Sunday, July 31, 2011

Abode of Sage Pulastya in Srilanka?



The article posted below gives an interesting information on the historicity of
Sage Pulasthya, the grand father of Ravana.
A statue believed to depict the sage is found in Srilanka.


 
The place where the statue is found was known as
Pulastipura in olden times.
This information can be found in the official Ramayana site of Srilanka.
In contrast, there is no official effort by India
to chronicle the historic sites connected with Ramayana in India.

The Srilankan site says that
"The Central Government of India appointed a committee of 14 historians
to identify the authenticity of Ramayana
but was unable to find any historical or archaeological evidence in India.
However, Sri Lanka can prove the validity of Ramayana
with available archaeological and historical evidences."

That puts in perspective the kind of apathy of the Indian Government
in matters related to Hinduism,
inspite of the voluminous literature and traditions
related to the places trailed by Rama.
Both Rama and Krishna had walked
throughout the length and breadth of India
thereby creating an everlasting memory to the people of various parts of India.
That memory continues to live even today.
In this context, it is a welcome development
that experts from various branches of science have come together
to unravel the past prior to 2000 BC. (Read previous post).

In this post I wish to say something I know of sage Pulastya.
Pualstya's name appears in different places.
There are astrological Siddhanthas attributed to Pulaha in some texts and Pulastya in some.
As astrological-  astronomical Sidhantha called Paulisa siddhantha
was authored Pulasthya,
which was compiled as one of 5 siddhanthas of
"Pancha Siddhanthika" of Varahamihira.
The authorship of this is attributed to sage Pulaha by some
and to Pulasthya by others making us think
that both are one and the same.
But  Pulasthya and Pulaha are mentioned
as separate entities in Mahabharatha.


However the name Pulastya is always mentioned
as one of the first borns of Brahma
and also as the grand father of Ravana.
Ravana's father Visravas was the son of Pulasthya
whereas his mother was a of Asuric origin.
Ravana's relatives hailed from Deep South.
Pulasthya's son coming to marry a woman from the Southern hemisphere
shows that Pulastya could have settled in the South.

I have a reason to say this.
The Paulisa siddhantha was said to have originated outside the present day Bharath.
The calculations pertaining to the sky seem to have been taken from a place outside India.
Even the Surya Siddhantha originated outside India
in Romaka Desa,
which was 90 degrees to the west  of present day Lanka.
This puts the Romaka desa in a region in Atlantic ocean.
This corresponds to the lost Atlantis.
In my an analytical series on "Thamizhan Dravidana",
I have located this place as follows:
http://thamizhan-thiravidana.blogspot.com/2011/03/46-2.html




I am happy to see that a researcher in anthropology also identified
the same place for Atlantis.
http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2011/07/post-69.html



Maya Danava was the originator of Surya Siddhantha
which he received in Romaka desa
from the Sun God.
Due to a previous karma he was born as a mleccha in Romaka Desa
 and received it,
so says Surya Siddhantha.

The Paulisa Siddhantha is also said to have originated outside Bharath.
Not much is known about this Siddhantha.
But in my opinion that it must have originated in the Southern hemisphere.
That was the place where early man thrived after his movement out of East Africa.
The kingdom of Daksha prajapathi was situated in the South.
The climatic conditions for human development was conducive in the South about 20,000
years ago when a mini Ice Age hit the North.
 Pulastya as a progenitor of mankind must have lived there.
Those regions are now under water in the Indian Ocean.
(I have written extensively about the scientific causes that led to the
loss of those lands to the sea
in my series on "Thamizhan Dravidanaa?")
The Paulisa Siddhantha could have originated at that place.

The information given in the Srilankan website on Ramayana places
 also talks about the early name of Srilanka.
It says that the old name of Srilanka was Heladiva.
But from Valmiki Ramayana we come to know that Lanka was its original name.
Lanka in Sanskrit means 'grain'.
It is possible that this name was derived from the grain like appearance
or from a probability that plenty of grains were available in Lanka when it was populated.

It was a city built on top of a hill 'tri-kuta'.
3 peaks surrounded the city like fort walls.
There are similar references like this to Lanka in Sangam Tamil texts also. 
It was a planned city built by Viswakarma, the sculptor for Devas.
Lanka was the city that lies at the farthest in the South
when one sees from the top of Meru, the North pole,
according to astrological texts.
This Lanka was built for the benefit of Kubera, the step brother of Ravana.
No civilization existed in Srilanka when Lanka was built.

The city was very beautiful that Ravana confiscated it from Kubera.
After losing it to Ravana, Kubera went to settle down in the
Himalayan region.
Ravana's maternal relatives, who lived in the Deep South,
moved to Lanka and
they were the Rakshasas we find in Ramayana.
(The Rakshasas were the people who inhabited the South Pole
at a time when South was warm and hospitable).

From these accounts,
it is known that the name, Lanka was the original one.
The name Heladiva (if found in old texts)
could have come later.
Hela in sanskrit means 'Moonlight".
There is chapter in Valimiki Ramayana on the Moon rise in Lanka.
The entire chapter describes how the city looked beautiful in moonlight.
Perhaps this gave rise to the name Hela dweepa
which was shortened to Heladiva.
It means the city / dweepa of Moonlight’.

Now to the place of Pulastya.
There is a reference in Vishnu Purana to the abode of Pulastya.
It says,
"The residence of Pulastya  was at Viranagara,
a large handsome city on the banks of the Devika  river.
In a beautiful grove adjoining to the stream
the pupil of Ribhu, Nidagha  conversant with devotional practices, abode."
(V-P 2-15)

Earlier in verse 2-3 of Vishnu Purana,
river Devaki finds a mention along with the rivers of Bharath such as
Kaveri, Vedavati etc.
It is possible to assume that Lanka was considered as part of Bharath
and Devaki was a river in Lanka.

So any conclusion on Pulastya's abode in the said location
in Srilanka must have a river nearby.
It is hoped researchers give importance to the Epics of Bharat
in their search for ancient past.

- Jayasree

***********************

From


In Polonnaruwa to the north of the Pothgul Vehera
is a granite boulder, adorned with a large statue.
This is one of the finest statues in the Island and measures
11 feet 6 inches in height.
The historians and the archaeologists
have not confirmed its identity to date.


                                                       Pulasthi Statue – Polonnaruwa.


Some refer to it as the statue of King Parakramabahu
because its closeness to one of his major irrigation works;
others refer to it as Rishi Pulasthi’s statue. 
The presence of a Brahmanical sacred thread
that runs from the left shoulder across the body and the Ola leaf book
that he carries confirms that it is of Rishi Pulasthi.


The third option is because Polonnaruwa was referred as Pulasthipura in primeval times.
Prof Anuradha Seneviratna says that
there is a worn out Rock Inscription which reads as ‘PULA THA SA’
behind the head of the statue. It proves that this statue is of Rishi Pulasthi.

8 comments:

Skandan said...

Respected Madam,

I was in Srilanka few months back. My observations are below. Just thought of sharing the same with you.

1. There are few travel agents who arrange for Ramayana trail tour for visitors.
2. Places are shown to us connecting to Ramyana period like the place where Hanuman first kept his foot down, ashoka vana, where Indrajit meditated, where hanuman burned the forest and palaces the soil is still brownish in color, where Rama's arrow touched the ground, sita temple, where Ravana's pushapaga viman was reparied.... like this so many places....the current name of the place has some connection with our ramayana places and events.
3. Like our MK and team and Veeramani and periyar and co, we have Rajapakshe team in srilanka. They want to destroy and totally clean up all India related connections. So no govt support. Buddhism is propogated and all hindus are getting convereted to Buddhism.
4. Hindu temples are getting converted to Buddhist viharas
5. Famous kandi Skandan - subramanya temple is now considered as budhhist temple and there is a screen which coveres the idol. You cannot see the God. There is a very big buddha vihara coming up near by. All hindu religious practices are blocked. Even sales of camphor and coconut is not happening. Pooja happens to GOD subramanya as per Budhhist tradition. No Hindu Shops are there around the temple. To my shock no local Hindus are visitng this once famous temple. I came back with shock and sadness. My mother was crying becoz the GOD was blocked by a screen. we spoke to a local hindu tamilan family. They said slowly the buddhist groups are taking over all hindu temples. One buddhist old man was sharing with me that Subramanya married valli in Srilanka and Valli is from Srilanka and Subramanya settled there as a sevant for Buddha. I couldnt control my laugh and anger.
6. There is a big time conversion activity happening for Hindus to muslims in Srilanka. Hindus are offered jobs in middle east. This war torn little country doesnt have much choice. I see people accept the same and make a living.
7. I spoke to the temple priest of sita temple in Nuwaraeliya ( Ashoka vana).He said very little money is given by Indian government once ina while and no local govt support.
8. Even if one good politician makes up his mind, with all the corruption money, we can bring back all these places in India and srilanka to glory.
9. Overall its a very very beautiful country still ( though war affected for last two decades) as expained in Ramayana. I was able to link to so many things from sundara kanda where Valmiki explains the beauty of the land.
10. A good leader like Vivekananda is the need of the hour for us to connect with our Past hindu glory.

Raj said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPiQrkkIKMk&feature=related

Bala said...

Reply to Mr. Skandan :

The attempts by the Sri Lankan govt to destroy all evidences of Ramayana related places and Hindu temples is not surprising.

After all they are following Dr.Ambedkar's writings only.

In many of his articles and speeches he had called for the destruction of vedas, upanishads, puranas etc for the abolition of caste in the Hindu religion.

Being "true" followers, all of them whether it was EVR, MK, Veeramani or Rajapakshe, they are going to take that route only.

If Rama can help us Hindus it will be good.

Otherwise even Hindus will start believing that there is a huge backlog of mass bad karma for them so that Hindu religion is being systematically destroyed in India and elsewhere.

Bala

Jayasree Saranathan said...

Dear Mr Skandan,

It is disturbing to know about the wanton depletion of old traditions of Hinduism in Srilanka. I thought Srilanka was safe guarding the Ramayana sites atleast for the sake of boosting up tourism. That is what that website conveys. Srilanka has many sites and temples of historical importance such as the Murugan temple that you visited. An awareness campaign must be done as a first step in protecting them. Since you have seen them in person, I suggest you start writing them in a blog and in national newspapers.

Jayasree Saranathan said...

Thanks for sharing Mr Raj.

The piece of land that remained after the submergence of the surrounding land, off the coast of Maharashtra was the original land of 'Dravida' This is seen at 2-51 minutes of the video. This location that I deduced from literary evidence which I explained in the 'Thamizhan Dravidanaa?' series exactly tallies with this location that Glen Milne and Graham Hancock are showing in the video. But they do not know that this the original land of Dravida.

This was place where Vaivasvatha Manu ruled (He was called as Dravideshwara) before the rise of water swept him and his men through Dwaraka into river saraswathy.

I already know the existence of this video and will be using in a future post in that Tamil series. Anyway thanks for sharing it here.

kannan infratech said...

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7731363/Ramayana-Trail-in-Srilanka

A book titled 'Ramayana in Lanka' published by the 'Chinmaya Mission Sri Lanka'. Naturally, the book covers more of Rama & Sita than of Rawana. The book lists 44 sites that are connected to the Legend. A DVD titled 'Sri Lanka's Ramayana Trail' too comes with the book. It contains visuals (along with a commentary) of the sites listed in the book. The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau has had a hand in producing the DVD.

Kannan Ramasamy

Jayasree Saranathan said...

Thanks a lot Mr Kannan.

Hasanthi said...

Mr. Skandan
Yes, the Hindu Buddhist rift in Kataragama (The Skanda shrine) is quite sad. It is uncalled for. However, rest assured that there is no idol of Lord Skanda behind the screens in the Kataragama shrine. Only a shadkona yantra exists there. The yantra was created by the great siddha Boganathar.