Ayurveda - How to live the Nature's way!

I recently watched a documentary on Ayurveda and wanted to share my thoughts.

This is one of those rare documentaries which talks about the greatness of Ayurveda. Where many medical cases have been rejected by modern medicine as incurable, this ancient science has an answer. Not only this, it also highlights how civilized, modern the ancient Indians were in most of the fields including medicines, not to forget it was the Indians, who were the fathers of plastic surgery. The makers of this documentary have taken immense efforts to get in touch with the different practitioners of this ancient Indian science across India and Germany. What does this mean – This suggests that  ancient Indians were well advanced in medicine, and we have lot of ayurvedic texts, which is still preserved till date on palm leaves, which details the cure for different diseases. Truly fascinating, how could have they have known what medical challenges the future generation will come across. This science has been passed on from generations to generations following the Guru – Shishya philosophy, without the help of Guru, one cannot individually interpret the texts , as many of them are not numbered. This video talks about  Ayurveda, Marma kalai, oil baths for the newly born and the mothers, cure for cancer, bowed legs, mud scan therapy, diabetic retinitis, brain hemorrhage and others. All this has been proven and the patients themselves are testimony to the effect Ayurveda has had on them.

Ayurveda  in essence is Art of living ; how to live the nature’s way!!!

Name of the Documentary : Ayurveda : The Art of Being

This 105 minute long documentary  is truly a delight, steals away all your thoughts and reinvigorates  your passion for India !

Ancient Idol of Lord Vishnu in Russia - The Vedic Connection

 An ancient Vishnu idol has been found during excavation in an old village in Russia’s Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia.The report says that the area in which the idol was found is called Staraya Maina. In the Rig Veda, there is a passage that goes, Itham ascati pasyat syantham, ekam starayath mainaa-kaalam. This translates into Staraya Maina is the name of the land of the 45 rivers (on whose banks the noble Rishis conducted the famous Horse Sacrifices), where the sun god descends into one fifty two forty seven. While the first line identifies a location, the second line talks about the exact latitude and longitude at which the solar spectrum produces interference lines at one, fifty two, and forty seven.

The extreme precision of the calculations show the advanced science of the Vedic period, and also a thorough knowledge of SI units (it has been conclusively proven that French scientists stole the system from the Indians).

The discovery of the idol confirms the location in Russia, identified in the Rig Veda as rus soviath sapthamahanagaratham (the ancient and holy land of the 722 flying vehicles). The ancient connections between the Russians and the Indians has been unequivocally confirmed. In Russian orthodox Christianity, worship is conducted very much like in Vishnu temples. The Russians refer to the feast of Vizhnyir Ekoratsya Vikhunh, directly corresponding with Vaikhunda Ekhadasi.

Source:

http://www.globalhinduism.com/2012/12/20/ancient-idol-of-lord-vishnu-found-during-excavation-in-an-old-village-in-russias-volga-region/

Look at Your Plate First If You....

...bother about violence. Below is an article by Ramdas Lamb, a professor at the University of Hawaii. If you are one of those puzzled, worried and angry about the violence in any form be it terrorism or others, this gives us a solution which we can implement instantly but needs our honest efforts:

In the U.S. alone, we are responsible for the torture and slaughter of more than 25 million animals EVERY SINGLE DAY. While many may be astounded by the numbers and not believe them, others will simply say, "So what?" "Why should we care?" "They are only animals?" The reasons to care are many, and I will try to address a few.

Most followers of the Abrahamic religious traditions do not believe that animals have souls. These religious traditions, as well as most cultures, promote the belief that animals are simply here for human benefit. Their followers have been taught and like to believe that humans are the superior species on earth, and all of nature is simply for our use. We can pretty much do what we want with animals: own them, play with them, kill them, eat them, wear their body parts, destroy their homes and environment, etc. This would not be as easy to do if people actually stopped to consider if animals have souls.

Actually, when most Americans eat meat, they don't stop to think about its source, how the animal whose body parts they are consuming was raised, treated, and killed. They don't stop to think if animals have souls. Meat eaters who otherwise care about the consequences of their actions or who argue for the rights of minorities or oppressed groups tend to create a psychological distance between what they eat and the fact that it came from the body of an animal that was imprisoned most or all of its life, usually suffered tortuous treatment, and was then killed, all to satisfy human taste buds and an addiction to flesh consumption. Meat is just food.

Those who want a more peaceful and non-violent world or who support the rights of the oppressed should consider visiting a slaughterhouse for a day. Many people have been fooled by the meat industry into thinking they must consume flesh in order to survive or that vegetarians cannot be healthy. However, there is increasing medical evidence that not only is meat eating unnecessary for health, but that it actually causes many of the health problems Americans faces, especially diseases like heart attacks, obesity, cancer, etc.

Not only have many sick people turned to vegetarianism for a cure but a significant number of professional athletes have become vegetarian because they find that it helps them to become stronger in a more healthy way. There have been and continue to be many more athletes who are vegetarian, as well as millions of regular people all over the world, especially in India.

The indigenous religions of India (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism) promote a kinship with all life forms that is unique among the world's major religions. Although not all their adherents follow it, these traditions as a whole take non-violence seriously, and one of the central reasons that most do is the belief that animals have souls. Clearly, when it comes to the treatment of animals, these religions stand out and lead the way.

Many of us come to the realization that animals are conscious beings, with desires and fears, aspirations and frustrations. They experience happiness and sadness, comfort and pain. We see this in the pets who live with us and we would be extremely pained if anyone even thought about treating them the way millions of animals are treated every day in America. Yet, most of us pretend that all the other animals we don't know personally are somehow different. Their lives don't really matter, the torture they experience does not really matter, their slaughter does not really matter. I understand and acknowledge that in some climates and places, meat eating, or at least fishing, is necessary for survival, but these places are in the minority, and America is not one of them (except maybe in portions of Alaska).

I realize that the views I have expressed will likely upset some. I do so with the hope of inspiring a bit more awareness about the non-human beings and other forms of life that are such beautiful and important parts of the natural world. Vegetarianism is great for health, and that is why I first became a vegetarian. However, I remain a vegetarian for ethical reasons. Meat eating and the resulting wholesale slaughter of animals causes more destruction to our environment, our health, and our relationships with the world than any other single cause. More than that, it promotes a careless attitude toward life and a mind set that makes violence more acceptable. I have countless friends and family members who are not vegetarian, and this does not prevent me from having deep respect for many of them. At the same time, I do feel a great sense of sadness for all the suffering that is caused by meat eaters' food choices. For all those people who consider themselves to be pro-peace or pro-life and who are bothered by all the violence in the world, I would only ask them to look at their dinner plate and reflect for a moment on how much hard work fighting injustice and violence will be offset by the torture, suffering, and rights abuses that occur simply so they can consume a piece of meat.

PS:It does require a great amount of patience to read through the whole of a seemingly uncomfortable topic. If you do not agree with the above, post your comments and if we do agree, it is clearly not enough. Do we have the will to execute what we agree? No amount of lip sympathy or theoretical agreement will help if we do not practice them. Even if not immediately, can we slowly reduce our consumption? We are totally free to act. More on the same soon....

Source: Washington Post

Do you speak हिन्दी? Your Brain Must be Active!

Below is a piece of an article that appeared in India Today. Enjoy!

Learning Hindi has an advantage over English-it exercises more areas of the brain compared to the Queen's language. In a first-of-its-kind study in the country, scientists have discovered that reading Hindi involves more areas of human brain than English.

Scientists at the Manesar-based National Brain Research Centre (NBRC) have for the first time studied the processing of an Indian script-Devanagari-in the human brain using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).

In contrast, Devanagari has the properties of both alphabetic and syllabic scripts. Scientists have found reading the language involves activation of the left and right hemisphere. The result of the study has recently appeared in journal Current Science. Researchers used the fMRI technique to record images of a working brain while reading Hindi. The study was conducted with individuals who primarily read Devanagari.

Source: India Today

Know More About Hindu Temples

"Sin or no sin depends on purpose, intention & circumstance"

Question:Is it not a sin to kill silkworms for silk cloth, or to kill deers for making deer skin meditation mats?

The answer is that it is a sin if we do it for trading purposes.Sin is not a substance associated with a particular activity. The same activity can result in either sin or no sin depending upon the purpose, intention and circumstance. For example, killing in general is a sin, but killing a demon or murderer is not a sin. Similarly if we kill animals to avoid being killed, it is not a sin. As said earlier, every creature in this world is here for doing "sadhana". In this world the priority is for those who are doing greater "sadhana". To accomplish that, if others have to sacrifice their "sadhana", there is no harm in that.

For example, assume that there are two students in a house. One is preparing for second grade and the other is preparing for a college medical exam. Though both are preparing for their exams, we consider that the medical exam is more important and give preference to him. If needed, we may ask the other student to sacrifice his preparation, because he will not lose much.

Similarly, in this world, the living entity who is doing a higher level of sadhana, gets preference. So for the benefit of the higher sadhana, others performing lesser sadhana may be sacrificed without any sin. If we are preparing silk for God's pooja, then it is not a sin. But if we are preparing silk for decorating ourselves, then it is a sin. So we need to understand what is the purpose of the action, and what is going to be achieved finally.

Source: indiadivine.org

"Nobel prize is not at all a yardstick"

Question:If non vegetarian food does not improve the mind, how do you explain so many Nobel laureates who are meat eaters?

Answer: Getting a noble prize is not at all a yardstick to measure the peace and purity, stability and concentration of someone's mind. It is known that the suicide rate is high in scientists as well. Actually scientists are more disturbed in their mind. Due to this, they get activated and get involved deeply in something and come out with some new concepts or ideas. For their success, the basic reason is not the peaceful mind, but their disturbed mind.

Generally brahmanas who are "supposed" to have the mental capacity to understand "brahman" (God), need to have a very good concentration power for performing "japa" (mantra chanting) and "tapa" (austerities). They are supposed to be people who are not mentally disturbed.

In olden days even if they consumed meat, they used to keep up their mental stability and peace of mind due to their yogic power or "tapas" (severe austerity). But now in the present age of kali-yuga, our mental powers and concentration powers are getting reduced. We are loosing our purity and peace of mind due to various reasons. As such, the sattvic atmosphere and sattvic qualities are reducing because we are not doing enough japa, tapa, etc.

So if we start consuming meat we will loose all our good mental qualities very quickly. In kaliyuga, meat is strictly prohibited for brahmanas. It is also sinful for all people, as mentioned in the previous answers.

Source: indiadivine.org

Vedic Perspective On The Environment

The World Environment Day theme this year exhorts people to help combat climate change for our collective survival. It is interesting to know that the ancient Vedas have several references in them on environmental protection, ecological balance, weather cycles, rainfall phenomena, hydrologic cycle, and related subjects that directly indicate the high level of awareness of the seers and people of that time.

Ancient treasures of vast knowledge reveal a full cognizance of the undesirable effects of environmental degradation, whether caused by natural factors or human activities. The protection of the environment was understood to be closely related to the protection of the dyaus or heavens and prithvi or earth. Between these two lies the atmosphere and the environment that we refer to as the paryavaran.

The Rig Veda venerates deities like Mitra, Varuna, Indra, Maruts and Aditya, that are responsible for maintaining the requisite balance. Seers recognised that changes caused due to indiscreet human activities could result in imbalances in seasons, rainfall patterns, crops and atmosphere and degrade the quality of water, air, and earth resources.

The Rig Veda makes a clear reference to the presence of a protective layer – which we know now to be the ozone layer – that filters the harmful rays of the sun and protects the earth and praises the radiation that enters the atmosphere that is responsible for the health of the environment. In a hymn of the Rig Veda the seer prays to the Ashvins for their indulgence for protection against any excessive solar flares that also affect earth’s temperature.

It is remarkable that the people in Vedic times regarded Nature and the environment in a holistic manner and revered each of its constituents and entities by carefully preserving them. “Do not harm the environment; do not harm the water and the flora; earth is my mother, I am her son; may the waters remain fresh, do not harm the waters… Tranquillity be to the atmosphere, to the earth, to the waters, to the crops and vegetation.” This Vedic prayer invokes divine intervention to bless and protect the environment.

Source:Times Of India

Aryan Invasion Theory Continues To Fail

The video below summarizes information gained from high-resolution satellite images and recent archeological discoveries corroborating historical statements in the Rig Veda and the Mahabharata and casting further doubt on the “Aryan invasion” theory.

The course of the ancient Saraswati River can now be seen to extend from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea. Major tectonic shifts in the earth’s crust diverted its main tributaries to other rivers, and the Saraswati dried up around 1900 BCE. The Rig Veda’s many references to the Saraswati prove the greater antiquity of that scripture. The many archaeological sites along the course of the river demonstrate a cultural continuity since ancient times and give no evidence of a foreign invasion. In other words, archeology does not support the “Aryan invasion” theory.

The video also gives nice quotes from some of the many Western scholars and philosophers who, despite the vilification of the missionary-minded early Indologists, recognized the majesty of the Vedas.

Dvaraka Giant Underwater City found in India

Radioactive Gas No Match For Agnihotra

The following is a news item in The Hindu dealing with how a family regularly performing Agnihotra remained unaffected during the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984.

Madhya Pradesh: The tragic incident occurred on the night of December 3, 1984 when the poisonous MIC gas leaked from Union Carbide factory at Bhopal. Hundreds of people died and thousands were hospitalized but there were two families – those of Shri Sohan Lal S Khushwaha and Shri M.L. Rathore, living about one mile away from the plant who came out unscathed. These families were regularly performing agnihotra (havan). In these families nobody died, nobody was even hospitalized despite being present in the area worst affected by the leakage of the toxic gas. This observation implies that agnihotra is a proven antidote to pollution.

Source: English Daily-“The Hindu’ of 4-5-85; news item under the heading ‘Vedic Way to Beat Pollution’.

Cognitive Development in Temple Going Children

The following is an abstract of a paper which deals with effect of going to temples on children. Really interesting

Temple Ecology and Cognitive Development: A Report from South India

R. Muralidharan
Department of Educational Psychology, National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi, India

Ashok K. Srivastava
Department of Psychology, National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi, India

The impact of growing up in the vicinity of Hindu temples on cognitive development was studied in the southern part of India. Enrolled in Grades 1 and 4, the participating children (N-281) were drawn from three kinds of ecology, i.e., families intimately associated with temple, families that are religious but not so intimately associated with temple, and families in non-temple areas, using a cross-sectional design. NCERT School Readiness Scale and Das-Naglieri Cognitive Assessment System were used to assess their cognitive development. Children associated with temples emerged to be more cognitively competent than other two groups of children on both points of schooling. Sex differences and their interaction with ecology were not significant for most of the measures. Results point to the role of temple institutions in shaping development of children byproviding rich and variegated ecology.

Ramayana most popular art in Islamic Bangladesh

In the green hinterland of Islamic Bangladesh, the Ramayana is the most popular performing art form, says a leading playwright of the country. The Indian epic exists in harmony with Sufism and a variety of indigenous folk arts. “At least eight versions of the Ramayana, mostly folklore-based performances, are enacted in the countryside of Bangladesh. It is one of the most popular epics in the country, surpassing even the Mahabharata in its ratings,” Saymon Zakaria told IANS.

In Agra to attend the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Festival of Literature, Zakaria is an Islamic scholar who has written extensively about the Ramayana and the performances associated with it. “Ramayana in villages of Bangladesh is interpreted as a social comment exploring the model relationship between the husband, wife and the members of the family. References to Ramayana can often be found in local folklores that describe filial conduct codes and in domestic conservations,” Zakaria said.

Sita’s “Agni Pariksha” (test by fire), for example, was usually interpreted as the tribulations of the average Bangladeshi woman, who was subjected to tests both at her father’s home, in-laws’ house and in the conservative Islamic social mosaics of the villages that still frowned upon gender equality and freedom, explained the playwright.

The theatrical performance of “Ram Mangal”, the rural folk art form of Kishorganj, flourishes throughout the “bhakti” belt of Mymensingh district. “Ram Mangal is an invocation of Lord Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, performed in the Bhakti (prayer songs) tradition,” Zakaria said. “Kushan Gaan”, the story of king Rama’s life, as narrated by his sons Luv and Kush, is enacted in villages of Korigram. “The script, full of music and dance, is a blend of the two versions of the epic written by seers Valmiki and Krittivas,” Zakaria explained.

Bangladesh also pays its tribute to Sita, the princess of Mithila and the queen of Ayodhya, through the “Chandravati Ramayan”, a 16th century version of the epic scripted by Bengal’s first known poetess, Chandravati. “Ram takes a back seat in this version of Ramayana and Sita is the leading light. Sita, in Chandravati Ramayan, is Ravana’s daughter who is cast off in childhood after an astrologer predicts that she will destroy her father,” Zakaria said.

For full article visit: www.sindhtoday.net

Shri Kannadasan's Arthamulla Hindu Madham

The following is the speech by Shri Kannadasan on "Arthamulla Hindu Madam" (Meaningful Hinduism). There are totally 14 videos. Here we showcase only one video, make sure that you listen to all the 14 videos.

Applying Meaning to Management With Ancient Hindu Mythology

Following is an excerpt from an article that appeared in The Washington Post about Managing business using concepts from Indian culture. In fact, there is a rise of Indian management techniques in the West (though not sure about "westernised" India). The Bhagavad Gita has replaced the Chinese "Art of War", said the Business Week few years ago in one of its articles. Will Indians rise to glory by picking a leaf out of their own valuable backyard?

NEW DELHI -- Fifteen young managers with a top Indian retail company met in their office basement recently to sip coffee and listen to a talk about their specialty: brand building. The speaker, renowned mythology expert Devdutt Pattanaik, is also the company's "chief belief officer."

The ancient Hindu tales that Pattanaik, 38, tells his corporate audiences are full of fallible kings, stoically suffering queens, demons enticing the gods into lawless jungles, gods with rivers sprouting from their dreadlocks, and goddesses riding elephants.

But the round-faced, bespectacled author, who graduated from medical school and has worked as a business strategist for the consulting firm Ernst & Young, says he is not like the wise old grandmother who sits under a banyan tree telling stories. Instead, he says, he is helping to create a set of management principles that are steeped in Indian culture. He calls it the "3-B" model: belief, behavior and business.

"Indians are led by emotions, unlike people in the West, who are driven by reason," said Kishore Biyani, chairman of the Future Group, who chose Pattanaik to head this program four months ago. "Not all the Western management models of standard operating procedure fit us. How do we create management practices that are grounded in our rich repository of stories and rituals?"

He writes a column titled Management Mythos for the Indian financial daily the Economic Times, examining corporate behavior in the light of mythic narratives. For example, he gives the name of the mythological character Narada to those who play office politics. The customer is Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. He likens layoffs to the slaughter of cows, which Hindus revere as symbolizing life.

A week ago, Biyani urged his employees to greet each other and customers with the Hindi greeting "Namaste," meaning "I bow to the god in you," instead of the usual "Good morning" or "Hello." "Saying 'Namaste' is not fake drama," Pattanaik told 60 store managers recently. "It is acknowledging the other person's potential to grow. Can you measure that on the Excel sheet?" ...................

For complete article visit
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/25/AR2009012502106.html

C.V. Raman and Sanskrit

The following news article appeared in the Hindu newspaper dated February 28, 1957.

The Sanskrit Commission, at its sittings in Bangalore, interviewed Dr. C.V. Raman, who expressed the view that the people were rooted in Sanskrit. It was truly the national language. It was wrong to say that it was dead; it was very much alive and "it embodies everything we call ours." He could not imagine a day, Dr. Raman said, when they could give up English. The sooner they recognised this fact, the better it was. After English, came Sanskrit, in which was embodied all the culture of the country. No Indian could fail to be stirred by Sanskrit, an essential element in the education of every Indian. Everyone should be made to read, write and speak in Sanskrit.

Source:
http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/28/stories/2007022800800902.htm

Siddha medicine from Siddhars

Source: http://www.indiadivine.org/

Why Temples?

The Significant Role of Temples and Religious InstitutionsBrochureReprint

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Religion & Spiritual hinduism Mandirs

Gurukula System Vs Modern Education

This is the notes taken from a talk given by Dr. Shri Ranganji on February 26, 2009 at Narada Gana Sabha in Chennai on the topic Gurukula Education Vs Modern Education - Shiksha Valli.

Gurukula Education System(GES) is the oldest education system in the world.
Concept of the (GES)
1) Unlike the Modern Education System (MES),the students of the GES were not dependent on the their parents for their education.
2)There is no fee structure(the general concept was that education should not be sold).
3)All students generally used to seek alms (give it to the guru, as well as for themselves).
4)In general the whole society was responsible for the education of students.
5)Essentially after education,the students bring Dakshina(donation),for running of the Gurukulam.

Courses offered at GES:
Ayurveda,Dharmasastra, Arthashastra, Vaisheshika, Dhanurveda, Nyaya, Shilpashastra, Tarkshastra and many more… All these shastras were taught at Gurukulas,but they weren’t compulsory and a student could specialize in any field of interest.

FACT PROFILE:
It is said that SRI KRISHNA mastered all the shastras in a span of just 63 days.
The only compulsory subject of study was “Vedas”, its practices included Sandhya Vandhanam, Samithadhanam, which play a pivotal role in one’s cognitive development and grasping power.

Nextly,a comparison of the scientific research conducted between the GES and MES.

It was conducted for about 49 students from each system of education,but the baseline was that both of them were initially part of the MES,then 49 shifted over to the GES.The 49 students comprising the GES were from Hariharapura(near Sringeri),and the MES comprised of Indian Matriculation School(Dharmapuri).These students were tested initially and after one year the students underwent a medical check-up,and healthy boys were taken.The parameters on which they were gauged were:

Levels of intelligence
Spatial and verbal memories
Plannability and many more

Students of both these systems were residential,they had their daily routines,and the same natural surroundings. Tedious measures were taken for matching each one of the students from either of the systems,the factors that had to match were age,family circumstances,family background and so on. A series of tests were conducted which were highly scientific and technical in their approach,a few to name were:

CM Bhatia’s Test of verbal and spatial memory, Six letter Cancellation test, Shallice tower of London and a few others.

Learning strategies adopted in GES and MES.

Students of GES practiced Yoga and the different Asanas, whereas the MES students resorted to physicals exercises as that in a Gym. Students of the GES chanted Mantras japas (mainly gayatri japa),whereas the MES chanted rhymes(like jack n jill).Students of GES performed their puja themselves,whereas MES students did their daily prayers. In the evenings GES students had their Bhajans,the MES students practised light music.The GES students played games like Kabbadi,the MES students played games like Cricket, Basketball,etc.

The inference of these as mentioned is highly technical, but in crux improvement was p<0.05, and highly significant improvement were seen in that of the students of the GES. Not that the students of the MES didn’t show improvement,they did,but it was not as significant as that of the GES.

ESSENTIALS OF GES:

Group Discussion
Interaction with the guru
Self learning
Pranayam
Mantra chanting and many more

It is also important to note that the Bible, Quran, Ramayan, Mahabharatham, Kalidasa’s works, Shakespeare’s works and many others were subjected to interpolation over a period of time, but the essential aspect of the Vedas due to the redundancy technique(Sandhe,Tiruve,Avruthi)applied never changed even after repeated chanting over eons.

Fact profile:

By the practice of yoga, pranayam, mantra chanting anxiety is reduced.
The performance of the Sandhya Vandhana,essentially involved the all forms of Yoga namely the Raja yoga,Karma yoga,Dhyana yoga and many more.
Firstly the US tried to patent Turmeric, then Cow Urine.
Now,Germany is trying to patent “Leech”, for anesthesia, this technique was anciently adopted in Ayurveda. (Related article, see post below)

Also a data revealed that village students were more creative than those in the city. The main reason cited was that the city students lacked originality, the main reason for that being their regular exposure to the mass media and TV, which have comparatively less influence on the village students.

Thereby the essence is that GES enhances Cognitive development.

The least thing that can be done could be the implementation of the GES techniques such as chanting of Prayers, Bhajans, practice of Pranayama, and a regular routine of taking students to temples.

Purpose of Education:

Study, discourse are the elements of the GES.They learn “Rytham”(truth in movement),”Sathyam”(truth in being).

Note: Thanks to T.Shankar Ram for coming up with the crux of the speech of Shri Rangan Ji.)

2000 year old Shiva temple unearthed ahead of Shivarathri

LUCKNOW: Believed to be among the oldest brick shrines in India, Lucknow University’s department of ancient Indian history and archaeology has unearthed a 2,000-year-old Shiva temple as part of its excavation project recently in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district.

‘‘It’s actually a complex comprising five temples,’’ Prof D P Tewari of the Lucknow University said. ‘‘While four temples belong to the Kushana period (1st-3rd century AD or 2,000 years ago), it appears that the primary temple was constructed during the Sunga period (2nd century BC to 1st century AD or 2,200 years ago).’’

The temple site is a mound in Sanchankot in Unnao. The excavations have been going on since 2004, when UGC cleared the project for funding. ‘‘A lot of things have come to fore since we began, but the temple complex has suddenly given impetus to our research,’’ said Prof Tewari.

Spread across an area of 600 acres, the temple is made of baked bricks. In India, most of the brick temples were built in the Gupta period which existed in the fourth century AD. The temple’s architecture is ‘apsidal’ (semi-circular or u-shaped) in nature.

The LU has many artifacts to conclude that Lord Shiva was worshipped in this temple. Prof Tewari said, ‘‘A terracotta seal bearing the legend of ‘Kaalanjar peeth’ in Brahmi script was found from the site in Dec 2008.’’

A shivling, trishul, nandi bull, and a river are inscribed over the seal. The legend of ‘Kaalanjar peeth’ is inscribed just below the river.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/2000-yr-old-Shiva-shrine-found-in-UP/articleshow/4172761.cms

Vedic Lecture Series in Chennai

Webolim cordially invites you to the Vedic Lecture series in Chennai. Lectures by Dr. Shri Ranganji from 25th February to March 1st. His lectures are based on Taittiriya Upanishad. The lectures are going to be in Naradha Gana Sabha - Mini Hall, TTK Road, Alwarpet, Chennai between 6.30 pm to 8 pm. The topics are given below.

Value Education - Shiksha Valli (25/02/2009)
Gurukula Education Vs. Modern Education - Shiksha Valli (26/02/2009)
What is Bhraman? - Ananda Valli (27/02/2009)
What is Happiness? - Ananda Valli (28/02/2009)
Freedom from Five Adjuncts. - Bhrigu Valli (01/03/2009)

Lectures are going to be in English.
Background on the speaker:

Shri R.Ranganji is the founder president of Webolim, an organization which spreads the values of Vedas and usage of Vedic values in every day life.. He is a master of Vedas, Vedic Sanskrit, Upanishads and epics. He has authored many books on the Vedas giving its meaning and its practicality for the present age. Ranganji conducts Vedic workshops in various places in India and abroad.

He is a Vedic scholar and learnt Vedanta in a traditional way. He composed seven thousand verses in Sanskrit even at the age of thirteen. He could memorize all the eight major Upanishads and most of the slokas of Ramayana by the age of sixteen. He translated Shankara bhashya of Bramhasutras at the age of eighteen. He established a big study circle of Ramayana the original text of Valmiki while he was an under graduate. He did his Masters in management studies. He did his PhD from sVYASA University.

He has written many research articles on Ramayana, Mahabharata, Vedas, Vedanta, Yoga and published six books on philosophy. He has done a Bhashya of Bhagavad-Gita synthesizing various bhashyas . Presently he is a consultant to Vivekananda Yoga Anusanthana Samasthana (Vivekananda Yoga University) in Bangalore.

I hope everyone can make use of this occasion and enrich their Vedic knowledge. Please pass on this information to those who would be interested.