual sage or historical person who once lived. Although the oral tradition predates written speech by centuries, those earliest oral records annotated on palm leaves discussed earlier clearly designate a specific sage as the “seer” of the mantra. This means that the mantra was probably arrived at through some form of meditation or intuition and subsequently tested by the person who first encountered it.
Sanskrit mantras are composed of letters which correspond to certain petals or spokes of chakras in the subtle body.
As discussed earlier, there is a direct relationship between the mantra sound, either vocalized or subvocalized, and the chakras located throughout the body.
Mantras are energy which can be likened to fire.
You can use fire either to cook your lunch or to burn down the forest. It is the same fire. Similarly, mantra can bring a positive and beneficial result, or it can produce an energy meltdown when misused or practiced without some guidance. There are certain mantra formulas which are so exact, so specific and so powerful that they must be learned and practiced under careful supervision by a qualified guru.
Fortunately, most of the mantras widely used in our portal and certainly those contained in this chapter are perfectly safe to use on a daily basis, even with some intensity.
Mantra energizes prana.
“Prana” is a Sanskrit term for a form of life energy which can be transferred from individual to individual. Prana may or may not produce an instant dramatic effect upon transfer. There can be heat or coolness as a result of the transfer.
Some healers operate through transfer of prana. A massage therapist can transfer prana with beneficial effect. Even self-healing can be accomplished by concentrating prana in certain organs, the result of which can be a clearing of the difficulty or condition. For instance, by saying a certain mantra while visualizing an internal organ bathed in light, the specific power of the mantra can become concentrated there with great beneficial effect.
Mantras eventually quiet the mind.
At a deep level, subconscious mind is a collective consciousness of all the forms of primitive consciousnesses which exist throughout the physical and subtle bodies. The dedicated use of mantra can dig into subconscious crystallized thoughts stored in the organs and glands and transform these bodily parts into repositories of peace.
Some of you may be interested or even fascinated by the discipline of mantra, but feel somewhat overwhelmed by the array of mantras and disciplines, astotaras and pujas you find in here. If so, then this chapter will be of use to you. It contains some simple mantras and their common application. They have been compiled from vedas and upanishads, drawn from the various headings of the deities or principles involved. These mantras address various life issues which we all face from time to time.
Fromm indiadivine.org

Suryasiddhānta

In the chapter “Direction, Place and Time” (Suryasiddhānta, Ch.iii), E Burgess writes:
“(bracketed words are mine) : The (Surya Siddhāntic) theory which the passage (verses 9-12), in its present form, is actually intended to put forth is as follows : the vernal equinox librates westward and eastward from the fixed point, war Piscium, assumed as the commencement of the sidereal sphere– the limits of the libratory movement being 27 degrees in either direction from that point, and the time of a complete revolution of libration being the six-hundredth part of the period called the Great Age (ie, Mahāyuga as defined by Burgess in chapter i,15-17, where he gave it a span of 4320000 years), or 7200 years; so that the annual rate of motion of the equinox is 54″.”

This is the interpretation of existing version of Surya Siddhānta ( त्रिंशत्कृत्यो युगे भानां चक्रे प्राक् परिलम्बते …, SS,iii.9) in own words of E. Burgess , “as it is actually intended to put forth” by all traditional commentators. This is exactly what I illustrated with example in the illustrated example of computation of ayanamsha.
The moot point is this : Burgess knew the traditional interpretation (भानां चक्रे.., ie pendulum like motion of nakshatra orbit itself) , but gave his own meaning based upon modern concept of precession of equinoxes , and tried to create doubts about the authenticity of these verses (iii, 9-12) by putting forth deliberately false arguments. Let us examine Burgess.
In verse-9 (Suryasiddhānta, Ch.iii), he translates “pari-lambate” as “falls back”, although he says lambate means “lag, hang back, fall behind” and ‘pari’ means “about, round about”. Therefore, pari-lambate should have been translated as “fall back roundabout” and not merely as “fall back” according to own logic of Burgess. If the circle of asterisms lags roundabout any fixed point (whether Revati or Chitrā), it is a to and fro motion as all traditional commentators accepted. Modern concept of precession is something different from the original concept of ayanāmsha. Theon in West had mentioned this oscillating motion, Arab astronomers also accepted it, and almost all Europeans accepted it upto Renaissance, after which Hipparchus was rediscovered and modern concept of precession became a well established fact in astronomy. But this concept of equinoctial precession (as well as anomalistic precession) was also known to ancient Indians and Greeks.
Burgess wrongly quotes Bhāskara-II, because he relied upon a wrong translation of Bhāskara by Colebrooke (As. Res., xii 209 ; Essays, ii,374, etc) and did not try to examine Siddhānta Shiromani which was wrongly translated by Lancelot Wilkinson due to Colebrooke’s influence. Bhāskara-II did not give his own opinion at all, and merely quoted Surya Siddhānta and Mujjāl (elsewhere Munjāla and Manjula), saying Suryasiddhānta gives -30000 revolutions of sampāt or equinoctial point per Kalpa while ayana has a motion of +199669 revolutions per Kalpa (of 4320 million years). Bhāskara’s own opinion was that these should be followed, which means both Surya Siddhānta and Mujjāla were correct in Bhāskara’s opinion. Colebrooke, Burgess, Wilkinson, etc have misquoted Siddhānta Shiromani and created an impression that ancient Indians were inept in astronomical observations, as Whitney shamelessly declared in his prologue to Burgess, but the Hindi translation by Satyadeva Sharmā is correct, although he could not get the real meaning.
The startling fact is that Siddhānta Shiromani clearly says that “the point of intersection of equatorial plane and ecliptic” (which is the very definition of equinox) has a negative motion of 30000 revolutions per Kalpa according to Suryasiddhānta, while Mujjala’s value of ayana’s motion is +199669, and both (Suryasiddhānta and Mujjala ) must be added to get the final motion (of the equinox ). Hence, we get +169669 revolutions per Kalpa, which gives (4320000000 / 169669 =) 25461 years per revolution or 50.9″ per year, which is very near to modern value of about 50.3″ per year for precession of equinoxes.
We must not forget that Hipparchus had given a period of 36000 years for precession, which was not corrected by Europeans till the onset of modern age. It is unfortunate that Siddhānta Shiromani is still being misinterpreted by foreigners, and if a true rendering is offered by Indian scholars, they are abused, esp by those who do not care to consult the originals and declare the forign missionaries to reliable. Bhāskara-II neither excluded Suryasiddhānta, nor Mujjāla, but mentioned the both must be used, which is clear from verse-19, where he clearly asks to add Mujjāla’s ayana-chalam to Suryasiddhāntic sampāt-chalanam (this sampāt-chalanam is anomalistic precession with a period of 144000 years per cycle, against modern value of 136000 years).
Another startling fact is that Bhāskara-ii differentiates sampāt-chalanam of Suryasiddhānta from ayana-chalanam of Mujjāla, and says both must be added before computing phenomena like declension, ascensional differences, etc. But modern commentators like Colebrooke misinterpret Bhāskara-II deliberately, and imply that sampāt-chalanam of Suryasiddhānta quoted by Bhāskara-ii was an erroneous thing which must be forgotten, while ayana-chalanam of Mujjāla was a crude approximation of modern precession. But this interpretation is falsified by Bhāskara’s original verses as shown above. The root of this problem lies in the fact that sampāt-chalanam of Suryasiddhānta is a distinct phenomenon from ayana-chalanam of Mujjāla according to Siddhānta Shiromani, but readers are not informed of the real meaning of Siddhānta Shiromani and false quotation from Siddhānta Shiromani was quoted by Colebrooke and Burgess (12th verse, chap.iii). This is a sign of intellectual incompetence and dishonesty of Western “experts” who are blindly followed by brown sāhibs of India. Those who do not consult the original texts cited above will not believe me.
Siddhānta-tattva-viveka by Kamlākara Bhatt is a medieval text, which clearly states that Saurpaksha is distinct from Drikpaksha. Saurpaksha (astronomy of bhuvaloka) is Suryasiddhānta as it exists. Drikpaksha (astronomy of Bhooloka or physical/material/sensory world) is that version of Suryasiddhānta which was not preserved because it was useless in astrology. Siddhānta Shiromani uses many concepts of Drikpakshiya astronomy, as the instance cited above proves. Saurpakshiya Suryasiddhānta does not contain any refence to 30000 cylces per Kalpa mentioned by Bhāskara-II. He was quoting from Drikpakshiya Suryasiddhānta which as a text had been lost ; Bhāskara-II said in his own Vāsanābhāshya commentary of Siddhānta-shiromani that Suryasiddhānta is not available (“anupalabdha”) and he was quoting it on the basis of “āgama”. Only its fragments are left, scattered here and there. Modern commentators confuse both variants of Suryasiddhānta. Siddhāntatattvaviveka is prescribed in post-graduate (Ganitāchārya) syllabus of Sanskrit universities, but no modern commentator has ever tried to translate it or comment on it.
According to Bhāskara-ii , negative sampāt-chalanam of Drikpakshiya Suryasiddhānta should be added to positive ayana-chalanam of Mujjāla to get final Drikpakshiya precession, which is very close to modern value. Ayana-chalanam of Mujjāla is also Drikpakshiya, because Saurpakshiya entities are not used in Drikpakshiya astronomy, and vice versa. I have put some of the most important extant theorems of Drikpakshiya Suryasiddhānta at a website. I had put parts of it at one of most popular websites, where a German “Indologist” deleted it and abused me profusely ; later I found those deleted materials at an Australian website, without any name of author!!. But I am here divulging one important secret of ancient science of India which has been neglected by wrongheaded commentators.
Mujjāla’s ayana-chalanam, as mentioned in Siddhānta Shiromani, gives a period of (4320 million / 199669 = ) 21636 years per cycle. Siddhānta Shiromani says that it is ayanachalanam and not precession, precession is obtained after substracting (Saurpakshiya) Suryasiddhāntic sampātchalanam. If this 21636 year cycle is not precession, what is it ??
Readers should read a Wikipedian article Milankovitch cycles ( http://en.wikipedia….lankovic_cycles ) which informs :”Earth’s axis completes one full cycle of precession approximately every 26,000 years (25771.5 precisely at present, 25789.5 years is long term mean). At the same time, the elliptical orbit rotates, more slowly, leading to a 21,000-year cycle between the seasons and the orbit… This orbital precession is in the opposite sense to the gyroscopic motion of the axis of rotation(cf. anomalistic precession as distinct from equinoctial precession), shortening the period of the precession of the equinoxes with respect to the perihelion from 26,000 to 21,000 years.” (at some sites of NOAA of USA, 22000 is mentioned instead of 21000)
Ayana-chalanam of Mujjāla is not orbital precession, it is the most important of all components of Milankovitch cycles as this Wikipedian definition shown. If we take cue from Siddhānta Shiromani, the aforementioned Wikipedian clause can be rewritten thus : This orbital precession of equinoxes is in the opposite sense to the gyroscopic motion of the axis of rotation, shortening the period of the precession of the equinoxes with respect to the perihelion from 25771 to 21,636 years.
Siddhānta Shiromani also says that Mujjāla’s ayana-chalanam (21,636 years per cycle) is opposite to sampāta-chalanam. Bhāskara-ii clearly defines sampāta-chalanam as “the point of intersection of equatorial plane and ecliptic” (which is the very definition of equinox). Hence, what Siddhānta Shiromani says is exactly what Wikipedia informs us, the only difference is that Siddhānta Shiromani is misinterpreted and declared to be obscurantist, and the great cycles mentioned in Siddhānta Shiromani is “discovered” by 20th century scientists. But we must remember Bhāskara-ii did not discover these things, he acknowledged Suryasiddhānta and Munjāla.
Bhāskara-ii knew Drikpakshiya Suryasiddhānta, which has not survived because it was not useful in astrology. In his formula of precession, Bhāskara-II used a figure 30000 cycles per Kalpa. Bhaskara-II got an approximate value of 50.9″ per year, which was the most precise value before modern astronomy developed in the West. Here I quote a Puranic verse which proves knowledge of equinoctial precession in Puranic times :
उत्तानपादपुत्रोऽसौ मेढीभूतो ध्रुवो दिवि ।
स हि भ्रमन् भ्रामयते नित्यं चन्द्रादित्यौ ग्रहैः सह ।।
It means : “Uttanpāda’s son Dhruva is the fixed point in the Heavens , round which all planets including Sun and Moon, but Dhruva himself also moves round” . Round what ? Mt Meru, which is the only fixed point in Cosmos according to Purānic-epic stories. Hence, the bhachakra also librates with respect to this fixed point Meru.
According to Bhāskara-II, orbital precession is derived by substracting anomalistic precession (sampāt-chalanam) from the first component of Milankovitch cycles (Munjāla’s ayana-chalanam). Bhāskara-II acknowledged earlier authors. Hence, we must conclude that modern values and concepts of orbital precession, anomalistic precession, Milankovitch cycles, etc were known to ancient Indians well before Bhāskara-ii.
But two things about confusing terminology must be borne in mind : this sampāt-chalanam he finally gets by combining the two quantities mentioned above. According to Bhāskara-II, Suryasiddhāntic sampāt-chalanam is 30000 per Kalpa. He does not give a name for the term which is finally obtained by combining this sampāt-chalanam with Munjāla’s ayana-chalanam, but the definition he provides for Suryasiddhāntic sampāt-chalanam is exactly the definition of the final quantity whose name he does not provide. Hence, there were many types of sampāt-chalanams !! This is not a case of confusion of terms. It is a result of Saurpakshiya term with Drikpakshiya terms bearing same names but having different magnitudes and sometimes even having difference in basic properties !
Second confusion is due to use of the term ayana-chalanam for Munjāla’s precession. It is quite distinct from Saurpakshiya Suryasiddhāntic ayana-chalanam (trepidation) as mentioned in existing text. Burgess could not digest this theory of libration (oscillation or trepidation, ie, ayanāamsha – motion) and tried to distort the meaning of terms to fit modern view of orbital precession with this Saurpakshiya precession. Bhāskara-ii knew and respected Suryasiddhānta which he cited and used in his computations as shown above, and gave exact value of Drikpakshiya precession. Therefore, it is foolish to impose Drikpakshiya precession (50.9″ per year according to Bhāskara-II, 50.3″ really) upon Saurpakshiya ayanamsha (54″ per year, oscillating within a range of ± 27 degrees). (There are further corrections on Drikpakshiya precession which give a final value of one revolution in 25771.4 years, exactly equal to the value deduced by NASA – JPL , but these corrections requires some long theorems to prove).
I do not want to say that all ancient texts are true and should be blindly followed. But it is equally wrong to deride them as outdated and obscurantist just because they could not be understood by moderns.We have yet to discover the real Wonder that Is India. Unless and until ancient texts are proven false, it is suicidal to reject them.

Prediction of Lord Gaurang-Chaitanya Mahaprabu- 9th Avatar of God Krishna

Based on Sri Gauranga Chandra Udaya portion of Vayu Purana-


Sri Krishna reveals the Supreme Secret of all Secrets

Due to the compassionate nature of the great sages and saintly persons after hearing of the abominable qualities of the age of Kali, they naturally inquire as to how those born in this age can free themselves of its inherent contamination.

Sri Krishna replied, “My dear Brahma, I will reveal to you the supreme secret of all secrets: In this age of Kali, I will manifest as the son of Sachi to start the Sankirtan Movement.”
This discussion continues wherein Sri Krishna describes His complete incarnation as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, revealing His associates and the identities of His followers.
“May that Lord, who is known as the son of Srimati Sacidevi, be transcendentally situated in the innermost core of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has descended in the age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most elevated mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love.” – (Chaitanya-caritamrita Adi-lila, 3.4)
“I take shelter of Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is outwardly of a fair complexion but is inwardly Krishna Himself. In this age of Kali He dislplays His expansions by performing congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord.”
Lord Krishna enjoys His transcendental pastimes as long as He wishes, and then He disappears. After disappearing, however, He thinks thus:
“For a long time I have not bestowed unalloyed loving service to Me upon the inhabitants of the world. Without such loving attachment, the existence of the material world is useless. Everywhere in the world people worship Me according to scriptual injunc tions. But simply by following such regulative principles one cannot attain the loving sentiments of the devotees in Vrajabhumi. Knowing My opulences, the whole world looks upon Me with awe and veneration. But devotion made feeble by such reverence does n ot attract Me. By performing such regulated devotional service in awe and veneration, one may go to Vaikuntha and attain the four kinds of liberation. These liberations are sarsti [achieving opulences equal to those of the Lord], sarupya [having a form th e same as the Lord’s], samipya [living as a personal associate of the Lord] and salokya [living on a Vaikuntha planet]. Devotees never accept sayujya, however, since that is oneness with Brahman.
I shall personally inaugurate the religion of the age – nama-sankirtana, the congregational chanting of the holy name. I shall make the world dance in ecstasy, realizing the four mellows of loving devotional service. I shall accept the role of a devotee, and I shall teach devotional service by practicing Myself. Unless one practices devotional service himself, he cannot teach it to others. This conclusion is indeed confirmed throughout the Gita and Bhagavatam.
Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion – at that time I descend Myself. To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium. If I do not show the proper principles of religion, all these worlds would fall into ruin. I would be a cause of unwanted population and would spoil all these living beings. Whatever actions a great man performs, common people follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.
My plenary portions can establish the principles of religion for each age. No one but Me, however, can bestow the kind of loving service performed by the residents of Vraja. There may be many all-auspicious incarnations of the Personality of Godhead, but who other than Lord Sri Krishna can bestow love of God upon the surrendered souls?
Therefore in the company of My devotees I shall appear on the earth and perform various colorful pastimes.”
Thinking thus, the Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna Himself, descended at Nadia early in the age of Kali.” (Chaitanya-caritamrita Adi-lila, 3.13-29)
“Adwaita acharya is an incarnation of the Lord as a devotee. His loud calling was the cause for Krishna’s incarnation. Whenever Sri Krishna desires to manifest His incarnation on earth, first He creates the incarnations of His respectable predecessors. Thus respectable personalities such as His father, mother, and spiritual master all take birth on earth first. Madhavendra Puri, Isvara Puri, Srimati Sacimata and Srila Jagannatha Misra all appeared with Sri Adwaita Acharya.
Adwaita Acharya having appeared, found the world devoid of devotional service to Sri Krishna because people were all engrossed in material affairs. Everyone was engrossed in material enjoyment, whether sinfully or virtuously. No one was interested in the tr anscendental service of the Lord, which can give total relief from the repetition of birth and death. Seeing the activities of the world, the Acharya felt compassion and began to ponder how he could act for the people’s benefit.
“If Sri Krishna were to appear as an incarnation, He Himself could preach devotion by His personal example. In this age of Kali there is no religion other than the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, but how in this age will the Lord appear as an incarnation? I shall worship Krishna in a purified state of mind. I shall constantly petition Him in humbleness. My name, Adwaita, will be fitting if I am able to induce Krishna to inaugurate the movement of the chanting of the holy name.”
While he was thinking about how to propitiate Krishna by worship, the following verse came to his mind. “Sri Krishna, who is very affectionate toward His devotees, sells Himself to a devotee who offers merely a tulasi leaf and a palmful of water.”
Adwaita Acharya considered the meaning of the verse in this way: Not finding any way to repay the debt He owes to one who offers Him a tulasi leaf and water, Lord Krishna thinks, “There is no wealth in My possession that is equal to a tulasi leaf and water. ” Thus the Lord liquidates the debt by offering His own self to the devotee. Considering this, the acharya began worshiping the Lord.
Thinking of the lotus feet of Sri Krishna, He constantly offered tulasi buds in water from the Ganges. He appealed to Sri Krishna with loud calls and thus made it possible for Krishna to appear.
Therefore the principal external reason for Sri Chaitanya’s descent is this appeal by Adwaita Acharya. The Lord, the protector of religion, appears by the desire of His devotee. (Exerpt from Chaitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 3.92-110).
Further in the Chaitanya-caritamrta, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami has stressed that Lord Chaitanya appeared for three principal reasons of His own. The first purpose was to relish the position of Srimati Radharani, who is the prime reciprocator of transcendental love of Sri Krishna. Lord Krishna is the reservoir of transcendental loving transactions with Srimati Radharani. The subject of those loving transactions is the Lord Himself, and Radharani is the object. Thus the subject, the Lord, wanted to relish the mellow in the position of the object, Radharani.
The second reason for His appearance was to understand the transcendental mellow of Himself. Lord Krishna is all sweetness. Radharani’s attraction for Krishna is sublime, and to experience that attraction and understand the transcendental sweetness of Himself, He accepted the mentality of Radharani.
The third reason that Lord Chaitanya appeared was to enjoy the bliss tasted by Radharani. The Lord thought that undoubtedly Radharani enjoyed His company and He enjoyed the company of Radharani, but the exchange of transcendental mellow between the spiritual couple was more pleasing to Srimati Radharani than to Sri Krishna. Radharani felt more transcendental pleasure in the company of Krishna than He could understand without taking Her position, but for Sri Krishna to enjoy in the position of Srimati Radharani was impossible because that position was completely foreign to Him. Krishna is the transcendental male, and Radharani is the transcendental female. Therefore, to know the transcendental pleasure of loving Krishna, Lord Krishna Himself appeared as Lord Chaitanya, accepting the emotions and bodily luster of Srimati Radharani.
Therefore Sri Krishna as Lord Chaitanya appeared to fulfill His internal confidential desires, and externally, to preach the special significance of chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, and to answer the call of His devotees.
“All the universe is filled with the conception of My majesty, but love weakened by that state of majesty does not satisfy Me. If one regards Me as the Supreme Lord and himself as a subordinate, I do not become subservient to his love, nor can it control Me. In whatever transcendental mellow My devotee worships Me, I reciprocate with him. That is My natural behavior.
In whatever way My devotees surrender unto Me, I reward him accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pritha.
If one cherishes pure loving devotion to Me, thinking of Me as his son, his friend or his beloved, regarding himself as great and considering Me his equal or inferior, I become subordinate to him. Devotional service rendered to Me by the living beings revives their eternal life.
O My dear damsels of Vraja, your affection for Me is your good fortune, for it is the only means by which you have obtained My favor.
Mother sometimes binds Me as her son. She nourishes and protects Me, thinking Me utterly helpless. My friends climb on My shoulders in pure friendship, saying, “What kind of big man are You? You and I are equal.” If My beloved consort reproaches Me in a sulky mood, that steals My mind from the reverent hymns of the Vedas.
Taking these pure devotees with Me, I shall descend and sport in various wonderful ways, unknown even in Vaikuntha. I shall broadcast such pastimes by which even I am amazed. The influence of yogamaya will inspire the gopis with the sentiment that I am t heir paramour. Neither the gopis nor I shall notice this, for our minds will always be entranced by one another’s beauty and qualities. Pure attachment will unite us even at the expense of moral and religious duties [dharma]. Destiny will sometimes bring us together and sometimes separate us. I shall taste the essence of all these rasas, and in this way I shall favor all the devotees. Then, by hearing about the pure residents of Vraja, devotees will worship Me on the path of spontaneous love, abandoning a ll rituals of religiosity and fruitive activity. (Chaitanya-caritamrita Adi-lila 4.17-33)
It is described in various places in the sastras that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a covered incarnation. His direct identity is not found very easily. However, His identity is revealed by the activity He performs.
“In kali-yuga human society is infested with hypocrisy and superficiality. There is a strong tendency toward imitation and fraud in this age. Therefore the incarnation of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is revealed in Vedic literature in a confidential, discrete way, so that it will be known to the authorized persons who can then propagate the mission of the Lord on the earth. We actually see in this modern age that many foolish and ordinary persons claim to be God or incarnations, avataras, etc. There are many cheap philosophies and academies that promise, for a moderate fee, to make one God in a short time. In America one famous religious group promises its followers that they will all become the Supreme Lord in heaven. Such bogus preaching goes on in the name of Christianity. Thus, were Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s name widely spoken of in Vedic literature, there would soon be a veritable plague of imitation Chaitanya Mahaprabhus infesting the world.
Therefore, to prevent this pandemonium, discretion is exercised in the Vedic literatures in Kali-yuga, and in a sober, concealed way the actual followers of Vedic culture are informed through the Vedic mantras of the descent of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. T his discrete system, selected by the Lord Himself for His appearance in Kali-yuga, is proving to be greatly successful on the earth planet. And throughout the world millions of people are chanting the holy names of Krishna without the unbearable harassment of hundreds and thousands of imitation Chaitanya Mahaprabhus.” (Extract from Srila Hridayananda dasa Goswami’s purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.35)

harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha

“In this age of Kali there is no alternative, there is no alternative, there is no alternative for spiritual progress other than the holy name, the holy name, the holy name of the Lord.”
In this age, when everything is polluted by the contamination of Kali, it is instructed in the scriptures and preached by Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that by chanting the holy name of the Lord, we can at once be free from contamination and gradually rise to the status of transcendence and go back to Godhead. The offenseless chanter of the holy name of the Lord is as auspicious as the Lord Himself, and the movement of pure devotees of the Lord all over the world can at once change the troublesome face of the world. Only by the propagation of the chanting of the holy name of the Lord can we be immune from all effects of the age of Kali.
– Srimad Bhagavatam 1.16.32-33 Purport

Vaimanika Shastra

SUMMARY – A study of the work “Vymanika Shastra” is presented. First, the historical aspects and authenticity of the work are discussed. Subsequently, the work is critically reviewed in respect of its technical content. It appears that his work cannot be dated earlier than 1904 and contains details which, on the basis of our present knowledge, force us to conclude the non feasibility of heavier‐than-air craft of earlier times. Some peripheral questions concerning dimensions have also been touched upon.

1. Historical Aspects
1.1 ORIGIN
A book titled “Brihad Vimana Shastra” by Shri Bramhamuni Parivrajaka was published in the year 1959 [1]. It contains verses in Sanskrit (describing aircraft) with their Hindi translation.
Recently, another book titled “Vymanika Shastra” by Shri G.R. Josyer has appeared [2], which contains the same Sanskrit verses with their English translation. One notable feature of this English version is that it contains drawings of some crafts too, something not to be found in the Hindi version. Also, the English work by Josyer makes no mention whatsoever of the earlier work in Hindi.
Our main concern in this report will be with the above two works.
These books contain verses which, according to their texts, are supposed to form only part (about a fortieth) of “Yantra Sarvaswa” by sage Bharadwaja, which is devoted to a summary of the work on vimana vigyana by a number of other sages and is said to be for the benefit of all mankind.
1.2 DATING OF THE WORK
In his introduction to the “Brihad Vimana Shastra” (hereafter denoted as BVA) the translator has tried to hind at the Vedic origin of the text. In support of this he has invoked Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati’s work entitled “Rigaveda Bhashya Bhumika” [3]. Also, some quotations from western scholars are given in support of the clain for antiquity.
According to Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati’s commentary (first published in 1878 or earlier), there are references to aircraft in the Vedic mantras:

….going from one island to another with these crafts in three days and nights….and

Just an intelligent people constructed ships to cross oceans…..jumping into space speedily with a craft using fire and water…..containing 12 stamghas (pillars), one wheel, three
machines, 300 pivots, and 60 instruments.
These, however, are too vague, scanty, and totally inadequate to date their (verses) content to the Vedic period. Further, we are afraid we may be attributing meaning to shlokas based on what we know today. (More on this in Section 1.5).
The manuscript from which BVS was prepared as said to have been available a the Rajakiya Sanskrit Library, Baroda, in 1944. It is also stated in BVS that later another transcript was found in Poona with a signature and dates “go venkatacala sharma 9 ‐ 8 ‐ 1919″ set on it. BVS has been written on the basis of the above two transcripts which are essentially the same. It may be noted that in the introduction to BVS gratitude has been expressed to Air Com. Goel who probably has something to do with the procurement of these documents.
1.3 AUTHORSHIP
As already stated, the authorship of the work has been attributed to Maharshi Bharadwaja. Whether this Maharshi is the same as one of the seven seers (Saptarshis) is by no means substantiated. Thus the question of authorship remains as yet unanswered. It is possible, however, to throw more light on the situation. In his introductory remarks in the book Vymanika Shastra (VS from hereon) Josyer states that Pandit Subbaraya Shastry of Anekal dictated the verses to Shri G. Venkatachala Sharma (G.V. Sharma from hereon). No further details of the process in which the work came into existence have been given in VS.
However, we were able to locate Shri G.V. Sharma and Shri Venkatarama Shastry (adopted son of Pandit Subbaraya Shastry) with help from a retired scholor from the Tirupati Sanskrit Library, Shri Srinivasa Iyengar, who seems t have played some part in transactions relating to the transcripts in question. Discussions with both Shri Sharma and Shri Venkatarama Shastry cleared up many points concerning the history of the documents.
Shri G.V. Sharma was a close associate of Pandit Subbaraya Shastry (Shastriji from hereon) during his later years. It appears that Shastriji, who was supposedly endowed with certain mystical powers, used to spell out shlokas (verses) whenever he got inspiration. These used to be promptly taken down by Shri Sharma. After the full text had been so dedicated, copies were made which later found their way to several places, Most of this and other similar materials were kept in charge of Shri Venkatrama Shastry after the death of Shastriji in 1941.
The existence of the manuscript was known in some circles and that probably is how Air Com. Goel came to know of it and had it procured from the Baroda University Library sometime during 1944.
Sometime during 1951, Shri Josyer established an organization, called International Academy of Sanskrit Research. An exhibition of rare manuscripts was held during the inaugural function. Shri M.C. Krishnaswamy Iyengar, another associate of Shastriji, (who has published the English translation of the autobiography of Shastriji [4]) took some of the manuscripts, including the “Vymanika Shastra”, and had them exhibited there. Subsequently, the original manuscript and the drawings were procured and retained by Shri Josyer. The drawings were not contained in the transcripts which reached the Baroda University Library. That perhaps is why BVS lacks the drawings.
1.4 AUTHOR’S LIFE SKETCH
The authorship, as stated earlier, has been traced to Shastriji. It may be worth recording some of his life history to appreciate the situation in a better perspective. Following is a brief life sketch of Shastriji summarized from reference [4]. It appears that the autobiography was written to fulfil a promise made to Jagdish Chandra Bose (the well ‐ known scientist) by Shastriji, during one of the discussion meetings at Bombay.
Shastriji was born in a small village in Hosur Taluk (Madras State) and got married at the age of eight. His parents died a few years later and he was forced to support the large family, including brothers and sisters, virtually by begging. Subsequently, he went to stay with his father ‐ in ‐ law, but soon had to leave with his brothers and sisters, looking for alms at other towns. Thereafter, things got worse. Sometime later, his sisters and one of his three brothers died of small ‐ pox. He himself got such a severe attack that he no longer could move or use his own hands. His brothers perforce had to leave him to himself and move away. He had to live on grass and other leaves, like and animal, for a period of time. He then came to an area near Kolar (Karnataka) in a most pitiable state. It is stated that there he met a great saint, referred to as Guruji Maharaj in the text. This saint cured him of his terrible disease, initiated him into spirituality and revealed to him secrets of many shastras like Vimana Shastra, Bhautik Kala Nidhi, Jala Tantra, etc. in a cave.
Later on, Shastriji came back to Anekal and settled down with his wife to a quiet life. Circumstances forced him to adopt Shri Venkatarama Shastry as his son. Because of innate spirituality and mysticism, he came to influence many people, some wise, some rich, and some both. He then made several trips to Bombay and dictated Parts of Vimana Shastra there. He had the drawings (of aircraft) made sometime between 1900 and 1919 by someone called Ellappa who was a draughtsman in a local engineering college at the time.
Shastriji had no formal training (for schooling) of any kind. He learnt to read and write Telugu and Kannada scripts only when he came back after meeting Guruji Maharaj. His early boyhood and youth were spent in braving some of the worst calamities that can befall a man.
What appears strange in the whole matter is that Pandit Subbaraya Shastry, who apparently was not a ‘pnadit’ in anyordinary sense, dictated a work and nowhere in it did his name appear. Also, it was written as though Maharshi Bhadadwaja were its author. Any possible fraud in the matter, in our opinion, is out of the question sine Shastriji was known for his utter simplicity, humble and un[pretentious nature. It is also stated in his autobiography that he was unsure of the practicality of the ideas propounded in Vymanika Shastra. (The theory itself is highly unsound in our view). Also stated one late Dr. Talpade (of Bombay) tried to make models under the guidance of Shastriji, but that he was not successful in making any of then fly.
1.5 DISCUSSION
The dating of the work VS may be approached from other angles: (a) The kind of Sanskrit used in the text may indicate whether or not the text is of Vedic origin.
The text contains Shlokas set to anushtupa metre and its language is quite simple and modern. Again, in its introduction, BVS mentions that a few words did have a structure similar to that of the Vedic Sanskrit. The number of such words being very small, and their usage being incidental, it appears appropriate to conclude that the Sanskrit used in the text is modern. (b) Another significant point is the almost complete absence of any mention of use of aircraft in the innumerable Sanskrit texts of the post ‐ Vedic age. One text, namely “Samarangana Sutradhara”, by Bhoja deals with some description of aircraft, but does not quote any earlier work. What is more, Bhoja states that detailed description of their construction and other features will not be given lest the same be used for evil purpose by people? (We are tempted to remark that he did not know!)
The most important of texts like Ramayana and Mahabharata make no mention of the use of aircraft for travel, military, or war purposes. The ‘Pushpak Vimana’ of Ramayana, as described therein, has no flying qualities except possibly by invocation of ‘mantras’ or ‘tantras’. Of course, a discussion of whether these existed at all is undecideable within the realm of science and is beyond the scope of this paper.
Thus it appears to us from internal and related evidence that the work VS is of recent origin.
Despite these and other facts mentioned earlier Shri Josyer states in the introduction to his book [2] that the work is several thousand years old; the book in Hindi [1] tends to hint at the vedic origin of the text.
What we feel unfortunate in history is that some people tend to eulogise and glorify whatever they can find about our past, even without valid evidence. In the absence of any evidence, efforts will be made to produce part of the evidence in favour of antiquity. The above two works are by no means exceptions to this, in particular the recently published book. In fact the introduction to Reference [2] is least scholarly by any standards. We feel that the people connected with publication – directly or indirectly – are solely to blame either for distorting or hiding the history of the manuscripts.
1.6 CONCLUSIONS
Thus the work “Vymanika Shastra” was brought into existence sometime between 1900 and 1922 by Pandit Subbaraya Shastry by techniques unclear to us at the moment. The only evidence in favour of Maharshi Bhardwaja being the author is the textual statement and nothing more.
2. Technical Survey And Criticism
2.1 GENERAL
A general treatise on any subject, particularly as complex as aeronautics, starts off with an enunciation of the basic principles involved and subsequently discusses the integration and development of these principles into a technology. This is indeed so with any of the treaties on modern science or technology. Contrary to this, the Vymanika Shastra gets down to details right away; even here there is no expression of any kind of generality. The different parts (of aircraft) are quantitatively described as though a particular plane were being described.
The science of aeronautics requires an understanding of a number of disciplines: aerodynamics, aeronautical structures, propulsive devices, materials, and metallurgy. The subject works lay uncalled for emphasis on propulsive devices and structures, but little or no emphasis on aerodynamics. It is worth pointing out that the history of aeronautics (western) in regard to production of heavier ‐ than ‐ air craft is studded with initial failures, significantly traceable to a non ‐ understanding of aerodynamics [5].
The works [1,2] under discussion contain description and details on the definition of an airplane, a pilot, aerial routes, food, clothing, metals, metal production, mirrors and their uses in wars, varieties of machinery and yantras, planes like ‘mantrik’, ‘tantrik’, and ‘kritak’. Details about four planes in the ‘kritak’ category – Shakuna, Sundara, Rukma, and Tripura – are also given.
We will address ourselves principally to the above mentioned four planes; the discussion will be on the basis of principles, geometry, materials, chemistry, and operational data.

2.2 SHAKUNA VIMANA
2.2a General – As the name suggests, this vimana (plane) is like a bird. It is supposed to contain the following parts: Peetha (floor board), hollow mast, three wheeled keelakas (hinges) with holes, four heaters, air suction pipes, water jacket, oil tank, shakuna yantra, two wings, tail portion to enable the vimana to fly, owshyamaka yantra or heat engine, etc.
It has several tiers, each one containing different yantras (machines). The drawings show parts like cylinder, piston worm gear, and pumps which seem entirely modern (beyond 18 th century)
2.2b Principles – A few lines have been devoted to the function of wings and tail and they appear to be incorrect. From what is given in the following verses:

It appears that great importance is given to the tail portion for the generation of lift. Also the function of the hinge wings becomes unclear in this context. It may be noted that it is the wings which should contribute to the life of the craft and the tail portion to its controllability.
2.2c Geometry – The height and width of the craft, in our opinion, are in such proportion as to put its stability in serious question. There are inconsistencies in the dimensions mentioned in the
verses and those given in the drawings. For

Here the dimensions are as follows. The floor board height is 80 feet; its width and length are 56 feet each. The latter dimensions are different in the drawings, being 80 and 25 feet respectively. In the verses, ‘vitasti’ is used as a unit of length while in the drawings ‘foot’ is adopted. The value of vitasti varies from 9 inches to a foot depending upon the situation in which the term is used. Here it appears as though vitasti has been equated to a foot at all places.
2.2d Operational data – There are no statements on the capabilities of this craft.
2.2e Materials – There is mention of a number of materials. The floor board is made of ‘raja loha’. This material, supposedly, is to be made from ‘prana kshara’ (ammonium chloride), Bengal gram, benzoin, mercury borax, mica, silver, and ‘panchamrita’(!), all mixed, heated to 800 ‘kaksha’ (unit of temperature), and poured out. There is a number of other materials described herein.
2.2f Comments – It must be pointed out here that the essential idea of flying like a bird has been tried by many people (abroad) over several centuries right from the time of Leonardo ‐ da ‐ Vinci, but without any success whatever. Hence the feasibility of a craft of the above type is a near impossibility. Furthermore, the author – whoever he be – shows a complete lack of understanding of the dynamics of the flight of heavier ‐ than ‐ air craft.

2.3 SUNDAR VIMANA
2.3a General – This plane meant for flight only in the air has five tires and a number of parts.

These are: ground plate, smoke chimney, five gas engines, metal pipe wind blower, electricity generator, four faced heater, and outer cover.
2.3b Principles – The place has been described in considerable detail though no basic principles of operation have been mentioned. From what may be salvaged as principles, we have the following: electricity is generated by some means (what appears to be a combination of friction, heat, solar rays, waterfall etc.) through use of ‘jyotirmukha’ and several other materials including sixteen ‘drona’ measures of donkey’s urine! The use of 80 ‘link’ of electricity is expected to vaporize oil. Also, steam is generated separately. It appears that by operating some switches, these two (oil and steam) can be mixed to produce 500 ‘kaksha’ heat. These are then passed through a pipe called ‘shundala’ (like elephant’s trunk) for purposes of propulsion. Further there is detailed description of some machinery. Looking into drawings and the text leads one to conclude that air is sucked from the bottom, and hot gases are allowed to exhaust through pipes toward the top. And this is expected to produce force to life the plane up a statement which is a gross violation of Newton’s laws. It may be mentioned that there are verses which imply such violations clearly:

“……….The fast movement of the plane takes place in the same direction in which the jet gets out of shundala..”
The shloka has been set with a question mark in BVS. However, in VS Shri Josyer seems to have edited the relevant part of the verse into
… svayameva vimanasya gamanam …
Because of this editing, meanings of the verses don’t tie in properly. In fact, this editing was totally uncalled for and should not have been done. If it was to be performed, it should have been indicated as such.
2.3c Geometry & operational data – It has the shape of a cone ‐ cylinder combination, with a base diameter of 32 feet, cylinder height of 20 feet, and cone height of 29 feet. The whole geometry appears to be one of a mobile factory, if anything, and much less of an aircraft. The speed of smoke from the gas engine (dhoomodga yantra) is said to be 2113 ‘link’. Wind speed from ‘nala stambha’ is said to be 600 ‘link’. Speed of the craft is given in:

Four hundred yojanas are covered in one ghatika.
Ghatika has a standard implication of 24 minutes. Yojana has an implication of about 8 to 10 miles (some interpret yojana to mean more). Even with the smaller figure the craft speed amounts to 8000 mph – fantastic figure by any standards. It may be noted that no aircraft of today has attained such speed inside the atmosphere.
2.3d Chemistry & materials – One of the vessels used for production of electricity is expected to be filled with apamarga, sampasya, and ayaskanta soaked in elephant’s urine mixed with mercury. Another vessel is to be filled with cow’s urine, and so on. There are several other descriptions in a similar vein without any possible sense.

2.4 RUKMA VIMANA
2.4a General – This plane has a five tier structure, with passenger cabins on the third tier. The plane is meant for flight only in the air.
2.4b Principles – This aircraft is the one which some of us thought meaningful quite some time back while studying BVS. AT that time VS (containing the drawings) was not available. From BVS we conclude that there were long vertical ducts containing fans at the top. The direction of airflow was not indicated in the text. We presumed, therefore, that upward flight would be feasible by running the fans to suck air from the top and send it down the ducts, generating a lift in the process, essentially like a vertical takeoff and landing craft (VTOL).
In the text it is stated that lift is generated by the beating of ‘ayahpinda’ wheels against the floor board. Electrical tube wheels are supposed to aid flight in a manner not discussed at all. The purpose of fans has not been indicated in the text, whereas in the figure they have been captioned as “lifting fans”. Further, like in other crafts, the static stability is in some doubt.
2.4c Geometry – The geometry is again a cylinder ‐ cone combination with a base diameter of 100 feet, height of 20 feet, and cone height of 80 feet. The text mentions a dimension of 1000 feet for the base.

However, the drawing shows only 100 feet. This is a geometrical contradiction.
2.4d Operational data – The Description mentions a speed of 105 kroshas per ghatika amounting to a speed of 625 mph (compared to the speed of sound of about 760 mph). This is an incredible speed even for a sleek aircraft and just impossible for the kind of geometry used.
2.4e Materials – A number of materials is mentioned principal among which is ‘raja loha’.
2.4f Comments – If the craft is taken to mean what the drawings and the text say, it can be stated that the craft is a decided impossibility.

2.5 TRIPURA VIMANA
2.5a General – This plane is supposed to fly in air, and move water and land. When moving over water the wheels are to be retracted.
2.5b Principles – No mention of any principles of operation has been made. Power is said to be generated from the generator from the generator at the top using sun’s rays and some acids in a manner not described. The general description and the diagrams seem to indicate the use of electric motors which were known only in the 19 th century. 2.5c
Geometry & operational data – It is oval shaped in plan with a length of 100 feet and maximum width of 24 feet. The height of the craft is 30 feet. No operational data have been given.
2.5d Materials – In order to prevent water from seeping into the craft, when it is moving over water, it is said to be covered with a cloth known as milk cloth ( kshirapata ). Also the description of an alloy has been given which is supposed to be light and fire resistant.
3. General Comments and Conclusions
Any reader by now would have concluded the obvious – that the planes described above are the best poor concoctions, rather than expressions of something real. None of the planes has properties or capabilities of being flown; the geometries are unimaginably horrendous from the point of view of flying; and the principles of propulsion make then resist rather than assist flying.
The text and the drawings do not correlate with each other even thematically. The drawings definitely point to a knowledge of modern machinery. This can be explained on the basis of the fact that Shri Ellappa who made the drawings was in a local engineering college and was thus familiar with names and details of some machinery. Of course the text retains a structure in language and content from which its ‘recent nature’ cannot be asserted. We must hasten to point out that this does not imply an oriental nature of the text at all. All that may be said is that thematically the drawings ought to be ruled out of discussion. And the text, as it stands, is incomplete and ambiguous by itself and incorrect at many places.
A large number of verses has been devoted to the metallurgical and material aspects, as stated earlier.
Also, a number of cross references indicated in BVS belong to the subject of materials. (Incidentally, these references are not to be found in VS.) This is understandable since our people were leaders in this field in earlier times. A number of materials made of iron, brass, and bronze, in existence since times immemorial and even till this day, are proofs enough of this feature.
Yet the description of materials and their making in the text do not seem to make much sense from the point of view of making them in actual practice.
Be this as it may, the text raises some peripheral questions. One of them concerns the kind of units used. The basic text uses ‘vitasti’ for length, ‘link’ for speed, ‘kaksha’ for heat, & ‘link’ again for electrical force. The units of speed and temperature are new and, to the best of our knowledge, do not have any easily decipherable meaning. Some effort was made to determine the internal consistency of these units, but this did not prove successful.
Also, no data have been given about the weights of crafts and their components. This is serious since weight is fundamental to the flying of heavier ‐ than ‐ air machines. Moreover, the unit of mass does not even appear anywhere is the text.
REFERENCES
1. Swami Bramhamuni Parivrajaka, “Brihad Vimana Shastra”, Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha. Dayanand Bhavan, New Delhi, 1959.
2. G. R. Josyer, “Vymanika Shastra”, Internaitonal Academy of Sanskrit Research, Mysore ‐ 4.
3. Dayananda Saraswati, “Rig ‐ veda Bhashya Bhumika”, Vydika Yantralaya, Ajmer, 1929.
4. G. Venkatachala Sharma, The Autobiography (in English of Pandit Subbaraya Shastry), published by M. C. Krishnaswamy Iyengar, and C. Venkatachala Sharma.
5. Theodore von Karmen, “The Aerodynamics”, McGraw Hill Company, 1963.
6. Editor’s comment – In this context, it must be pointed out that Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati (MDS) in his commentary on the Rigveda (reference 3 above, published first in 1878 or earlier), has also something to say on the subject of movement of aircraft in different directions.
In his comments (on the verses given in Sub ‐ section 1.2 of this article) MDS says:
“……..One of them to halt the craft, one to make it move forward, and the third to make it move backwards. …There be 60 instruments, some working at one time and the others at other times. ….In other words, to lift the lane up, the top openings for steam must be closed and to bring the craft down, steam should appropriately be allowed to exhaust from the top. Similarly, to propel the aircraft eastward, eastward steam openings must be closed and westward ones opened: to take the plane in the westward direction, westward steam openings should be shut and eastward ones opened; and so on for movements in the north and south directions. And there be no mistakes in this. …There are many more verses on the subject (of aircrafts), but the wise will get the idea from whatever little is given here.”
The statements above would appear to indicate complete accord with the Newton’s laws of motion. Contradictions apparent in the verses and drawings in [1] and [2] are quite puzzling, especially when one considers the fact that [3] was supposedly available when [1] and [2] were compiled.
From indiadivine.org

Measurement of Time per Hindu vedic Dharma

Most Hindus who have been educated in the anti Hindu education system devised by Max Mueller and Macaulay, consider it their privilege to blindly ape the western customs. The sore lack of Dharmashikshan (lack of education on Dharma) is the reason for the present pitiable state of Hindus. As a result, not only do most Hindus ignore the fact that the Hindu new year begins on Gudipadwa (also known as Yugadi), they deride those who advise them to observe this day.

In this article, we will see the immense timescales that have been familiar to Hindus since time immemorial. Also we will be able to appreciate the expansive nature of time. Seekers will be able to introspect on the infinitesimally tiny part that we occupy in the wheel of time; which helps to reduce ego.
1. Time is infinite.
It is divided as Kalpa, Manvantara, Mahayuga, and Yuga.
A. The Four Yugas:
Satya Yuga = 1,728,000 years
Treta Yuga = 1,296,000 years
Dwapara Yuga = 864,000 years
Kali Yuga = 432,000 years
B. The Mahayuga:
Mahayuga (also called as Chaturyuga or Divyayuga) = sum of all four Yugas; 4,320,000 years
C. The Manvantara:
Manvantara: 71 Mahayugas make one Manvantara
D. The Kalpa
Kalpa = 14 Manvantaras (or 1,000 Mahayugas, after including the yuga sandhyas)
14 Manvantars or 1,000 Mahayugas = 4,320,000,000 years
2. A Kalpa is one day or one night cycle in the life of Lord Brahma
Such 360 Days + 360 Nights = One Year of Lord Brahma’s life
One Parardha = 50 Years of Lord Brahma’s Life
Lord Brahma’s lifespan = 100 years (calculated as shown above)
100 years of Brahma’s life = One breath of Maha Vishnu
When Maha Vishnu breaths in, the entire collection of countless universes are annihilated and enter into the body of Maha Vishnu.
When Maha Vishnu again breaths out, all of the countless universes are again manifested and recreated.
3. As of now, 50 years from Brahma’s life have been completed
15,55,20,00,00,00,000 years have passed.
A. Right now, the first day of the 51st year (Shwetavaraha Kalpa) is going on.
B. Six Manvantaras of this Kalpa have been completed while the 7th (Vaivasvata) is taking place.
C. The Vaivasvata Manvantara comprises of 71 mahayugas of which 27 have been completed. The Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dwapara Yuga of the 28th Mahayuga have been completed, and we are in the Kaliyuga.
D. The first part of Kali yuga comprising 5115 years has passed and this Gudipadwa / Yugadi will signal the start of the 5,116th year.
E. To specifically calculate the year that starts on this Gudipadwa / Yugadi. First Parardha + [6 Manvantars x 71 Mayugas] + [27 mahayugas x 4,320,000 years] + 3 yugas [Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, and Dwapara Yuga] + 5,116 years of the present Kali Yuga.
F. That would be, 155,520,000,000,000 + 1,840,320,000 + 116,640,000 + 3,888,000 + 5,116 = 155,521,960,853,116 years.
So celebrate the 155,521,960,853,116th new year on 31st of March, 2014! This is the vastness of the Hindu calendar. Compare that to the western world, which begins their calendar just 2,014 years ago.
Happy 155,521,960,853,116th new year!
… but remember this has been just half a breath of the Maha Vishnu.
Indiadivine.org

Speed of Light in Rigveda

The first quantitative estimate of the speed of light is seen in Indian vedic scholar Sayana’s commentary on the Rig Veda. It says that sun light travels 2,202 yojanas in the time span of a nimisharda (half a nimisha). The yojana is an ancient unit of length. Arthasastra defines it as being equal to 8,000 dhanus, which is equivalent to 9.09 miles. A nimisha is an ancient unit of time that is equal to 16/75 seconds. Thus 2,202 yojanas in half a nimisha is equal to 189,547 miles per second after conversion. The modern estimate of the speed of light is 186,281.7 miles per second.

This velocity of Light was calculated by Maxwell in the 19th century, but its was actually determined accurately thousands of years before in the Rig Veda. It was further elaborated by Sayana in the 14th century AD in his commentaries on Rig Veda. Indian Almanacs have always calculated accurately the motion of planets, sunset, sunrise, eclipses, etc. without using telescopes or any other machinery.
It is to be noted that Bhatta Bhaskara (probably from the 10th century) made the same statement in his commentary on Taittiriya Brahmana, another Hindu Veda. He says this to be an old tradition.
The fourth verse of the Rigvedic hymn 1:50 (50th hymn in book 1 of rigveda) is as follows:
तरणिर्विश्वदर्शतो जयोतिष्क्र्दसि सूर्य |
विश्वमा भासिरोचनम |
taranirviśvadarśato jyotishkridasi sūrya | viśvamā bhāsirocanam ||
This means “Swift and all beautiful art thou, O Surya (Sun), maker of the light, illuminating all the radiant realm.”
Exlpaining this verse in his Rig Veda commentary, Sayana, who was a minister in the court of Bukka of the great Vijayanagar Empire of Karnataka in South India (in early 14th century), says:
tatha ca smaryate yojananam. sahasre dve dve sate dve ca yojane
ekena nimishardhena kramaman.
This means “It is remembered here that Sun (light) traverses 2,202 yojanas in half a nimisha.”
Note: Nimisharda = half of a nimisha
In the vedas Yojana is a unit of distance and Nimisha is a unit of time.
Unit of Vedic Time: Nimisha
The Moksha Dharma Parva of Shanti Parva in Mahabharata describes Nimisha as follows:
15 Nimisha = 1 Kastha
30 Kashta = 1 Kala
30.3 Kala = 1 Muhurta
30 Muhurtas = 1 Diva-Ratri (Day-Night)
We know Day-Night is 24 hours
So we get 24 hours = 30 x 30.3 x 30 x 15 nimisha
in other words 409050 nimisha
We know 1 hour = 60 x 60 = 3600 seconds
So 24 hours = 24 x 3600 seconds = 409,050 nimisha
409,050 nimisha = 86,400 seconds
1 nimisha = 0.2112 seconds (This is a recursive decimal. The wink of an eye is equal to 0.2112 seconds.)
1/2 nimisha = 0.1056 seconds
Unit of Vedic Distance: Yojana
Yojana is defined in Chapter 6 of Book 1 of the ancient vedic text “Vishnu Purana” as follows:
10 ParamAnus = 1 Parasúkshma
10 Parasúkshmas = 1 Trasarenu
10 Trasarenus = 1 Mahírajas (particle of dust)
10 Mahírajas= 1 Bálágra (hair’s point)
10 Bálágra = 1 Likhsha
10 Likhsha= 1 Yuka
10 Yukas = 1 Yavodara (heart of barley)
10 Yavodaras = 1 Yava (barley grain of middle size)
10 Yava = 1 Angula (1.89 cm or approx 3/4 inch)
6 fingers = 1 Pada (the breadth of it)
2 Padas = 1 Vitasti (span)
2 Vitasti = 1 Hasta (cubit)
4 Hastas = a Dhanu, a Danda, or pauruSa (a man’s height), or 2 Nárikás = 6 feet
2,000 Dhanus = 1 Gavyuti (distance to which a cow’s call or lowing can be heard) = 12,000 feet
4 Gavyutis = 1 Yojana = 9.09 miles
Calculation of the Speed of Light from the Rig Veda:
So now we can calculate what is the value of the speed of light in modern units based on the value given as 2202 yojanas in 1/2 nimisha
= 2,202 x 9.09 miles per 0.1056 seconds
= 20,016.18 miles per 0.1056 seconds
= 189,547 miles per second
As per the Rig Veda the speed of light is 189,547 miles per second.
As per modern science the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second!


From Indiadivine.org

Link of Oman to Indus Valley civilization

Archaeologists have unearthed a site near Sinaw that could reveal India’s ancient Indus Valley civilisation’s far reaching influence on the Omani society thousands of years ago, according to officials of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture. During an excavation, archaeologists have found a tomb from 2,300 years ago of a man who was buried with sword and daggers made of iron and steel from the Indus Valley civilisation. It has been scientifically proven that iron and steel arms were first made in the Indus Valley civilisation.

Sultan Bensaif Al Bakri, director of Excavations and Archaeological Studies of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture has said that this finding may prove the influence of the Indian civilisation on Oman during that period. However, he said that further studies would be carried out on this regard.
Al Bakri has said that a 2,300 year-old underground chamber was found during excavations 22 km south of Sinaw. This was the burial chamber of a man in his 50’s, buried along with his personal arms. Near his grave, two male and female camels were also buried. They were slaughtered after the death of the man. The walls of the graves of these camels were erected with stones.

He said that the man was buried separately, on the right side of the camels’ graves, with his 88cm sword in front of him. In addition, two daggers were tied on the right and left sides of his waist. A robe and woolen cap was also buried along with him. According to the descriptions provided by the archaeologists, the sword and daggers were made of iron and steel which was first made in the Indian civilisation from where it spread to the neighbouring civilisations, including Oman, said Al Bakri.
He said that the sword was kept in front of the man as the handle of the sword was facing him. Its handle was partly covered with textured ivory shaped like an eagle’s beak. It is believed that the man was a chieftain of a tribe, as is evident from the sword and the robe. He was buried as his head was on a pillow and his hat was kept near his head. He was wearing leather shoes.

The Ministry of Heritage and Culture will restore these arms and will display these models in the proposed national museum scheduled to open at the end of this year.
This finding was made during an excavation carried out by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture in coordination with the ministry of transport and communications that was working on the project of Sinaw-Mahout-Duqm road.
While digging, the Ministry of Transport and Communications found a graveyard spread across 100 sq m. This major archaeological finding was made when the ministry excavated 35 graves that came in the way of the proposed road. Archaeologists have concluded that these graves were of two different periods. One is of third century BC while the second is of the first century BC, which included various tombs, potteries and utensils.
From Indiadivine.org

More than 8,000 Year Old Indian City Irradiated by Atomic Blast

Radiation still so intense, the area is highly dangerous. A heavy layer of radioactive ash in Rajasthan, India, covers a three-square mile area, ten miles west of Jodhpur. Scientists are investigating the site, where a housing development was being built.

For some time it has been established that there is a very high rate of birth defects and cancer in the area under construction. The levels of radiation there have registered so high on investigators’ gauges that the Indian government has now cordoned off the region. Scientists have unearthed an ancient city where evidence shows an atomic blast dating back thousands of years, from 8,000 to 12,000 years, destroyed most of the buildings and probably a half-million people. One researcher estimates that the nuclear bomb used was about the size of the ones dropped on Japan in 1945.
The Mahabharata clearly describes a catastrophic blast that rocked the continent.
“A single projectile charged with all the power in the Universe… An incandescent column of smoke and flame as bright as 10,000 suns, rose in all its splendor… It was an unknown weapon, an iron thunderbolt, a gigantic messenger of death which reduced to ashes an entire race. The corpses were so burned as to be unrecognizable. Their hair and nails fell out, pottery broke without any apparent cause, and the birds turned white. After a few hours, all foodstuffs were infected. To escape from this fire, the soldiers threw themselves into the river.”

Archaeological Site of Mohenjo Daro

A Historian Comments
Historian K. Ganguli says that Indian sacred writings are full of such descriptions, which sound like an atomic blast as experienced in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He says references mention fighting sky chariots and final weapons. An ancient battle is described in the Drona Parva, a section of the Mahabharata.
“The passage tells of combat where explosions of final weapons decimate entire armies, causing crowds of warriors with steeds and elephants and weapons to be carried away as if they were dry leaves of trees,” says Ganguli.
“Instead of mushroom clouds, the writer describes a perpendicular explosion with its billowing smoke clouds as consecutive openings of giant parasols. There are comments about the contamination of food and people’s hair falling out.”

Archaeological Site of Mohenjo Daro

Archeological Investigation provides information
Archeologist Francis Taylor says that etchings in some nearby temples he has managed to translate suggest that they prayed to be spared from the great light that was coming to lay ruin to the city.
“It’s so mid-boggling to imagine that some civilization had nuclear technology before we did. The radioactive ash adds credibility to the ancient Indian records that describe atomic warfare.”
Construction has halted while the five member team conducts the investigation. The foreman of the project is Lee Hundley, who pioneered the investigation after the high level of radiation was discovered.
There is evidence that the Rama empire (now India) was devastated by nuclear war. The Indus valley is now the Thar desert, and the site of the radioactive ash found west of Jodhpur is around there.
Consider these verses from the ancient Mahabharata:
…a single projectile
Charged with all the power of the Universe.
An incandescent column of smoke and flame
As bright as the thousand suns
Rose in all its splendour…
a perpendicular explosion
with its billowing smoke clouds…
…the cloud of smoke
rising after its first explosion
formed into expanding round circles
like the opening of giant parasols…
..it was an unknown weapon,
An iron thunderbolt,
A gigantic messenger of death,
Which reduced to ashes
The entire race of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas.
…The corpses were so burned
As to be unrecognisable.
The hair and nails fell out;
Pottery broke without apparent cause,
And the birds turned white.
After a few hours
All foodstuffs were infected…
…to escape from this fire
The soldiers threw themselves in streams
To wash themselves and their equipment.
Until the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, modern mankind could not imagine any weapon as horrible and devastating as those described in the ancient Indian texts. Yet they very accurately described the effects of an atomic explosion. Radioactive poisoning will make hair and nails fall out. Immersing oneself in water gives some respite, though it is not a cure.
When excavations of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro reached the street level, they discovered skeletons scattered about the cities, many holding hands and sprawling in the streets as if some instant, horrible doom had taken place. People were just lying, unburied, in the streets of the city. And these skeletons are thousands of years old, even by traditional archaeological standards. What could cause such a thing? Why did the bodies not decay or get eaten by wild animals? Furthermore, there is no apparent cause of a physically violent death.

Skeletons found at Mohenjo Daro scattered in the street.

These skeletons are among the most radioactive ever found, on par with those at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At one site, Soviet scholars found a skeleton which had a radioactive level 50 times greater than normal. Other cities have been found in northern India that show indications of explosions of great magnitude. One such city, found between the Ganges and the mountains of Rajmahal, seems to have been subjected to intense heat. Huge masses of walls and foundations of the ancient city are fused together, literally vitrified! And since there is no indication of a volcanic eruption at Mohenjo-Daro or at the other cities, the intense heat to melt clay vessels can only be explained by an atomic blast or some other unknown weapon. The cities were wiped out entirely.

While the skeletons have been carbon-dated to 2500 BC, we must keep in mind that carbon-dating involves measuring the amount of radiation left. When atomic explosions are involved, that makes then seem much younger.
Interestingly, Manhattan Project chief scientist Dr J. Robert Oppenheimer was known to be familiar with ancient Sanskrit literature. In an interview conducted after he watched the first atomic test, he quoted from the Bhagavad Gita:
“‘Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.’ I suppose we all felt that way.”
When asked in an interview at Rochester University seven years after the Alamogordo nuclear test whether that was the first atomic bomb ever to be detonated, his reply was, “Ancient cities whose brick and stonewalls have literally been vitrified, that is, fused together, can be found in India, Ireland, Scotland, France, Turkey and other places. There is no logical explanation for the vitrification of stone forts and cities, except from an atomic blast.”

Giant Unexplained Crater Near Bombay
Another curious sign of an ancient nuclear war in India is a giant crater near Bombay. The nearly circular 2,154-metre-diameter Lonar crater, located 400 kilometres northeast of Bombay and aged at less than 50,000 years old, could be related to nuclear warfare of antiquity.
No trace of any meteoric material, etc., has been found at the site or in the vicinity, and this is the world’s only known “impact” crater in basalt. Indications of great shock (from a pressure exceeding 600,000 atmospheres) and intense, abrupt heat (indicated by basalt glass spherules) can be ascertained from the site. David Hatcher Childress in Nexus Magazine:
“The crater is formed in the basalt rock of thickness 600-700m (2,000 to 2,200 feet). This rock is made of many layers or flows which were laid why volcanic activity at various times, five of such flows are exposed at the crater rim. Thickness of these flows ranges from 5 to 30m.”
“The crater is about 150m (500 feet)deep and has average diameter of 1830m (1.4 miles). The elevated rim consists of 25m of bedrock and 5m of ejecta over it. This ejecta blanket is spread over about 1350m (4,400 feet) away from the crater rim and slopes away by 2-6°. The uppermost region of eject contains the deposits that were melted due to the impact”.

Aerial photograph of the Lonar Crater.

Lonar is a place of obscurities, especially as the only meteoric crater formed in basaltic terrain. It has remained relatively intact due to low degree of erosion by environmental agents, making it an excellent model for study. However, several strange things happen here:
1. The lake has two distinct regions that never mix — an outer neutral (pH7) and an inner alkaline (pH11) each with its own flora and fauna. You can actually do a litmus paper test here and check this for yourself.
2. There is a perennial stream feeding the lake with water but there seems to be no apparent outlet for the lake’s water. And it is also a big unsolved mystery where the water for the perennial stream comes from, in a relatively dry region like Buldhana. Even in the driest months of May and June, the stream is perpetually flowing. Lonar generates questions and more questions.
From indiadivine.org

10 unusual temples outside of India

1. Wat Rong Khun, Thailand

A contemporary temple, Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai is better known as the White Temple. A Buddhist place of worship, it has made it to our list of funky temples because of its unconventional exterior. It is completely white, and each form it highlighted with mosaic glass and mirrors, making it sparkle in the sunlight. Privately owned; it is a work in progress, not expected to be completed for many years to come. Thailand’s very own Sagrada Familia!

2. Haeinsa , South Korea

One of South Korea’s most important Buddhist temples, Haiensa in South Gyeongsang Province was initially built in 802. It was rebuilt in 1818 after a fire gutted it the year before. The most amazing bit about this temple is the fact that it is home to a complete copy of Buddhist Scriptures which have been written on 81,350 printing blocks made of wood – all of which survived the devastating fire!
 





















 

3. Po Lin Monastery , Hong Kong

This Buddhist monastery on Lantau Island was started in 1906, but continuous additions and extensions have been made to it over the years. A very notable extension - and the one that resulted in putting this monastery on our list – was the construction of the Tian Tan Buddha, in 1993. This statue, made of 202 bronze pieces, is 112 feet tall. On a clear day, the statue is visible across the bay from as far as Macau. It also holds the record of being the world’s tallest, outdoor, seated Buddha.






































 

4. Borobudur Temple,  Indonesia

Borobudur in Java is the largest and one of the most famous Buddhist temples around the world. Built in the 9th century, it was abandoned in the 14th for not so clear reasons. Made of over 2 million blocks of stone, this huge monument lay hidden for centuries under volcanic ash and jungle growth only to be rediscovered in the 19th century. Since then several restorations have given it back some of its past glory.
 

5. Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple, Malaysia

One of Malaysia’s oldest and now a major Hindu temple, this sparkler started off as an ordinary little hut. That is, till the chairman of the temple decided it was time the humble place of worship got a make over fit for a disco. So now Malaysia has its first and only glass temple in Tebrau. Light from crystal chandeliers bounces off every surface, from doors and walls to pillars and ceilings which are decorated with 300,000 tiny mosaic pieces of coloured glass. It is quite a bright blaze in there!

6. Hanging Temple, China

Hanging precariously on a cliff side in the mountains near Datong, is the Hanging Temple. Built about 1,500 years ago, this monastery is the only existing place of worship which is a combination of three traditional Chinese religions – Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Another claim to fame is that it has made the list of the world’s top ten most odd dangerous buildings!
 

7. Chion-in Temple, Japan

Kyoto’s Chion-in temple is the headquarters of the Jodo sect, the most popular form of Buddhism in Japan. A 17th century structure, it has a huge two storey tall gate which is the largest existing structure of its type in Japan. Another completely bizarre feature is the floor – the wooden boards have these metal ends that are attached to metal joints – giving off a piercing squeaky sound when someone walks over them. The purpose of this musical floor was to keep a track on intruders. Chion-in also has a giant bell in the main hall – it weighs some 70 tonnes and needs 17 strapping monks to ring it!
 

8. Jetavanaramaya, Sri Lanka

Jetavanaramaya is a 4th century stupa in the sacred city Anuradhapura. It makes our list for the incredible number of firsts in figures – it is 400 feet tall, placing it on top of the tallest stupa in the ancient world list. It is also the largest structure in the ancient world with a base area of 2,508,000 square feet. Another funky figure is an unbelievable 93.3 million baked bricks that were used as construction material for this colossal structure.
 





















 

9. The Golden Rock, Myanmar

The Golden Rock on Mt Kyaiktiyo in Mon State is probably the most dramatic mounument on our list. A popular destination for Buddhist pilgrimage, it is a visual delight – imagine a small pagoda built on top of a granite boulder which defies all known laws of gravity and is strangely perched on a mountain side. If that is not cool enough, add to it gold leaves pasted on the boulder by the faithful. A beautiful sight, especially in the evening;  when the rays of the setting sun seem to set the gold leaf on fire.
 

10. Ta Prohm, Cambodia

One of the very few temples in the Angkor region of Siem Reap that has been left in its original form, Ta Prohm is as dramatic as they come. A simple structure, its beauty is in the fact that large roots of various trees have grown over and above the temple structure, binding it in a sort of an unearthly and pretty scary looking grip. Made famous by the Tomb Raider movie that was filmed here, it is one of Cambodia’s most visited sites.
 





















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