Scientific Dating of Ramayan Era

Posted by Ambar jaiswal

The beginning of the Holocene (post last ice age) is now universally accepted to be around 12000 BP. Consequently the civilizations of the world naturally and simultaneously started developing near the rivers which initially started flowing due to the melting of glaciers near the Equator e.g. South India, Sri Lanka and Africa. When populations multiplied, these river waters became insufficient. Therefore some people started travelling from south to north. Such northward migration continued for several centuries and finally when these people from south India reached the banks of Himalayan Rivers, they got climatic conditions conducive to long term development of civilization on the banks of these rivers providing security of water, food and shelter for a very long time. Thousands of years later, when some of these Himalayan Rivers became non-perennial or started drying up, some of these people started moving towards Central Asia and Europe. As per ecologists this ecological cycle has been repeating itself and will get repeated after every ice age and during the beginnings of all Holocene cycles. Therefore the history of growth of civilization in the world is not 4 to 5 thousand years old but it is more than 10,000 years old.

So far history of the world, particularly of Indian subcontinent, is based on linguistic guesswork and religious beliefs/hearsay. However, during last 30-40 years, several new scientific tools and techniques have been developed, which are capable to determining the dates of any ancient events in scientific and precise manner. For example:

1. Computer aided extraction of planetary references from ancient books.

2. Planetarium softwares for astronomical dating of such references

3. Satellite based Remote Sensing techniques

4. Underwater explorations and Geospatial Technologies

5. Radiocarbon dating, Thermo Luminescence dating methods

6. Human Genome studies, Biological and Cultural Anthropology

7. Palaeobotanical, Palaeozoological and Palaeoclimatic studies

8. Geographic and Geological research tools.

Multi-disciplinary scientific research reports, prepared during last three- four decades by making use of such scientific tools and techniques, were used for dating the events narrated in Valmiki Ramayan and resuts were amazing! Once the astronomical dating was determined around 7000 BP, it appeared that almost all research reports were corroborating such conclusions and opening before us the pages of our true history; shifting many events from the domain of mythology to the realm of realty.

The story of Shri Ram‘s life was first narrated by Maharishi Valmiki in the ‘Ramayan’ which was written after Shri Ram was crowned as the king of Ayodhya, Maharishi Valmiki had a great sense of astronomy as he has made sequential astronomical references on important dates related to the life of Shri Ram indicating the location of planets vis-à-vis the zodiac constellations and other visible stars (nakshatras). Needless to add that similar position of planets and nakshatras vis-à-vis zodiac constellations and the equinoxes is not repeated in 25690 years. By entering the precise details of the planetary configuration of the important events in the life of Shri Ram as given in the Valmiki Ramayan in the software named ‘Planetarium Gold’ corresponding exact dates of these events according to English calendar can be known.

Sh. Pushkar Bhatnagar of Indian Revenue Service had acquired from USA the software named ‘Planetarium Gold’ (of Fogware Publishing) which is used to predict the solar/lunar eclipses and distance and location of other planets from earth by the scientists and astronomers. He entered the relevant detail about the planetary positions vis-à-vis zodiac constellations narrated by Maharishi Valmiki and obtained very interesting and convincing results, which almost determine the important dates starting from the birth of Shri Ram to the date of his coming back to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. Sh. Pushkar Bhatnagar has given very authentic and convincing details of these dates in his book titled ‘Dating the Era of Lord Ram’ published by Rupa and Co’. some extracts from which are also being summarised in the succeeding paras.

Date of Birth of Lord Ram

Aadikavi Valmiki in 1/18/8-10 of Ramayan has given details that Shri Ram was born on 9th tithi of Chaitra month during day time when the position of different planets vis-à-vis zodiac constellations and nakshatras (visible stars) was as under:

1. Sun in Aries 2. Saturn in Libra 3. Jupiter in Cancer 4. Venus in Pisces 5. Mars in Capricorn 6. Lunar month of Chaitra 7. Ninth day after Amavasya 8. Lagna as Cancer 9. Moon near the star Punar vasu (Pollux) in Gemini Constellation.

Moon & Jupiter were shining together in Cancer.

This data was entered into the ‘Planetarium Gold’ software, the results indicated that this was exactly the location of planets/stars vis-à-vis zodiac constellations on the 10th of January noon time in the year 5114 BC if viewed from latitude/longitude of Ayodhya (25°N 81°E). Thus Shri Ram was born on 10th January in 5114 BC.

By making use of software to convert solar calendar into lunar calendar, it was found that this date also happened to be the 9th day of Shukla Paksha in ‘Chaitra’ month and the time was around 12 to 1 noontime. This is exactly the time and date when Ramnavmi is celebrated all over India till date (Fig.1).

Fig. 1: Showing Planetary position on 10th January, 5114 BC, the date on which Lord Ram was born

Date of Exile of Shri Ram

In Valmiki Ramayan it is mentioned in Ayodhya Kaand (2/4/18) that Dashratha wanted to make Shri Ram the king because Sun, Mars and Rahu had surrounded his nakshatra and normally under such planetary positions the king dies or becomes a victim of conspiracies. Zodiac sign of king Dashratha was Pisces and his nakshatra was Rewati. This planetary position was prevailing on the 5th of January 5089 BC and it was on this day that Shri Ram had to leave Ayodhya for 14 years. Thus he was 25 years old at that time (5114-5089) and there are several shlokas in Valmiki Ramayan which indicate that Shri Ram was 25 years old when he left Ayodhya for his 14 years of exile.

Solar Eclipse during War with Khar-Dushan

Ramayan refers to the solar eclipse at the time of war with Khar-Dushan in later half of 13th year of Shri Ram’s stay in the forests. Valmiki has also mentioned that it was Amavasya day and planet Mars was in the middle. When this data was entered, the sky view generated by computer software indicated that there was a solar eclipse on 7th October, 5077 BC (Amavasya day) which could be seen from Panchvati (20° N; 73° E) (Fig. 2). On that date planetary configuration was the same as has been described by Valmiki i.e. Mars was in the middle; on one side were Mercury, Venus and Jupiter and on the other side were Sun, Moon and Saturn.

Fig. 2: Showing Planetary position on 7th October, 5077 BC (Amavasya), the day of Solar Eclipse, when Lord Ram fought the battle with Khar.

Other Eclipses mentioned in Ramayan

In Kishkindha kaand there is a reference to solar eclipse (4/15/3) on the day Bali was killed. Software shows a solar eclipse on 3rd April 5076 BC which was the only solar eclipse during the entire year.

In Sunder Kaand there is a reference to lunar eclipse when Hanuman spots Sita in Ashok Vatika (5/19/14, 5/29/7, 5/35/87). Sky view reveals lunar eclipse starting from 4.15 pm on 12th September 5076 BC from Colombo (7°N; 80°E)

All these sequentially fully tally with the description in Ramayan.

Other Important Dates

Only six of the twelve constellations remain above the horizon at the same time. Valmiki Ramayan contains graphic and poetic details of eight constellations during Hanuman’s return journey from Sri Lanka to Sunaabh Hill in the middle of the sea which apparently took about four and a half hours from 6:30 AM to 11 AM. All these details of planets and nakshtras with reference to eight constellations described in Sarga 57 (1, 2, 3) of chapter five tally exactly with the sky view generated by the software for the morning of 14th September 5076 BC from Lanka.

On the basis of planetary configurations described in various other chapters of Valmiki Ramayan, the date on which Ravana was killed works out to be 4th December 5076 BC and Shri Ram completed 14 years of exile on 2nd January, 5075 BC and that day was also Navami of Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month. Thus Shri Ram had come back to Ayodhya when he was 39 years old (5114-5075).

Sequential Details of Places visited by Shri Ram during 14 years of exile: Geographic Evidences

Many researchers, particularly a colleague Dr. Ram Autar, have researched on places visited by Shri Ram during 14 years of exile. They sequentially moved to the places stated as visited by Shri Ram in the Valmiki Ramayan. Starting from Ayodhya, they went right up to Rameshwaram. They found more than 189 (+60 identified later on) places, most of which still have the memorials connected to the events relating to the life of Shri Ram and Sita and also match the description given in Ramayan (see Map).

The locals believe that Shri Ram had actually visited these places. These details have been compiled in his book ‘In the Footsteps of Shri Ram’. These details can be broadly divided into five phases.

First Phase-Gangetic Belt

They went to Tamsa Nadi Tal (Mandah), 20 km from Ayodhya, thereafter crossed Gomti river (Point no. 2 to 7 of map 1) and reached on the banks of Saryu river. After crossing the boundary of Kosal Desh, they entered Shringaverapura (Srigraur) which was kingdom of Nishadraj Guh and is famous for Kewat taking them across Ganga in his boat (20 km from Allahabad).

After crossing Yamuna near Sangam they reached Chitrakoot on Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh (MP) borders – memorials here include Valmiki Ashram, Mandavya Ashram, Bharat Koop etc which still exist. After Bharat Milap they left Chitrakoot and went to Atri Ashram located in Satana in MP.

Second Phase in Dandak Van

Along with Laxman and Sita, Shri Ram extensively travelled through this land of rivulets, water bodies and dense forests in and around MP and Chhattisgarh. They roamed around in Dandak Aranya area and visited Sharbhang and Sutikshan Muni ashrams in Satna. Thereafter, they visited several Rishi ashrams in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh area, along Narmada and Mahanadi rivers for 10 years, and then came back to Sutikshan ashram. Several memorials in Panna, Raipur, Bastar and Jagdalpur still exist which include Mandavya ashram, Shringi ashram, Ram Laxman Mandir and Koti Maheshwar etc.

After crossing many rivers, lakes, hills and forests they went to Agastya ashram in Nasik. As per Valmiki, weapons made in Agnishala were given to Shri Ram by Agastya Muni in this ashram.

Third Phase along Godavari

Shri Ram, Laxman and Sita travelled along Godavari, From Agastya ashram they went to stay in Panchavati – a place with 5 Vatavriksha located on the banks of Godavari in Nasik. This place is famous for Surpanakha episode and war with Khar and Dushan. There are memorials at the place where Mareech was stated as killed; these include Mrigvyadheshwar and Baneshwar. In fact, Nasik area is full of memorials, e.g. Sita Sarovar, Ram Kund and Triambakeshwar and Janasthan etc. After this incident, Sita was abducted by Ravana, who also killed Jatayu relating to which memorial ‘Sar vatiratha’ in Taked Village, 56 km from Nasik, is still preserved.

Places visited by Lord Ram during Exile marked as red spots

Fourth Phase along Tungbhadra and Kaveri Shri Ram and Laxman extensively travelled through these areas in search of Sita. After meeting Jatayu and Kabandh they moved towards south to reach Rishyamook Parbat. On the way they visited Shabari ashram in Pampasarovar area which is now known as Sureban in Belgaon and is still famous for Ber trees. After crossing forests of Sandalwood, many gardens and water bodies, they went towards Rishyamook. Here they met Hanuman and Sugreev, and were shown Sita’s ornaments. Shri Ram killed Bali in this area. Rishyamook and Kishkindha are located in Hampi, Bellary District of Karnataka.
Fifth Phase

Shri Ram with his sena marched towards the sea. After crossing Malay Parbat, Chandan forests, many rivers and ponds they went along Kaveri River. After crossing Trishirapalli, Thanjavur and Ramanathapuram, they reached Rameshwaram. Almost all the details of travel narrated in all these five phases in Valmiki Ramayan tally with the existing geographic locations and memorials preserved.

Places in Sri Lanka The location and physical features of areas, covered under Ravana falls, Ravana caves and Ashok Vatika in and around Nuwara Elya Hills in Sri Lanka, will persuade anyone to believe that Valmiki, the author of Ramayan, was fully familiar with all these places. Vibhishan palace is also located almost at the same place as is described in Ramayan.Most of these places have similar geographic features, flora, fauna and memorials as have been described in Ramayan. If Valmiki had not visited/known about these places, how could he give such precise details in Ramayan which was composed as biography of Shri Ram when he was coronated as the King of Ayodhya in 5075 BC (1/4/1, 2). Originally it was passed on through shruti smriti tradition for hundreds of years but was available in text form by around 1000 BC. References of Ram’s story are available in:• Kautilya’s Arthasastra of 4th century BC.

• Buddhist literature in the form of ‘Dasharatha Jaraka’ ascribable to 3rd century BC.

• Terracotta figures of Ram ascribable to 2nd century BC excavated from Kaushambi.

• Stone panels excavated at Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh of 3rd century AD showing Ram-Bharat milap at Chitrakoot.

• Terracotta panels of 4th century AD excavated from Nachara Khera in Haryana.

• ‘Janaki Haran’, a poetic composition of Kumaradasa of Sri Lanka who lived in 7th century AD.There are hundreds of other evidences found not only from India but from countries like Sri Lanka, Tibet, Thailand, Malayasia, Combodia and Indonesia. In Nepal oldest manuscript of Valmiki Ramayan written in 1041 AD in Newari script is still preserved, probably the oldest preserved manuscript of the world.
RamsethuDuring visit to Rameshwaram, author got an extra-ordinary opportunity to observe the depth at which Ramsethu was found submerged under the sea which measured 9.5 feet on the fisherman’s oar. Author had also seen small portion as shown in figure 8 indicating contribution of human hand with marked boundaries and stone filling seen through the mask used for snorkeling.

Fig. 8: Boundaries looking like ropes & the fillings in between

Ram’s Bridge – its satellite image and oceanographic evidences:

Ram-sena first camped in Koddikarai but after surveying the sea area, the location was found unsuitable for constructing the bridge. Therefore, Shri Ram shifted the entire army to Rameshwaram. In Yuddh Kand, sarg 22 (shlokas 45-73) Valmiki has given graphic details of Lord Ram carrying out research and exploration to identify a suitable location for construction of the bridge. After identifying the location, he requested Sugriva to search for an expert Shilpakar who could construct such a bridge. Sugriva recommended the name of Nal, a famous shilpakar, who had the expertise similar to that of Vishwakarma in constructing the bridge. Accordingly Nal was called; he concurred that bridge could indeed to constructed at the location identified by Shri Ram. The construction of this bridge was completed under the supervision of Nal in five days by filling up of the gaps in the existing natural chain of land route consisting of islands, rocks and shoals (6/22/68-73).The armymen of Lord Ram utilized various tools and implements for uprooting trees like saal, taar, coconut, mango, ashoka, arjun, bakul and bilva etc (6/22/47). With the help of various yantras they transported these stones, trees, creepers, and boulders to the seashore (2/22/60). Shilpakar Nal directed the armymen to stand with long ropes on either side and got the bridge constructed in five days by binding such transported materials together. Even the use of measuring tools has been described (6/22/65).

Satellite Image A few years back, NASA had put pictures on internet of this bridge, the ruins of which are found submerged in Palk Strait between Rameshwaram (Dhanush Koti) and Mannar (Thalaimannar). The bridge is composed of a series of islands, rocks, and shoals and it is stated to be 30 kilometers long. It is found exactly at the location narrated in Valmiki Ramayan. See NASA picture of this Bridge (Fig. 10).

Sea Level Curve

The use of this bridge as land route between India and Sri Lanka depended on the fluctuations in sea level for thousands of years as it was sometimes above the sea level and was at other times submerged under the seawater. Dr. Rajiv Nigam, Scientist-G and Head of Palaeoclimate Project, Geological Oceanography Division, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, in his paper on “Sea level Fluctuations during last 15000 years and their Impact on Human Settlements”, explained that between 7000 – 7200 BP the water level was about three meters below the present level. Incidentally, the astronomical dating of the Ram era has been placed around 7100 BP (DoB 10th Jan, 5114 BC) and Ramsethu is found submerged at about three meters depth at present, implying thereby that in 5100 BC this Sethu was above the sea level and could be used as a land route between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka. Thus even fluctuations in sea levels corroborate references to Ramsethu in Ramayan.

Report by Department of Earth Sciences

According to Dr. Badrinarayan, former Director of Geological Survey of India, under whom geological aspects of the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project (SSCP) were studied, “Ramsethu is a natural formation, the top portion of which appears to be man-made” because in between marine sands, there is assemblage of corals, sandstones and boulders etc. The report also revealed that on both sides of the Bridge there are some raised Teriformations that supported a rich assemblage of mesolithic – microlithic tools indicating the presence of strong human habitation and activity in these areas as early as 8000 to 9000 BP and as recent as 4000 BP”

Other Interesting facts All attempts to create shipping route by completing the Sethu Samudram project have so far failed. Shri Subramnian Swamy summarized the report dated January 23, 2007 published in the Asian Age stating that “the Dredging Corporation of India’s (DCI) dredger imported from Holland had broken into two and sunk into the sea when it began work on the Ram Setu. The DCI crane that went to pick up the dredger pieces also broke and sank. The Russian engineer consultant who went to inspect the mishap broke his leg.” As a result all efforts made on behalf of the Government so far to destroy remains of Ram Setu have failed and consequently Sethusamudram Shipping Canal could not become a reality. Sri Lankan government wanted to construct a land route over this submerged bridge whereas Government of India wanted to blast it for shipping i.e. Sethusamudaram project. Shri Jaisurya, Energy Minister of Sri Lanka had proposed construction of land route between India and Sri Lanka on this submerged Ramsethu. There are several multi-nationals offering to construct the bridge under BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) scheme. Can one imagine the number of people from India who will walk over this reconstructed Ram Sethu every year and the kind of profit the builder as well as Indian and Sri Lankan Government would be able to earn!
Ancestors of Shri Ram: Co-relation of genealogy with genetic studies Indian history has recorded that Shri Ram belonged to Surya Vansh and he was the 64th ruler of this dynasty. Most of the names and other relevant particulars of previous 63 kings are listed in ‘Ayodhya Ka Itihas’ written about eighty years back by Rai Bahadur Sita Ram. In fact most of the names of these ancestors of Lord Ram have been listed in Valmiki Ramayan itself as narrated by Vashistha Muni to Raja Janak. (1/70 and 71). (all listed below in table 1).

Table 1: Showing Ancestors and descendants of Shri Ram

Almost all the major Genome studies carried out so far have revealed an amazing correlation of this genealogy with the genetic profile of humans settled in north, south, east and west of India since the Holocene (about 11000 years BP) to the present. Almost all the important studies in palaeo- anthropology, including those carried out by Kenneth A. R. Kennedy and Cavalli-Sfroza, have concluded that genetic profile of people of the Indian subcontinent has remained the same for last more than 55000 years and that for last 11000 years this profile is of culturally developing people who had started speaking a structured language and were taking cooked food.

The Essence

From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Bengal to Gujarat, everywhere people of India believe in the reality of Shri Ram’s existence and most of our festivals revolve around the events related to the life of Shri Ram. The events and places referred to in Ramayan represent our most ancient heritage, which has developed and got enriched subsequently during the eras of Lord Krishna, Mahatma Buddha, Mahavir Jain, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed and Guru Nanak Dev.

The story of Shri Ram, when appreciated in its true perspective, would emerge as the biggest unifying factor for India and it establishes many ideals which we need to emulate today. He remains unparalleled as an ideal son, an ideal brother, an ideal warrior and an ideal king; that is why he is described as Maryada Purushottam Ram! He was a nationalist par excellence who left his kingdom to help the small kings located all over India to save their kingdoms from being usurped by wicked King Ravana of Sri Lanka and his relatives and devils like Khar, Dushan and Maarich representing him in India. Shri Ram moved from place to place to spread the message of unity by showing very high level of respect for the people from backward tribes and those considered untouchable. He embraced Guh Nishad who belonged to a lower caste; he gave a strong message against untouchability by eating with great affection jootha berries of Bhilni (Shabri). He sent his wife and children to be brought up and educated by Maharishi Valmiki who is stated to be Shudra but was a great scholar in the ancient world. Shri Ram tried and succeeded in establishing victory of good over evil. He helped rishis and munis in living a life of honor. He got the kingdoms of small noble kings restored to them and acted as the biggest unifying factor.

The astronomical dating of planetary references given in Valmiki Ramayan with corroborating archaeological, geological, oceanographic, geographic evidences, further supported by genealogical studies duly correlated with genome studies have established with a fair amount of certainty that Shri Ram was actually born more than 7000 year back. Therefore discovering the physical details relating to the life and times of Shri Ram would be much more difficult as destruction caused by floods, droughts, earthquakes, tectonic movements, tsunamis and wars etc is bound to be far greater. But should that stop our quest for learning more and more about our most ancient rich cultural heritage? As Indians, let us all take pride in the fact that Indian civilization is the most ancient civilization surviving on planet earth. It is certainly more than 10,000 years old and has been growing and developing indigenously. There is need to gather, dig out, search, and analyse all the evidences, which would throw more light on ancient Indian civilization and culture. The Government needs to be persuaded to constitute a multidisciplinary team in order to carry out scientific research pertaining to most ancient events narrated in our ancient books and this team should consist of Sanskrit scholars, astronomers, archaeologists, geologists, oceanographers, palaeobotanists, anthropologists, space scientists etc. This team should be asked to rewrite the history of Indian Subcontinent based on purely scientific evidence. There is need for the print and the electronic media to take note of these facts and create atmosphere which would motivate our young and educated youth to carry out research and unearth true facts about ancient Indian civilization and wisdom and would also encourage them to put across the results of their research before the world fearlessly and with a sense of pride.

Saroj Bala

Director, I-SERVE Delhi Chapter

(More comprehensive details are available in the Book ‘Historicity of Vedic and Ramayan Eras’, recently published by I-SERVE)

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Ramayan : Scientific Truths 1

Posted by Ambar jaiswal

The reference to the "monkey" and "bear" people in the Ramayana simply reflected a straightforward reading of the English translation of the Ramayan of Valmiki made by R. T. H. Griffith, Principal of Benares College, in 1874. The two leading generals of the "monkeys" or Vanar -- Hanuman and Sugriva -- are named there and both play prominent roles in Rama's war against Ravana, the Vanar legions themselves figuring more prominently than do the "bear" legions in alliance with Rama. In fact, in the epic no "bear" is singled out by name, and the "bear" legions appear only relatively anonymously and in second place to the "monkeys." In addition, Rama asks his friend Hanuman to find Sita, his wife, who had disappeared. The loyal Hanuman, at great risk to his own life, and after many adventures testing his courage and intelligence, at last finds Sita who has been kidnapped by Ravana through a trick and taken to his stronghold on the island of Lanka, headquarters of the Rakshasa host.

Inasmuch as the "bears" are depicted as having the same distinctively human qualities as assigned to the "monkeys" in the epic, I think we are justified in concluding that they, too, were some sort of hominid and not a mere animal species such as the bears today. It would have been helpful if the epic had better delineated the "bears," for then we could more accurately analyze if and where they might figure among early hominids! By getting and reading a good translation of this marvelous Indian record of prehistory -- as I think it is -- one can decide for oneself how he or she would characterize the "bear" people.

Turning now to the query: neanderthaloid versus Homo sapiens fossilis, it is true that formerly anthropologists regarded the two types as quite distinct sorts of early men, and the former as hardly a man. This all came about because of a description of neanderthaloids based on the only skeleton then found (in La Chapelle-aux-Saints by the Abbe Bouyssonie), prepared by M. Boule of the Institute of Human Palaeontology in Paris in 1908. That report is now acknowledged by many anthropologists to have done much to disseminate misleading ideas about the whole neanderthaloid question. As recently as 1957 it was still being cited as a major source of information about the nature of the neanderthal man. But in that year the La Chapelle skeleton was re-examined by two anatomists, from Johns Hopkins University and St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College of London, who found that it was very atypical, being that of an old male who had suffered extensively from arthritis of the jaws, spine and lower limbs (which had led M. Boule to ascribe to neanderthaloids; a shuffling, ape-like gait with head lowered), and moreover that reconstruction of the skull had been defective. After that expert re-examination, and in the light of some 60-odd fossil skeletal remains of neanderthaloids since found (some 10 of them after 1950), the picture began to change in several major respects.

What Wikipedia says about Neanderthal

The Neanderthal (short for Neanderthal Man, in English pronounced /niːˈændərtɑːl/, /niːˈændərθɔːl/) or /neɪˈændərtɑːl/; also spelled Neandertal) is an extinct member of the Homo genus that is known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia. Neanderthals are either classified as a subspecies (or race) of humans (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) or as a separate species (Homo neanderthalensis).

The first proto-Neanderthal traits appeared in Europe as early as 600,000–350,000 years ago. Proto-Neanderthal traits are occasionally grouped to another phenetic 'species', Homo heidelbergensis, or a migrant form, Homo rhodesiensis. By 130,000 years ago, complete Neanderthal characteristics had appeared. These characteristics then disappeared in Asia by 50,000 years ago and in Europe by 30,000 years ago.Current (as of 2010) genetic evidence suggests interbreeding took place with Homo sapiens between roughly 80,000 to 50,000 years ago in the Middle East, resulting in non-ethnic sub-Saharan Africans (e.g. Caucasians) having between 1% and 4% more Neanderthal DNA than ethnic sub-Saharan Africans.

Classification

First reconstruction of Neanderthal manFor some time, scientists have debated whether Neanderthals should be classified as Homo neanderthalensis or as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, the latter placing Neanderthals as a subspecies of Homo sapiens.[not in citation given. Some morphological studies support that Homo neanderthalensis is a separate species and not a subspecies.Others, for example University of Cambridge Professor Paul Mellars, say "no evidence has been found of cultural interaction" and evidence from mitochondrial DNA studies have been interpreted as evidence Neanderthals were not a subspecies of H. sapiens.

Neanderthals evolved from early Homo along a path similar to Homo sapiens, both deriving from a chimp-like ancestor between five and 10 million years ago. Like H.sap., Neanderthals are related to Australopithecus, Homo habilis, and Homo ergaster; the exact descent remains uncertain. The last common ancestor between anatomically modern Homo sapiens and Neanderthals appears to be Homo rhodesiensis, named after an archaic Homo sapiens fossil, Broken hill 1 (Kabwe 1) discovered in the territory of Rhodesia in 1921.

Homo rhodesiensis arose in Africa an estimated 0.7 to 1 million years ago. The earliest estimates for Homo rhodesiensis reaching Europe are approximately 800 thousand years ago when a type of human referred to as Homo antecessor or Homo cepranensis already inhabited the region. These two human types may be forerunners to European Homo heidelbergensis, however stone tools dating from 1.2 to 1.56 million years ago of an unknown creator have been discovered in Southwestern Europe. The evidence at the Sima de los Huesos (in the Atapuerca cave system on the Iberian Peninsula) suggest that Homo heidelbergensis was already in Europe by 600,000 years ago.

Molecular phylogenetic analysis suggests that Homo rhodesiensis and Homo heidelbergensis continued to intermix until 350,000 years ago, after which they were separate species and sometime within the last 200,000 years Homo heidelbergensis evolved into Homo neanderthalensis, the classic Neanderthal man. It appears that the original Neanderthal population was in fact more distantly related to today's human than is Homo heidelbergensis. However, recent evidence of successful interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans has made that issue moot, at least insofar as some Neanderthal populations were concerned.

The youngest Neanderthal finds include Hyaena Den (UK), considered older than 30,000 years ago, while the Vindija (Croatia) Neanderthals have been re-dated to between 32,000 and 33,000 years ago. No definite specimens younger than 30,000 years ago have been found; however, evidence of fire by Neanderthals at Gibraltar indicate that they may have survived there until 24,000 years ago. Cro-Magnon or early modern human skeletal remains with 'Neanderthal traits' were found in Lagar Velho (Portugal), dated to 24,500 years ago and controversially interpreted as indications of extensively admixed populations.[

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Ramayana - Ravana Palace & Ashoka Vatika (Asoka Vanam)

Posted by Ambar jaiswal

WEDNESDAY, 8 APRIL 2009

Lord Ram was born in 5114 BC

"Ram was and is for real. He was born on January 10, 5114 BC," Saroj Bala, IRS, Commisioner of Income Tax says, calmly, with the assurance of one who has tangible facts.

Taking on the contemporary historical interpretation of Ramayana as a religio-literary text, and Lord Ram as a semi-mythical figure, is this unassuming person who zealously devotes her spare time to research in history when she's not playing the tax mandarin.

And she has chosen the unusual combination of astronomy, Internet and literary texts to provide us a startling picture of Shri Ram. This might change the way we look at history and religion. We might refuse to begin reading Indian history from that comma, or hyphen called 'Indus Valley.' We might have to stretch the beginnings by a few thousand years because, as Saroj Bala says - Ram was born on January 10, 5114 BC.

Excerpts of an interview with the lady who has the intellectual courage to go beyond the obvious:

What got it all started...

As an amateur historian, I've always been interested in Indian culture and heritage. I am proud that we're Indians and the products of one of the oldest civilisations. However, British rule changed us; we developed a sense of being somehow inferior.

But I could never reconcile to theories like the theory of Aryan invasion to India in 1500 BC. That would make Indian civilization only 3,500 years old.

And if you choose archaeology to dig beyond 7,000 years, you'd have to dig more than 60 metres - something not being done in India as yet. So, archaeology is not the only answer. There's a lot of objective research of another kind that needs to be carried out in earnest.

So, how can we say Ram was born on January 10, 5114 B.C...

My colleague Pushkar Bhatnagar of Indian Revenue Service is the real originator of this theory. He acquired a software named Planetarium, used to predict planetary movements and configurations.

By entering in this software, precise details of planetary positions vis-à-vis zodiac constellations described by Maharishi Valmiki in the Valmiki Ramayan, it is possible to determine important dates starting from Shri Ram's birth-date to the date of his return to Ayodhya.

More than just Ram's date of birth...

The results have not just thrown up Shri Ram's date of birth; it has actually traced the entire sequence of incidents throughout Ramayan.

Pushkar Bhatnagar starts with tracing Ram's birth. Then he moves ahead in the narrative. Valmiki Ramayan states Ram was 25-years-old when he went to exile. When the configuration of planets described at this point is fed into the software, the date thrown up matches perfectly with Ram's age at that juncture of his life - 25 years.

Again in the 13th year of Ram's exile, during a war with Khar and Dushan, Valmiki describes a solar eclipse. The software proves that on that given day there was indeed a solar eclipse (with Mars in the middle). This solar eclipse and the particular configuration of planets could be seen from Panchavati (longitude and latitude plainly shown in the software).

Hanuman Saw 8 Constellations while flying to Lanka...

In the Sunderkand, when Valmiki describes Hanuman crossing the sea and returning from Lanka to Rameshwaram, he gives details of 8 constellations. Usually, one can see not more than 6 constellations at a given point of time. But since Hanuman was flying across, and it must have taken him approximately 4 hrs to get there, he could see 8 constellations - in two hours one constellation would have moved out of sight and another become visible. So, in a period of 4 hrs he saw 8 constellations!

Historicising Shri Ram. Man or God...

After researching on Shri Ram, I do believe he's a man who walked the earth in flesh and blood. There is an essential difference between the Valmiki Ramayana and the Tulsi Ramayana. Tulsidas was a devotee who looked up to Ram, but Valmiki was a contemporary. Valmiki has written Ram's life-history, as a biographer does - he's a contemporary of Ram, and this is not very different from what happens all over the world. Kings have always had their life-history written.

The submerged bridge...

Recently, NASA had put pictures on the Internet of a man-made bridge, the ruins of which are submerged in Palk Strait between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka. This clearly should be treated as historical evidence that corroborates its mention in Valmiki Ramayana.

The puzzle of Indian history...

The presence of Ramayana, Mahabharata and Vedas cannot be explained by the short period between the decline of the Indus valley civilization and the Rig Vedic period. A civilization cannot suddenly burst into advanced writing.

One needs to look at various sources of history to re-build it. Especially when looking at ancient history. One needs to excavate, look at literature, ancient texts, astronomy.

Government apathy to archaeological diggings and investigation in this direction...

There's been a very strange development in the media and the people of India. We have started seeing ancient India as something equivalent to the word 'Hindu'. The very word Hindu came into circulation only after the advent of Islam in India. In Ramayana and the Vedas , there is no mention of the word 'Hindu'. At the most, there is only mention of terms like 'Aryavrat' or 'Bharatvarsh' and residents here are called as 'Aryans'. Since centuries, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs have been living in this country and it's their land as much as it is to a Hindu. Anything that has happened on this land in the past is their common heritage. But, unfortunately, politicians with vested interests have divided the people on artificial religious lines and making it appear that anything related to ancient India was perhaps related to Hindu, which is not the case and should not be the case.

There has never been any strong will...

It is not that researches have been not taken place. There has been excellent work done by noted historians like Sir Alexander Cunningham and Dr Lal. Cunningham has written as many as 21 volumes on ancient Indian history. But one needs special permissions to access these texts.

Unfortunately, Cunningham's work that has very important information has not seen the light of the day. Dr. Lal has pictured the ancient city of Dwarka and it can be read in 'The lost city of Dwarka'. He has listed out 1000 artifacts. Only 9 crores needed to be sanctioned by the government in placing a transparent tube to the sea-bed that could allow people to see for themselves the wonder that was Dwarka.

And now people equate the sum total of ancient history to 'a temple or no-temple' at Ayodhya.

Delay in research also because science hadn't arrived...

Without the aid of science it is practically impossible to manually calculate the exact planetary configuration 7, 000 years back. It is science which is going to validate our history and prove that it is much older than 3, 500 years.

What would be the implications of your research on the society?

I seriously feel that there can only be positive effects of my research. In fact, Indians should seriously re-look how old is our history and culture. This is not the end of the research; it's just the beginning. People should be encouraged to do more in-depth research by all means such as archaeology, dating methods and oceanography.

Max Mueller had come up with the theory that Aryans had come to India in 1500 B.C. In the Internet, Max Mueller Foundations says that that they have re-looked at this theory and is of the opinion that this theory is no longer valid because Indian history is much older than that period. It's just that people have to open up their minds and find out the answers for themselves.

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Places visited by Lord Ram in Srilanka

Posted by Ambar jaiswal

Background:

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the poet Valmiki and an important part of the Hindu canon. One of the most important literary works of ancient India, the Ramayana consists of 7 chapters (Kānda), and narrates the story of Rama’s wife Sita being abducted by Rāvana, the demon (Rākshasa) king of Lanka.

According to the Ramayana, king Rāvana brought Sita Devi from India in a “Pushpaka Vimana” which is widely known in Sri Lanka as the “Dandu Monara Yanthranaya”, or Large Peacock Machine in Sinhala.

Ramayana has fascinated many generations, and had a profound impact on art and culture in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

Sri Lanka shares a special bond with India geographically, historically, culturally and spiritually. The Ramayana begins with Ayodhya in India and climaxes at Lankapura.

People in Sri Lanka through generations believed that king Rāvana ruled this country. There are many sites in Sri Lanka which are connected to the Ramayana. Below is a list of places which we have identified as connected to the Ramayana and listed according to the Ramayana epic.

The Kidnapping of Sita by Rāvana.

Rāvana was the king of Lanka and another 9 kingdoms. He was known as Dasis (or Dasa Shirsha) meaning 10 heads, because he had ten crowns, one each for his ten kingdoms.
His sister Surpanakha went to Jambudweepa for some business.

Surpanakha chanced upon Rama at his hermitage and became enamored with the handsome prince. Rama being faithful to his wife Sita did not respond and asked Surpanakha to approach Lakshmana who was unmarried. Surpanakha who felt humiliated by this, tried to attack Sita in anger saying Sita was the cause of the men’s contempt for her. Lakshmana then intervened and cut off Surpanakha’s nose.

Surpanakha terrified and in pain, flew at once to Lanka to seek the protection of Rāvana.
When Rāvana asked his sister for the cause, Surpanakha said that she had seen Sita, a lady of incomparable beauty, and wanted to bring her for Rāvana.

Ravana resolved to take revenge for the insult his sister has suffered, as well as to get lovely Sita for him self; and set out to abduct Sita and bring her to Lanka.

Ravana using a golden deer as a decoy visited Sita when she was alone in the guise of an old sage, abducted and brought her to Weragantota in Lanka in his plane, the Pushpaka Vimana.
Weragantota means the Place of Aircraft landing in Sinhala. This is the first place Sita Devi was brought to Lankapura (capita city of king Rāvana).

Sita Devi was kept at queen Mandothari’s palace at Lankapura. The place Sita was held captive is called Sita Kotuwa; which means Sita’s Fort in Sinhala. It is believed Rāvana had an aircraft repair centre at Gurulupotha close to Sita Kotuwa. Gurulupotha means Parts of Birds in Sinhala.
Sita taken from Sita Kotuwa to Ashok Vatika

Ravana moved Sita from Sita Kotuwa to Ashok Vatika the salubrious garden in the mountains. The route too was said to be spectacularly beautiful, as Ravana wanted to show Sita the beauty of his kingdom.

The Chariot Path atop the mountain range is still visible. The Sita Tear Pond close to the Chariot Path is believed to have been formed by Sita Devi’s tears. Visitors could also see the famed Sita Flowers which are endemic to this area.

Sita’s captivity at Ashok Vatika (also known as Ashoka/ Asoka Vanam)

Ashok Vatika is a garden where Rāvana held Sita captive. This is in the area of Sita Eliya, close to the city of Nuwara Eliya. The Hakgala Gardens located at the base of the Hakgala Rock forms part of the famed Ashok Vatika. The Sita Pokuna is a barren area atop the Hakgala Rock Jungle where Sita was kept captive.

Sita Devi is set to have bathed in a stream at Sita Eliya. The Sita Amman Temple is located at this spot.

Search for Sita

Sugriva, (also spelled Sugreeva) ruler of the Vanara or monkey kingdom, ordered his monkey armies to search for Sita in all four corners of the earth. Hanuman, Angada, Jambavan and other heroes traveled southwards. Hanuman was the only one strong enough to cross the ocean to reach Lanka.

Whilst crossing the ocean, Hanuman was tested by Surasa Devi, the Naga maiden en-route to Lanka. This place is now called Nagadeepa.

Hanuman meets Sita at Ashok Vatika and is captured by Rāvana

Hanuman after meeting Sita at Ashok Vatika, decided to test the strength of king Rāvana and his army of Rakshas. He invited battle by uprooting trees and destroying the garden. Upon being captured by the Rakshasa guards, Hanuman was brought in the presence of Rāvana. As a punishment, Hanuman’s tail was set on fire. Hanuman in turn set fire to the houses in the city. Ussangoda is one such torched area.

Hanuman on the way back to India rested at Mani Kattuthar. Near by is the village of Kondagala, known as Kondakalai in Tamil, where Sita is said to have deranged her hair whilst passing the place. The village also contains Sita Gooli which are rice balls offered by Ravana to Sita; which she refused and threw away.

Sita is hidden after the visit of Hanuman

Upon hearing Hanuman’s threat and seeing his capabilities, King Rāvana decided to hide Sita at various secret locations as a precautionary measure. Rāvanagoda which means Ravana’s place in the Kotmale area is one such complex of tunnels and caves. Istreepura is another ingenious network of paths which are interconnected all major areas of king Rāvana’s city. Istreepura means Area of Women in Sinhala. This refers to the retinue of ladies Ravana made available to look after Sita.

Preparing for battle

Gayathri Peedum is the place where Ravana’s son Mehganath was granted super natural powers by Lord Shiva prior to the battle.

Neelawari is located in the North of the country in the Jaffna peninsula is a place Lord Rama shot an arrow to the ground to obtain water for his army upon arriving Lanka.

Dondra, Seenigama & Hikkaduwa are places in the South of Lanka where Sugriva (king of Vanaras) prepared for his onslaught on king Ravana’s forces from the Southern flank.
War breaks out

During the height of the battle Indrajit, elder son of Rāvana beheaded a lookalike of Sita Devi in front of Hanuman to break his spirit. This place is known as Sitawaka in the Avissawella area.
Yudhaganawa, battlefield in Sinhala is a place in Wasgamuwa where the major battles took place.
Upon being hit by Indrajit’s Brahmastra, both Rama, Lakshmana and the monkey army lay unconscious on the battle field. To cure them Jambavan the veteran monkey instructed Hanuman to go to Sanjeewani Parvatha, the hill of herbs between Rishhaba and Kilasa peaks in the Himalayas and bring the necessary medicinal herbs. As he could not identify which herbs to select, Hanuman uprooted the entire peak with all the herbs growing there from the mountain and returned to Lanka.

Parts of the hill fell on five places in Sri Lanka; namely Rumassala in Galle, Dolukanda in Hiripitiya, Ritigala close to Habarana, Talladi in Mannar and Katchchathivu in the north.
Lord Karthikaya Subramaniyam was requested to go to battle by Lord Indra to protect Lord Rama from king Rāvana’s Brahmastra. This was at Kataragama, which is now a very popular place for worship among Sri Lankans.

The fall of Rāvana

Dunuwila is a place from which Lord Rama fired the Brahmastra at king Rāvana who was directing the war from Laggala, where he was killed.
Laggala is derived from the Sinhala term “Elakke Gala”, which means Target Rock. Laggala served as a sentry point to observe Lord Rama’s army. Geographically, this is the highest part of the northern region of Rāvana’s city.

After Rāvana’s death, his body was kept at Yahangala, Divan or Bed Rock in Sinhala for the country men to pay their respect for their departed King.

After the war

Sita met Rama after the war, and Divurumpola is the place she under went the “Agni” test of fire where she proved her innocence and purity to Rama. Divurumpola means the Place of Oath in Sinhala.

Vantharamulai is a place that Lord Rama, Sita Devi, Lakshmana and Hanuman rested after the turmoil of the war.

Amaranthakali is believed to be the place where they had the first meal after the war.
When returning to India, Rama felt he was followed by a “Brahmahasti Dhosham”, a dark cloud capable of taking his life, as he had killed Rāvana, a Brahamin. Rama felt safe from the “Brahmahasti Dhosham” at Munneswaram. This is the place Rama prayed to Lord Shiva and where God Shiva asked Lord Rama to install four Lingams to get rid of the Dhosham. These four Lingams were installed at Manavari, Thiru Koheneshwaram, Thiru Ketheshwaram and Ramaeshwaram in India.

After king Rāvana’s death, Rāvana’s brother Vibhishana was coroneted as a king of Lanka by Lakshmana at Kelaniya.

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Confirmed Evidence of Lord Rama's Incarnation on Earth

Posted by Ambar jaiswal

Adam's Bridge (Ram-Setu) was constructed about 1.7 million years ago. It is not nature made, but man or monkey-made.

This is a rare photograph of Lord Rama's Bridge (named as Adams Bridge or Ram-Setu) taken by NASA above Rameshvaram in India & Sri Lanka. NASA released it in 2002, taken by its Satellite Space Imaging Technology. It is submerged about 500 feet in the Indian Ocean. It was submerged long back inside the sea.

This Rama's Bridge was constructed by the Rama's army of monkeys (mainly Nal & Neel the great monkey engineers), by simply throwing the stones into the sea & by writing the name of the Lord (Rama) on the stones. Mysteriously the stones floated on sea and arranged themselves and formed a bridge. The whole army of Lord Rama crossed through it to Sri Lanka and again returned through it after the victory over Ravana.

The picture confirms without any doubt that there is a submerged man or monkey made bridge inside the sea. The astonished US scientists have estimated the age of this manmade miracle more than 1.7 million years and the stones were fixed by a white-lime like material not by nature. According to Hindu Scriptures and Valmik Ramayana it was the Treta Yuga in which Lord Rama incarnated about a million years ago. Such a miraculous construction a million years before can never be without the help of Super Power of the incarnation of Lord Rama. Even the saints are not authorized to perform such miracles.

Later this bridge was submerged into the sea at an unknown time, may be due to any natural calamity. Our historical knowledge is incomplete and is only of few thousand years. It is erroneous, limited, misleading and insufficient to understand this miracle of God. Surely this bridge cannot be a nature's creation. It is not historical but a pre-pre-historical miracle on earth by an Avatara of God.

No doubt this is the oldest and most valued archeological finding on earth, which must be preserved by the whole world at any cost.

After this great discovery of NASA, the researchers should do their further research work, to find out how and when exactly it was constructed? If our engineers can't construct such a bridge even today, they should accept the supremacy of the powers of God, Avataras & the Hindu Scriptures. They should stop calling the Hindu Scriptures as Myths or fiction. Hindu's Valmik Ramayana is as old as this Bridge. It confirms that the humanity on earth was cultured at the time of Rama about a million years ago and not like a monkey as misinformed by Darwin. It is the time that the historians and the scientists should correct themselves.

If this is true that Lord Rama was there on earth a million years ago, the history of the world would have to be rewritten in an entirely new prospective. Lord Rama is a reality and not a fake imagination or a myth as propagated by few atheist and prejudiced historians having no knowledge and faith in God. How the existence of the great Scriptures like Valmik-Ramayana and Vedas much before Lord Rama, the historian will make fit in their present history of world culture? The people, who are interested to destroy this great marvelous evidence of existence of God, must be stopped by the whole world, because it is more important than anything else

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Evidence of Floating stones found at Rameshwaram

Posted by Ambar jaiswal

These are the floating stones of Lord Ram which found in the sea near Rameshwaram, what else needed to prove his existence.

Stones are now kept at Panchamuga Anjaneyar Temple on the Highways to Rameshwaram. Never miss a chance to see the place.

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Chapter [Sarga] 1

Posted by Ambar jaiswal in Book VI : Yuddha Kanda - Book Of War

Book VI : Yuddha Kanda - Book Of War

Chapter [Sarga] 1

Introduction

Rama appreciates Hanuma and embraces him after hearing his report.Rama was gladdend that Hanuma did something worthy of a noble servent. Then, Rama reflected upon the problem of how to cross the ocean.

WEDNESDAY, 8 APRIL 2009

Chapter [Sarga] 1

Introduction

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