My book "When was the First Vedic Homa Done?"

Released a booklet tilted "When was the First Vedic Homa Done?" on 27th December 2021. It traces the story of Agni as given in scriptures and and how and when the first Homa was done. From the narration of sage Markandeya found in the Mahabharata it is known that Skanda conducted the 'marriage' of Svāhā with Agni - symbolic of the beginning of the Vedic Homa. 

The first copy of this book was presented to the Honorable Vice President of India, Sri. Venkaiah Naidu on 27th December 2021. I wish this copy reaches as many people as possible to spread the information about the beginnings of Vedic Homa. 

Click the image to enlarge

The narration is in story form and brings out parallels from Tamil literature on Skanda's role in starting the first Homa. The location of the first Homa and the feasibility factors for the performance of the Homa are discussed. Sample pages are shown below. 

This booklet is of 22 pages and priced at Rs.50. Can be purchased by writing to jayasreebooks@gmail.com 

Can be bought along with other books to save on the postage.

My other books are

"Mahabharata 3136 BCE" (Rs. 475)

"Myth of The Epoch of Arundhati of Nilesh Nilkanth Oak"  (Rs. 230)

"Oral Cancer: Astrological prediction and remedies" (Rs.250)

"ஆண்டாள் தமிழும் அறியாத வைரமுத்துவும்" (Rs. 50)

'Myth of “The Epoch of Arundhati” of Nilesh Nilkanth Oak' is brought out in print

 My book ‘Myth of The Epoch of Arundhati of Nilesh Nilkanth Oak’ critiquing Nilesh Oak’s book on the date of the Mahābhārata was originally published as an e-book in 2019. Upon request for print version, I am now bringing out a revised version of the e-book after dropping the chapters on validation of the date of Kali Yuga and Mahābhārata which however can be read with additional inputs in my recently published “Mahabharata 3136 BCE: Validation of the Traditional Date”. 

With no counters coming from Nilesh Oak to my critique till this date, I am adding additional questions in this book on his recently floated theory of Kali Yuga starting in 5561 BCE, from the last day of the war in his timeline. I have added more evidence on his ‘Analogy Nyāya’ too. I don’t expect him to refute my critique for, he never can, but this book is meant for the common man to not fall a prey to a work of untruth.

In an atmosphere of absence of knowledge of even the basic features of our culture, I find the youth of today getting excited over the thought of long past for Vedic India and modern software being put into use to establish the past. But they should not be fed with faulty understanding of texts and concepts and mindless use of simulation for establishing the meaning of even scriptural concepts as Nilesh Oak has done. My book aims to spread awareness about the mediocre nature of the Mahābhārata research of Nilesh Oak.

The first copy of this book was presented to the Honorable Vice President of India, Sri. Venkaiah Naidu when I met him at the Raj Bhavan at Chennai to give my books on 27^th December 2021. While briefing him the circumstances that led me to do the research on validating the Traditional date of the Mahabharata war and Kali Yuga, I spoke about my Dharmic Anger against maligning the status of Arundhati and the mis-interpretation of the verses of the Mahābhārata and the date of Kali Yuga. The second copy was given to the Honorable Governor of Tamil Nadu.

This book of 12 chapters in 202 pages is available for Rs. 230. Postal cost of Rs. 36 for anywhere in India is additional. Interested readers may write to jayasreebooks@gmail.com to get the book.

 

Presented my book “Mahabharata 3136 BCE” to the Vice President of India

 Following the release of my book “Mahabharata 3136 BCE: Validation of the Traditional Date” on 14^th November by my family Guru-s at Kanchipuram, I sent my book to the Vice President of India, Sri Venkaiah Naidu for his reading with a covering letter explaining why my book should be read. I requested time to meet him in person to present the book and explain the salient features in person. The Vice president kindly consented to my request and granted me time to meet him at the Chennai Raj Bhavan today during his Chennai visit.

His simplicity and making himself accessible to a common man like me was uppermost in my mind when I met him that I quoted the Tirukkural verse (Kaatchikku eLiyan) on how a ruler who is simple and makes himself available to the people is praised by the world. I also told him that I didn’t bring any bouquets or shawls or costly items, but only a book that is a befitting a scholar like him. Disapproving the bouquets and such other stuff, the Vice president said he was pleased to receive the book than anything else. 

Click the picture to enlarge

I explained him how I have authenticated the Janamejaya grant in possession of the Bhimanakatte Matha (pages 148 to 158 in my book) and presented him the mail of appreciation sent to me by the Swami-ji of the Matha. The grant offers clinching evidence to the year of the beginning of Kali Yuga when Parīkshit ascended the throne following the departure of Kṛṣṇa and the Pāndava-s. Thirty-five years before that, the war had taken place. 

I conveyed the desire of the Swami-ji to commemorate the day of the grant (Pushya Amavasya) from next year onwards and the need to declare the authenticity of the grant.

This was the foremost request in my Letter of Request presented to the Vice President.

Other points of request are as follows:

Ø  Similar grant issued by King Janamejaya on the same date to Uṣā Maṭha in Kedārnāth to be retrieved (p.158 in my book).

Ø  Kali Yuga date to be corrected to 3101 BCE in the Gregorian calendar-reckoning (p.115).  

Ø  Kali Yuga date to be inserted in the Astronomical Almanac (p.114).

Ø  Probe to be undertaken to carbon-date the so-called ‘massacre-victims’ of the Lower Town of Mohenjo-Daro (p.278-281).

Ø  Probe to be undertaken to test the radiation levels at the Lower Town, as reported by David Davenport, to check meteor impact (p. 279).

Ø  Probe to be undertaken to determine the date of the impact at Langtang landslide location (p.284-285).

Ø  Marine excavation to be undertaken to the west of Prabhāsa to determine the location of Kṛṣṇa’s Dwārakā (Chapter 18).

The Vice President promised to forward the Request Letter to the concerned people.

Then I got my book autographed by him for my possession.

Then I presented two other books, the abridged print version of my e-book “Myth of The Epoch of Arundhati of Nilesh Nilkanth Oak” and a booklet titled, “When was the First Vedic Homa done?” I told him how my Dharmic Anger against the so-called Epoch of Arundhati led me to validate the Traditional Date of Kali Yuga and the Mahābhārata war.

It was a satisfying visit and I thank the Vice President for making it memorable.

I am thankful to the staff of Raj Bhavan for delivering my three books (Mahabharata, Myth and Vedic Homa) to the Governor’s Desk since I didn’t get prior appointment to meet him personally to hand over the books, particularly “Mahabharata 3136 BCE”.  

With the blessings of my Acarya-s and the Swami-ji of Bhimanakatte Matha my task continues to stop the distortion of Vyāsa Mahābhārata and Kali Yuga Time scale.

The books can be obtained by writing to jayasreebooks@gmail.com.

 Update:

My meeting with the VPI to present my Mahabharata book was reported as box- news in Eenaadu, the popular Telugu Daily the next day (28th Dec, 2021).  It was earlier reported in 'News Today' published from Vadapalani.

It reads as

"Here is the picture of Dr. Jayasree Saranathan, Writer & P.hD holder in Astrology, accompanied by her husband, handing over the book 'Mahabharata 3136 BCE' authored by her to Vice President Sri. Venkayya Naidu at Raj Bhavan on Monday."

Related posts:

Published my new book "Mahabharata 3136 BCE"

Dr. Karan Singh's view about my book "Mahabharata 3136 BCE"

Mr. Joachim Seifert's view about my book "Mahabharata 3136 BCE"

Tamil New Year controversy -Part 3 (On Tiruvalluvar's birthday and Thiruvalluvar Year)

Part 1 - Arguments against New Year in Thai

Part 2 - Arguments in support of New Year in Chitthirai

In the 3rd and the final part of my interview at Desiya Siragugal channel, I am explaining the historical background of the Thiruvalluvar Year and the bungling up of the birth date of Thiruvalluvar by Mr. Karunanidhi. Further on, I am establishing the date of Thiruvalluvar around 7000 years ago - at the end of first Tamil Sangam, on the basis of Sangam poetry evidences. 

Tamil New Year controversy - Part 2 (My arguments in support of New Year in Chitthirai)

 In continuation of 1st Part posted yesterday on arguments challenging the 'evidences' presented by the supporters of New Year in Thai, the 2nd part is posted today. In this part, I focus on the evidences in support of Tamil New Year starting in the month of Chithirai. I am quoting the records of the colonial period on how 'Tamil Varusha Pirappu' was observed in Chithirai in Madras Presidency. I continue the arguments by quoting the verses attributed to sage Agastya and Sangam age poems. Finally I am giving epigraphic evidence for the start of the year in Mesha. The talk continues tomorrow also and the topic is Thiruvalluvar Andu.

Tamil New Year controversy - Part 1 (My arguments against New Year in Thai)

Regular and long time readers would have known that I have been consistently questioning the attempts by the DMK governments in the past to change Tamil New Year from Chitthirai to the month of Thai. One can see my talks and articles questioning the change of the New Year, in 2012 archives. Now with the installation of the DMK government in the State, the New Year controversy has come up after the Govt printed New Year wishes on the Ration products distributed for Thai Pongal. In this backdrop, my interview to the You Tube Channel Desiya Siragugal is telecast in three parts starting from today. 

In the 1st part, I am examining the evidences presented by Mr. Karunanidhi and Tamil scholars in support of Thai as the New Year and prove them to be wrong. I am also bringing out the true relevance of  "Pongal" and the genesis of  the three festivals - Bhogi, Pongal and Maattu Pongal - which were basically related to the cattle-breeding Yadava people having allegiance to Krishna. 

Mr. Joachim Seifert's view about my book "Mahabharata 3136 BCE"

Mr. Seifert is a familiar name for those who have read my book "Mahabharata 3136 BCE". He works on the climate models of the Holocene, researching on meteor-hits that have caused dip in temperature recorded in GISP2 graphs. Our researches in respective fields matched remarkably that while I pointed out the references to a series of meteor-hits caused by a fragmented comet from the Mahabharata in the year 3136 BCE, Mr. Seifert showed me the scientific evidence for the hit in the same year 3136 BCE. I am glad to reproduce the part of his email to me about my book.

***

"Thank you for your 3136 BC e-book, I read every page (but only to page 276, when the download stopped). In any case, I read inclusive the Chapter 10. The book is a tremendous work, I reckon its your lifetime work, with so many fine details collected and now presented as comprehensive book. I am sure you illuminated every angle of the topic!

Plenty of room was also given to the meteor impact.

I am absolutely certain that you gave a blow to all other interpretations, and, as it is in science, there always come up certain know-it-all-persons, who then use the general method of doubting one and two items and then cast negative opinion onto the whole....

I am sure that you gave all  all of them hell.

What would be the task of the future? Your book needs to be included into the official history of India and that history teaching will follow your path....Also one more detail about the Mohenjo Daro event: For me the positions of the skeletons do not resemble the action that some dead bodies were centuries later carried to the site and cast away to get rid of some dead corpses., as someone commented. The positions of the skeletons rather resemble an catastrophic event.

Your future task should be to get in touch to some historians and pressure them to obtain an accurate bone age dating.

Furthermore, it was said that in one location an increased radioactivity was observed, which should  be dated as well..

Congratulations again for the good job done. I hope, many people would read your book."

Dr. Karan Singh's view about my book "Mahabharata 3136 BCE"

I am humbled to receive an email from Dr. Karan Singh, a scion of the Royal family of Kashmir, a Statesman and an educationist (Dr. Karan Singh) appreciating my recently published book "Mahabharata 3136 BCE". It is reproduced below. 

Published my new book, “Mahabharata 3136 BCE: Validation of the Traditional Date

I am glad to announce the release of my book. “Mahabharata 3136 BCE: Validation of the Traditional Date” on the occasion of the completion of birth centenary of my father today. This book dedicated to my father is released by his Ācārya swami, Sri U. Ve. Ko. Ka. Appan Praṇatārtiharācāriār Swāmi at his Tirumāḷigai near Sri Varadarāja Perumāl temple in Kāncipuram. 

I am privileged to get the manuscript read and fore-worded by three luminaries from three fields related to the Mahābhārata – astrology, religious literature and civilizational studies. I am indebted to Sri Niranjan Babu, the Chief Editor of The Astrological eMagazine and the son of the illustrious Dr. B. V. Raman for reading the manuscript and giving his valuable feedback. My gratitude finds no bounds for the foreword given by ‘Pravachana Ratna Mani’, Sri Dushyanth Sridhar. I am at a loss for words to express my gratefulness to Smt Sandhya Jain for proof-reading the text and giving her valuable thoughts about the book.

This book authenticates the year of the Mahābhārata war as 3136 BCE, embedded in the Text of the Mahābhārata as the 36^th year before Kṛṣṇa left on 3101 BCE when the current Time period of Kali Mahā Yuga began. It is important to validate this date to position the Mahābhārata in the Indic chronology to synchronize with the archaeological findings in Harappan settlements. The appearance of these settlements with advanced city planning and material culture could not have been sudden but a continuation of a pre-existing civilization. Mahābhārata offers the link to that pre-history.

This book of 18 chapters deals with the problems in dating, particularly with the use of astronomy simulators in the first Part where the issues around Kali Yuga date are settled textually and epigraphically. The second Part focuses on validating the date using the inputs on nimitta-s of terrestrial, atmospheric and celestial observations and syncing them with the traditional calendric references given in the text.

A surprise revelation of the systematic study of these inputs is the discovery of a cosmic impact, embedded in the GISP2 temperature graph of the Holocene - that makes the Mahābhārata a true historical document of mankind's first-ever eye-witness record of the crash of a fragmented comet on the earth and the moon simultaneously. The impact caused early Amāvāsyā on the 13^th tithi, that was perpetuated into memory as Bodhāyana Amāvāsyā and pushed the earth into a longer path causing a delay of Uttarāyaṇa, forcing Bhīṣma to wait on the arrow bed. The tithi-star alignment changed forever- the changed alignment  continuing even now- and is remembered as Ratha Saptamī. With so many tricky issues concealed in the Mahābhārata requiring us to follow Lord Gaṇeśa-moment every now and then, this book seeks to solve the incomprehensible verses to establish the date as the 36^th year before Kali Yuga began.

The decipherment continues to uncover the location of Kṛṣṇa’s Dwārakā and the causes for its loss. The focus then shifts to what happened to the remaining population of Dwārakā who fled the city after the deluge. The Epilogue gives the details of their settlements. The early Harappan regions being home to many Mahābhārata characters including the maternal ancestors of the Kuru-clan, the home of the son-in law of the Kaurava-s and animal motifs of the Harappan the same as those of the losers of the Mahābhārata war, the validation of the date of Mahābhārata gains significance by offering the hitherto unknown two phases of the Early Harappan, as pre-Mahābhārata and post-Mahābhārata, with the latter offering continuity to Mature Harappan with fresh settlements of the displaced people of the Dwārakā-flood, starting the Sarasvatī culture. 

The Epilogue further traces the second migration of the Dwārakā-people from the Sarasvatī region around 1500 BCE to Bet Dwārakā and to South India. Yet another migration from the Sindhu region to South India had taken place around 2000 years ago. The Epilogue also offers inputs from the Rāmāyana of Vālmīki on the autochthonous origin of the Yamnaya people in India in the 7^th millennium BCE.

The printed copy of this book running into 436 pages and priced at Rs. 475 (postal charges extra) can be obtained by sending an e-mail to jayasreebooks@gmail.com

The e-book is available at Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09LS1WZ4X (India)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09LS1WZ4X (USA)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09LS1WZ4X (UK)

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B09LS1WZ4X (Germany)

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B09LS1WZ4X (France)

https://www.amazon.es/dp/B09LS1WZ4X (Spain)

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09LS1WZ4X (Australia)

Readers can leave their comments, opinions and suggestions in the comment section of this blog.

My Master Class lecture on “Mahabharata Astrology”

I am glad to share the link to my Master Class lecture on “Mahabharata Astrology” delivered on 9^th October 2021, on the occasion of the 109^th Jayanti of Dr. B.V. Raman, organized by Raman & Rajeswari Research Foundation chaired by Bangalore Niranjan Babu, the son of Dr. B.V. Raman.

Starting with the basic classification of Astrology, I showed how all the planetary references in the Mahabharata, tagged as nimitta-s are part of Phala Bhaga of Jyothisha, that rejects any reference to the newly discovered planets, namely, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. This clarifies that any work on dating the Itihāsa-s, done by using these planets can be rejected outright at the outset.

Then I went on to show how all the planetary and the calendar references in the Mahabharata are aligned with Vedic astronomy and the Ashtānga system of Time. Some salient points are as follows:

(1) Only 27 functional stars at any point of time, and not 28.

(2) The 13^th tithi Amavasya was caused by a disturbance to the Z-axis of the Earth- Moon system by an extra-terrestrial impact making the moon to go on a shorter revolution, that is perpetuated into memory by the concept of Bodhāyana Amavasya.

(3) This disturbance had thrown off the earth from its X-Y axis temporarily, which caused it to take a longer path to reach the Uttarāyaṇa-point, making Bhishma to wait for his exit. This anomalous change in Time is remembered as Ratha Saptami.

(4) This also caused the earth to wobble more than normal before attaining its natural orientation that is detectable by unusual appearances of the sky reported by Vyāsa in the altered appearance of Arundhati-Vasishtha pair and the reverse movement of Dhruva and Mars.

My paper published on this cosmic impact in the Academia Letters (https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1385) brought me into contact with one of the reviewers of my paper, Prof. Joachim Seifert of Germany. He shared with me the graphs and the details of an extra-terrestrial impact already recorded in the Temperature chart of Holocene. The year was 3136 BCE, that I validated as the year of the Mahabharata war, that took place thirty-five years before the beginning of Kali Yuga, when Krishna left. 

The verses of the Mahabharata suggesting the impact that I shared with him convinced him further about the impact that he recognized it as the “Hastināpura Meteor Event”, the details of which are going to be published by him in his upcoming paper in a science journal. This event becoming the world’s first ever recorded eye-witness account – earlier than the Kaali impact of Sweden – the Mahabharata is set to come out of the tag of Mythology and as a true account that did take place in 3136 BCE, 35 years before Kali Yuga began.

From this I went on establishing the Vedic concept of the to-and-fro oscillation of the equinoxes -fundamental to understanding the lack of change in month-season combination - that is totally different from the ever-precessing equinoctial model of the west. This model rejects the axial precession of the earth – which is also revealed by the archaeo-astronomy of the ancient monuments of the world – and supports the precession of the entire solar system caused by the helical path of the sun as it surges ahead in the Universe. This path causes the sway of the sun for 27 degrees on either side of the sidereal Aries in lateral view from the earth. As a result, the seasons do not change much but oscillate around Caitra which we have retained as the standard configuration at all times in the past and even now.

In this limited movement of the equinoxes, there are only three pole stars identified by the Vedic sages. Abhijit that appears as a pole star in the western system of precession cycle has never been a pole star but only a zodiacal star. Similarly, Agastya can never be a pole star in the south as it lies outside the path of the limited oscillation. 

In this context I am explaining the crucial factor called the “Ayanāmśa”- the difference between the tropical position of the equinoctial sun from the sidereal position which is very much a part and parcel of horoscopy even today, but missing in western astronomy. The absence of this concept in the astronomy simulations shows absurd levels of addition of the ayanāmśa value, say, 35 to 45 degrees for 3067 BCE and 5561 BCE, 150 degrees for Bali’s time when the vernal equinox was said to be in Virgo and 180 degrees if one dates the Ramayana at 14,000 years ago. Were the Vedic sages so illogical in conceiving the ayanāmśa concept with such large deviations?

In a continuously precessing equinoctial system, there is no need for the ayanāmśa, but then the sages had proposed the use of ayanāmśa shows that the equinox was not continuously precessing. The ayanāmśa concept based on the oscillatory model of the equinoxes, ingrained in our more or less static state of month-seasons and incorporated in casting our horoscopes, must make us realize how irrelevant it is to use the western astronomy calculations that have no place for ayanāmśa correction.

In this context I have shown that it is not possible to extrapolate or approximate the rate of the ayanāmśa for the past. The only exception being the zero degree point of the sidereal Aries, which the sun crosses every 3600 years, where the super conjunction of all the planets (except Rahu) had taken place at the time of the departure of Krishna when Kali Maha Yuga began. That date (22^nd January 3101 BCE) is reproduced from Jhora for Vedic / Surya Siddhanta ayanāmśa, Lahiri ayanāmśa and Pushya Paksha ayanāmśa along with the simulation from the Stellarium astronomy software. Only the Vedic / Siddhāntic ayanāmśa shows the congregation. All credit to Sri. Vinay Jha who computed this from the ancient works.

I further went on to demonstrate how the eclipses and the planetary data found in our inscriptions do not match with the astronomy catalogue computations used in the astronomy simulators and in the Jhora astrology simulator. By 400 years ago, the position of both the sun and the moon had deviated. This had increased more by 1000 years ago. Prof. Vahia’s research also establishes that the NASA data does not concur with the eclipse sightings in India.

The cause can be traced to the inability to solve the n-body equations. Any eclipse should solve 4-body equations, involving the moon, the sun, the star in the backdrop and the latitude and longitude of the observer.

Mr. Nilesh Oak claimed in his book on the date of the Mahabharata that the makers of his software vouchsafed for the Proper motion of the stars in his simulator. That pertains to the single-body equation with no scope to solve the other problems that must have been addressed to make them appear in a particular configuration in the observer’s sky.

Similarly, Prof. Achar also addressed the single-body equation when he wrote in his 2014 paper that the motion of the slow-moving planet such as Saturn is enough to date the Mahabharata war. His rationale was that Saturn with 200 revolutions in a period of 5000 years compared to 60,000 revolutions of the moon in the same period, had less margin of error, but simulations show that the location of Jupiter, another slow-moving planet could not be correctly identified in the simulation in a very recent past, say, in 1601 CE, due to problems in getting the precession rate of the day accurately.

Though he agreed that eclipses cannot be simulated correctly for periods 5000 years ago, he did not seem to realize the mismatch within the four bodies – the sun, the moon, the background star and the earth in the event of an eclipse not simulated correctly. At best he thought that the simulators concur with the astronomy catalogues, but of what use they have for Vedic astronomy calculations?

Compared to any combination, the Kali Yuga congregation is a 10-body problem which can be solved only in the limited equinoctial model at the point of the zero ayanāmśa, at the beginning of sidereal Aries.

Unable to reproduce the Kali Yuga date, the colonial writers rejected it as fabricated. Fleet even rejected the Janamejaya inscription that incorporates 8-body equation on the pretext that the date is impossible. As one coming from a background that believes that the earth was created only 5000 years ago, he could not accept the prospect of advanced dynasties in India at that time. Why should we inherit a colonial obsession and reject the history of Janamejaya, the second king of Kali Yuga?

Our time scale is such that we have 9-body equations concurring at every moment of Time. They are not reproduceable at a later date due to limitations in calculating the precession rate and the current limited knowledge of the equinoctial movement. The sages who handed down the knowledge of the limited equinoctial movement did not give us any formula for calculating precession at any point of time. They wanted us to watch the shadow of the sun regularly to calculate the deviation and adjust it as ayanāmśa. For now, it is Lahiri ayanāmśa but at the beginning of sidereal Aries, it was zero ayanāmśa. Fortunately, this point happened to see the Kali yuga conjunction on 3101 BCE. Thirty-five years before that, the Mahabharata war had taken place (3136 BCE).

 

The age of Krishna

There is authentic record on Krishna's exit date but not on his birth year. If there is an authentic year, we would be celebrating it by a year number like how we mention the Kali date as 5123rd year as of Mesha this year (2021). Why no such number for Krishna's birth anniversary?

We know we are in 5123rd year of Kali. This is actually the anniversary of Krishna's departure. We do tarpan on that day even now - it's Mesha maasa pirappu.

If he had lived for 125 years, then it means Arjuna outlived him, for he departed after Krishna. He was three months younger than Krishna but left more than seven months after him . If Arjuna was 125 at his death time, Bhima was 126 years then and Yudhishthira  127 years of age. They lived longer than Krishna. Why these are not found mentioned anywhere?

Looking at the available evidence in Harivamsa, Krishna married Rukmini when she was 16 years old. So Krishna must have been older than 16.
Let's assume he was 20.
They got 10 children.
In the meantime Arjuna visited Dwaraka on his 12 yr vanavasa. After that Pandava exile for 13 yrs. After that they lived for 35 years.
So
20+ x + 12+ y + 13 + 35
= 80 + x+ y

X+ y occured before exile.
So 32 + x+ y was the age they went on exile.
Assuming x + y = 10 , they were 42 when they went on exile.
Actually x + y were very small time with not much info in Mahabharata.

So roughly we can say the war was fought when they all were around 50 years or in their 50s.
Then they lived for 35 years.
So they all have left in their 80s.

Ram Setu: Man-made and not before 7300 years ago. (Article by Sandhya Jain)

From 

Faith gets evidence from Science

by Sandhya Jain 

(Earlier published in Panchjanya.com in Hindi )

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is set to undertake the first scientific investigation of Rama Setu, the isthmus between India and Sri Lanka that enabled Rama’s army to cross the ocean and reach Ravana’s kingdom to rescue his wife. The Setu is a 48-km long chain of corals and shoals that scholars believe is a natural formation that was augmented by human hand. The ASI believes that studying this underwater formation will “help determine the age of the Ramayana period.” The study will be undertaken by the CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, using radiometric and thermo luminescence dating for geological timescale. 

Prof. Sunil Kumar Singh, director, NIO, said the three-year probe, to begin in March 2021, aims to determine if Ram Setu is man-made and establish its age scientifically. The results will be verified and co-related with information in Ramayana and other scriptures. The age of the sediments will be determined via Carbon dating techniques. Investigations will cover a range of scientific techniques such as material composition, sub-surface structure, and excavation of remnants or artifacts, if any, from the site. Underwater photography will help determine any habitation remains in the area. Later, scientists will drill into the structure, gather samples and undertake laboratory-based studies.

Prof Singh noted that some scriptures mention wooden slabs along the Setu. If these existed, they would have fossilised by now, and the team will search for them. As the sea bed around the Setu is shallow, barely three to four metres deep, it should be easy to study the structure. This fact is one of the major arguments against dredging the area to accommodate large modern ships.

Dr Badrinarayanan, former director, Geological Survey of India, stated in an interview (Rediff.com, July 31, 2007) that Ram Setu lay in a volcanic region with hot spots underneath; it was constructed around 7000 years Before Present (BP). Asserting that the top portion “appears to be a man-made structure”, he explained that it is originally a natural divide separating the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean, so the geological characteristics are different on either side.

During the Ice Age around 18,000 years ago, the sea level was lower by 130 metres than at present, due to de-glaciation. Around 7,300 years ago, major flooding caused the sea level to rise 4 metres higher than what it is today. But the bund linking India and Sri Lanka is not a mere sand dune.

The Geological Survey of India conducted surveys for the Sethu Samudram Canal project authorities in 2004-05. On approaching the structure, they found a sudden rise in the land level: from 10-12 metre it rose 1.5 metre. The northern side is the turbulent Palk Bay that is prone to cyclones, and the tranquil southern side is the Gulf of Mannar which is pristine. It hosts nearly 21 islands full of corals. The GSI did some drilling at the deeper level of about 180-200 metres, but seems not to have probed the top portion.

The National Institute of Oceanography (NIOT) dug around 10 bore holes along the Adam’s Bridge alignment; four were along the islands (where sands keep shifting) and six in the water. It found that everywhere, below the top six metres, there were marine sands on top and below a mix of corals, calcareous sandstones, and boulder-like materials. Further below, up to 4-5 metres, again there was loose sand and after that, hard formations.

This, according to Dr Badrinarayanan, shows the structure is not natural. Corals are found only on rocks and hard surfaces. But on the Setu, below the corals and boulders, were loose sand, and on top of the loose sand, formed when the sea level was low, divers found boulders, which normally occur on land. The boulders are not a marine formation. Somebody dumped the boulders to use the structure as a causeway.

In Rameswaram, Pamban, Tuticorin region, one can see old corals on the land, because the sea level was 4 metres higher at the time they were formed 7,300 to 5,800 years ago. Then, from 5,800 to 5,400 years ago, the sea level fell, and from 5,400 to 4,000 years ago, it rose 2 metres higher than it is today. Hence, we find corals at two levels.

Between 5,800 to 5,400 years ago, or around 4,000 years ago, somebody brought all the boulders to the Setu. All aerial pictures show the Setu as 2 to 3 km wide. It is high on the eastern side, so someone took advantage of the raised portion and dumped the boulders to cross the waters. On the Rameswaram islands and in Pamban, on both sides of the railway bridge, one can see such formations and raised corals, which suggest that quarrying was done there. Since no one will dump materials for 30 km, the task was undertaken to cross the sea. The boulders are compact and light.

The region is geologically and geo-tectonically sensitive. Drilling revealed hot springs of 60 to 70 degrees Celsius. Earthquakes in Sri Lanka are felt in India, which means a major fault-line runs there. Towards the north and south, are remnants of old volcanoes.

It seems obvious, therefore, that widening the water channel could activate the fault-line and trigger seismic activity or earth quakes. It is well known that cyclones or tsunamis in the Bay of Bengal are contained by the Setu, or they would devastate southern India.

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Tamil sources uphold the significance of Ram Setu as national heritage. Scholar Jayasree Saranathan observes that Valmiki Ramayana mentions a tsunami-impact at the isthmus just before Rama built the Setu, and probably caused the submergence of Southern Madurai around that time. Rama and the Vanaras reached the shore (VR 6:4) and waited for three days to find an opening in the ocean, failing which Rama shot an arrow to part the waters. After much tumult in the waters, Sāgara (God of the Sea) appeared and promised to hold back the waters so that the Vanaras could build the bridge, which they did in five days.

Saranathan puts Ramayana events at the time when the old Tamil kingdom of Pandyans was ruling in the South. Valmiki Ramayana mentions Kavatapuram, capital city of the Pandyas; there is also a corroboratory reference to Ravana in the Sinnamanur copper plates of the Pandyans. The copper plates mention that the Pandyans often clashed with Ravana and made him seek truce, or negotiated with him for some reason. This proves that Ravana was not a mythical character, and that Ramayana happened. Saranathan estimates that per literary and epigraphic evidences, the Ramayana period must have happened after 5550 BC when Kavatam was the capital of Pandyan kings. Prof Pushkar Bhatnagar puts the date at 5114 BC, based on astronomy-inputs of Ramayana.

When Sugriva told Hanuman and the vanaras to search for Sita in the southern direction, he said that after crossing river Kaveri, Agastya’s abode and river Tamraparani, they would reach the Kavatam of Pandyas (VR, ch. 41-19). Thereafter they would reach the Southern Ocean and could reach Ravana’s Lanka from Mahendra hills. Kavatam was submerged in the third deluge 3500 years ago.

Ram Setu was an engineering feat of its time. Mandodari knew Ravana would lose the coming war when she learnt about the bridge: “The day when the terrific monkeys built a bridge on the great ocean, that day itself I believed that Rama was not an ordinary mortal.” (VR, 6-111-11)

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Rama Setu has an illustrious history and has fascinated non-Hindus for ages. The 11th century scholar Al-Beruni observed, “Setubandha means bridge of the ocean. It is the dike of Rama, the son of Dasarath, which he built from the continent to the castle Lanka. At present it consists of isolated mountains between which the ocean flows”. Early European travellers noted that the Setu could be used to reach Sri Lanka at low tide. Temple epigraphs and travelogues recorded in the Madras Presidency Gazetteer of 1893 said this was possible up to 1799, after which the rough sea and changing tide patterns made it difficult. Interestingly, the Sinhalas believe that Ashoka’s son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitra walked over the bridge.

NASA satellite images reveal a broken bridge on the ocean floor, with unique curvature and composition that reveals it to be man-made, about 1,750,000 years old, coinciding with the first signs of human habitation in Sri Lanka. In March 2012, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa urged the Prime Minister to declare it a national monument on account of its “immeasurable historical, archaeological and heritage value”.

Rama Setu falls within the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere, set up by the Government of India in 1989 as South Asia’s largest protected marine ecosystem. It has 3,600 species of plants and animals, including sperm whales and dolphins, 117 species of corals (in Indian territorial waters alone), and many varieties of fish and crustaceans. The marine life on the Sri Lankan side is even richer. The Bar Reef off the Kalpitiya peninsular has 156 species of coral and 283 fish; two other coral reef systems adorn the seabed around Mannar and Jaffna. There are huge banks of oysters, Indian Chank and Sea Cucumbers adjacent to Mannar.

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Commander Alfred D. Taylor of the Indian Marines mooted the idea of a shipping channel across the Palk Strait in 1860, to shorten the route for ships sailing between the west and east coast of India. In 1955, the Government of India appointed a Committee headed by Dr. A.R. Mudaliar to examine if a channel at Mannar could really save nearly 780 km of sailing distance and 30 hours of sailing time for ships. The committee said the project was feasible but urged an overland passage instead, as a channel cutting through the Setu would suffer from shifting sandbanks and navigational hazards. This effectively negated the project.

Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency warned that widening the channel would increase the water flow from the Bay of Bengal to the Gulf of Mannar, and disturb the inland water balance and Mannar eco-systems. Fishermen opposed the project as shipping and fishing cannot coexist in such a narrow waterway.

Moreover, data from 1860 to 2000 showed that cyclones hit the region every four years and severely erode the coast. Tsunamis such as the one in 2004 can be even more lethal. The project failed to study the sedimentation pattern of Palk Bay, where the open sea constantly brings sand that could keep the channel shut for much of the year. The Suez Canal was cut through land, but needs annual desiltation. Naval experts opined that the channel would be unviable as the large modern-day merchant ships or oil tankers would not like to reduce speed, switch fuels, and incur extra costs like canal charges and pilot navigation assistance to negotiate it, but would prefer the open seas around Sri Lanka.

The Setusamudram project was launched in 2005 at the behest of the DMK, an important partner in the UPA government; dredging began in 2006. Hindu leaders immediately met the President of India to protest against the destruction of the Rama Setu. In October 2008, T.R. Baalu, DMK minister in the Union cabinet, filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, claiming, inter alia, that the Rama Setu was destroyed by Rama himself while departing from Lanka. Neither the Culture Ministry nor the Shipping and Road Transport Ministry were informed about the submission.

As Congress went into damage control, BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said, “In the first affidavit, the government said there is no proof of Rama’s existence. Then there was widespread anger and it withdrew the affidavit. In the next one, it said it was a matter of faith and was up to the court to decide. Now they are saying that Rama himself destroyed the Rama Setu, which means they are admitting that Rama existed.”

In 2012, the RK Pachauri committee warned that shipping in the Gulf of Mannar could cause oil spills and pollution, damaging the soft-coral reefs, marine turtles, and endangered sea animals such as Dugongs and Green Turtles, besides affecting the livelihoods of fishermen. It deemed the project “unviable both from the economic as well as ecological angles.”

In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party promised in its election manifesto that the Setu would be protected as “part of our cultural heritage” and because of the strategic value of its vast thorium deposits. The qualitative value of this intangible heritage may now be established by the Archaeological Survey of India and the National Institute of Oceanography.