This blog aims at bringing out the past glory and history of India, Hinduism and its forgotten values and wisdom. This is not copyrighted so as to reach genuine seekers of these information. Its my prayer that only genuine seekers - and not vandals & plagiarists - come to this site.
With the 2024 Lok Sabha election nearing fast, we are
getting to hear multiple interpretations on the state of things. Foremost is
about the state of alliances in Tamilnadu. With EPS looking unwilling to align with
the BJP, there is a common perception that it will lead to a 3-cornered contest
which would work to the advantage of the ruling DMK.
This stark fact is known to the BJP as well and as
such we can expect the BJP think tank at the center to create a 2-cornered
contest. They won’t allow a 3-cornered contest in Tamilnadu. How this will
take shape is palpable from certain quick developments seen in the recent days.
These developments work in two ways – political and creation of an
environment.
Politically, the game of waiting on EPS is almost over.
After his return from Delhi, Annamalai has
upped the ante for go-it-alone mode which means retaining the lead in the NDA alliance
and not depending on the ADMK. This might send shock waves in both the ADMK and
the BJP over the prospect of three or multi cornered contest, but think of the
way politicians behave. Politics means life time business for most in the two
Dravidian parties. They cannot exist without power or brokerage. They will sway
towards the side where the winds are favorable. The early indication on the
ADMK camp has become palpable recently.
OPS was a given a breathing space just a few days ago
when he was given an audience with the top brass of the BJP including the Prime
Minister on the sidelines of the swearing-in of the Gujarat Assembly. OPS, and
not EPS was spotted in the front row of that ceremony. Is the central BJP having
second thoughts on EPS? Have they decided to lend tacit support to OPS with
a view to garner Thevar segments?
Imagine a scenario when OPS severs from the ADMK
and forms his own faction; he will be taken into the NDA. But do you think that
the whole of lot of seasoned politicians in the EPS camp would remain as dump spectators?
They knew very well that they cannot win in a 3-cornered contest in 2024. The
situation will be no different in 2026 too. Political acumen dictates that they
join with OPS, though there may not be many direct entrants to the BJP. I
expect a considerable number of MLAs (both sitting and ex) to throw their
weight behind OPS. This would be more certain, if the DMK also is headed for
a split.
Yes, split in the DMK appears very certain given the
hard fact that the CBI is tightening its noose around Kanimozhi. From Delhi
Rajagopal’s inputs it looks certain that Kanimozhi along with A. Raja is
going to face legal troubles. Does this not offer an opportunity to fix a deal to make Kanimozhi do a
Shinde in Tamilnadu? (Tempted to link Annamalai’s soft corner for
Trichy Surya for the likely utility he can offer in this scenario).
The elevation of Udayanidhi had not come a day
later that there are more cons than pros in his elevation. The old-timers who
are not willing to carry a fresh sand bag (Manal Moottai) in Udayanidhi would
be more than willing to side with Kanimozhi who would be happier to start her
own party “KDMK”
(Karunanidhi DMK).
This is likely to get the support of M.K. Azhagiri
too whose bastion (Madurai) is becoming the focus of attention for the BJP as
the venue for G-20 meetings. Azhagiri may be lying low but his supporters are
just dormant and bidding their time. Moreover, would Azhagiri lose a chance to
promote his son when he gets a chance to checkmate the rise of Stalin’s son?
If the DMK is splitting, it means NDA’s chances are
increasing. The ADMK split would be complete with more heavyweights coming to
OPS camp. Should I need to tell that OPS and Kanimozhi would be part of the
NDA then?
A split DMK and a split ADMK would make the
contest in favor of the NDA.
The final nailing would be given by the Prime Minister
Modi, the Master Strategist!
What Rangaraj Pandey told in Tamilnadu
Dialogues would become true. Modi would contest from Tamilnadu – preferably from
Kanchi – in addition to his present constituency Varanasi.
The environment comes into focus here.
The focus of Kasi-Tamil Sangamam on ordinary people
from mofussil and rural regions of Tamilnadu would have a pro-Modi impact on
the rural populations who care to go to the polling booth. The local booth-worker
network of the TNBJP has a big role.
Modi’s love for Bharatiyaar makes me think that
he may be toying with the idea of contesting from Kanchipuram
– a place mentioned by Bharatiyar in the context of Kashi (making a
communication equipment to deliver the poems of Kashi-poets to Kanchi). If he
contests from Kanchipuram, it would have an impact on the whole of Chennai
which is mostly a DMK stronghold. That hold of the DMK would be broken by Modi
contesting from Kanchi.
With Kanimozhi faction and OPS faction coming into
reality and joining the NDA (no other go once they come out) and scores of
others coming under the NDA, it would enable an all-round presence throughout
Tamilnadu. Modi entering the fray in Tamilnadu in that scenario would definitely
charge the atmosphere. This is more probable in the given situation and the
kind of developments in the last few days – that can avert a 3-cornered contest.
The loser will be EPS who seems to think
that is a la Jayalalithaa!
Jayalalithaa was taller enough to challenge Modi – and
ask the electorate to choose between Lady and Modi. But today there is no challenger to Modi
and EPS is no Lady!High time EPS realizes
this or else… Handling Tamilnadu to opt for 2-cornered contest is not a tough
task for the strategists of the BJP.
PS: The hate Modi campaign by Dravida Model people is centred around GST and Demonetization. It's good these two are now under the purview of the Supreme court. A favourable verdict before 2024 elections will go a long way in defusing the hate campaign of the D Stock.
The only other hate factor is the propaganda that BJP is 'matha- vaada katchi'. By consolidating majority vote bank, possible to do a cake-walk
Mahābhārata
contains several small stories or events of the past, some of them appearing strange
to comprehend. A common thread through such weird stories pertains to bizarre
characters, odd behaviour of saintly people and unnatural or abnormal
relationship issues that continue to be remembered till date or picked out
selectively from the texts to debase the texts and the characters in those
events. We tend to interpret them in our own way, with our own perceptions,
while being unaware of the original line of thought supposed to have been
delivered through those events.
One
such story contains directives on how to interpret seemingly odd descriptions
and the characters of the story, which offer remarkable understanding of the
story when applied. Amazingly, the decoding of that story on such lines reveal
that it was actually talking about migration of people from North to South of
the equator in a distant past when the North was reeling under severe shortage
of food due to climate change. The fundamental clue on understanding the story
rests with the etymology of the proper nouns used in the story – of the
Sanskrit names – and connecting them with the characterization of the people
and the events in the story.
This
story appears in Chapter
94 and Chapter 95
of Book 13 of the Mahābhārata. The translation in English can be read HERE. The central
characters are the seven Rishi-s (sages) who govern mankind from their
celestial abode in the seven stars of Ursa Major (Sapta rishi Mandala). As per
Hindu Thought the rishi-s keep changing in each era following a change in
mankind and their way of life. Figure 1 shows the location of the seven rishi-s
of the current era. They are Marici, Vasishtha, Angirasa, Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha
and Kratu.
Additionally,
the name Arundhati also appears. She is the wife of Vasishtha who accompanies
him from behind. The stars Alcor and Mizar represent Arundhati and Vasishtha as they were
never seen away from each other; more importantly Alcor was never seen
overtaking Mizar, in the same way that Arundhati was never known to have gone
in front of her husband Vasishtha but towed behind him. For this reason, invoking
Arundhati as a symbol of an ideal wife who doesn’t cross the path of her
husband is part and parcel of Vedic marriages even today.
Fig 1: The seven sages
of the Saptarishi Mandala for the current period
Interestingly,
the same names of the seven sages do not appear in the story under discussion
thereby revealing that it was about a previous era when different set of
rishi-s governed mankind. Their names as they appear in the story are Atri,
Vasishtha, Kashyapa, Bharadwaja, Gautama, Vishwamitra and Jamadagni.
Atri
and Vasishtha have remained in the group of that time. Additionally, Arundhati’s
name also appears in the story as a devout wife following Vasishtha, thereby
indicating the fixed alignment between Alcor and Mizar even in those times.
The
story talks about the shift of the seven sages due to famine conditions. The story
happened at a time of severe drought when the seven
rishi-s, the chaste wife Arundhati, their
maid servant, Ganda and her husband Paśusakha were struggling to get food. The first horrendous
information of the story appears here where it is said that they decided to cook
the dead prince, the son of Śibi’s son whom they
received in a sacrifice, to satiate their hunger!
As
they began cooking the dead body in a vessel, the dead person’s grandfather, Śibi
(Vrishadarbha’a son) appeared there and offered to remove their hunger by giving
them cattle. The sages refused to accept the kine and left the place without
eating the dead one they were cooking. Seeing them leave, the king got angry
and invoked a demoness, he named as Yātudāni, to follow the sages and slay
them. But he sounds a caveat that Yātudāni must first ask for their names and comprehend the meaning of their names; only
after understanding the etymology of their names, can she slay them. This odd stipulation
comes up as a valuable clue to decipher
the story.
Śibi is a plant growing in Northern latitudes
The
story starts with Śibi whose son’s son was cooked by the sages for eating. Śibi
is the Sanskrit term for the plant Typha
angustifolia, which grows abundantly
in high Northern latitudes such as Siberia and Scandinavia.
Fig 2: Typha augustifolia
(Śibi)
It
grows where there is water. The entire plant is edible. But a time came when
this plant could no longer grow due to climatic changes. The narration about
sages preparing to eat the dead son of Śibi’s son shows that times were so bad
that people were left with nothing but the dead and dried Śibi plants to eat. I
locate the place of this plant in the narration at Altai mountains where
Denisovan gene was discovered from a fragment of a bone. Let me justify this in
the course of this write-up.
The
sages were offered kine which they refused, as they didn't want to subsist on
flesh. They started moving in search of food and met a mendicant accompanied with
his dog on their way. This man was called as 'Śunasakha'
which means 'friend of dog'. In Hindu Thought the dog signifies Yama, the God
of death. He is also the God of Dharma who delivers good and bad according to
one’s karma. The dog appearing well-fed would literally mean that many people
had died and the dogs had scavenged on the dead people. As a personification of
Yama, it can be deduced that God Yama appeared robust in having delivered fair
judgement. But who was his friend – the Sakha of Śuna? We will decipher it in the
course of the story.
The
dog and Śunasakha accompanied the sages in their wanderings in finding food. At
last, all of them reached a Lotus-pond. That
pond was guarded by Yātudāni, the demoness sent by Śibi, the king. Yātu means
wind. Yātudāni denotes a state of heavy winds afflicting people. Coming from drought-struck
Śibi’s land, it seems to indicate cold winds blowing from that region that was
reeling under lack of sunlight and water. Now that Yātudāni was located in the
region of lotus-pond, it could refer to the limit or boundary of the cold and
dry winds.
The
presence of lotus pond indicates a changed climatic condition where water was available.
The lotus planet, like Śibi is completely edible. So, the sages had at last
reached a humid place where food was
available. Yātudāni stopped the rishi-s who wanted gather the lotus-stalks from
the pond for eating. She demanded that they tell the meaning of their names. One
by one the sages started telling the meaning of their names, but Yātudāni could
not comprehend any of the names!
The
demoness could not understand the meaning of Arundhati, Ganda and Paśusakha
too. Arundhati means the one who never obstructs.
She expressed that meaning by saying that she always stayed by the side of her husband.
Ganda described the meaning as the raised portion of the cheek. By getting
associated with Paśusakha as her
husband, it is understood that Ganda refers to ‘raised
grass land for grazing’. Paśusakha means ‘friend
of cattle’.
All
these are connected with a community of householders who depended on simple
country life and cattle wealth. Ganda and
Paśusakha joining the sages in Śibi’s land shows that the region was dotted with
raised land where cattle could be grown but had to be abandoned due to dry conditions.
The sages and others were spared by the demoness as she could not understand
the etymological meaning of their names and she was subsequently killed by Śunasakha
(friend of dog). This is indicative of cessation of adverse wind patterns that
afflicted people all the way from Śibi’s land.
The
sages collected the lotus stalks for eating, but these stalks were stolen by Śunasakha.
Ultimately it turned out that Śunasakha was Vāsava (Indra, the lord of people)
who guides and protects people. He followed the entourage of sages to help them
avoid un-agreeable foods and reach a place conducive for living. His stature as
Indra, the ruler of mankind, has made him appear robust and well-fed. The deity
of Dharma (Yama) was his constant friend and therefore he was Śunasakha. The
story ends with the departure of Indra and the seven sages to their respective
celestial abodes. People had started their routine life in the new place dotted
with lotus ponds.
Migration from Śibi to lotus regions
The
derivations from this narration are that two plants mark the two locations of
human settlements. The two plants namely Śibi (Typha angustifolia) and lotus
are complete foods. Even in times of starvation, people had managed to subsist
on these two plants. Lotus is consumed in places like China and Thailand but it
grows well in Vietnam. All parts of the plant are entirely consumed by the Vietnamese.
Lotus
is indigenous to the Tropics in and around Sundaland. Taking this as a cue, I am locating
the region of Typha angustifolia to the north of China because that makes an
easy route for people to have migrated northward or southward during times of
distress. The northern most location for Typha angustifolia in this stretch is
Altai Mountains! The lotus growing Vietnam formed the southern location of migration
Fig 4: The North
and South limits of the migration
Since
there is evidence of Denisovan genes found in Altai (Here)
connected with Australian aborigines (Here)
and also of Papuans and Pacific
islanders (Here) it is
possible to deduce that a former migration had occurred in this corridor - from
Australia to Sundaland to China to Altai.
The
narration in Mahābhārata is about a southward migration through the same
corridor when North became inhospitable and South was warm and wet. This could
have happened during Glacial Maximum and Minimum periods, with migrants finally
settling down in regions around Sundaland. The old memory transmitted through
generations in the form of a simple story can be picked out by means of the
clue given in that story itself – that etymology plays a great role in unlocking
the secrets hidden in those stories.
Many
would have watched the 8-part series on "Ancient
Apocalypse"
presented by Graham Hancock in his search for
Pre-history dating back to the Ice Age. Though interesting, it disappointed me
that the well recorded inputs of Pre-history from Indic texts were ignored by
him. Perhaps he, like many mainstream archaeologists was conditioned to rely
only on physical existence of evidence in stone, but times are such that even
oral traditions such as the flood legends of Australian aborigines are accepted
nowadays for understanding past and pre-history. The Indic evidences are far
ahead of the oral traditions in that they are written records preserved safely
for ages. One such important evidence from an Indic text unravels the mystery
of Gunung Padang, the oldest of all
the eight structures that Hancock had passionately brought out.
Incidentally
the Gunung Padang mystery seems to offer the best answer to other structures
discussed by him, particularly those built with huge boulders such as the
pyramid of Cholula, the megalithic structures of
Malta and the under-water Bimini rock formation. Only Indic texts, particularly
Tamil texts bear information on the first ever masonry work done by inventing
tools and methods to cut the rocky slopes of mountains during pre-Holocene.
Pre-History traced to Skanda’s Kumari country / Shāka Dwīpa
The
celebrated deity, Skanda
who lived in a place called Southern Madurai in
the Indian Ocean region (in the southern hemisphere) was known to have broken a
mountain called “Krauncha” using a tool called “Chendu”. His country was known
as Kanni Nādu or Kumari country (கன்னிநாடன்மேருவில்செண்டுஎறிந்துவைப்புஎடுத்தTiruvilaiyādal
Puranam: 1-1112).
This
Kanni country is recognised as one among nine Khandas (sub divisions) of
Bharata varsha along with the present-day India (Siddhanta Shiromani: 3-41,42).
Known as Kumarikā Khanda
(in Siddhanta Shiromani) this place was earlier known as Shāka Dwīpa known for the growth of Shāka tree.
Shāka Flower (click to enlarge)
The
location of Shāka Dwīpa is deduced from Brahmānda Purana (Ch: 21- 73,74) which says as
follows:
Śravana
(Altair) and Uttarāṣāḍhā (Nunki) being the stars in the sign of Capricorn and
Sagittarius, it is deduced that this refers to the movement of the sun on the
Tropic Capricorn on the globe and slightly north of it. That locates Shāka Dwīpa close to
Australia. During Ice Age, i.e., before 12,000 years ago many parts
around Australia, particularly in the north of Australia were above the sea
level. Somewhere there and perhaps in the now sunken parts of Sundaland, Skanda’s Shāka Dwīpa alias
Kumari Khanda had existed.
At
different times in the past this place was known as Raivataka
after the fall of a comet that disturbed the moon from its orbit near the star
Revati (zita Piscium) and later as Kumuda and Kaumara taking the name of Skanda as Kumara.
From
the narration given in Mārkaṇḍeya Purana, it is
possible to deduce the time period of the comet-fall in Raivataka. This
happened during the Last Glacial Minimum, i.e.,
around 26,500
years ago. That was also the time the first speech was developed as per
the Purana. Click the following video to watch the narration on the Puranic
account of the development and the time period of the first speech of the
ancestral Indic people.
In
that period of extreme cold, mankind could have thrived only around the equator
where there was some warmth and scope for convectional rainfall. Only Sundaland
(Indonesia archipelago) and Northern Australia (now gone under water) were
found to be hospitable which is further reiterated by the genetic studies of
Oppenheimer. That was where the early and ancestral Indic people had lived, the
earliest datable period starting from the time the first speech evolved.
Here
I am reproducing the vegetation map during Last Glacial Maximum ending with
15,000 BP. It shows that landforms of that time above the sea level and also
the distribution of vegetation. One can find that the equatorial region was
dotted with rain forest (circled in red)
Skanda
appears in the next major period in the Indic time line. His period can be
deduced from both the Sangam age texts and the oft repeated information on the
first floods and sudden sea level rise experienced during his time. That was
just at the time of the end of the Ice age, i.e.,12,000 years ago. It also
appears that the comet of 10,800 BCE that ushered in Younger Dryas hit the earth
during Skanda’s time.
The comet-hit of Skanda’s period that caused Younger Dryas
Named
as ‘Asi’ (deduced fromthe narration in Mahābhārata),
this comet had landed on the earth as numerous pieces, some of which landed in
India near the Tropic of Cancer (a location known as Bhadravata
(likely to be Mahākāleśwar in Ujjain) where Maheśwara drives his chariot managed by Time) and
parts of east India.
In
the above figure, the red arrow marks signify the direction of the fall and the
location of the cometary fragments so far accounted by researchers. The arrow
marks in white are drawn by me based on the deduction from the legend of
burning body parts of Sati Deviand the earliest locations of that fall. Four
fragments of the comet landed at four places in India visualised as the fall of
fiery body parts of Sati Devi, the consort of Rudra (Shiva in furious form).
Those places came to be worshiped as Shakti Pīṭha-s
(seat of Shakti). The recognition of only four Shakti Pīṭha-s initially as Adi
Shakti Pīṭha-s goes to show that only four fragments landed in India of Asi,
the comet (which was described as Mahiṣa, the Dānava who threw down fire and
boulders from the sky. The entire episode of the fall of the comet was
described as Deva- Dānava war fought by Skanda in which Skanda was made the
celestial Commander-in Chief)
Four
Adi-Shakti Pīṭha-s – the landing sites of the burning comet-pieces.
The
four locations are 1. Bimala (Pada Khanda, inside the Jagannath Temple of Puri,
Odisha), 2. Tara Tarini (Sthana Khanda, Purnagiri, Near Berhampur, Odisha), 3. Dakshina
Kalika (Mukha Khanda, Kolkata, West Bengal), 4. Kamakhya Temple (Yoni Khanda, Near
Guwahati, Assam) and
Decoding
of these stories from the Indic sources help us to build up the chronology of
events during pre-historic times that can be corroborated with scientific
discoveries.
By
the time of Skanda (12,000 BP), lot of improvements were made. Speech was
refined into Tamil (lingua franca for the local people) and Sanskrit (for
intellectual pursuits). This happened under the auspices of Shiva, the father
of Skanda who was also raised as a divinity in due course. Only in Skanda’s
time masonry work got a fillip after he and his clan found ways to break the
rocks and mountains for building purposes. Interestingly, unbelievable masonry
works with huge boulders are found in plenty only in the regions around
Sundaland and the adjoining Australia and in Peru and Chile on the other side
of the sea. A rocky tunnel lined up with huge
boulders found in NSW Australia close to Shāka Dwīpa , is not yet dated
(picture below).
Use
of such huge boulders is found in many structures in Sundaland, including
Gunung Padang. The connectivity by ocean must have enabled the movement of
early masons all across the tropics even before Holocene started, whose
expertise must have been passed on generationally and was manifest in the
structures of Cholula, Bimini, Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe.
Ekādaśa Rudra-s in Karahan Tepe
The
eleven pillars in a pit in Karahan Tepe with a
human face projected on a snake have all the trappings of the Hindu concept of Ekādaśa
Rudra-s. Rudra was the earliest concept, formed earlier than the concept of
Shiva and was recognised as the 11 parts of a human being – 10 senses and the
atman (soul) – which when departed from mortal body (upon death) makes others
weep. The 11 Rudra-s are the custodians of the second-generation ancestors
(grand-parents) by worshiping whom those departed ancestors are worshiped
(given oblations). There is vast literature on Ekādaśa Rudra-s in various olden
Hindu texts which can be read here: Ekādaśa Rudra-s.
Even
today worship of Ekādaśa Rudra-s continue by offering sacred bath in many
temples of India. A temple at Mangrauni dedicated
to Ekādaśa Rudra-s is shown below.
One
can see the image of snakes on all the Rudra-s. Shiva Himself is depicted as
having the snake. The image of the head on the neck of a snake on the side wall
of Karahan Tepe is hardly surprising when we visualise the entire structure as
the early form of Ekādaśa Rudra iconography.
The
pedestal on which all the 11 Rudra-s are mounted look similar to the structure
of Karahan Tepe. That is the shape of the seat of any Shiva Linga in the
temples of India. In many places the Shiva Linga is consecrated in lower than
the ground level as seen in Karahan Tepe. That seat served as a bath tub too.
Karahan
Tepe
According
to Hancock the enclosure at Karahan Tepe contained water to the depth of one
meter. Water is part of ancestral oblations and also worship. There are many
temples in India of Shiva linga-s standing in water or with continuous pouring
of water on the Shiva linga as an act of sacred bath. Worship of Shiva Linga
located on a lowered pedestal is shown in the picture below:
Coming
back to evidence of ancient works on huge boulders, the masonry technique seemed
to have spread further to Egypt and Tiryns.
The
influence of ancestral Indic people located in Indian Ocean habitat seems to have
contributed to the lithic structure of the pre-Greek society going by the time
of period of the dispersal of sea-bound people of Pāndyan-s (Tirayan) – the descendants of Skanda’s dynasty (Pāndya
dynasty) 3500 years ago. It is highly likely that they landed in the
Mediterranean region as sea-people and found a home for themselves. Malta
structures (Mnajdra) could also be attributed to
the displaced sea-farers of the Pāndya country.
There
is a close parallel between Cyclopes, the Mycenaean
masons who had worked on gigantic boulders and the descendants of the
people of Skanda’s clan. Cyclopes were said to be having an eye on the
forehead. Eye on the forehead is characteristic of Shiva, the father of Skanda.
Wearing Bindi (mark on the
forehead) by all Hindus (both men and women) perhaps started from the third eye
concept of Shiva. The Cyclopes could have worn the eye-mark on the forehead
like any Shiva worshiper.
With
this brief outlook on Indic narration on pre-history and Holocene period, let
me take a look at Hancock’s version on Gunung Padang.
Three dates of Gunung Padang
Hancock
gives evidence for three time periods on human involvement in the structural
development of Gunung Padang. The earliest evidence
comes at a depth of 100 feet dated to a period, 20,000
to 24,000 BP. This matches with the period of first
speech described earlier. Any masonry work necessitates verbal
communication among the workers. So, speech was somewhat developed at that time
as indicated by Mārkaṇḍeya Purana.
Hancock
identifies the second period at around 11,600 BP with evidence coming from 50 feet below the
structure at Gunung Padang. This is exactly the period
of Skanda! A surge in masonry activities had happened in that period as
per Indic sources.
There
is a third period identified by Hancock – that
was 7000 BP, around 5200 BCE, which is the period of Rāma of Ayodhya (of Rāmāyana fame)! Rāma’s
time is deduced from cross references within Rāmāyana and Tamil sources. By
7200 BP Southern Madurai (in Shāka Dwīpa ) was completely lost into the sea and
a new capital was established at Kavātam which also got submerged in the last
deluge 3500 years ago. In other words, like Southern Madurai and the country of
Kanni, Kavātam was not part of present-day India!
Kavātam
finds a mention in Rāmāyana of Vālmīki, the original and authentic version. In
the course of describing the countries and places one by one towards the
Southern direction, the Vānara kingSugreeva mentions Kavātam of Pāndyan-s. So, Rāmāyana
had happened only after Kavātam was established. In fact, a careful reading of
the Rāmāyana shows that the deluge had occurred sometime between the 11th
and 14th year of exile of Rāma. In that period Southern Madurai and a
vast expanse of land in SE Asia had sunk due to sudden sea level rise and also
due to subductions. By the 14th year (last year) of Rāma’s exile Kavātam
came to be established as the capital of the Tamils.
Right
from Kavātam, it is possible to trace the locations south off India and in SE
Asia from the Rāmāyana description. This search leads us to the location of
Gunung Padang!
Locating Gunung Padang from Rāmāyana verses
From
Rāmāyana Verses, let me decode
the southern route from Malaya Mountain (Western Ghats) where the river Kāviri
has its origins. Kāviri
was confined within a receptacle (today also) on top of the mountain where sage Agastya was seated. As per Rāmāyana he was
standing in the water of Kāviri receptacle and doing a penance for 12 years.
After
crossing that location, one has to cross the river Tāmraparani.
After crossing Tāmraparani, one reaches the Pāndyan city of Kavātam! Today this is under the sea. No one knows the
exact part of the sea where this was situated. From Rāmāyana we come to know
that after crossing Kavātam one comes to the sea shore. It was in the southern
side where a mountain range called Mahendragiri starts.
Only one part of this range was visible (above the sea) while the other end was
steeping into the sea, says Rāmāyana. Rāmāyana gives a fascinating input that
this mountain was pressed by Sage Agastya such that one end had gone under the
water with only the other end still above the water.
Such
descriptions are not mythical but contain deeper and secret info. Agastya’s name
is invoked whenever a mountain or land form is lifted up or pushed down and
when some water bodies are also impacted. Rāmāyana speaks about Kavātam in the
off-shore region of south India and a mountain range beyond that in the sea.
Today no such mountain is detectable in the off shore region anywhere around
the southern tip of India. This means further subsidence had happened in the
later period. Anyway, Indians with their habit of retaining the memory of lost
past, had named a peak of the western ghats in South India as Mahendragiri.
This should not be confused with the Mahendragiri that existed beyond the shore
of Kavātam.
In
the following map, I have placed Kavātam on the eastern shore of South India
based on the other input from the Rāmāyana that Lanka
was located on the other side of the Mahendragiri that was steeping into the
sea (tasya = its - Mt. Mahendra's; apare paare = on the other, shore; - Vālmīki
Rāmāyana)
After
Mahendragiri (now lost under water due to subsidence), the next location is
Lanka (Sri Lanka). Going southward from Lanka, the next land forms appear only
in Sundaland. Rāmāyana refers to the next stop at Mt.
Pushpitaka and then closer to it, Mt. Suryavān.
The
three verses of Rāmāyana on Mt. Pushpitaka are
crucial for understanding the appearance of that Mountain. They are reproduced
below:
"On
crossing over that isle and after a hundred yojana-s a mountain named Pushpitaka is there in that august ocean, which is
adored by the celestials like siddha-s, caarana-s. [4-41-28]
"Well-settled
in oceanic waters that Mt. Pushpitaka will be shining forth with a resplendence
similar to sunrays on one side and with that of
moonshine on the other, and its lofty crests will look as if they are
scribbling on the sky. [4-41-29]
"One of its summits will be golden which the Sun
adores, and the other will be silvery whitish
which the Moon adores, and that mountain is unperceivable to the unfaithful
ones, or to the unkindly ones or to unbelievers. [4-41-30]
The
last two verses show that this mountain has twin crests or peaks! Since the
next verse (4-41-31) refers to Mt. Suryavān closer to Mt. Pushpitaka, we are
able to understand that these mountains were closer to the equator (Surya in Suryavān
refers to Sun).
So,
our search starts for locating a mountain near the equator having two peaks.
And there is one – just across Gunung Padang, 15 miles from that! That is a
stratovolcano having twin peaks, GunungPangrango and Gunung Gede.
(Gunung = Mountain)
The
twin peaked Volcano – Mt. Pangrango and Mt. Gede
Their
location as per Rāmāyana version is shown below:
Mt. Gede likely to be Mt. Pushpitaka of Rāmāyana
Gunung Gede (Mt. Gede) is known for its rich
and diverse eco system. Along with its sister peak Mt. Pangrango, it is
designated as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. More importantly, the name
Pushpitaka means brimming with flowery plants. Mt. Gede is popular for a rare
pre-historic flower, Edelweiss flower, recognised as an
eternal flower that doesn’t wither but dries up without changing its appearance
and shape. This flower is treated as a symbol of eternal love.
The mountain blooms with this flower in
summer months. Gede along with Pangrango are favourable locations for viewing
sunset and sunrise even today. Let’s recall Rāmāyana verses on reflection of
sun’s light on one peak and moon light on the other. Such a panoramic view is
possible during Full-Moon days, and the best viewing point is offered by
Gunung Padang! In other words, Mt. Pushpitaka (Mt. Gede) was more popular in
olden days that people had viewed it regularly and a raised platform over
prehistoric caves was used for viewing. And that platform was the megalithic
structure at Gunung Padang – an open area artificially raised into a hill
(Gunung).
Gunung Padang, an observatory for Gunung Gede?
The
appearance and the purpose of Gunung Padang had been variously discussed by researchers,
but none had thought why it is Gunung (mountain) and why it is Padang. Several
places in Indonesia and Malaysia are known as Padang which means ‘open field’
in the local language. There is a city called Padang in Sumatra. The meaning of
Open field doesn’t go with Gunung which means mountain.
Gunung
Padang doesn’t exactly appear to be a mountain but an elevated structure by
human activities.
It
is not exactly a hill, or a pyramid but an elongated raised platform. According
to Natawidjaja interviewed by Hancock in the movie, the entire hill is an
artificial pyramid. There are chambers or caves underneath the structure,
frequented by people in the past upon which lithic structures were raised in
different time periods (written earlier). Why did they make this structure?
What was the purpose? There is no evidence of burials and no evidence of a ceremonial
activity here. But the alignment of the structure facing exactly Mt. Gede seems
to contain the secret of this site.
Gunung
Padang is seen with 5 terraces, sloping from south east and north west. Researchers
have tried to locate some object, celestial or terrestrial – to make sense of
the direction or the axis of Gunung Padang.
The
only probable alignment is seen at right angles to the terrace. From the
terrace stretching from South east to northwest, the twin peaked Gede and
Pangrango can be viewed in the east. Of these two Pangrango is to the west and
Gede in in the east. Gunung Padang is seen aligned to Mt.
Gede!
Andrew Collins, a leading
researcher and scholar in ancient civilizations who worked on the site found
out that “the centrally positioned, and now collapsed rectangular rock mound on
the east of which is a long pathway that ends at the base of a stairway, marked
by standing megaliths… targets the main Gede peak, which contains the volcano’s
most notable crater, known as Gumuruh. This suggests that the
centrally-positioned rock mound, originally perhaps a viewing platform used for
ceremonial purposes, was the first construction on the terrace, the rest of the
stone settings most likely coming afterwards.”
He
found out that the lower terrace (shown by the arrow mark in the picture below)
was exactly aligned to Mt. Gede.
The
local legends indicate that Mt. Gede was the original location of importance in
pre-historic period. The earliest eruption of Gede was said to have occurred 45,000
years ago but the “radiocarbon evidence coming from the geological surveys
carried out at Gunung Padang, …feature the dates 22,000-22,000 BC, 14,700 BC,
9600 BC, 4700 BC and 2800 BC.”.
He
also opines, “It is possible that the rock mound defining Gunung Padang’s
principal axis was built following a major eruption of the Gumuruh crater,
perhaps in order to honour or appease some kind of fire spirit or deity thought
to inhabit the volcano.”
However,
from the description from Rāmāyana that watching the twin peaks as a kind of
meditation was unperceivable for unfaithfuls, unkindly and unbelievers, it is
deduced that the twin peaks were held in high reverence for spiritual elevation
which was practiced by watching it from the nearest possible location. Gunung
Padang was that location.
Adding
substance to this deduction is the name-cause for Mt.
Pangrango. It sounds like Pāndarangam,
the dance in white colour mentioned as the earliest dance of the 11 dances
given in the Tamil text called Silappadhikāram.
It was the dance of Shiva with his body smeared with white ash. That dance was
done after the destruction of Tripura –
the three-sided asura-s (demons) as per Indic texts. This is symbolic of the
destruction of a volcano that throws up white ash and fire. The after-effect of
a volcanic eruption was viewed as a dance of devastation spewing white ash
everywhere. Thus, the name Pāndarangam had come
up. The dormant peak adjacent to Gede might have been the centre of that
destruction in the past.
The
people who were displaced by the volcanic burst in a distant past might have
held the power of the mountain with awe and revered it in due course. The
scenic beauty of sun rise and moon rise from behind the twin peaks must have
been captivating that pre-historic people might have drawn spiritual succour by
meditating on it from a nearest location – the caves at Gunung Padang which
could have been developed into chambers and then platforms (terrace) built
periodically after fresh eruptions of Mt. Gede. The bloom all over Gede for
most part, barring the sparing eruptions, must have earned the name Pushpitaka!
For
corroboration of this deduction from Vālmīki Rāmāyana, let me analyse the other
locations southward as mentioned in the Rāmāyana.
Mt. Suryavān likely to be Gunung Nagara Padang.
Shortly
after Mt. Pushpitaka, one can see Mt. Suryavān
which simply refers to sun. The sun is known as Pathanga
in Sanskrit and Tamil as well – a name that closely resembles Padang. The
presence of too many Padang-s in Indonesia and Malaysia and the Malaysian
meaning for Padang (open field) not matching with Gunung Padang, it appears plausible
that the original meaning of the word was connected with the sun and not ‘open
space’. The presence of ancestral Indic population in this location even as
early as 26,000 BP when the first speech was developed from which Sanskrit and
Tamil diverged 12,000 years ago lends credence to the hypothesis that Padang
was a corrupt form of Pathanga which means Sun.
(Update: Received an
update from a Malaysian resident that ‘Padang’ means ‘day light’ or ‘bringing light’
in Sundanese language and in the languages spoken in areas around Gunung
Padang. This adds credence to the above deduction that Pathanga (Sun) could
have been the original name that changed over time.)
The
small mountain called Gunung Nagara Padang in
close vicinity to Mt. Gede fits with the description of Mt. Suryavān as it is
one of most sacred places in West Java frequented by people in search of
spiritual quest to discover their inner being.
According to a source, the “whole mountain was an ancient temple but not the kind
that has relief carvings or shapes we see in historical parks…instead they are
giant rock boulders that are located in specific spots or seem to be placed
there, some have markings unfamiliar to our eyes, all
have meaning and purpose. Traditional communities still come to this
mountain to perform rituals and celebrations to send gratitude to the universe with beautiful offerings consisting of flowers, fruits,
fragrant incense. Traditional music and dances occur to celebrate art as
an expressive form of our senses in gratitude, beauty and grace.”
Mt. Ijen, the location of
‘Asura-Fire’
On
the southern end of Java, south of Mt. Gede, there is a volcano by name Mt.
Ijen which is known for the lake of sulphur in its crater. At times fires erupt
from the sulphuric water of the lake.
This
finds description in the version of Nārada to Mātali,
the charioteer of Rāma. Though this dialogue
appears in the Mahābhārata, that was later than Rāmāyana by 2000 years, the
description was as it appeared during Rāmāyana time, that is, 7200 years ago. Nārada
talks about “Asura- Fire” – a fire that was fed by water that blazes
continuously. The sulphur lake of Mt. Ijen burns many times in a day giving an
appearance matching with Nārada’s narration that the water is igniting the
fire. (Nārada’s description here).
Sandalwood tree location of Australia mentioned in Rāmāyana
The southward locations given in Vālmīki Rāmāyana are identifiable. For example, the mansion of Agastya (star Canopus) sighted from top of Mt.
Kunjara could perhaps be the location of the star
sighted at around 37-degree S. (These locations do not change as per Indic
wisdom that had come down from pre-historic times, that the equinox doesn’t
precess continuously but only oscillate to and fro for a length of 54-degrees
of the sky. This is made possible by the fact that precession is not caused by
the drift in the earth’s axis – which doesn’t happen- but by the helical path
of the sun as it surges ahead in space. Check ‘related articles’ at the end of
this article for details)
Further down South, Rāmāyana refers to Mt.
Rishabha (Holy Bull) where red-coloured sandal wood trees are growing.
“Whereon the sandalwood trees of
ochry-yellowy, lotus-leaf-greenly, sky-blue colours, and even the most
attractive sandalwood trees which will be in the glow of Fire are produced,
that mountain is this Rishabha. [4-41-40b, 41a]”
Sandal wood trees are indigenous to southern
Australia. Its distribution is shown in the following map:
There are seven species of sandalwood
occurring in Australia at present. Based on the Rāmāyana version, the
sandalwood trees were guarded by
‘Gandharva-s’ known as Rohita-s (Rohit = red) who were very fierce in
guarding them. They were like the sun or the moon or like fire, says Rāmāyana,
which perhaps refer to their body colour as reddish or white. Obviously, they
were aborigines who continue to grow sandal wood trees even today. Even today
there are red-haired indigenous people in Australia.
Beyond the region of this sandalwood forests,
there was no habitation in Rāmāyana times.
The description of the southern locations in Rāmāyana,
concurring with the continuing evidence or past evidence on pre-history shows
that pre-history is a long history peopled with a well-established population contrary
to what we think we know.
More importantly, the southern route helps in
positioning Gunung Padang by bringing out its purpose that is still dodging
modern researchers.
