Part 2: Tracing the route to Asta giri - 'the mountain of Sunset' to Mt Atlas.
Quite a few places in South India are known by the name Udayagiri. It is not difficult to guess the reason and the meaning says it all. When the sun rises from behind a hill, it is natural to associate the sun rise with the hill, by naming it as Udayagiri. One can notice some strategic importance attached to the places known by the name Udayagiri. Udayagiri in Orissa is on the eastern sector of India, greeting the rise of the Sun from the eastern sea. The other Udayagiri is in Madhya Pradesh, located on the Tropic of Cancer – the northern most limit of Sun’s sojourn in the sky. This Udayagiri is supposed to be an astronomical observatory in ancient times.
Quite a few places in South India are known by the name Udayagiri. It is not difficult to guess the reason and the meaning says it all. When the sun rises from behind a hill, it is natural to associate the sun rise with the hill, by naming it as Udayagiri. One can notice some strategic importance attached to the places known by the name Udayagiri. Udayagiri in Orissa is on the eastern sector of India, greeting the rise of the Sun from the eastern sea. The other Udayagiri is in Madhya Pradesh, located on the Tropic of Cancer – the northern most limit of Sun’s sojourn in the sky. This Udayagiri is supposed to be an astronomical observatory in ancient times.
There is yet another Udayagiri, but its location is
not in India! Before exploring its location, let me bring to the notice of
readers two references in Tamil texts that convinced me of an Udayagiri or a mountain from which sunrise was observed in
pre-historic times as that was earmarked as the FIRST POINT of sunrise for the entire globe.
There is cross-reference to it in Valmiki Ramayana
as the place where Sun appears first, before moving across the globe. In other
words, this place was marked as the first location of sunrise for the entire
globe by mankind even as early as 7000 years ago when Ramayana occurred. All these are discussed in this post.
Tamil Sources on Udayagiri.
(1) The first
6 lines of the 5th chapter of Silappadhikaram make some strange
statement. It describes the sunrise at Pūmpuhār, the coastal town of
pre-historic Cholas in South east India.
It says,
“The Sun appeared at the peak of ‘Udaya-māl’ by spreading its glowing rays to remove the blanket of
darkness that covered the vast body of the ‘mainden-earth’ having the ocean of
waves as her cloth, the mountains as her breast, the rivers coming down the
mountains as ornaments of pearls and the clouds as her hair”
The description is about the expanse of earth. By
locating a place associated with sunrise, it seems to suggest a specific
location that was considered as the rising point of the Sun for the entire
earth. The exact Tamil words in the highlighted part (above) are “Udaya-māl
varai ucchi-th-thonri”.
‘Ucchi” means ‘on top of’, peak, pinnacle, zenith etc. ‘Varai’means both
mountain and mountain-peak. By this it is clearly told that the Sun appeared on
top of Udaya mountain.
Udaya-māl has two words ‘udaya’ meaning ‘rise’ and ‘māl’
which refers to Thirumāl, the Tamil word for Vishnu! The commentator of yore
(named Adiyarkku Nallar) has mentioned this name (Udaya-māl) as Udayagiri!
Two features emerge from this verse: (1) Name of
Vishnu implicit with the idea of sunrise and (2) the Sun reaching the peak of
the mountain known as Udaya-māl or Udayagiri when darkness starts disappearing
in Pūmpuhār. In other words, when the sun was at the peak of Udayagiri, it was
dawn at Pūmpuhār! This can happen only
is Udayagiri is located 90 degrees east of Pūmpuhār!
(2) The first verse of the ‘wake-up hymn’ (Tiruppalli
Ezhucchi) composed by Thondaradi-p-podi Alwar, sung at every Vishnu temple in
Tamilnadu, contains a similarly strange idea (as in Silappadhikaram). It
begins,
“As the Sun reaches the peak (sikaram) of
the eastern direction, thick darkness dissipated, with dawn appearing”
A peak is that which is the crowing point or the
apex of something. Here the Alwar refers to the peak in the eastern direction
or eastern section. This is same as the idea given in Silappadhikaram.
This Alwar lived many centuries after
Silappadhikaram, which appeared around the turn of the Common Era. This means
that for a definite period of 2000 years, people in Tamil lands have held an
opinion that when sun reaches the peak of Udaya-māl or Udayagiri in the east,
it is time for sunrise in Tamil lands.
A reading of the 40th chapter of the 4th
Khanda of Valmiki Ramayana (henceforth VR) shows that this opinion was held
throughout India, or rather in Jambu Dwiipa even as early as Ramayana times.
Udayagiri in Ramayana.
The Vishnu connection (that Silapapdhikaram says) is
found in the verses of VR. In his description of the eastern sector of the
earth, Sugreeva tells about the “Udaya Parvata”
as the last stop in the east beyond which it is all West!! (VR 4.40. 54,55)
There is a peak called “Saumanasa”
on the Udaya Parvata (VR 4.40.57)
“Earlier while treading the three worlds in the
incarnation of Trivikrama, the Supreme Person Vishnu made His first foothold on
that pinnacle Saumanasa, and the second on the pinnacle of Mt. Meru to tread
the heavens”. (VR 4.40.58)
“The Sun is by far discernable in Jambu Dwiipa when
he rises on this zenithal pinnacle Saumanasa, after he had circled the Jambu
Dwiipa in a northerly route. (VR 4.40.59)
The actual words are “दृश्यो भवति” – it means
appearing. The Sun appears in Jambu Dwiipa (India) when it reaches the peak of
Saumanasa!
It is known from these verses that
people of ancient Bharat (Jambu Dwiipa) had identified a place in the Far East,
as the first place of dawn for the world. After the Sun had finished circling
the earth through the north, it comes back and reaches the peak of Saumanasa.
The three steps of Vishnu are
connected with movement of the Sun across the globe. The first step is at
Saumanasa in South east part of the earth, when it is dawn in India. The second
step is at Meru, the heavens. This is the top axis of the earth, indicating
North Pole. The third step is not mentioned in VR, but reference to Trivikrama
shows that it is about pushing Bali into nether lands, or in other words disappearance
or darkness setting in (sun set)
This occurs 90 degrees west of
India, which is currently held as Prime Meridian at Greenwich. That which
signifies disappearance or submergence (of Bali) and the start of darkness as
per Hindu Thought is now known as prime point of meridian divining the globe! The
Ramayana verses establish the existence of this division of the globe for many
millennia in the past. Similar division existing now could not have come on its
own but as a residue of a forgotten knowledge that has its roots in India.
The third step of Vishnu
corresponding with Prime Meridian which runs through Atlantic Ocean makes me
wonder whether the land of
Bali was the submerged Atlantis! The naming of a land as Netherlands in
close proximity to the Prime Meridian also looks like a surprising element in
the scheme of the third step of Vishnu pushing Bali into nether regions.
Tracing the route
to Udayagiri in the East of the Globe.
One may wonder how the far-off
places were known to the ancient people of India. The route given by Sugreeva
shows that people of those days had gone far and wide and had explored many
places of the earth in all directions. A
notable feature is that the extent of such explorations was limited within the
region of three steps of Vishnu. In other words from Pacific to Atlantic Ocean,
the ancient people of India had travelled and acquired good knowledge of the
topography, of the people while even
settling down in some of those places. We will see proof of one such settlement
in our exploration of the eastern sector guided by Sugreeva’s version.
Let me locate the regions in
the east as per the description given by Sugreeva (VR 4.40).
The starting point is
Kishkindha, in today’s north interior Karnataka.
To go to Eastern part of the
globe from that location, one has to go to North India, cross the rivers such
as Ganges and Sarayu; then cross Kosala and Magadha (present day Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar); then reach Pundra and Anga. This shows the exit point is sea shore
in the east. With that Jambu Dwiipa ends. To go beyond this region in the east
one can go by mountaineering or hopping or by boating, says Sugreeva (VR
4.40.29). By such means one can reach Yava Dwiipa.
This is Java as it was known in those days.
The description shows that
people in olden days had gone over there through land or by sea. On crossing
Yava Dwiipa one reaches Mount Shishira “which
touches heaven with its peak, and
which Devas and Danavas adore”. (VR 4.40.31)
This seems to be a reference to
Mt Semeru, a variation of Mt
Sumeru! (In any Dwiipa there will be a Sumeru, the great Mountain).
Mt Semeru.
Sugreeva continues, “Then,
having gone to the other coast of the ocean you reach River Shona,
waters of which will be reddish with deep and speedy drift, and which is adored
by Siddha s and Carana s.” (VR 4.40. 33).
The major river in Java is River Solo (look at the phonetic similarity with Shona
mentioned by Sugreeva) which reaches the other side of the coast.
River Solo.
One can see River Solo in the
above picture draining into the sea in the opposite coast of Mt Semeru.
Vessels on Solo River
during colonial period.
River Solo was a massive river
system in Sundaland before most parts of it were submerged under water
following a rise in sea level post Ice Age. This river valley system was home
of early man - known from the many fossil remains in this region. The most
popular one is the “Java Man”.
This goes to show that human civilization was present in this region for long
even before the time of Ice Age. Some correspondence had happened between this
region and India of olden times. This region was on the way to Further East.
After reaching the other shore
where River Shona drained, one has to cross Plaksha Island, Ikshu Island and
Shalmali Island. Today there is a chain of islands formed by Volcanoes in this
region.
Shalmali Island needs special mention here as Sugreeva says that this is
home to Garuda, the eagle, the vehicle of
Vishnu!
With the currently available
evidences, I can point out the region of Lapita pottery as part of Shalmali
Dwiipa.
The region encircled by the red
line is found to have produced specific type of pottery and housed a culture
known as Lapita culture.
One of the archaeological finds
from this region is a bowl having a picture that resembles Eagle or Garuda
shaped altar of the Vedic culture.
The Garuda shaped Vedic altar
is shown below for comparison.
The similarity between the above
two cannot be ignored. All are looking at Europe for Vedic origins, but they are
completely ignorant about the Southern hemisphere. How eagle like images are
found in Lapita culture might completely shatter our current notions. The
identification of a region in this part of the world as an abode of Garuda also
upsets the current theories on Vedic origins. If Vishnu is coming from East as
the Sun, Garuda can only be located in the east – that is, in the east of
India. An early origin of Vedic Thought in the east of India is very much
possible if we look at these hints from none other than Valmiki Ramayana.
Interestingly, Garuda appears
in the culture of Anishinaabe ,
the indigenous people of Canada and Northern regions of the USA. Their Garuda
emblem is like this:
The name Anishi-in Anishinaabe
sounds very much Sanskrit - meaning
‘opposite of night / midnight’. This is nothing but morning or even mid-day –
which is what we are discussing in this article – the mid-day at Udayagiri! It
is possible that Anishinaabe people had their origins in this part of the
globe.
In Sugreeva’s narration, the
next region is described as having horrifying demons of the shapes and size of
mountains, dangling upside down from the mountain peaks surrounded by oceans. Day
after day they fall into water and also freshly arise from mountaintops (VR
4-40.41-43). This is a reference to lava spiting volcanoes of this region. The
ocean of this region was described as Red sea (VR 4.40. 39) precisely because
the hot, molten lava running down the volcanoes into the seas, gave an
appearance of Red sea.
From there one can reach a milk
ocean where a white mountain of colossal size named as Rishabha
was situated. Sugreeva also mentions a lake called “Sudharshana” in this region. (VR 4.40.40-46)
This fits with Mt
Puncak Jaya in Papua
province. A research article ("Retreat of the Irian Jaya Glaciers from 2000 to
2002" ) says that “...While
Puncak Jaya's peak is free of ice, there are several glaciers on
its slopes, including the Carstensz
Glacier, West Northwall Firn, East Northwall Firn and the recently vanished Meren Glacier in the Meren
Valley (meren is Dutch for "lakes")
( Pic courtesy: http://www.easternsnow.org/proceedings/2004/kincaid_and_klein.pdf#search='meren%20glacier)
In olden days, this peak must
have been glaciated, giving it whitish colour. The milky white ocean described
by Sugreeva could refer to the white foams of the ocean drained by the melting
glaciers of this mountain. The Meren valley housed a lake until recently, as
known from the research.
After crossing Rishabha mountain, comes a very interesting
description of “refulgent Fire in the form of Horse's
Face that originated from the anger of Sage Aurasa” A kind of prophecy
is also made by Sugreeva that “The victuals to that Fire is said to be that
highly speedy waves of the ocean, together with all of the mobile and sessile
beings of the world at the close of each Era.” (VR 4.40. 48-49)
What we call Pacific ring of fire is called as
Fire in the form of Horse’s face - haya mukham.
This is how the Pacific Ring of
Fire is depicted by National Geographic:
Comparison of this shape with
the face of a horse in the figure below:
The similarity is something
remarkable. The shape of this ring of Fire was already known to people in India
and was known in Ramayana times.
Let me give the exact verse of
Valmiki Ramayana here:
"There exists a
fantastically refulgent Fire in the form of Horse's Face that originated from
the anger of Sage Aurasa. The victuals to that Fire is said to be that highly
speedy waves of the ocean, together with all of the mobile and sessile beings
of the world at the close of each Era. (VR 4-40-48b, 49a).
“There the high squealing
sounds of oceanic beings dwelling undersea are audible, and although they are
capable ones, they are incapacitated on feeling Fire from the Horse Mouth as
such they yell. (4-40-49b, c)
On the northern part of this
soft water ocean the next landmark is mentioned. It is a mountain, a rocky
mountain known as ‘Jaataruupa-shila’. It is here I had to struggle to get the
right one, as Mt Bandai
in Japan in the northern section of the Ring of Fire is known as a ‘rock ladder
to the sky’ by the locals. It is an extinct volcano and the description of
‘Ananta’ sitting on top of it concurs with volcanic nature. (Ananta or snake is
a personification of magma or lava. My article on this can be read here).
Further description of a three
branched Palm tree -like image found on top of this mountain on a golden podium
can be made out in this mountain.
However the description as
Rocky Mountain seems not to fit with this as this mountain is made of volcanic
eruption.
Moreover the next description of
Sugreeva discourages me to identify this with Jaataruupa Shila. Sugreeva
recognises this mountain as the eastern most one beyond which only Udaya giri
is there. Anything beyond this is West.
Mt Bandai at 140 degree East
does not fall within the description of eastern most point.
This mount is quite far away
from Mt Rishabha (Mt Puncak Jaya) making it impossible to reach from Papua
region. All along in the narration, there is a flow or continuity in the route.
Wherever the travel had to be done by some mode, it has been mentioned. But in
the absence of such descriptions, it is not possible to identify Mt Bandai with
Jaataruupa Shila.
The reference to ‘north’ in the
description led me to Mt Bandai. I decided to continue eastward from Mt Puncak
Jaya, and reached Mount Wilhelm in Papua New Guinea.
Surprisingly it fulfils the description
of Sugreeva as a Rocky mountain.
Mt Wilhelm is the highest one
in Oceania including Australia and New Zealand. Beyond this located Udayagiri!
I could not collect any
information for this mountain from internet sources that would match with the
description of Ananta or Palm tree like appearance on its peak (that we could
identify in Mt Bandai). But Udayagiri
lies beyond this mountain in the east. In the absence of knowledge of other
features, I was looking for better clues in the picture of Mt Wilhelm and
happened to see the Landsat Picture of Mt Wilhelm released by NASA. (Pic below)
It shows the white topped Mt
Wilhelm with Ramu River running behind it (shown by arrow mark in red)
The name Ramu in Ramu
River is quite amazing. We have been
tracing the route given in Ramayana and here we find a river by name Ramu! The
Wikipedia article says, ‘For many millennia, people have lived along the river,
and the river has formed the basis for food, transport, and culture’.
Ramu river shown in red.
In this region surrounded by
water and volcanic eruptions, people had lived for many millennia – this is
something astonishing unless people had attached some importance to this
region.
One importance comes from
identification of this place as the Land of Sunrise for the world. Not only
that Ramayana recognises that land as the first step of Vishnu, Siddhas and
Caranas were already mentioned to be occupying Java island. By the name
Caranas, they are supposed to be wandering people. In the interest of witnessing
sunrise or Vishnu Pada, it is possible to assume that people from India of
Ramayana times had gone to this place and settled down on the banks of a river
calling it after Rama and it became Ramu in course of time.
Once we have crossed Jaataruupa
Shila, it is not difficult to identify Udayagiri. The foremost requirement is
that it must be the eastern most region.
Taveuni (pronounced [taweuni])
islands of the Fiji group of islands lies exactly on the 180th
degree. It is a cigar shaped island, lying to the east of Vanua Levu in such a
way that the north east part of it is located at -179 degrees longitude while
the south west part of it lies at +179th degree longitude!
There is a mountain by name Mount
Uluigalau, the highest mountain in Taveuni rising to 1241 meters. The two
parts of the name udaya and giri seems to have undergone changes with time and
is pronounced as Ului-galau! Or is it Udaya gallu – the stone of sunrise in
Tamil?
Sugreeva also says that there
is a lake called Sudharshana Lake in this region. This lake gave the name
Sudharshana Dwiipa to this place!
There is lake called Lake Tagimaucia occupying
a volcanic crater. This is the biggest tourist attraction of Taveuni and Fiji
islands.
Sugreeva calls the peak as
Saumanasa on the Udayagiri mountain.
From his description:
"On the apex of that Mt.
Sunrise there is another pinnacle with one yojana width and ten yojana-s height
named Saumanasa, which is completely golden and very firm. [4-40-57]
"The Sun is by far
discernable in Jambu Dwiipa when he rises on this zenithal pinnacle Saumanasa,
after he had circled the Jambu Dwiipa in a northerly route. [4-40-59]
"There the great-sages
with nomenclature of Vaikhanasa-s and Vaalakhilyaa-s will come into view with
an ambience of luminosity, for those ascetics will be with the resplendence of
the Sun. [4-40-60]
Valakhilyas and
Garuda in the eastern section of the globe.
The mention of Valakhilyas in Sugreeva’s
narration reveals interesting leads. Valakhilyas are a set of rishis who are diminutive
in stature due to strict penances of subsisting on air and sunrays. In as many
as 3 places Mahabharata describes them so (MB 3.125, 9.43 & 13.115). They
observed the vow of sanyasa, abstained from meat and took severe penances in such
a way that they looked shrunk in size. The specific mention of them subsisting
on sun rays lends credence to the idea that they very much liked to dwell in
the region of first sunrise.
The next interesting lead is
their connection with Garuda. According to Mahabharata it is they who gave the name
Garuda to that bird (eagle). In Mahabharata 1.29 &30, there comes the story
of Garuda carrying an elephant and a tortoise in its claws and landing on a
huge tree in which Valakhilya rishis were hanging upside down, doing penance. When
Garuda rose up from the tree, the tree shook by that impact and the branch
where the Valakhilyas were hanging got broken. Noticing them, Garuda
immediately held the branch on its beak in order to save them and flew again.
The Valkhilyas still hanging down from that branch were surprised to see the
might of the bird in carrying such a heavy load and gave the name ‘Garuda’, the
bearer of weight!
Earlier in this article, we
found the abode of Garuda to be Shalmali island, to the east of Java soon after
crossing River Solo, the home of Java man. Valakhilyas were present in regions close
to this or east of this. It was after the lifting episode by Garuda, the eagle,
Valakhilyas had moved to Himavat, according to Mahabharata.
There is scope to think that
Valakhilyas originally belonged to this part of the globe and were fond of
greeting sunrise at Udayagiri.
Valakhilyas and Rig
Vedas.
Valakhilyas have authored 11
hymns of the 8th Mandala of Rig Vedas. The 4th hymn by
the Valakhilyas (96th in 8th Mandala of Rig Vedas) makes
a mention of Vishnu making 3 steps – the description associated with global
trot of the Sun, something known from Sugreeva’s description (RV 8.96.3).
Thus the two features, Garuda
and Sun’s global trot identified with Vishnu’s 3 steps are associated with Valakhilyas,
the short and lean rishis described as thumb sized ones. Their location in the
region farther east of Java islands must be read along with another description
found in Vishnu Purana.
Vishnu Purana does make a
mention of Udaya giri, as a mountain in Saka Dwiipa! Saka Dwiipa had 7 varshas –
some of whom ring familiar to Tamils. They are Kumara and Sukumara while the
other five are Jalada, Manichaka, Kusumoda, Maudaki and Mahadruma.
The same is described by
Mahabharata (6.11) as follows:
“ The Varsha of Meru is called Mahakasa; that of the
water-giving Malaya is
called Kumudottara. The Varsha of Jaladhara is
called Sukumara:
while that of Raivatak is
called Kaumara;
and of Syama, Manikanchana. The Varsha of Kesara is
called Mandaki,
and that called after the next mountain is called Mahapuman.”
Mahabharata also mention Kumari
and Kaveraka as the rivers flowing there. The name Kaveri is traced Kaveraka, according to
Tiruvalangadu copper plate inscriptions. The description in Mahabharata shows
that there was a Kaveri or Kaveraka in an earlier abode of Tamil lands.
The 7 Varshas given in
Mahabharata and Vishnu Purana are similar to the 7 divisions of lands of
submerged Tamil lands. Two of them were known as Palai lands, perhaps due to
presence of Palai tree. Palai tree is known as Saka tree in Sanskrit. The Saka Dwiipa
got its name from the presence of Saka tree according to Mahabharata
description!
Coming to the crucial
information for this article, Udayagiri was one of the 7 mountains of this Saka
Dwiipa! According to Vishnu Purana (2.4), “ The seven mountains separating
the (seven) countries (of Saka Dweepa) were Udayagiri, Jaladhara, Raivataka, syama,
ambikeya, Ramya,
and Kesari”.
The entire region of these
mountains and varshas were spread across Indian Ocean up to Pacific Ocean in
the east. Udayagiri formed the eastern most part of this expanse. The memory of
this eastern Udayagiri as the region of sunrise was there with Tamils until a
1000 years ago. The presence of Valakhilyas in that region has an imprint of a
previous era of Vedic life before Manu entered Indian subcontinent.
The abode of Garuda identified
in that region is another pointer to a pre-Rig Vedic evolution of Veda Dharma
in the eastern part of the globe. That was the time of Daitya Hiranyaksha and
Hiranyakashipu who refused to accept the pre-eminence of Vishnu (Narayana) –
perhaps the Vishnu concept was evolving at that time. It was during the times
of Bali, the great grandson of Hiranyakashipu, the concept of Vishnu making
three steps had come up. The beginnings of Vaivasvatha Manu must have been
later to this.
Reserving all these for future
articles, let me just conclude this article with an observation that Udayagiri
in Fiji Islands was marked as the first point of sunrise as that was like a
boundary in the east beyond which early mankind, particularly the Vedic people
did not venture out to cross the vast seas. Udayagiri also formed the eastern
most part of the Saka Dwiipa that was same as the regions occupied by early ‘Tamil
speakers’. Their western most boundary was to the east of Madagascar and is now
submerged. That will be taken up in another article where I will be discussing
the presence of an olden Tirumalirum Cholai – founded and worshiped by Kon
Nedumaran!
Acknowledgement: I am grateful to Mr Anil Sekhar, a reader of my blogs, for bringing to my notice Mt Uluigalau of Fiji islands as a probable location of Udayagiri.
Related articles (in Tamil):
சாகத்தீவும், குமரிகண்டமும் - 2 (மலைகளும்,நதிகளும்):- http://thamizhan-thiravidana.blogspot.in/2011/07/58-2.html
