Sunken Indian civilizations

We've heard tales of civilizations in our ancient texts, whose ruins haven't been very easy to find. Using some of the most high end technology, SONAR radiation and other deep sea archaeological survey tools, we've been able to find truth in the tales from the Mahabharata and other ancient texts like Sangam Literature. Here are some civilizations who met their fate too soon, and Indian culture lost out on some history until light was thrown in recent times on findings from different locations around the Indian peninsula. Lets take a look at some of the lost civilizations that are today underwater, and some we've been able to uncover with hard evidence. 

1. Dwarka

We've found Dwarka, so that says enough for how much our ancient texts like the Mahabharata were true. The island was found off the coast of the present day city of Dwarka in the state of Gujarat, India. The Mahabharata tells us in the story of Krishna slaying the demon Shalva that the island of Dwarka was attacked by Shalva. An entire city was found underwater. It is said that Krishna prayed to the sea to build the city of Dwarka in it, and on taking the sea's permission, he literally 'reclaimed' 12 Yojans (ancient Indian method of measurement) of land from sea, on the westernmost shore of Saurashtra. It was a planned city divided into sectors separating shops and markets from residential areas with well built palaces, good roads and a full-fledged port showing the city was quite a super city. Below are some images I found here. 

That's not all. Dwarka was attacked with superior technology described as flying vehicles, the fight involved destructive weapons that were destroying the city, and one detail in the story intrigued me. When Krishna and Shalva were on the ground fighting face to face, Shalva could disappear from his sight and reappear somewhere else within seconds, making that an advantage for him. I can't quite think of anything besides a teleportation device of some sort. Shalva also tried to show Krishna that he held his father Vasudeva hostage and threatened to kill him. In fact he severed his head in front of Krishna, but somehow Krishna figured it was an illusion. If Shalva was trying to create an optical illusion of some sort to scare Krishna in battle, we don't know, but it's not something we hear every day. 

Shavla is attacked by Krishna. Shalva's vimana awaits him

The remains of Dwarka were found just 70 feet into diving. Here's a little something from Ancient Aliens that can give some historical perspective and details on the research. It follows into Kumari Kandam, which I will speak about later in the article.  Watch from 2.31min.

Anyway, I don't want to change the topic so read that story here. 

2. Sunken city in the Gulf of Khambat
This is a city not too many people in the world give attention to, but is probably the oldest city we've ever found on earth! Some ruins from the city date as far back as 31,000 years! We're talking about a civilization (first in the world) to have created pottery given the facts. It's amazing to know that because of the treacherous location of the city in the Gulf of Khambat, we are unable to explore the expanses of the ocean here.

This is a little part of a research put out in detail on Graham Hancock's website by Dr. Badrinaryan. More about him below, this is what we know about the gulf -
This gulf is 135 km long in a N-S direction and is more than 100km at its widest part. It is one of the roughest and most complicated seas of the world and covers an area of about 3000 sq.km. Several major rivers including the Narmada, Tapi, Sabarmathi, Mahi, Chathranji, etc. drain into it. It has a macro tidal range of 12m and the currents are up to 8 knots. The sea is often subjected to severe winds resulting in very rough conditions. These types of turbulence churn the seabed and produce enormous quantities of silt, making the sea water brownish and turbid, with the result that is that it is impervious to light rays. The combined effect of these conditions makes this part of the country unfit for diving and underwater operations and operating underwater videography impossible. Hence, only instruments operated on principle of sound, like sonar equipments and magnetic equipments could work here. This includes the Side Scan Sonar, Sub-bottom Profiler, Multibeam ecosounder, apart from marine magneto-meter.

In a marine survey by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) in December 2000, the team with Chief Scientist Dr S Badrinaryan came across palaeo river channels in the sea, something unusual for the location. The team then found several frames of square and rectangular formations in the sea later on.

Here's an image captured using sub-bottom profiler surveys.

Despite the torrential weather in the gulf, we STILL managed to gather artefacts ranging from the oldest fired pottery pieces obtained so far in the world, microlithic tools, and much more.

Reputed institutes have surveyed this and I'm sure they're baffled as well - including institutes in India, Oxford, and Germany. Because of the results and how controversial this has turned out to be, it is said that pieces of wood and several fragments were sent for testing to different places and both results were no less than dating back to around 7,000 BC. Like Dr. D. P. Agrawal, chairman of the Paleoclimate Group and founder of Carbon-14 testing facilities in India stated in an article in Frontline Magazine that the piece was dated twice, at separate laboratories. The NGRI in Hyderabad returned a date of 7190 BC and the BSIP in Hannover returned a date of 7545-7490 BC. Some archeologists, Agrawal in particular, contest that the discovery of an ancient piece of wood does not imply the discovery of an ancient civilization. Agrawal argues that the wood piece is a common find, given that 20,000 years ago the Arabian Sea was 100 meters lower than its current level, and that the gradual sea level rise submerged entire forests. Some argue they may have come down from rivers that lead into the gulf. But Dr. Badrinaryan's work strongly challenges this. Find more images and read about this in detail here.

I really hope we have the chance to learn in more detail about this city in the turbulent gulf of Khambat! Too little is known and that sucks.

3. The real ancient city of Mahabalipuram
Indra destroys the city in fury with lightning. The seas drown the rich and prosperous city of Mahabalipuram also known as Mamallapuram. The gods were jealous of Mahabalipuram, which was then ruled by Bali or Mahabali. The word Puram literally means city or urban dwelling. The city was in the sea, and boasted of seven temples with seven pagodas. The present day city of Mahabalipuram hosted only one shore temple and the temple was the last of the temples that remains unsubmerged, according to local tales based on the mythological scenario at Mahabalipuram. After the 2004 tsunami that hit south-west Asia and Indonesia, rocks, artefacts and parts of the other temples were thrown upon by the shores of Mahabalipuram, which threw a new light on the stories written in ancient texts. The temples were real, and the city was a magnificent port, say some archaeologists.

Indra became jealous of this earthly city and sank it during a great storm, leaving only the Shore Temple above water. Fyson also recounts the assertion of local Tamil people that at least some of the other temples could be seen "glittering beneath the waves" from fishing boats.

The evidence to the actual building of these temples is not very clear. Mythology says something, and the ancient historical accounts say something else. One Englishman, Fyson D. R. lived in present day Chennai and wrote a book called 'Mahabalipuram and the Seven Pagodas'. He writes peculiarly about one local myth. Here's a small reference:
The six missing temples have continued to fascinate locals, archaeologists, and lovers of myth alike, and have recently returned to the archaeological spotlight. Many archaeologists have spent time of diving missions and put out several photographs of huge granite stone structures. Diving in challenging conditions, the team found the "foundation of walls, broken pillars, steps, and many scattered stone blocks," said Kamlesh Vora, a marine archaeologist with the National Institute of Oceanography. More on this here.

Below are some images taken from Graham Hancock's website. All images are courtesy Santha Faiia 2002 and were taken in rough sea conditions. Graham Hancock has also extensively covered this and you can check a few more images out here.

4. Kumari Kandam
We all know about this one. This continent of sorts is the long lost 'Lemuria' or 'Atlantis' for some, and was a very flourishing civilization according to Sangam literature as cited. Kumari Kandam is one of the biggest mysteries that doesn't have any extremely foolproof evidence but lots of clues that lead to its existence as being on the surface at some point in time. This supersized landmass was said to connect India to Madagascar in the West and Australia in the East. This is a large amount of the Indian ocean if you go to see. The continent sunk during the rise and fall of the seabed, a natural occurence. According to Sangam Literature, three Tamil sangams of sages lasted around 9000 years on this continent that later left no known remains we've found today. You can easily find detailed information on Kumari Kandam in articles like this. Below is a map of the plotted civilization:

More from me, coming soon! Thanks for reading. Do check my other blogs out!


All references are given as links in the article. Credits go to the photographers and courageous researchers who've made accessing this info from deep seas so simple. :) 

Hampi - A land of mystery and wonder

I visited the beautiful city of Hampi on my birthday a week ago. The place amazed me. The gorgeous citadel of Hampi, right from the Hampi boulders to the mind-blowing architecture, the dynasties that lived here, the stories prevalent and the hidden mysteries made for a perfect trip at just the right time of the year.

This article is long, but please understand that if I wrote this in two parts, I would never finish the second part! :P

Origins - Name and Mythology
Hampi earned its name from Pampa - the original name of the river Tungabadra that separates the main temple area from the northern side of the river. The place was called Pampa-kshetra (kshetra meaning patch, field or area) or Kishkinda-kshetra. In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Kishkinda is the name of the monkey kingdom ruled by monkey king Sugriva, whose brother was Vali.

Pampa is also the name of Brahma's daughter, the creator in Hindu mythology. Pampa worshipped Shiva and when Shiva noticed her dedication, he rewarded her with one blessing. Pampa chose to marry the God himself! All the Gods were very pleased with Shiva and Pampa's union in marriage. They showered gold over the place of their wedding, giving the Hemakuta hill its name. Hemakuta literally means 'Heap of Gold'.

A confused Hanuman carrying the Kailash parvat

The landscape in Hampi is associated a lot with the Ramayana. The monkey kingdom 'Kishkinda' is portrayed as the region around Hampi, mostly the northern region. Anjayaneya Hill, located across the river Tungabhadra, is believed to be the birthplace of lord Hanuman.
In the Ramayana, Rama and Lakshman travelled south and reached Kishkinda. Hanuman was the leader of Sugriva's army at the time. After Hanuman realised the truth about Rama and Lakshman identity, he becomes an staunch follower of Rama. Sugriva and Rama made a deal wherein Rama would destroy Vali and return the kingdom to Sugriva in peace. In return, Sugriva would support Rama by leading the monkey kingdom into battle to rescue Sita who was held captive in Lanka. Hanuman flew south in pursuit of rescuing Sita, and the Vanaras (a breed of monkeys) followed Rama to Lanka.

Hampi was also referred to as the Vijayanagara capital from 1343 to 1565. The Sangama king was advised to choose Hampi because of its strategic location, with the Tungabhadra river on one side and hills on all other sides. Hampi was the second richest city in the world after Peking (China) during its peak. It hosted 0.1% of the world's population at the time.

The emperor Ashoka's minor rock edicts found in Bellary district lead us to infer that this region was within the Ashokan kingdom during the 3rd century BCE. A Brahmi inscription and a terracotta seal dating to the 2nd century CE were also discovered from the excavation site. The first settlements in this area date back to as far as 1 CE.

Our rickshaw driver (Raja) who took us around on a thorough one-day tour told us that Ugra Narasimha (the avtar of lord Vishnu with features of a lion and human) sprung out from behind a shivling after a father (don't quite remember who) who was a Vaishnava (follower of Lord Vishnu) urged his son against praying to lord Shiva. This form of Vishnu got hold of the father, ripped him apart and ate him. Brutal indeed.

Statue of Ugra Narasimha

Rock formations and the Hampi boulders
Hampi is one of those few places on the earth whose surface has been exposed for the longest time, with no sign of any modifications that could have been caused by tectonic interference or modification of the natural rocks. Over the centuries, they've been subject to constant weathering and metamorphosis - erosion, rain, harsh sun and varying climate. The reason there are so many boulders is because weathering and erosion caused the stones and mountains to crack and split. Some are even seen at odd places like rolling down the mountains, balancing themselves halfway, bigger stones balancing on smaller ones, etc.

That's me!

Geologically speaking, Hampi falls on something called the Eastern Dharwar Craton. A craton is a stretch of the earth's surface that has remained the same for years and centuries without any modification. Some parts of the Dharwar Craton are said to be more than 3.0 Ga, or 3 BILLION years old!

Mythology states the odd positions of the rocks date back to when Vali and Sugriva were at war to claim the throne of the monkey kingdom.

What's even more fascinating is the way these buggers cut the stone and placed these massive blocks to make some of the most beautiful temples in the world!

Some well cut and fitted rocks

Rock cutting technique - work with what you have!
The people of the Vijaynagara empire were intelligent. Not only did they manage to use the rocks from their surrounding to build something so wonderful, but they also used very smart techniques to get things done. Raja told us they would cut squares that were 2 inches deep and 3 sq. inches wide, fill this up with an ayurvedic medicine and cold water, after which the stone would cut itself. Well, he wasn't entirely wrong. The process didn't involve using ayurvedic medicine, but it was similar.

After making holes in the rocks in a line, they used to hammer a wooden wedge into each of the holes and poured hot water over it, after which the wood expanded. Obviously this wasn't enough to cut the stone, but imagine shoving a series of these blocks over and over again to a point where the rock actually splits into half! Watch here.

Blocks cut in stones before wooden wedges were shoved into them.

One fact remains. As Raja told me, if the stones cut well, they used them. If they didn't, they'd just leave them. There were a lot of stones that were just left because they did not split into the desired fashion or suit the necessity.

However, this isn't true with when we take a look a the Sister Stone. One of the rocks fell apparently when someone was attempting rock climbing. They seem to be balancing themselves and are perfectly cut.

Sister stone

These advanced rock cutting techniques first began with the Pallavas of South India.


A game of thrones
Four dynasties ruled the kingdom of Hampi - The Sangama dynasty (1336 - 1485 AD), the Saluva dynasty (1485 - 1505 AD), the Tuluva dynasty (1505-1570 AD) and the Araveedu Dynasty (1570 - 1644 AD)

Please DO NOT refer to Wikipedia for the lineage and timelines. When I have the time, I will request to edit changes on the site. I have notes from an official chart that is present at Virupaksha temple.

Satyavan K. Naik, who also wrote a paper on the Origins and History of Vijayanagara clarifies that the mighty king Krishnadevaraya of the Tuluva dynasty, during whose reign the kingdom flourished, was NOT son of Narasa Nayaka.

As I know it, Narasa Nayaka has three sons - Tapanna Nayaka, Naganna Nayaka and Obam Nayaka. They were also known as Tippambike, Nagalambike and Obambike respectively. They are not mentioned in any popular media sources, including Wikipedia.

I'm also not sure why their nicknames sound so African. The Tuluva dynasty did originate from the west coast of India in Karnataka, close to Kerala so it is possible for them to have been of foreign origin, more specifically African. But I have absolutely no proof of this haha!
If you think about it, the Siddis who inhabit many parts of India today, are said to be of African origin and are a mix of African and Indian blood. They are said to have landed in India somewhere around 600 AD. The first documented record of the Siddis was around 1100 AD. They were said to have arrived by sea. Vasco De Gama was NOT the first man to reach India by sea, that too in the 16th century AD. It's nice that historians wanted to see India as a land discovered by a European. African and Indian connections can be seen at the sun temple in Konark too. Many unwritten accounts of travel across the seas was possible.

What makes me question their origin even more is the fact that they were so simply omitted. Shame? Another father? Everyone skips to the part where after Narasa Nayaka, Veera Narasimha claimed the throne for four years (1505 - 1509 AD) followed by Krishnadevaraya (1509 - 1530 AD). No one really says Veera Narasimha was son of Tippambike and Krishnadevaraya was son of Nagalambike. They were cousins, not brothers.
Obambike had two sons - Achuta (was king from 1530 - 1542 AD) and Ranga. Achuta was Krishnadevaraya's cousin, not brother.

More on African connections in India before Vasco De Gama here. Some people say India was indeed connected to Africa and Australia via Kumari Kandam (the lost sunken continent). But that's a discussion for another time.

The musical pillars of Sabha Mantap

Sabha mantap, Vitthala temple complex

Wasn't this fascinating! I'm glad my better half is also a musician.  The Sabha mantap in the Vitthala temple complex had an area with musical pillars that we spent a good 40 minutes at. Of course, out of curiosity, we went all out to decipher the musical notes of each of the pillars. It was plain crazy.

When the British found out about this place, they wanted to know the secret of these musical pillars, breaking two of them to see if there was anything inside. All they got was hollow pillars! So imagine.. To make these pillars sound a precise note, they would have to remove an exact amount of rock - not more not less - for them to sound the exact note, that too, after being mounted!

We decoded the central mantap area, which looked something like this.

Two Ds, two D#, two Bs and two Es correspond.

Many of the pillars have been tampered with. The Archaeological Survey of India, in the hope of saving the temple from ruination, has built walls to support the foundation and ceiling of this area. We can't be sure if the notes are the same any more, because with this, the sound from the pillars would have changed making the notes sound different. There is a fault in the sequence that has now ceased to exist because of external interference.

The pinhole effect of the gopuram at Virupaksha temple
I didn't really get a chance to take a good picture, but there's a place in the Virupaksha temple where you can see the gopuram (a monumental tower at the entrance of temples - mostly in South India) of the Virupaksha temple inverted as light passes through a small hole made through the wall. A touristy thing, this really fascinates people for some reason, whereas it follows the simple principle of a pinhole camera and even the way our eyes capture an image.

The pinhole effect

How we see

What is fascinating though, is they knew EXACTLY how big the hole had to be, the distance at which the gopuram was constructed from the main  temple and determine how it would capture only the gopuram upside down on the wall inside. Someone did the math.

The inverted gopuram of the Virupaksha temple

The first account of the pinhole effect was noted in 5th century BC in China. This knowledge may have travelled, or we discovered it a long time ago.

Sacred Geometry, rather, sonic geometry
If you've read my blog before, you know what cymatics is. Cymatics is basically the visible form of sound and vibration. Once you understand cymatics, you'll know where all the mandalas, rangoli designs and decorative shapes used in our everyday life comes from!

The room behind the main Vitthala temple mantap had so many drawings describing the lifestyle of people, but more importantly, prominence was given to particular shapes and designs.

Flower of Life behind the Vitthala temple, Hampi

Here's the Flower of Life. A lot of these drawings aren't accurate and look as though they've been copied from somewhere or were carved a bit differently, adding an artist's touch to them.

Many people say the flower of life represents the earth's energy grid. It is also a design that has been repeatedly found for centuries all across the world. Besides the flower of life, I was a bit surprised with what I spotted. I thought I'd go back and have a look at some cymatics and then, the cymaglyphs (cymatic glyphs) started making sense. There were pillars with cymaglyphs all over.

Cymaglyph of the note C

Above is the cymatic formation of the C note at 32.70 Hz, popularly known as C1. The design has evolved over time, but the concept remains the same. Here's another one. Couldn't decipher the note though.

There were other shapes that looked like other cymaglyphs as well, some I couldn't decipher because they're too worn out like this one.

An unidentified cymaglyph

The picture above this could be any one of these

I'm assuming even the people who were left to construct this temple were unaware of the symbolism. These formations can be seen only when there is sound. They would have been seen at either a significant event, which is what made it so important to note, or were something ancestors passed down to them. They were prettified because after all, they were a part of the design too.

Extensive markets
One thing about Hampi is how many markets/bazaars there were. There were markets everywhere, markets where people sold gold and silver by the kilo. Some were animal markets, others for food, vegetables and also the 'Sule bazaar', the popular whore market that was home to thousands of women. Apparently, even the king Krishnadevaraya visited the market.

Market near the Vitthala temple complex

Chutney chutney cup-marks
I believe Hampi as a place is an energy hub. As much as I was dissuaded about the cup-marks, there was no denying they existed because there were circular marks on the floor at many places. These marks were unlike the others that were described to me as something created in the ground as support 'for erecting temporary mantaps' or for 'making chutney' (seriously man?). I am not denying there were some for these purposes, because I came across many in locations where making chutney and erecting mandaps was possible!

After reading David Cowan's 'Leylines and Earth Energies' a few months ago, I recognized them as soon as I saw them. Cup-marks are indentations in rocks carved in the shape of cups. Normally cup-marks are way more intense. Some have rings around them. They're usually drawn on rocks near rivers and creating cup-marks in stone is a very good way of eliminating unhealthy energies. Seeing this on the Hemakuta hill (the place showered with gold by the Gods - Gold is a good conductor of electric and electromagnetic energy) made me think it was even more possible. Cup-marks, to mainstream archaeologists, is fancy rock art. They can align energy and energy can flow through them. Cup-marks have been discovered in Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh back in 290,000-700,000 BCE too.

I found cup-marks in two places around the same region. One place was in the Virupaksha temple compound, the other was up on the Hemakuta hill, south of Virupaksha. They were in places where it was impossible to erect mandaps or grind chutney for crying out loud! The cup-marks were drawn from north to south.

Cup-marks in a place where you can't make chutney

The Mahanavami Dibba and landing pads
For the occasional landing and hurried take-off

A mystery indeed. These huge platforms have been built in a complex of only platforms and a few baths including the fancy stepped tank or pushkarani. There was a water system in place for this Pushkarani, make of the same rock where water can be transported to the two baths in the area. The stepped tank is built out of one stone, and if turned upside down, looks like an inverted pyramid. It's about 25-30 ft. deep for sure. The tank was used for bathing or swimming. What I wasn't quite convinced about were these raised platforms next to the Hazararama temple.

The Mahanavami dibba

The Mahanavami dibba was built on the occasion of Krishnadevaraya's victory against the Orissa Gajapathis. He used it to watch processions, make offerings to the almighty and host programmes. But such a high raised platform? My first doubt is - Why build such a frequently used platform to erect temporary mantaps (as there were holes in the dibba on top as well), build a fancy staircase for the king and queen to walk down and access the stepped tanks? Along the way down the stairs, you literally take a mini-tour of drawings depicting the life of the people, visitors from foreign countries, and more.

There are two or three other platforms in the vicinity, which no one really mentions.

View from the Mahanavami dibba

The surface of the Mahanavami dibba

My second doubt is - Why build three platforms, with two public tanks/baths, two underground chambers and one Hazararama temple that depicts the entire Ramayana?

There was also a secret chamber, dark as hell, for the king to host his meetings and important discussions underground. There is a small diversion within the chamber too, for the king to be able to make a hurried escape in case someone came rushing through the normal path from the entrance. The door of this secret chamber is straight in front of a platform that has a stairway to nothing!

A stairway in front of a platform that leads to nothing really!

I was surprised the moment I spotted the staircase, moreover because it leads to nothing! I looked in wonder for 10 seconds and told Vignesh, "Doesn't this resemble a launchpad?" The stairs led to a good height of around 15-20 feet. It is strange for me to assume even now, but I looked around, asked the rickshaw driver cum tour guide what it was for and got no answer. It didn't make sense to anyone. A good way to make a quick escape by hopping to a vimana and flying away!

Here's what this fascinating staircase resembles. Rukma vimanas, maybe? Remember, Rukma vimanas resemble modern-day rockets and people the world over have referred to texts like the Vymaanika Shastra and Puranas to build flying crafts.

Let's compare this to our modern-day launchpads.

Stairway to nothing - view from the side

Stairway to nothing - View from the platform

Take those stairs and get onto that rocket

A vimana was tested in the late 1800s (1895 to be precise) on Girgaon chowpatty in Mumbai by a Sanskrit scholar who wasn't even a rocket scientist (read up on Shivkar Bapuji Talpade, watch this video). I'm sure it wasn't something extremely out of the ordinary in the 16th century because we know about flying vehicles and vimanas that were used back in the day. We have books and written account on these vimanas. To support this, let's take a look at the Hazararama temple.

Assuming we had visitors who flew down or up, there is nothing like the Hazararama temple (that depicts the entire Ramayana) to serve as a museum for visitors from outside, maybe even our foreign visitors who travelled by land. Made in honour of Lord Vishnu's avatar 'Rama', this is the only temple where I spotted a giant 13-inch long millipede, a snake and some of those swag lizards. This is also the only temple in the whole place that is an example of a compact dravida vimana type of temple (ancient architecture).

The Hazararama temple (Notice the carvings on top)

Pillar in the Hazararama temple

Drawings depicting an Indian journey of flight

There are numerous drawings around the temple and inside the temple of pillars made of a different material that describe people standing or sitting in these decorative structures that look like mantaps. There is no sign of this at any other temple. As you know, the Pushkar vimana was a frequently used flying craft in the Ramayana, so this should come as no surprise to anyone.

________________________

With the ringing bells of the Virupaksha temple as we sat on the terrace of Gopi Guesthouse, followed by the cows yelling and breeze travelling from West to East all of a sudden, the trip was amazing.

The good people of Hampi even today let villagers from 200km away live here for six months so they can harvest crop, sell animals and trade. They do suffer from external interference. The UNESCO and ASI, in their view of making the town more 'tourist-friendly' have began to create their own landscape in places, which makes the few residents of Hampi very sad. But they live among the ruins of one of the most powerful empires of the world and are yet to discover the mysteries this place holds.
________________________

More random comparisons

Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Assyrian, Hebrew tree of life

Hazararama temple Tree of life

Our visitors from the Orient

Spaceman on the left is from the Vitthala temple Hampi

Make sure to visit Hampi when you can. It's extremely affordable and just so beautiful.

Happy Hampi!

'Vimanas' or flying crafts of Ancient India

There is a lot to gather about 'Vimanas' or aerial crafts and trace back to the origins of where they've left a mark in history. Something that is not easy to digest and is not universally accepted is that we possessed advanced technology dating back thousands of years before people assumed our Indian civilization even began. 

What is a Vimana? 

A vimana is an ancient aircraft our ancestors or early Indian civilizations possessed, as scriptures go. Many other civilizations talk about these same crafts, as seen in Egyptian and Sumerian heiroglyphs, Atlantean and Lemurian depictions of civilization and as sometimes described in the Bible on numerous occasions as well! How Vimanas have been rediscovered is amazing. We went through the scriptures again, mysteriously being able to connect the dots when the UFO phenomenon started gaining prominence in the late 1940s. Till then, no one gave a damn!  This article is definitely not going to cover all there is about Vimanas and India.

There is a possibility that there were way more intelligent beings inhabiting the planet before us, or who happen to be our ancestors, but because of the barrier religion has created, all it does is makes us think man and woman began from a simple Adam and Eve, 'created' by 'God' . The story of the first man and woman is also controversial by revisionist theory standards, but that is a discussion for another day. I am not going to change anyone's opinion about religion, their concept of life, our origins, or anything of the sort. Although, I am going to state a few facts that I've found out about these Ancient Indian UFOs.

An illustration of a Rukma vimana

I'm calling them UFOs because they are described to be like the crafts spotted in UFO sightings in the sky in recent times - working mysteriously on anti-gravity, advanced propulsion systems - and at the same time they're said to have worked purely by the will of the mind, 'piloted' like modern-day crafts. UFOs DO NOT necessarily mean 'aliens'. They could just have been people with advanced technology, in a different age of the planet's lifetime.  

I visited Omkareshwar in December 2013 and spoke to baba Mangaldas Tyagi, President of the Omkareshwar baba Association. He spoke to me about a LOT of things and my main purpose of the visit was the Omkareshwar jyotrlinga and interviewing him regarding a project a friend and I were documenting based on 'Women and Superstition'. Vimanas was interestingly a highlight for me, because I was aware of the concept all along, but hearing it from someone else in person is a whole new experience! I happened to be recording our conversation as part of my project work and decided to use this data here. 

If you do not understand Hindi, the translation is under the video on YouTube (sorry for the inconvenience, I couldn't create subtitles)

Vimanika Shastra: The Science of Aeronautics

As told by John Bruno Hare in the preface of the published translated version by G. R. Josyer;

Sometime in the period just before World War I, a Brahmin named Pandit Subbaraya Sastry began to dictate previously unknown texts in Sanskrit which purported to contain ancient Indian technological knowledge. He in turn, credited a Vedic sage named Maharshi Bharadwaja, as well as other Rishis who appear in legitimate Hindu texts.One of these 'channeled' texts was, on its face, a technical manual for the construction and use of 'vimanas,' the flying machines of the Vedic sagas. It is unclear as to whether any part of the present work was actually published in print at that time, even though it is implied in the introduction, so it is unclear whether it was published (in the legal sense) prior to 1923. The Sanskrit manuscript of the VS lay unpublished for over fifty years. In 1973, this text was published in a very limited edition by G.R. Josyer, along with a translation which he had produced over a twenty year period.

The Vimanika Shastra basically explains the working and construction of ancient Indian aircrafts and detailed diagrams to describe the working of these crafts. The best gist of the book is explained by the table of contents:

FIRST CHAPTER
 1. Definition
 2. The Pilot
 3. Aerial Routes
 4. Aeroplane Parts
 5. On Clothing
 6. On Food
 7. On Metals
SECOND CHAPTER
 8. Heat Absorbing Metals
9. Melting
THIRD CHAPTER
 10. Mirrors
FOURTH CHAPTER
 11. Power
FIFTH CHAPTER
 12. Yantras or Machinery
 13. Parts of Yantras
SIXTH CHAPTER
 14. Varieties of Aeroplanes
 15. Shakuna Vimana
 16. Sundara Vimana
 17. Rukma Vimana
 18. Tripura Vimana

According to a research paper by Mary Sutherland (2010), many things were gathered in terms of the origins of these crafts as part of our ancient Indian sacred texts.

In the Yantra Sarvasva, part of the Vimanika Shastra, sage Maharshi Bhardwaj describes 'Vimana', or aerial aircrafts, as being of three classes:
1. Those that travel from place to place;
2. Those that travel from one country to another;
3. Those that travel between planets.

Of special concern among these were the military planes whose functions were delineated in some very considerable detail and which read today like something clean out of science fiction. For instance, they had to be: Impregnable, unbreakable, non-combustible and indestructible capable of coming to a dead stop in the twinkling of an eye; invisible to enemies; capable of listening to the conversations and sounds in hostile planes; technically proficient to see and record things, persons, incidents and situations going on inside enemy planes; know at every stage the direction of the movement of other aircraft in the vicinity; capable of rendering the enemy crew into a state of suspended animation, intellectual torpor or complete loss of consciousness; capable of destruction; manned by pilots and co-travellers who could adapt in accordance with the climate in which they moved; temperature regulated inside; constructed of very light and heat absorbing metals; provided with mechanisms that could enlarge or reduce images and enhance or diminish sounds.

Things like anti-gravity and stealth mode were somewhat a regular phenomenon. You can see movies like Avengers show aircrafts changing their outer walls to a reflective layer of glass so as to be seen as a normal part of the sky (go into stealth), reflecting the surrounding clouds and sky. This is something that you can say, is a subtle rendition of the stealth mechanism described in the Vimanika Shastra!

 Here are images of craft diagrams from the translated book:

There's everything! From what mantras a pilot needs to know, which powers need to be harnessed for the working of the craft, to, well, EVERYTHING is explained.

Here's a 14-minute documentary created explaining more or less what the Vimanika Shastra is, by History Channel.

Mythology, ancient Indian scripts and Vimanas

It's strange how for so many years, our attention was not drawn to the so called 'aerial aircrafts' during wars in the Mahabharata, and so many more texts. Sanskrit texts are filled with references to Gods who fought battles in the sky using Vimanas equipped with weapons as deadly as any we can deploy in these more enlightened times.

However, one of the great Indian epics, the Ramayana, does have a highly detailed story in it of a trip to the moon in a Vimana (or "Astra"), and in fact details a battle on the moon with an "Asvin" (or Atlantean) airship.

The most popular story is of King Ravana in the Ramayana, the often titled antagonist of the book, who was said to have magical powers and a wide range of objects that indicated his use of advanced technology. He was the king of Lanka and is depicted as a negative character (in many versions), who kidnapped Rama's wife Sita. One of many objects that he possessed was the Pushpak Vimana (chariot) which is mentioned when Ravana kidnaps Sita and takes here into this flying chariot!
Pushpak was originally made by Vishwakarma for Brahma, the Hindu god of creation. Later on, Brahma gifted it to Kubera, the God of wealth, but later, with Ravana's capture of  Lanka, his half-brother, it automatically became Ravana's prized possession.

As mentioned in the video above, there has been evidence found of the destroyed city of 'Dwarka' from the Mahabharata, part of which was destroyed during Krishna's reign, by a demon named Shalva who attacked the city from flying crafts using ancient advanced weaponry. There are an endless amount of Vedic texts talking about this concept of flying crafts as well (gods like Indra), practically every story based on travel in the skies and people descending from the heavens. 

The recent hype of UFOs in India began all over again with the Nayagarh incident in Orissa, a month before the phenomenal Roswell UFO crash. 

The story of Nayagarh district, Orissa's UFO landing (1947)

“The Pattachitra” drawn way back in 1947 has themes that revolve around the alien's visit and the UFO ( Unidentified Flying Objects).

Just two months before India’s independence, a UFO sighting was reported in Nayagarh district, Orissa. As the local story goes, two young men from the village were granted full access to this craft that landed from above. After the departure of the spacecraft, these two sat with a well-known “Tala- Pattachitra” ( palm leaf engraver) artist and gave him a thorough description of the beings they had met – a variety of anthropomorphic robots, or perhaps creatures in metal suits.

Depicting the forgotten stories of thes “Yantra Purusha”, pieces of these rare engravings have now been published in the “The Obliterary Journal”, by Blaft Publications. Award-winning Pattachitra artist Panchanana Moharana, who runs a workshop in Puri, made the sketches of the aliens and their craft, which was claimed to have landed in a hilly tract of Nayagarh on the 31st of May, 1947, by going through the original Pattachitra. One of the palm leaf engravings that Panchanana has, show the “Yantra Purusha” wearing a spacesuit with pincer-like hands rising as if offering a blessing! Hemispherical devices protruding from the heads of the aliens are a recurring feature in many of the engravings. Some depictions have aliens having ball-shaped hands. Although, there is still a mention in local press about the incident that happened in a Berhampur daily, two weeks after the event, in which a reporter drew flak on the villagers, calling them 'highly imaginative'.

What is amazing about this is that this event took place exactly a month before the UFO crash in Roswell!

Man in a spacesuit, IN 1947! 

These are two images from the Pattachitra UFOs in Nayagarh District, Orissa

That's a lot to take in already. I'm sure there are some more interesting mythological and old references to UFOs and ancient Indian technology, but again, that's for another day. 

Thank you for reading. Spread the word. :)