Overhead or underfoot Moon affects rainfall, says a new study.

At a time I am engaged in experimentation with Rainfall astrology in terms of "Garbottam", the findings of a research based on 15 years data compiled by NASA and Rainfall measuring Mission satellite of Japan adds strength to the views of ancient Hindu astrology on the influence of Moon on rainfall. The researchers at the New University of Washington have just followed the path of the Moon in the sky on each day and have seen that Moon at zenith or nadir is capable exerting a pull on the atmosphere of the earth and thus on air pressure at that place. This reduces the amount of rainfall at that time, though very slightly.

I am happy to note that they are planning to conduct more experiments on connection between Moon and rainfall. I would like them to check specifically two features told by the ancient sages of India and supposed to have been successfully checked and followed by the people of India for hundreds of generations.

But before spelling those out I have a doubt on whether they checked a related feature / phase of the Moon. The news report on their experiments says that rainfall was affected when Moon was overhead or underfoot in a place at that time. I would like to know whether they checked specifically the days of 8^th and 9^th phase of Moon in a place. It is because Moon will be directly overhead when it is passing these 2 phases. These two days would also see the Moon at right angles to the Sun.

My questions are (1) does Moon at over head position at the time of nightfall during the 8^th and 9^th phase cause any change in the air pressure / atmosphere? (1a) Anyway Moon in these 2 phases would rise 6 hours before sunset. Does that have any impact on the rainfall right from the time it rises in the day time at a place?

 (2) From another perspective, is the influence of Moon (tidal force) the least on rainfall on those 2 days owing to the fact that the combined force of the Moon and the Sun on the earth must be the least on those 2 days as they are 90 degrees apart?

Now the two features that I wish the researchers and whoever else interested in this kind of research, to take up: (These are based on rainfall astrological concepts of Vedic sages. Let modern science test and verify them.)

1. What is the status of influence on rainfall on Full Moon and New Moon days? The concept is that if it rains on a New Moon day in a place, it would not rain in the waning phase that comes after a fortnight.

2.  If it rains when the moon is within 8 to 15 degrees from the sun after conjunction (New Moon) or opposition (Full moon), then it will rain for a month till moon reaches the same position again. This can be tested using the data.

There are numerous other features related to Moon’s position across the sky (sidereal based) that have a bearing on rainfall. The above mentioned two are related to the phase of the Moon which the researchers are concentrating on. (This article is being mailed to the researchers)

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From

http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/01/29/phases-of-the-moon-affect-amount-of-rainfall/

Phases of the moon affect amount of rainfall

Hannah Hickey

When the moon is high in the sky, it creates bulges in the planet’s atmosphere that creates imperceptible changes in the amount of rain that falls below.

New University of Washington research to be published in Geophysical Research Letters shows that the lunar forces affect the amount of rain – though very slightly.

“As far as I know, this is the first study to convincingly connect the tidal force of the moon with rainfall,” said corresponding author Tsubasa Kohyama, a UW doctoral student in atmospheric sciences.

Kohyama was studying atmospheric waves when he noticed a slight oscillation in the air pressure. He and co-author John (Michael) Wallace, a UW professor of atmospheric sciences, spent two years tracking down the phenomenon.

Satellite data over the tropics, between 10 degrees S and 10 degrees N, shows a slight dip in rainfall when the moon is directly overhead or underfoot. The top panel shows the air pressure, the middle shows the rate of change in air pressure, and the bottom shows the rainfall difference from the average. The change is 0.78 micrometers, or less than one ten thousandth of an inch, per hour. University of Washington

Air pressure changes linked to the phases of the moon were first detected in 1847, and temperature in 1932, in ground-based observations. An earlier paper by the UW researchers used a global grid of data to confirm that air pressure on the surface definitely varies with the phases of the moon.

“When the moon is overhead or underfoot, the air pressure is higher,” Kohyama said.

Their new paper is the first to show that the moon’s gravitational tug also puts a slight damper on the rain.

When the moon is overhead, its gravity causes Earth’s atmosphere to bulge toward it, so the pressure or weight of the atmosphere on that side of the planet goes up. Higher pressure increases the temperature of air parcels below. Since warmer air can hold more moisture, the same air parcels are now farther from their moisture capacity.

“It’s like the container becomes larger at higher pressure,” Kohyama said. The relative humidity affects rain, he said, because “lower humidity is less favorable for precipitation.”

Kohyama and Wallace used 15 years of data collected by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite from 1998 to 2012 to show that the rain is indeed slightly lighter when the moon is high. The change is only about 1 percent of the total rainfall variation, though, so not enough to affect other aspects of the weather or for people to notice the difference.

“No one should carry an umbrella just because the moon is rising,” Kohyama said.

Instead, this effect could be used to test climate models, he said, to check if their physics is good enough to reproduce how the pull of the moon eventually leads to less rain.

Wallace plans to continue exploring the topic to see whether certain categories of rain, like heavy downpours, are more susceptible to the phases of the moon, and whether the frequency of rainstorms shows any lunar connection.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Tanaka Ikueikai Scholarship Society, and the Iizuka Takeshi Scholarship Foundation.

For more information, contact Kohyama at kohyama@uw.edu. Wallace is traveling out of the country through March.

Naga, Uraga and Pannaga of Puranas - who are they?

I came across an article in TOI on Kinnara, a supposedly mythological being with a hybrid form of man and animal. Kinnaras are always mentioned along with Gandharvas in Mahabharata and Ramayana. There is a tendency to dismiss these names and such others as mythological ideas which ultimately make people think that Mahabharata and Ramayana are only myths. But a careful study of the passages on these names and the ideas developed around them through thousands of years give us a better understanding of what or who they are. An understanding in these lines is needed to know how the Indus seal on “Pasupati’ or proto-shiva must be viewed. Therefore a discussion on Nagas and Kinnaras will have to be done. In the present article, we will see some ideas on Nagas.

Naga, Uraga and Pannaga are identified as different names of snakes. Mostly they appear together in the Hindu texts in such a way that it gives rise to the opinion that they lived and moved together and behaved as human beings. The serpent tag is confusing and it makes people to think whether the reference to these beings is real or these figures themselves are figments of imagination. In reality we come across the name Naga (among the three names) very often and across the cultures.

Nagas are there in many places.

There are Nagas in Nazcal - Inca traditions. (Refer Mu concept of James Churchward in this article). Nagas are there in Nagaland - they were called as Kiratas. Shiva and Uma appeared as Naga Kirata and gave Pasupatha astra to Arjuna. The Mayans also claim that they came from the Nagas of India. There was a Naga cave near Nagappattinam where a Cholan king married the Naga princess and begot a child who founded a dynasty in Kanchipuram. There were Naga dwellings in West and North West India too from where Arjuna got his Naga wife. Like this the Naga- identity list is a long one. But all these Nagas refer to human beings!

The basic idea behind the name Naga is derived from the idea of a serpent. A serpent lives in underground holes. A person who dwells in underground caves lives like a snake! Such a person is Naga. In other words, an underground cave-dweller is a Naga. Such dwellings are there in India. They are also there in Africa, Europe, Andes and Polynesian islands. The names in these places sounding Naga prove that the concept or idea of Naga came from Indian / Vedic society.

Reading this one may wonder why then Nagaland is called so, as it is mostly mountainous and not an underworld dwelling. Nagaland is situated on an extension of a mountain range called 90 degree East Ridge that is submerged in the Bay of Bengal from south to north direction ramming into India near Bengal. It is made up of hot mantle that has erupted from the ocean bed. Such formations would give rise to underground passages and caves once the hot mantle ran away or cooled.

At one time there were visible peaks in this range, something made out from Valmiki Ramayana in the narration of Sugreeva in detailing the land features in the south (VR – 4- 41- 24 onwards) . This range enters Indian mainland and is seen in Nagaland. There are references to tunnels in this range through which people moved and even lived. A dynasty of Thondaiman was established by a person born to a woman (Naga woman) who lived in a tunnel in the mountain off the coast of Nagappattinam in the South East India.

Naga as symbolic and philosophical idea.

Nagas or Serpents are depicted as 2 main ideas in Hindu Thought. One is symbolic and another is philosophical. The symbolic idea is about the subterranean mantle that comes out of the vents during earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. They are known as Naga or serpents. The underground tunnels and vents upon cooling became underground caves where the snakes started to live. Those who made the caves their dwelling places were also known as snakes or serpents or Nagas. Destruction by earthquakes or volcanoes is seen as dance of snakes.

Read: the symbolism of Tripura samhara by means of Naga as the string of Shiva's bow.

The core of the earth is said to be the foremost snake, the Adhisesha. It is because of the core, the earth remains intact.

This image is figurative. But what actually is meant by the idea of Adisesha holding the earth is the core of the earth holding together the earth.

The subterranean mantle is smaller snakes that try escape from Patala. The mother of all these snakes is Adisesha who lies interior to them and is holding the earth in a strong magnetic grip.

This is metaphorically said that Adhisesha is bearing the weight of the earth. An adaptation of this is Atlas of Greek mythology. While Adhisesha bears the weight from within the globe, Atlas bears it on his shoulders.

The same idea in two cultures cannot have been conceived independently of each other. Adhisesha concept is earliest and symbolic, whereas Greek Atlas is a depiction of an impossible type. This is the result of loss of touch or continuity with the original concept.

Gods and snakes.

The snake is once again associated with the two main entities of Godhead in Hinduism. One is Shiva and another is Vishnu. Shiva’s ‘twilight’ dance is indeed known as ‘playing with the serpent’ (BhujangastrAsa) according to Mayamatham. Mayamatham describes two dancing forms of Shiva. Of this, the 2^nd form shows Shiva making serpent gesture with left hand while the right hand makes “abhaya” gesture. This dance marks the collapse of the worlds and breaking of the lands. The liquid magma shoots out on all directions. They are called as snakes that once dwelled in underworlds, now coming out. And Shiva symbolises this kind of destruction.


It is for this reason Shiva or Naga prathishta is seen in underground holes in many places. Popular examples are Kusheshwar, the original deity of Dwaraka before Krishna moved there. This deity is installed under the ground. Balarama’s last place of departure was in an underground hole in Mukti Dwaraka. Balarama is considered as the avatar of Adisesha. The Shiva linga in Brahma's temple at Pushkar is an underground cave. These are Naga dwellings. The people who lived in such places (underground) were Nagas. The deities having connection to snakes (Shiva and Balarama) were also associated with underground places.


Another type of snake is the life form, our jiva or the soul – which is what we are in our inner self. The soul or jiva gives life to the body and is of the size of our thumb according to Upanishads. It resides as a coil of a snake in the tail of the spinal cord. The very purpose of meditation is to rouse that jiva. It is characterised as a serpent lying dormant within us. Almost everyone would have had a dream of snake some time in their life. It is due to the nature of this snake- like jiva. When aroused through Yoga or meditation or breathing procedures, this snake- like jiva (called Kundalini) rises up.

 It is because Sage Patanjali gave us the wisdom of Yoga and meditation and he himself has mastered the rise of Kundalini, he has been depicted as snake bodied in iconography.

Sage Patanjali

It is here another entity of Hindu Godhead is connected. After deluge – during cosmic devolution, where would the snakes (jivas) go? They are infinite (ananta) and are held by Vishnu or Narayana in sleeping posture (on the snake bed). When the physical worlds spring up again, these serpents (jivas) enter them and start new life. By this logic every human entity can be called as a Naga! But by the logic of being a cave-dweller in early period of evolution, the identity of Naga has stuck with many people around the world. 

Uraga and Pannaga.

Now coming to the names associated with Naga, Uraga also means snake. This word sounds like a Tamil word. ஊர்வதால் ஊரகன். It has become உரகன். The snake crawls silently and as such one who moves silently as a crawling snake can to be called as Uraga. They must also be underground cave dwellers or just cave dwellers sharing their surroundings with Nagas.

Uraga (pronounced as 'Ooragan') is the name of God when appeared in the form of Adisesha, the chief of snakes. There is a temple for Narayana as "Uragan" or "Ooragatthan" in Kancheepuram. The name ooragan signifying the snake (as it crawls) in Tamil must have become Uraga (उरग). 

The deity "Ooragan" in Kancheepuram. 

This is one of 108 manifestation of Lord Narayana. 

The presence of a Divya Desa temple in the name "Ooragan" the snake shows that the original etymology of the word Uraga was in Tamil. This testifies the origin of Uragas from south. 

Pannaga is also the name of certain Naga people. According to Puaranas, Nagas were those born to Surasa and Pannagas were born to Kadru. Both Naga and Pannaga mean snake. By this meaning and by the Puranic story of Surasa and Kadru as among 13 wives of Kashyapa, people tend to dismiss these names as figments of imagination. Kashyapa is the progenitor name of mankind. Even now if someone says that one doesn’t know the gotra in which one is born, one can take up Kashyapa gotra. This shows that Kashyapa is the ancient and common ancestor or progenitor of human race signifying the male component (Y chromosome). The 13 wives of Kashyapa indicate the 13 different types of mtDNA of different progenitor female components. If we think in these lines we can understand that Surasa and Kadru are some names of ancient lines of population. It is like Daityas and Danavas coming in the lines of Diti and Danu.

Both Naga and Pannaga must have had their early genesis somewhere in the south and south east Asia in the tunnels of the now submerged mountain ranges. Both sound Tamil and have a presence in Sangam literature. There is mention of Naga flower and Punnaga (not Pannaga) flower in the Sangam text of Kurinji Pattu (verse 91). Both these flowers smell good.

Of these Naga is said to be a kind of ஞாழல் tree type that generally grows in coastal regions. Punnaaga was derived from the word “Punnai tree” Its flower gives a fine smell. (Naga living near the Punnai tree is Punnaga)

Punnai tree

It is from the word Punnaga, the raga called Punnaga varali got its name. This raga is supposed to attract snakes!

In some way the name had changed – from Pannaga to Punnaga or Punnaga to Pannaga. But both refer to snake. The derivation coming from Tamil word Punnai, makes it a word of Tamil origin and the people to be from southern seas who spoke proto Tamil. Punnaga tree is native of South and South East Asian countries. The genesis of Pannaga people must be somewhere here.

Uragan also is a Tamil-derivative related to crawling or moving silently.

Naga, Pannaga and Uraga appear together in the Puranas and Mahabharata. This shows that they had shared some kinship among themselves and moved together. The snake identity is only due to certain characteristics they exhibited like snakes. They were not snakes themselves. Nor they were mythological creatures.

This kind of identifying oneself with something in nature that is well known or well recognised by people had given rise to names like Kinnaras (bird) and Garuda (eagle) to those people who exhibit bird like swiftness or voice (in the case of Kinnaras) and good eye sight like Garuda. Garuda is identified with eyesight as there is a verse in Prasna Marga to donate the idol of Garuda if one wants to get rid of eye sight problem and get keen eye sight.

Like this the strange names and identities of Puranas have interesting secrets behind them. The same holds good for the exotic figurines or images excavated from the archaeological sites. The Indus – Saraswathi site holds a vast source of such exotic images. Some understating of Puranic ideas is helpful in unraveling them.

Manu exonerated of casteism in the recent genetic study on Indians!

Manu, the author of Manusmrithi has been the most maligned sage of the Hindu fold ever since the foreigners started dabbling with ancient Indian texts, as the ‘master-mind’ of the caste system and promoter of Brahmin superiority. At a time when this view has gained ‘universal’ acceptance, here comes a genetic study on Indian population that exonerates Manu of his ‘wrong doing’, as the study has sniffed this evil of caste only from 1500 years before present! Manu is certainly an old timer, much older than 500 CE – a fact I believe the Manu-baiters and Brahmin haters would agree with. Until 1500 years ago, there was no restriction on inter-caste marriages according to this study. Marrying within one’s own clan or endogamy thereby indicating a strict adherence to caste consciousness was noticed only 70 generations ago or from 1500 years ago, says this study.

So this proves that though Manu had classified people into 4 groups or rather ‘castes’ and further ‘created’ many ‘castes’ that arise out of inter mix of these castes, no rigid structure of castes was noticed until recently that is, until 500 CE. Instead of recognising this vital fact, the authors of the study insert a vicious idea that Vedic Brahmanism has infused this caste structure 1500 years ago thanks to the ‘ardent Gupta Rulers’ who enforced strict Hindu laws! What a sweeping statement by them! An idea which was given by an undated Manu had not thrived for all these millennia, but suddenly made its presence by the strict Hindu rulers favouring Brahmanic order. Were there not enough “Hindu” rulers until then to enforce the caste system of Vedic Brahmanism? How could the authors make such a claim without giving thought to other possibilities such as economic and political reasons?

The time period of 1500 years BP coincided with a lot of social disturbances, change of power equations and movement of people from one part to another. Even as early as Silappadhikaram times (in the 1^st century CE), Satakarani sent 96 sects of people to Cheran land. There is inscriptional evidence of 96 sects of people in Kongu regions of Tamilnadu. There had been Idangai (Vamachara) and Valangai (Dakshinachara) conflicts for long which was noticed until the British period. These were people based and not promoted by kings or Brahmanic orders. Marriages were discouraged between these sects though they may be of same caste. The causes cannot be traced to Manu or Vedic Brahmanism of Guptas or Dharma satsras. This particular conflict between Idangai and Valangai went to the extent of destroying each other’s temples and denying entry to others into their temples. This was characterised as casteist tendencies of caste Hindus perpetrated against Dalits in the last century. But a deeper analysis of the genesis into the past shows Idangai – Valangai conflict.

This is just one case I have quoted here. Like this there are different cases having different causes for the formation of rigid tendencies among castes in the last 1000 plus years. While so much has to be probed in the social set up of the people to know why strict adherence to caste (as seen from endogamous tendency in the genetic study) developed after 500 CE, putting the onus on Gupta- promoted Brahmanic rules in a ‘genetic study’ is preposterous.  

Related article:- Caste is not a curse.

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From

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/01/the-caste-system-has-left-its-mark-on-indians-genomes/

The caste system has left its mark on Indians’ genomes

by Annalee Newitz - Jan 26, 2016 

A group of researchers has identified exactly when Indians stopped intermarrying.

Over 1,500 years ago, the Gupta emperors ruled large parts of India. They helped consolidate the nation, but they also popularized India's caste system, making it socially unacceptable for people to marry outside their castes. Now, a new analysis of genetic variation among contemporary Indians has revealed that this social shift left a distinctive genetic signature behind.

A group of researchers in India conducted this analysis by comparing the genomes of hundreds of Indians from throughout the country. As they write in a paper published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, samples came from "367 unrelated individuals drawn from 18 mainland and two island (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) populations selected to represent geographic, linguistic, and ethnic diversities." Previous studies had suggested that today's Indians came from two ancestral populations, but the new analysis revealed four distinct "haplotypes," or bundles of genetic elements that travel through generations in a package. People with the same haplotypes likely came from the same ancestral groups. The researchers also found a fifth haplotype among people of the Andaman archipelago.

Careful examination of the variations between these haplotypes, compared with haplotypes of other people throughout the world, revealed that India's ancient populations probably came first from Africa. Later waves of settlement came from people who shared genetic similarities with populations in South Central Asia and East Asia. These groups remained genetically distinct, and the linguistic history of India suggests they spoke languages with dramatically different origins. Nevertheless, it appears there was a good deal of intermarriage, which shows up in genomes of people who possess genetic sequences typical of two or more haplotypes.

But then there is a sea change about 1,500 years ago. At that time, the researchers note:

The reign of the ardent Gupta rulers, known as the age of Vedic Brahminism, was marked by strictures laid down in Dharmasastra—the ancient compendium of moral laws and principles for religious duty and righteous conduct to be followed by a Hindu—and enforced through the powerful state machinery of a developing political economy.

Especially among the upper castes, endogamy was the only legal option. People had to marry within their castes. And suddenly, we no longer see signs of intermixing between different groups. The researchers were able to measure exactly when endogamy became the rule of the land by looking at subtle shifts in haplotype sequences. With each generation, these sequences are cut into smaller pieces via recombination between chromosomes.

The researchers report there is a startlingly sudden shift where genetic mixing seems to stop. If a person has genetic material from two haplotypes—let's call them Hap1 and Hap2—a shift to endogamy causes far more recombination events in Hap1 than in Hap2. That's because future generations stop intermarrying with people from the Hap1 haplotype, yet they keep getting new copies of the Hap2 haplotype. This keeps Hap2 intact while recombination constantly breaks up the Hap1s.

Using a common system for extrapolating generations from genetic recombination, the researchers estimated "all upper-caste populations, except [one] from Northeast India, started to practice endogamy about 70 generations ago... This time estimate belongs to the latter half of the period when the Gupta emperors ruled large tracts of India (Gupta Empire, 319–550 CE)." This genetic shift was most marked among the upper castes who spoke Indo-European languages. Other groups appeared to have stopped intermarrying much later.

By identifying five ancestral populations among contemporary Indians, the researchers have revealed that Indians today are more genetically diverse than we've realized. But they have also shown that social shifts can dramatically affect a nation's genomes. The caste system has consequences that affect people all the way down to their DNA.

The findings of the study can be read here: 

file:///E:/Genettic%20study%20of%20indian%20-%20recent%20%204types.pdf

Is Shiva really a Dravidian god?

This article is excerpted from an old post in my blog written by our guest writer Mr R Ramanathan. 

Is Shiva really a Dravidian god?

By

R.Ramanathan

A fundamental doubt!

Why are western Indologists only obsessed about the Rig Veda alone and not the Yajur Veda or the Samans?. They consider these "later" which means it is un-important?.  The Rig Veda has a very advanced Sacrificial culture in it. In fact all the 3 Vedas mention each other within themselves and I do not see why one is less or more. Traditional scholars, who have dedicated their lives for Vedic study, do not say that the Rig is better than the Yajus or vice versa. Has the opinion of traditional Vedic teachers who really have lived a Vedic life and breath it, ever been collected?. As far as I know each veda is functionally different that's it.

I have some knowledge of the Yajur veda and the Rig veda. With that I started analyzing the statement of the AIT proponents that Shiva was a Dravidian God. The only reason which I saw why Lord Shiva is not accepted as an Aryan gods is that the word "Shiva" does not appear in the Rig veda but only the term "Rudra" occurs.

Eka mukha Shiva linga.

5th Century CE, Mrigasthali, Nepal.

But the Yajur Veda has Shiva repeating multiple times as Rudra's equivalent. Why on earth based on this one word alone should this be denied?. And also why would the Yajus be rejected here?. Also some suggest "Siva" & "Shambu" originated from Tamizh words "Sivappu" and "Chembu". But I do not think it is right because there is a distinct difference in the "Sha" consonant which is an Ushma consonant from Sanskrit grammer.  "Chembu" would use "Cha", which is distinct from "Sha".

God knows how one was derived from the other. So based on the non-occurrence of "Shiva" in the Rig Veda alone Shiva is called a Dravidian god.

Any evidence of Shiva as a Dravidian God in Tamil lands?

Also since Vishnu was an Aryan god I started looking into the Shaiva-Vaishnava debates and what they had to say about this. Nowhere did I find that Shaivaites reject Vishnu because he is an Aryan god. Or Vaishnavaites reject Shiva saying he is a Dravidian god.  The entire debate is based on either the deeds of the gods based on the puranas and their appearances. Also some vaishnavaites claim that the word "Shiva" in the vedas, did not mean "Rudra". But it meant "Auspiciousness". Since Shiva was a god who hobnobbed with ghosts from the graveyard he cannot be auspicious. Thus nowhere in the Shaiva & Vaishnava rivalry we see this Aryan/Dravidian divide.

Also the Thillai Vaazh Andanar (Ancint saivite Brahmins in  Chidambaram) study the Veda seriously. They are also staunch Shaivites. They don't say Vedas or Vishnu is Aryan or Shiva was Dravidian. They say Vishnu was one of the minor deities with Shiva being the supreme.

Tamizh Shaivite saints like Gnanasambandar have sung

"Long live righteous Vedic Brahmins, whose penance are needed for a proper bountiful rainfall. Long live the king to protect dharma. Let the name of Hara spread". As seen here he does not consider Brahmins "Aryan" and shiva a "Dravidian" god. He himself was a shaivite Brahmin and his father had performed a Vedic soma sacrifice. All the 4 great shaivaite saints have sungs very beautiful and highly devotional songs on shiva but none disparage the vedas as Aryan.

Now consider the "Divyaprabandam". It consists of 4000 beautiful hymns packed with devotion to Vishnu. It was considered as Tamizh Vedam. One of the composers was a devotee called Nammazhvar who belonged to the fourth Varna. As per the Aryan Dravidian divide he should be Dravidian. But he composed this wonderful work and compares it with the Vedas. He a "Shudra" singing praises of an Aryan god?  

This also goes to show that the 4^th Varna did not think of themselves as Dravidians and were separate from Aryans. In the same mould are Thirupanazhwar, who was outside the pale of the four castes. He was highly devoted to Vishnu.  He did not consider himself an Adivasi.

Also one more point quoted here is that a "Linga" was found in the Harappan civilization. This proves that it was Dravidian as this "Linga" worship is predominant in the south. But in the Mahanarayana Upanishad of the Krishna Yajur Veda, there is a mantra beginning with "Nidhanapathayee namaha" and ending with "Sarvalingam sthapayati pani mantram pavithram". This is a mantra for linga pratishta. So where is linga worship absent in the Veda?.

In innumerable shiva temples in Tamil Nadu (all the ones in the Nava kailasam temple series on the Thamiraparani), the lord is named "Kailasa Nathar". If shiva was Dravidian why is he named after a place, northern most in India?

Also the Shiva yogi Thirumoola who composed the great "Thirumandiram" of 3000 verses, says that he was a yogi in the Himalayas and Nandikeshvara's shishya. The Thirumandiram is a canonical Shaivite text in Tamizh. Why would they want to choose a book written by a person from the "Aryan" North?.

Also reference to Shiva with his consort Ambika occurs in the Yajur veda samhita frequently.

Also again in the Yajur Veda there is a reference to Shiva wearing a tiger cloth and having pinaka club in hand. 

Also sometimes Rudra is extolled as Agni and Agni as Rudra in the Yajur veda. Sometimes Indra too danced as Shiva of the puranas.

Conclusion

All these show that shiva was never a Dravidian god or Vishnu Aryan or vice versa. There is no scriptural (Vedic or Agamic) evidence for this.

Drizzles in Chennai – good Garbottam.

For the past few days, Chennai and its suburbs experienced a very pleasant climate of cool breeze and overcast sky for most part of the day with a few drizzles. The breeze, overcast sky that hides the sun and mild drizzle constitute 3 out of 5 important features of a good Garbottam. The effect will be seen as good rainfall on the 195^th day. (The other 2 features are lightning and low-key thunder)

Good Garbottam on Arudra (22^nd January 2016).

In the past few days (20^th, 22^nd and 23^rd) my place of observation saw 3 features namely breeze, clouds and drizzle. Therefore the corresponding 195^th days namely 30^th July, 1^st August and 2^nd August 2016 must see good rainfall in my place of observation.

On these days all these 3 features were noticed in many parts of Chennai. Wherever the drizzle was observed, the same as above holds good as per this theory.

If it had rained heavily in a place with the same Garbottam features, the opposite will happen on the 195^th day. That is, there will be less rainfall in those places on those days.

In the 3 days mentioned above, drizzles were experienced in some parts of Chennai while fairly heavy rainfall (downpour) was reported in some other parts of Chennai. To check the veracity of this clause on rainfall, let people (observers) take a note on the amount of rainfall in these days.

Another idea known from this clause is that though there may be rain clouds gathered over a vast area, it may not rain at all places or uniformly. The reason is traced to the Garbottam features present in a place.

On 22^nd January, the moon was in Arudra, the star that must be watched every month until Vaikasi for good Garbottam features. On this day the Garbottam features were very good with a mild drizzle in the afternoon in my place of observation. The sun was in the hiding for most part of the day.

(22-1-2016) Noon

This is the month of Thai and if Arudra day has good Garbottam features, it will rain for 6 days in the corresponding days starting from the 195^th day. The additional Garbottam feature is the foggy morning on this day. It must be foggy in Thai but not foggy in Margazhi for good Garbottam.

As per the Arudra Garbottam, it must rain from 1^st August to 6^th August 2016. But this must be further supported by the upcoming days’ Garbottam as the 4th day of Garbottam having relevance for the period between 2^nd August and 16^th August was not encouraging. The Arudra Garbottam of 22^nd January is the further fine-tuning mechanism of that fortnight.

Some of the beautiful features of the sky captured on 20^th January when Rohini was transited by Moon were already written here.

The corresponding rainfall dates are 29^th and 30^th July 2016.

31^st July will be a dry day or less rainfall day as the Garbottam features on 21^st January were less or weak. The Sun was bare and the sky, cloudless in my place of observation on 21^st January 2016.

(21-1-2016)

22^nd January (Arudra day) had Sun hidden by clouds for most part of the day time. Drizzles were also felt.

Sun hidden and clouds with glossy edges on 22-1-2016

The Garbottam on 23^rd January was also good in my place of observation with a mild drizzle for a few minutes in late afternoon. It will have a good impact on rainfall on 2^nd August 2016.

(23-1-2016)

The Garbottam continued to be good today also (24^th January) till the 2 PM. Though there was no drizzle, the sky was overcast and sun was hidden by dark clouds often.

(24-1-26) 2 PM

(24-1-26) – sun visible as a white disc through clouds after 2 PM

The extent of rainfall.

The extent of rainfall and amount of rainfall are mentioned by Varahamihira based on Garbottam features. If all the five features are present on a day in a place, it would give rainfall to an extent of 100 yojanas. The term Yojana has been interpreted differently by different schools of thought. I prefer to take the number that has a proven comparison in today’s world.

In Valmiki Ramayana, Hanuman was said to have crossed the sea that stretched for 100 Yojanas. The Nala- setu was built for a stretch of 100 Yojanas linking India and Srilanka. This distance as we see today is 30 km. If 100 Yojanas mean 30 km, 1 Yojana will be 300 mt. This is approximately the distance at which sound travels. Why I am comparing this with speed of sound is because 1 Yojana is equal to 1 Kooppidu distance. Kooppidu (கூப்பிடு) means the distance at which one’s call travels. 

The measurement system for Yojana = Kooppidu conversion is as follows:

 24 amgula = 1 muzham (hasta)

4 muzham = dhanus

2 dhanus = 1 danda

50 danda = 1 koopidu

4 kooppidu = 1 yojana.

Or the distance at which a call can be heard.

This conversion table looks relevant when we check the length of Setu bund which is 100 Yojanas according to Valmiki and 30 km at present.

If we take the actual distance travelled by sound, 100 Yojana is somewhere between 30 to 34 km.

According to Varahamihira, if a day has all the 5 Garbottam features, there will be rainfall to the extent of 100 Yojanas which can be assumed as 30 to 34 km around that place where the features were observed.

If one feature is less, rainfall will be half of that extent, which is around 15 to 17 km.

If 2 features are less, this must be halved further. That means rainfall will be felt around 8 km in the place of observation.

The amount of rainfall.

The amount of rainfall is judged on the basis of Garbottam features. Varahamihira uses the term ‘Drona’ and ‘Adhaka’ to indicate the amount of rainfall. An adhaka is defined as ‘the quantity of rainfall which fills to the brim of the vessel 20 inches in diameter and 20 inches deep’, according to Dr BV Raman. Four such Adhakas make one Drona.

If Garbottam has all 5 features, the rainfall on the 195^th day will be 1 Drona (4 adhakas). It will fall on an area of 100 Yojanas. For the absence of each feature, the rainfall will be less to that extent.