Dwarka remains may soon be protected as
underwater world cultural heritage site - By Rajesh Kumar
New Delhi, July 13: Old shipwrecks -- like that of the Titanic -- which have been lying buried under the sea with their precious treasure along with the submerged city of Dwaraka off the Gujarat coast, for centuries, could soon vie for the status of an underwater world cultural heritage site.
New Delhi, July 13: Old shipwrecks -- like that of the Titanic -- which have been lying buried under the sea with their precious treasure along with the submerged city of Dwaraka off the Gujarat coast, for centuries, could soon vie for the status of an underwater world cultural heritage site.
Over 200 experts from
84 countries, who gathered under the aegis of UNESCO in Paris recently to examine a draft convention
on the issue, unanimously agreed that underwater cultural heritage was in
urgent need of protection from destruction and pillaging.
Currently, structures or properties lying
under water can not claim the status of cultural heritage. The absence of any
protective mechanism has left them open to pillaging and destruction by
treasure hunters and curious deep-sea divers. The experts agreed that the
definition of cultural heritage needed to be expanded in order to protect
underwater heritage as well. The submerged city of Dwarka is believed to be an important site having both historical and cultural value for India. Legend has it that the remains -- the wall of a city is clearly visible while the rest is yet to be discovered -- are in fact, that of the ancient city of Dwarka mentioned in stories of Lord Krishna.
The Gujarat government and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) are currently toying with the idea of creating a museum and an underwater viewing gallery once the structures have been protected. After that, Dwarka could also stake the claim for the coveted underwater world heritage status, UNESCO's South-East Asia office here said.
Experts agreed that salvaging operations did tend to be a free for all. Robert Grenier, director of the International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage of the International Council On Monuments and Sites, said that while salvage action gave people freedom to look for things, it disregarded the aspect of preserving cultural heritage.
Several British and French ships laden with precious treasure that had sunk on their way across the Atlantic ocean during their voyages in the 18th century have been plundered by the sea pirates for valuables. In fact, some of the ships that were believed to be of immense historical and cultural value for future generations have been completely stripped off all their components by pirates for their antique value. ``With rapid advancement in technology, deep-sea diving and gaining access to heavy articles buried with the shipwrecks has become easy and affordable for pirates. In the absence of any effective protection, these properties of immense historical and cultural value are being looted and vandalised,'' an expert from Canada said.
The wrecks at Louisberg Park in Nova Scotia off the Canadian coast are held up as a fine example of how the under water cultural treasures can also be protected with help of legislation and political will, much like other structures of the same importance. The French Ministry of culture too has come out with a comprehensive background material on the underwater cultural heritage that needs protection. The document also cites relevant laws under which they can be protected and how.
Representatives of the United Nations Division of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea, the International Maritime Organisation, the International Seabed Authority and the World Underwater Federation, along with UNESCO, participated in the meeting.
(source: http://www.indian-express.com/ie/daily/20000714/ina14051.html
Dwarika - The Eternal City - By Brinda Ramesh
Dwarka has always been the most important pilgrimage centre on the western coast of India. Situated in Saurashtra, at a point where the Gomti river meets and Arabian sea, it has acquired multifarious names down the ages: Dwarka- the gateway to eternal happiness; Dwaravati, Swarnapuri - the city of gold, and Swarnadwarika, the golden gateway. The last three names derive from the fact that Dwarka, being the western gateway of India through which trade entered the country, was always prosperous and wealthy.
Ancient economics apart, Dwarka was and still remains a place of tremendous religious importance to Hindus. Legend associates it with Lord Krishna, who spent his early childhood and youth in Mathura, but then he slew the mighty Kamsa. For this, he and his tribe of followers, the Yadavas, were attacked repeatedly by Kamsa’s father-in-law Jarasandh. Tired of these repeated wars, Krishna migrated with his entire clan of Yadavas to Dwarka which was a much safer place.
In Dwarka, Krishna is supposed to have built a mighty kingdom on a site selected for him by Vishnu’s learned ‘vahan’, Garud. The city he built is supposed to have extended over 104 kms. It was well fortified and surrounded by a moat, spanned by bridges, which were removed in the event of attack by an enemy. According to legend, the gods assisted Krishna in the construction of this magnificent city.
Archaeological excavations have unearthed artifacts that prove that modern Dwarka is the sixth settlement of the name on this site. The earlier cities have been, at various times, swallowed by the sea. The waves of the sea still lap the shores of this famous town, lending scenic beauty to this important pilgrimage destination.
The Dwarkadhish temple, dedicated to Lord Krishna, is the focal point of all pilgrimages. Parts of it date from the 12th-13th century and others from the 16th, but the Jag Mandir, its sanctum sanctorum, is supposed to be 2,500 years old. The hall in front is richly carved and supported by 60 massive pillars, each one hewn out of a single stone slab. Many of the sculptures date from the Maurya, Gupta and Chalukya periods. Some of the subjects are of Jaina and Buddhist origin. The temple is 157 feet high.
Another important pilgrimage site in the ancient city of Dwarka is Gomti ghat. The myth attached to the original temple says that it was built overnight at the instructions of Vajranabh, the great-grandson of Sri Krishna, by the divine craftsman Vishvakarma. Archaeologists are undecided about the date of construction of the temple that exists now, but it is generally believed that it was rebuilt in the 10th or 11th century A.D after the original temple was destroyed, probably during the Muslim invasions.
Most of the temples and pilgrimage spots around Dwarka are associated with Sri Krihsna and the Vaishnavite tradition. However, the temple of Somnath, which is not very far from this place, is dedicated to Siva as Nagnath or Nageshwar Mahadev, and enshrines one of the twelve ‘Jyotirlingas’ which according to the Puranas manifested themselves as columns of light in different parts of the country. The magnificent temple that stands there now is a replica of the original temple.
The 13th century Arab source refers to the glories of the temple thus: "Somnath - a celebrated city of India situated on the shore of the sea is washed by its waves. Among the wonders of that place was the temple in which was placed the idol called Somnat. This idol was in the middle of the temple, without anything to support it from below or to suspend it from above. It was held in the highest honour among the Hindus, and whoever beheld it floating in the air was struck with amazement..."
Dwarka also has the distinction of being one of the four seats or matts established by the Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th - 9th century A.D, The other three are Jyotirmath, Jagannath Puri and Sringeri. The matt in Dwarka, known as Sharda Peeth, carries out extensive research work in Sanskrit and is home to many renowned scholars.
This then is Dwarka, centre of religion, mythology, history and scholasticism, its shores everlastingly cleansed by the eternal seas.
(source: http://www.tourindia.com/htm/homepage.htm May 2001). (Artwork courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc. www.krishna.com).
Dwarka site pre-dates
civilization
An archaeological site, dating back to 7500 BC and older than hitherto oldest known human civilisations including those found in the Valley of Sumer, Harappa and Egypt, was discovered by a team of Indian marine archaeologists in the Gulf of Cambay off Gujarat coast.
"For India, it was the first time that such an important discovery was reported from near Dwaraka site, the off-shore region where underwater archeological exploration was in progress," Union Minister for Science and Technology Murli Manohar Joshi said at a crowded Press conference here on Wednesday.
An archaeological site, dating back to 7500 BC and older than hitherto oldest known human civilisations including those found in the Valley of Sumer, Harappa and Egypt, was discovered by a team of Indian marine archaeologists in the Gulf of Cambay off Gujarat coast.
"For India, it was the first time that such an important discovery was reported from near Dwaraka site, the off-shore region where underwater archeological exploration was in progress," Union Minister for Science and Technology Murli Manohar Joshi said at a crowded Press conference here on Wednesday.
The early civilisations known to mankind hitherto were in
the Valley of Sumer around 3,500 BC, Egyptian Civilisation (3,000 BC) and
Harappan (2,500 BC), explained Dr Joshi, adding that all the findings have been
alongside a palaeolithic age river course traced upto nine km south of the
Saurashtra coastline.
The antiquity of some of the artefacts, discovered by the
National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) which carried out a series of
surveys in the area, from the site such as the wood log reflects a very ancient
culture in the present Gulf of Cambay, which may have got submerged
subsequently, Dr Joshi said.
Carbondating on the log, carried out by the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany (BSIP) and the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), suggested that it could belong to 7,500 BC and these settlements were probably the oldest neolithic sites discovered in the country, he said.
He said a multi-disciplinary team comprising of NIOT, National Institute of Oceanography, Archeological Survey of India, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, BSIP, NGRI and specialists from universities were constituted to conduct further studies. The team would be provided with most modern equipment and infrastructure to carry out the studies, he said.
"Further investigation of this area was important as it might throw some light on the development of human civilisation, besides having a bearing on the Indian history," said Dr Joshi.
The recovery of remnants of wood logs by the NIOT was an indication of existence of a very ancient culture in the area which got subsequently submerged. The surveys had also revealed significant seismic activities and more studies were needed, Dr Joshi said.
Following the last year's discovery of indications of possible settlements, the NIOT scientists undertook a confirmatory survey in November using advanced marine underwater survey technologies with side scan sonar and sub-bottom profiler.
The materials collected at the site included artefacts, possible construction elements with holes and studs, pot shreds, beads, bones with significant signs of human activity in the area.
A detailed examination had revealed riverine conglomerates at a water depth of 30 to 40 m between 20 km west of Hazira near Surat.
Prof S N Rajguru, former Head of Department of Archaeology, Deccan College, Pune, who was also present, said the discovery could have been a coastline settlement when the sea level was low.
The Flooding of
Dwaraka and the descent of the Kali Yuga - By Graham
Hancock Carbondating on the log, carried out by the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany (BSIP) and the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), suggested that it could belong to 7,500 BC and these settlements were probably the oldest neolithic sites discovered in the country, he said.
He said a multi-disciplinary team comprising of NIOT, National Institute of Oceanography, Archeological Survey of India, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, BSIP, NGRI and specialists from universities were constituted to conduct further studies. The team would be provided with most modern equipment and infrastructure to carry out the studies, he said.
"Further investigation of this area was important as it might throw some light on the development of human civilisation, besides having a bearing on the Indian history," said Dr Joshi.
The recovery of remnants of wood logs by the NIOT was an indication of existence of a very ancient culture in the area which got subsequently submerged. The surveys had also revealed significant seismic activities and more studies were needed, Dr Joshi said.
Following the last year's discovery of indications of possible settlements, the NIOT scientists undertook a confirmatory survey in November using advanced marine underwater survey technologies with side scan sonar and sub-bottom profiler.
The materials collected at the site included artefacts, possible construction elements with holes and studs, pot shreds, beads, bones with significant signs of human activity in the area.
A detailed examination had revealed riverine conglomerates at a water depth of 30 to 40 m between 20 km west of Hazira near Surat.
Prof S N Rajguru, former Head of Department of Archaeology, Deccan College, Pune, who was also present, said the discovery could have been a coastline settlement when the sea level was low.
“On the same day that Krishna departed from the earth the powerful
dark-bodied Kali Age descended. The oceans rose and submerged the whole of
Dwaraka. “
-
Vishnu Purana - volume 2, p. 785. Nag Publishers New Delhi 1989.
Indian thought has traditionally regarded history and
prehistory in cyclical rather than linear terms. In the West time is an arrow –
we are born, we live, we die. But in India we die only to be reborn. Indeed, it
is a deeply rooted idea in Indian spiritual traditions that the earth itself
and all living creatures upon it are locked into an immense cosmic cycle of
birth, growth, fruition, death, rebirth and renewal. Even temples are reborn
after they grow old to be used safely – through the simple expedient of
reconstruction on the same site.
India conceives of four great epochs or ‘world ages’ of
varying but enormous lengths: The Krita Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dvarpara Yuga
and the Kali Yuga. At the end of each yuga a cataclysm, known as pralaya,
engulfs the globe in fire or flood. Then from the ruins of the former age, like
the Phoenix emerging from the ashes, the new age begins.
The story of Dwaraka
is tightly intertwined with this scheme of things. Reported in the ancient
Indian epic of the Mahabharata and in later sacred texts such as the Bhagvata
Purana and the Vishnu Purana, it straddles two of the great world ages.
Towards the end of the
most recent Dvarpara Yuga, the texts tells us, Dwaraka was a fabulous city
founded on the north-west coast of India. Established and ruled over by
Krishna, it was built on the site of an even earlier sacred city, Kususthali,
on land that had been reclaimed from the sea: Krishna solicited a space of
twelve furlongs from the ocean, and there he built the city of Dwaraka,
defended by high ramparts. The gardens and the amenities of the city are
praised, and we understand that it was a place of ritual and splendor.
Years later, however, as the Dvarpara Yuga comes to an
end, Krishna is killed. The Vishnu
Purana reports: “On the same day that Krishna departed from the earth
the powerful dark-embodied Kali Age descended. The ocean rose and submerged the
whole of Dwaraka.
In Book X of the Bhagvata
Purana we read how Krishna used ‘his supernatural yogic powers’, in a
crisis of battle, to transfer all his people to Dwaraka where he could protect
them from the enemy in ‘a fortress inaccessible to human beings.’
“the lord caused a
fortress constructed in the western sea. In the fortress he got built a city
twelve yoganas (96 miles) in area and wonderful in every respect. The
building of the city exhibited the expertise in architecture and the skill in
masonry of Tvastr, the architect of the gods. The roads, quadrangles, streets
and residential areas were constructed in conformity to the prescribed tenets
of science of architecture pertaining to city building. In the city,
gardens planted with celestial trees and creepers and wonderful parks were laid
out. It was built with sky-scraping, gold-towered buildings and balconies of
crystals. It had barns built of silver and brass which were adorned with gold
pitchers. The houses therein were of gold and big emeralds.”
(source: Underground: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization – By
Graham Hancock p. 108 - 128)
Internationally renowned marine archaeologist Dr S R Rao
today called for preservation of underwater cultural heritage, particularly the
Dwarka city, believed to have been built by Lord Krishna in Gujarat.
Speaking at the 7th national conference on
marine archaeology of Indian ocean countries at the National Institute of
Oceanography (NIO), Dr Rao regretted that many of the archaeological remains
excavated were not preserved for posterity by the agency conducting the
excavation. He pointed to the neglect of the excavated Harappan site of Kalibangan. The Lothal site was, however, preserved and a museum built for it, he added.
Most of the important underwater sites of Dwarka excavated by the NIO's Marine Archaeology Centre (MAC) with funds from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Science and Technology and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) should have been preserved by a competent agency, he said.
With neither the CSIR nor the ASI having expertise to undertake conservation of a submerged city, the octogenarian archaeologist said he had prepared a project report in consultation with a number of organisations and individuals including the Indian Navy, research foundations and underwater construction engineers.
On the controversy regarding date of submerged site of Dwarka near the Gomti river mouth in Arabian Sea, Dr Rao said the archaeologists could not arrive at the date in isolation, but relied on relative chronology such as pottery and the sea-level rise.
''We are of the view that Dwarka was submerged by tsunami-like high energy waves, pulling down heavy blocks of stone used in the construction of the structures. This must have also resulted in changing the course of the paleo channel of Gomti, as recorded by NIO maritime archaeologist K H Vora during recent studies,'' he said.
The reference to such a catastrophe was made in the Mahabharata and other epics which said Dwarka, built on mainland by Lord Krishna, was contemporary to Bet Dwarka (Kusasthali) that could be dated to 17th century BC, and this was later confirmed by scientists, he said.
Dr Rao said the three-holed triangular stone anchors found in large numbers in Dwarka waters suggested a continuity in evolution of the anchors in Lothal and Mohenjo-Daro, which had a single hole.
The Dwarka anchors of late Harappan phase are a couple of centuries older than the identical anchors of late Bronze Age used in Cyprus and Syria, he added. The two-day conference is being held under the aegis of the Society of Marine Archaeology at NIO.
(source: Preserve underwater cultural heritage of Dwarka, says expert and Hinduism Today).
How marine archaeologists found Dwaraka – By V Gangadharan
The submergence into the sea of the city of Dwaraka, vividly picturised in the great epic of Mahabaratha, is indeed true! A chance discovery made by a team of scientists, in the Gulf of Cambay region, establishes that the Mahabaratha story is not a myth. The rich city with fertile landscape and great rivers had indeed submerged into the seas several thousand years ago.
But before we get to the present, a bit of history is quite in order.
There is a vivid description in the Mausalaparvan of the Mahabaratha about the submergence of Dwaraka. The people of Dwaraka including Arjuna seemed to have witnessed strange things before its submergence in the sea. 'The event was preceded by the unabated rumbling noise of the earth throughout the day and night, birds screamed continuously, and heavy winds swept the land. The sea, which has been beating against the shores, suddenly broke the boundary that was imposed on it by nature. Huge tide with great height surrounded Dwaraka. The sea rushed into the city submerging beautiful buildings. The sea covered up everything and in a matter of few moments, there was no trace of the beautiful city.' It was something of an ancient tsunami.
And now the scientists at NIOT (National Institute of Ocean Technology, of the Department of Ocean Development) have established this. While working for British gas in the Gulf of Cambay region, a few years ago, the scientists of the NIOT, were stunned to see images of objects and things, completely alien to the marine domain. Immediately a team swung into action and samples were collected and sent for analysis and dating (it is usually done to scientifically establish the antiquity of the excavated objects).
Samples collected include artefacts, wood pieces, pottery materials, hearth pieces, animal bones. They ere sent to Manipur University, Oxford University, London, Institute of Earth Sciences, Hanover, Germany for analysis and dating. The results were astonishing. It was found beyond doubt that the samples belonged to a period varying from 7800 to 3000 years (BP) Before Present !
The even more flooring discovery happened soon. NIOT, which carried outside scan and sub-bottom surveys in the year 2002-03, established beyond doubt the presence of two large palaeochannels (river channels which existed once and later submerged under the sea) in the Gulf of Cambay. Alluvium samples were collected from different locations in the areas of the palaeochannels by the gravity core and grab method.
Badrinarayanan, Marine Archaeologist and formerly coordinator for the project, says 'the most astonishing thing was that all of the crew-members, including the ship master who was a catholic, had dreams full of strange visions, on the night of discovery. We felt we had stumbled upon something great and unusual.'
The study of the samples under microscope revealed the occurrence of fragile and highly sensitive Ostracods (tiny marine and fresh water crustaceans with a shrimp-like body enclosed in a bivalve shell) overlain by regular marine fauna.
These results strongly indicated that the freshwater deposition which took place in this area was very much a part of the onshore land region and later submerged to the depths varying from 20 to 40 meters. The alluvium (fresh water sand) samples sent to the Earth Science Department, Manipur University for OSL (optically stimulated luminescence) dating gave the OSL determinant of 3000 years (BP) Before Present !
Prof. Gartia (The Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology, No.2 of 2005, Pg.144) after conducting extensive investigations concluded that Gujarat region had experienced at least three large killer earthquakes about 1500, 3000 and 5000 years BP respectively. Geomorphological evidences also show beyond doubt that the North-Western part of the Indian landmass was seismically active during the last 10,000 years. These killer quakes are likely to have caused the shifting of the rivers and sea level fluctuation including the sinking of the legendary city of Dwaraka, capital of the Lord-King Krishna. The discovery about the availability of fresh water from the now submerged major rivers along with other marine-archaeological evidences, corroborates the Mahabaratha reference that Dwaraka, the ancient city of Sri Krishna, lies under the great ocean !
(source: How marine archaeologists found Dwaraka – By V Gangadharan - newstodaynet.com).
Significant finds at Dwaraka
Introduction: Ancient structures, under water and on land, discoveredAncient structural remains of some significance have been discovered at Dwaraka, under water and on land, by the Underwater Archaeology Wing (UAW) of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Alok Tripathi, Superintending Archaeologist, UAW, said the ancient underwater structures found in the Arabian Sea were yet to be identified. "We have to find out what they are. They are fragments. I would not like to call them a wall or a temple. They are part of some structure," said Dr. Tripathi, himself a trained diver.
Thirty copper coins were also found in the excavation area. The structures found on land belonged to the medieval period. "We have also found 30 copper coins. We are cleaning them. After we finish cleaning them, we can give their date," he said.
Dwaraka is a coastal town in Jamnagar district of Gujarat. Traditionally, modern Dwaraka is identified with Dvaraka or Dvaravati, mentioned in the Mahabharata as Krishna 's city. Dwaraka was a port, and some scholars have identified it with the island of Barka mentioned in the Periplus of Erythrean Sea. Ancient Dwaraka sank in sea and hence is an important archaeological site.
The first archaeological excavations at Dwaraka were done by the Deccan College , Pune and the Department of Archaeology, Government of Gujarat, in 1963 under the direction of H.D. Sankalia. It revealed artefacts many centuries old.
The ASI conducted a second round of excavations in 1979 under S.R. Rao's direction. He found a distinct pottery known as lustrous red ware, which could be more than 3,000 years old. Based on the results of these excavations, the search for the sunken city in the Arabian Sea began in 1981. Scientists and archaeologists have continually worked on the site for 20 years.
The UAW began excavations at Dwaraka again from January 2007. Dr. Tripathi said: "To study the antiquity of the site in a holistic manner, excavations are being conducted simultaneously both on land [close to the Dwarakadhish temple] and undersea so that finds from both the places can be co-related and analysed scientifically."
The objective of the excavation is to know the antiquity of the site, based on material evidence. In the offshore excavation, the ASI's trained underwater archaeologists and the divers of the Navy searched the sunken structural remains. The finds were studied and documented.
On land, the excavation is being done in the forecourt of the Dwarakadhish temple. Students from Gwalior , Lucknow , Pune, Vadodara, Varanasi and Bikaner are helping ASI archaeologists. In the forecourt, old structures including a circular one have been found. A small cache of 30 copper coins was discovered.
(source: Significant finds at Dwaraka - By T.S. Subramanian - The Hindu February 23, 2007).
Rajkot , May 4: Archaeologists are excited about a circular wooden structure found underwater at a near-shore excavation site off the coast of Jamnagar . Thought to be the remains of the lost city of ancient Dwarka, the wooden structure is well preserved and surrounded by another structure made of stone blocks.
“It is significant as scientific dating of wood, which is carbon, is possible. This was not the case with evidences like stone, beads, glass and terracota found earlier,” said Alok Tripathi, Superintending Archeologist, Underwater Archeology Wing of Archaeological Survey of India.
The dating of submerged ruins off the coast of Dwarka has been matter of debate for since long. Archaeologists and historians have been at loggerhead about the period when these structures were built and have claimed various dates about the origin and decay of one of the most scared places in India . Answers to questions like when did Lord Krishna set up his kingdom in Dwarka? When did the “ Golden City ” submerge in the sea? — were based on the interpretations of these scholars and no material evidence had so far been found so that these structures could be scientifically dated.
“Though excavation at Dwarka has been carried out a number of times, this is for the first time a wooden block has been found, and this is going to help us almost pin-point a time frame and give some credible answers,” said Tripathi.
This piece was found during a near-shore excavation carried out in the southwest region of Samudranarayan Temple . The structure is made of stone and wood. The underwater archaeologist carried out diving in shallow water and studied the technique of joining these blocks in detail. The blocks were joined so well with the help of wooden dowels and nails that they remained in situ (in position) despite heavy surfs and strong current for a long period.
“The collected samples will be sent to different laboratories. We expect the results to come as soon as possible,” said Tripathi.
According to ancient literature the ancient Dwarka city had submerged in the sea. The Underwater Archaeology Wing (UAW) of the Archaeological Survey of India undertook systematic study of Dwarka about two years back. After a thorough analysis of earlier research and extensive fieldwork, UAW started archaeological excavation at Dwarka from January 1, 2007 to know the antiquity of the site based on scientific study of the material evidence.
(source: Wooden piece at Dwarka site to tell all... date, time - expressindia.com).
New finds take archaeologists closer to Krishna
The conch and the Sudarshana Chakra are unmistakable. Although the figures do not match popular images of Kirshna sporting a peacock feather, archaeologists are convinced that the coins are of Krishna, revered as an avatar of Vishnu."These square coins, dating back to 180- BC, with Krishna on one side and Balram on the other, were unearthed recently in Al Khanoun in Afghanistan and are the earliest proof that Krishna was venerated as a god, and that the worship had spread beyond the Mathura region," says T K V Rajan, archaeologist and founder-director, Indian Science Monitor, who is holding a five-day exhibition, In search of Lord Krishna,' in the city from Saturday.
Having done extensive research in Brindavan, Rajan is convinced that a lot of the spiritual history of ancient India lies buried. "Close to 10,000 Greeks, who came in the wake of Alexander the Great, were Krishna's devotees. There is an inscription by Heliodorus, the Greek ambassador at Takshila, which reads Deva, deva, Vasudeva. Krishna is my god and I have installed this Garuda Pillar at Bes Nagar (now in Bihar),'" says Rajan.
According to him the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed many sites that throw fresh light on the era of Krishna. "ASI is expected to release the full findings next year. Many of the unearthed artifact have a close resemblance to materials of what is believed to be the Harappan civilisation. The findings may show that Krishna's life was the dividing line between India's spiritual history and the society's gradual shift towards a materialistic one," says Rajan.
Interestingly, a lot of what has been uncovered closely resemble the narration in the texts of Mahabharatha and the Bhagavatham," he adds. Both the spiritual works are revered by the Hindus as their holy books.
It has been over five years since the discoveries were made at Tholavira near Dwaraka, close to Kutch. Much progress has been made due to the application of thermoluminous study (TL) in ascertaining the age of artifact. "It is possible to get the diffusion of atomic particles in the clay pottery unearthed and arrive at an accurate date," points out Rajan. Tholavira itself is believed to be the capital city as detailed in the opening chapters of Bhagavatham. Rajan points to an image of a plough, made of wood, which is mentioned in the Bhagavatham. The findings could lay a trail to understanding Krishna's life (said to be 5,000 years ago) and times, as a historical fact, says Rajan. The exhibition will be open till December 31 at Sri Parvathy Gallery, Eldams Road.
(source: New finds take archaeologists closer to Krishna - By Bhama
Devi Ravi - timesofindia).
'Lord Krishna existed. School texts are wrong'
Did Krishna exist?Most certainly, says Dr Manish Pandit, a nuclear medicine physician who teaches in the United Kingdom , proffering astronomical, archaeological, linguistic and oral evidences to make his case.
"I used to think of Krishna is a part of Hindu myth and mythology. Imagine my surprise when I came across Dr Narhari Achar (a professor of physics at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, in the US ) and his research in 2004 and 2005. He had done the dating of the Mahabharata war using astronomy. I immediately tried to corroborate all his research using the regular Planetarium software and I came to the same conclusions [as him]," Pandit says.
Which meant, he says, that what is taught in schools about Indian history is not correct?
The Great War between the Pandavas and the Kauravas took place in 3067 BC, the Pune-born Pandit, who did his MBBS from BJ Medical College there, says in his first documentary, Krishna : History or Myth?.
Pandit's calculations say Krishna was born in 3112 BC, so must have been 54-55 years old at the time of the battle of Kurukshetra.
Pandit, as the sutradhar of the documentary Krishna: History or Myth?, uses four pillars -- archaeology, linguistics, what he calls the living tradition of India and astronomy to arrive at the circumstantial verdict that Krishna was indeed a living being, because Mahabharata and the battle of Kurukshetra indeed happened, and since Krishna was the pivot of the Armageddon, it is all true.
We are always taught that Krishna is a part of Hindu myth and mythology. And this is exactly what I thought as well. But imagine my surprise when I came across Dr Narhari Achar (of the Department of Physics at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, in the US ) and his research somewhere in 2004 and 2005. He had done the dating of the Mahabharata war using astronomy.
I immediately tried to corroborate all his research using the regular Planetarium software and I came to the same conclusions. This meant that what we are taught in schools about Indian history is not correct. I also started wondering about why this should be so. I think that a mixture of the post-colonial need to conform to western ideas of Indian civilisation and an inability to stand up firmly to bizarre western ideas are to blame. Also, any attempt at a more impartial look at Indian history is given a saffron hue.
I decided that I could take this nonsense no more, and decided to make films to show educated Indians what their true heritage was. The pen is mightier than the sword is an old phrase but I thought of new one: Film is the new pen. I wanted to present a true idea of Indian history unfettered by perception, which was truly scientific, not just somebody's hypothesis coloured by their perceptions and prejudices.
A documentary on Rama is forthcoming in the future. But the immediate reason I deferred that project is the immense cost it would entail. Whereas research on Krishna and Mahabharata was present and ready to go. Further more, Rama according to Indian thought, existed in the long hoary ancient past of Treta Yuga, where science finds it difficult to go.
There are more than 140 astronomy references in the Mahabharata. Dr Achar used simulations of the night sky to arrive at November 22, 3067 BC, as the day the Mahabharata war began. He used the references common to Udyoga and Bhisma Parvan initially, and so Saturn at Rohini, Mars at Jyestha with initially only the two eclipses, Lunar at Kartika and Solar at Jyestha.
So now, we know about Balarama's pilgrimage tithis and nakshatras, and believe it or not, all that fits the 3067 BC date perfectly. And to top it all, so does the repetition of the three eclipses described at the destruction of Dwarka 36 years later.
This would explain why so many other researchers tried and failed to find the date of the Mahabharata war as it is based on such a unique set of astronomy that it occurred only once in the last 10,000 years. Not just that, but the fact that archaeology, oral and living traditions point to the same. And yes, we cannot separate the Mahabharata war from Krishna . If one is shown to have happened, then the other must be true as well.
The Hindu religious empire extended across the whole of the Asian sub-continent to South East Asia, from Afghanistan to Thailand (where Ramayana and Krishna are still shown through dances), Burma, Cambodia (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, etc), Vietnam, Laos (little Kurukshetra and temples), Malaysia (which was Hindu until recent) up to Java (more temples), Bali (where Hinduism is still the religion) and Indonesia, where Bhima's grandson is said to have performed a thousand fire rituals at Yogyakarta. Afghanistan was of course home to both the Yadu race and Shakuni ( Kandahar or Gandhar). It is believed that due to damage and destruction by the sea, Dwaraka has submerged six times and the modern-day Dwarka is the 7th such city to be built in the area. Scientifically speaking, we see that 36 years after the war there were the same repetitions of an eclipse triad as we have shown in the documentary.
(source: Lord Krishna existed. School texts are wrong - rediff.com).
The sea, which had been beating against the shores, suddenly broke the boundary that was imposed on it by nature. The sea rushed into the city. It coursed through the streets of the beautiful city. The sea covered up everything in the city. Arjuna saw the beautiful buildings becoming submerged one by one. He took a last look at the mansion of Krishna. In a matter of a few moments it was all over. The sea had now become as placid as a lake. There was no trace of the beautiful city, which had been the favourite haunt of all the Pandavas. Dwarka was just a name; just a memory." – Mausala Parva, Mahabharata.
Does this account from the ancient Indian epic have a true historical core? Did Lord Krishna, indeed the favourite Indian deity, walk the streets of ancient Dwarka? Did Krishna, considered the Lord of the universe by a billion Hindus, rule the Yaduvanshi clan thousands of years ago?
Using archaeological, scriptural, literary and astronomical data, scholars and scientists are coming round to the view that Krishna was definitely a historical character.
Archaeological evidence
The Rosetta stone, or the key, to the Krishna story is Dwarka. The strongest archaeological support comes from the structures discovered in the late 1980s under the seabed off the coast of modern Dwarka in Gujarat by a team of archaeologists and divers led by Dr S.R. Rao, one of India's most respected archaeologists. An emeritus scientist at the marine archaeology unit of the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, Rao has excavated a large number of Harappan sites, including the port city of Lothal in Gujarat.
In his book The Lost City of Dwarka, published in 1999, he writes about his undersea finds: “The discovery is an important landmark in the history of India. It has set to rest the doubts expressed by historians about the historicity of Mahabharata and the very existence of Dwarka city.”
Conducting 12 expeditions during 1983-1990, Rao identified two underwater settlements, one near the present-day Dwarka and the other in the nearby island of Bet Dwarka. This tallies with the two Dwarkas mentioned in the epic. The underwater expeditions won Rao the first World Ship Trust Award for Individual Achievement.
Another important find by our divers was a seal that establishes the submerged township's connection with the Dwarka of the Mahabharata. The seal corroborates the reference made in the ancient text, the Harivamsa, that every citizen of Dwarka should carry such a seal for identification purposes. Krishna had ruled that none without the seal should enter it. A similar seal has been found onshore as well.
Literary evidence
The west coast of Gujarat was the traditional land of the Yadavs, or Yadus. According to the Bhagavad Puran, Krishna led the Yadavs thousands of kilometres west to establish Dwarka, so they could start a new life, safe from their many enemies in the Gangetic Valley.
The Mahabharata says, Dwarka was reclaimed from the sea. Rao’s divers discovered that the submerged city's walls were erected on a foundation of boulders, suggesting that land indeed was reclaimed from the sea.
One cannot separate Dwarka from Krishna. If the city existed, then it is true that Krishna ruled over it.
Astronomical evidence
Dr Narhari Achar, professor of physics at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, has dated the Mahabharata war using astronomy and regular planetarium software. According to his research conducted in 2004-05, the titanic clash between the Pandavas and the Kauravas took place in 3067 BC. Using the same software, Dr Achar places the year of Krishna’s birth at 3112 BC.
Dr Manish Pandit, a nuclear medicine physician in the UK, after examining the astronomical, archaeological and linguistic evidence, agrees with Dr Achar’s conclusions. Dr Pandit, who is also a distinguished astrologer and has written several books on the subject, traced the route of Krishna’s journeys to shoot the documentary, “Krishna: History or Myth?”
Dr Pandit says there are more than 140 astronomy references in the Mahabharata. Simulations of the night sky have been combined with geographical descriptions to arrive at various dates. He says the chances of these references repeating are next to nothing.
According to historian S.M. Ali, the author of Geography of Puranas, “The geographical matter contained in the Mahabharata is immense. It is perhaps the only great work which deals with geographic details and not incidentally, as other works.”
Whose history?
Of course, none of the evidence is good enough for the ossified historians that lord over India’s academia, regurgitating the lies written by British colonial scholars, who were in reality Christian missionaries.
For the missionaries, destroying the historicity of Krishna was important if they had any chance of establishing their religion in India. Also, many European scholars were shocked to learn that Indian history pre-dated their world by thousands of years. By labelling as myth the Indian historical sources like the Vedas, Mahabharata, Upanishads, and especially the Puranas, which give exact chronologies of Indian kings including Krishna, the missionaries ensured that Indian history did not clash with their world view.
That tradition continues. Disregarding all new research, academics like Romilla Thapar, R.S. Sharma and Irfan Habib have consigned Krishna to mythology.
In his textbook for Class X, Sharma writes, “Although Lord Krishna plays an important role in the Mahabharata, the earliest inscriptions and sculpture pieces found in Mathura between 200 BC and 300 AD do not attest his presence.” What brilliant deduction. Going by Sharma’s logic, any fool can dig at a random site, and upon failing to discover an artefact, declare Krishna never existed. Sadly, millions of Indian school children are being taught such lies.
Thapar, in fact, says the Mahabharata is a glorified account of a skirmish between two “Aryan” tribes, with Krishna merely playing the role of an agent provocateur.
And what do they do when confronted with the new evidence? They withdraw into their parallel dystopian world and argue it is not clinching evidence. But, of course, they will accept as truth the myths of other religions.
Dr Rao says further digging and diving, in tandem with India’s vast treasure trove of historical facts will further corroborate key dates of our eventful and glorious past.
As the Upanishads say, pratnakirtim apavirnu – know thy past.
(source: How science discovered the historical Krishna - By Rakesh Krishnan Simha - indianweekender.co.nz).
for further referring t Links and Books:
National Institute of Oceanography http://www.nio.org/
The Lost City of Dvaraka - By S.R. Rao
(S.R. Rao served the Archaeological Survey of India for over 32 years. He is the discoverer of a large number of Harappan sites including the port city of Lothal in Gujarat)
Excavations At Dwaarka - By Zainuddin Dawood Ansari and Madhukar Shripad Mate.
Watch Scientific verification of Vedic knowledge
Did You Know?
Masters of the Sea
Despite recent concerns about possibly losing caste from crossing the sea, history reveals India was the foremost maritime nation 2,000 years ago (meanwhile Europeans were still figuring out the Mediterranean Sea).
India's maritime history predates the birth of western civilization. The world's first tidal dock is believed to have been built at Lothal around 2300 BC during the Harappan civilization, near the present day Mangrol harbour on the Gujarat coast.
It had colonies in Cambodia, Java, Bali, Philippines, Sumatra, Japan, China, Arabia, Egypt and more. Through Persians and Arabs, India traded with the Roman Empire. The Sanskrit text, Yukti Kalpa Taru, explains how to build ships, such as the one depicted in the ajanta caves. It gives minute details about ship types, sizes and materials, including suitability of different types of wood. The treatise also elaborately explains how to decorate and furnish ships so they're comfortable for passengers.
In ancient times the Indians excelled in shipbuilding and even the English, who were attentive to everything which related to naval architecture, found early Indian models worth copying. The Indian vessels united elegance and utility, and were models of fine workmanship.
Sir John Malcolm (1769 - 1833) was a Scottish soldier, statesman, and historian entered the service of the East India Company wrote about Indian vessels that they:
"Indian vessels "are so admirably adapted to the purpose for which they are required that, not withstanding their superior science, Europeans were unable, during an intercourse with India for two centuries, to suggest or at least to bring into successful practice one improvement. "
(source: Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. I and India and World Civilization - By D P Singhal part II p. 76 - 77).
Greater India
Only Since World War II has the term Southeast Asia been used to describe the area to the east of India and to the south of China, which includes the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines, roughly forming a circle from Burma through Indonesia to Vietnam. Before the term Southeast Asia became common usage, the region was often described as Further or Greater India, and it was common to describe the Indonesian region or Malay Archipelago as the East Indies. The reason may be found in the fact that, prior to Western dominance, Southeast Asia was closely allied to India culturally and commercially. The history of Indian expansion covers a period of more than fifteen hundred years.
This region was broadly referred to by ancient Indians as Suvarnabhumi (the Land of Gold) or Suvarnadvipa (the Island of Gold), although scholars dispute its exact definition. Sometimes the term is interpreted to mean only Indonesia or Sumatra. Arab writers such as Al Biruni testify that Indians called the whole Southeast region Suwarndib (Suvarnadvipa). Hellenistic geographers knew the area as the Golden Ghersonese. The Chinese called it Kin-Lin; Kin means gold. During the last two thousand years, this region has come under the influence of practically all the major civilizations of the world: Indian, Chinese, Islamic, and Western. Of these, Indian culture appears to have blended best with the indigenous culture.
The name Java comes from the Sanskrit Jawadwip, which means a (dvip) island (yawa) shaped like a barley corn. The Vedic Indians must have charted Java, Yawadvip, thousands of years ago because Yawadvip is mentioned in India's earliest epic, the Ramayana. The Ramayana reveals some knowledge of the eastern regions beyond seas; for instance Sugriva dispatched his men to Yavadvipa, the island of Java, in search of Sita. It speaks of Burma as the land of silver mines. The Agni Purana, along with many other Puranas, calls India proper as Jambudvipa as distinguished from Dvipantara or India of the islands or overseas India. Towards the end of the fifth century, Aryabhatta, the Indian astronomer, wrote that when the sun rose in Ceylon it was midday in Yavakoti (Java) and midnight in the Roman land. In the Surya Siddhanta reference is also made to the Nagari Yavakoti with golden walls and gates.
Seldom has the world seen such a protracted and pervasive cultural diffusion. It stands a monument to the vitality and magnetism of Indian civilization.
Suvarnabhumi: Asianization of Indian Culture
India has always given a great deal more than she has received. Civilization as we know today would not exist without India.Indianization of Asia was entirely peaceful, never resorting to physical force or coercion to subvert local cultures or identities, or to engage in economic or political exploitation of the host cultures and societies. Its worldviews were based on compassion and mutual exchange, and not on the principle of conquest and domination.
"The unique feature of India's contacts and relationship with other countries and peoples of the world is that the cultural expansion was never confused with colonial domination and commercial dynamism far less economic exploitation. That culture can advance without political motives, that trade can proceed without imperialist designs, settlements can take place without colonial excesses and that literature, religion and language can be transported without xenophobia, jingoism and race complexes are amply evidenced from the history of India's contact with her neighbors...Thus although a considerable part of central and south-eastern Asia became flourishing centers of Indian culture, they were seldom subjects to the regime of any Indian king or conquerors and hardly witnessed the horrors and havocs of any Indian military campaign. They were perfectly free, politically and economically and their people representing an integration of Indian and indigenous elements had no links with any Indian state and looked upon India as a holy land rather than a motherland – a land of pilgrimage and not an area of jurisdiction."
(source: Greater India - By Arun Bhattacharjee - Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Private Limited, 1981, New Delhi p. 2 - 3 and Indian Culture over the World - By S V Shevade p. 91 and The Soul of India - By Satyavrata R Patel p. 30 and Geopolitics and Sanskrit phobia - By Rajiv Malhotra - sulekha.com).
Sir Charles Norton Edgcumbe Eliot (1862-1931) British diplomat and colonial administrator, in his book, Hinduism and Buddhism, vol. I, p.12. says:
"In Eastern Asia the influence of India has been notable in extent, strength, and duration."
"Scant justice is done to India's position in the world by those European histories which recount the exploits of her invaders and leave the impression that her own people were a feeble dreamy folk, surrendered from the rest of mankind by their seas and mountain frontiers. Such a picture takes no account of the intellectual conquests of the Hindus."
Even their political conquests were not contemptible, and are remarkable for the distance, if not the extent, of the territories occupied...But such military or commercial invasions are insignificant compared with the spread of Indian thought." The south-eastern region of Asia both mainland and Archipelago - owed its civilization almost entirely to India. In Ceylon, Burma, Siam, Cambodia, Champa, and Java, religion, art, the alphabet, literature, as well as whatever science and political organization existed, were the direct gift of Hindus, whether Brahmin or Buddhists, and much the same may be said of Tibet, whence the wilder Mongols took as much Indian civilization as they could stomach."
(source: Eminent Orientalists: Indian European American - Asian Educational Services. p. 369).
French scholar, Sylvain Levi (1863-1935) Orientalist who wrote on Eastern religion, literature, and history. Levi was appointed a lecturer at the school of higher studies in Paris (1886), he taught Sanskrit at the Sorbonne (1889-94) and wrote his doctoral dissertation, Le Théâtre indien ("The Indian Theatre"). In L'Inde et le monde ("India and the World"), he discussed India's role among nations. He writes:
"From Persia to the Chinese Sea, from the icy regions of Siberia to the islands of Java and Borneo, from Oceania to Socotra, India has propagated her beliefs, her tales and her civilization. She has left indelible imprints on one-fourth of the human race in the course of a long succession of centuries. She has the right to reclaim in universal history the rank that ignorance has refused her for a long time and to hold her place amongst the great nations summarizing and symbolizing the spirit of Humanity."
(source: Discovery of India - By Jawaharlal Nehru. p. 200 -210). Refer to India once ruled the Americas! – By Gene D Matlock
Heinrich Zimmer
(1890-1943) the great German Indologist, in the noblest of many books, in his
book, Asia before Europe: Economy and
Civilization of the Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750, writes
of the Indian cultural world:
“Each of the colonial
cultures and art styles of Ceylon, Indonesia, and Further India, as well as
that of Tibet, China, Korea and Japan, took over in a worthy way the Indian
heritage, giving to it an original and happy local application. Out of various
ethnological and biological requirements self-contained styles were formed that
were the peers in originality, nobility and delicacy of the Indian.”
India remains “the
creative hearth”: Indeed, whenever the
incredible brightness of the spiritual, the balanced repose of the dynamic, or
the brilliant power of the triumphantly omnipotent are made effectively
manifestation in Oriental art, an Indian model is not far to seek.”
(source: Under
Western Eyes - By Balachandra Rajan p. 37 – 38).
Greater India: The expansion of Indian culture
and influence both in Central Asia and the South East towards the countries and
islands of the Pacific is one of the momentous factors of world history.
He wrote:
"The Relation between India and Java"; in it the author discusses the cultural influence India extended on countries further east. Humboldt showed that the Kawi language is Javanese and contains a number of Sanskrit loan words which prove the literary and political superiority of the Hindus.
The historical background is the emigration of Brahmins, who brought the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and other works of Sanskrit literature. He showed that no Prakrit words are found in Old Javanese and he deduced from this that the Indian immigrants must have come to Java at a time when the more recent Indian languages had not yet separated from Sanskrit."
(source: German Indologists: Biographies of Scholars in Indian Studies writing in German - By Valentine Stache-Rosen. p 5 - 6).
B G Gokhale ( ? ) rightly observes:
“Looking at the cultures of the peoples of Asia in general and south east Asia in particular, the awareness grows upon us that what we see in Burma or Siam or Indonesia is but an extension of Indian culture – they could be legitimately called a Greater India.”
(source: Greater India - By Arun Bhattacharjee - Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Private Limited, 1981, New Delhi p. 1 - 20).
"From the first century A.D we witness the strange fact of Hindu or Hinduised kingdoms in Annam , Cochin-China and the islands of the Pacific. The Ramayana knew of Java and Sumatra . Communication by sea between the ports of South India and the islands of the Pacific was well established many centuries before the Christian era."
(source: A Survey of Indian History - By Sardar Kavalam Madhava Panikkar p. 68 - 69).
“At the end of the fifth century the area of the Mekong
valley, Malaya and the Indonesian islands were dotted with Hindu principalities
some of which, like the kingdom of Funan, had attained considerable importance
and prosperity. This was the formative period. Hindu culture and organization
had been established on a firm basis, and the local population – at least the
higher strata – assimilated with the Indian emigrants and colonists. The next
five centuries witness a great flowering of Indian culture in these areas which
properly belong to Indian history, because at least till the twelfth century,
these people considered themselves as integrally belonging to the Indian
world.”
"The early
inscriptions are in classical Sanskrit, full of allusions to ancient
India..."Kambuja was ardently Hindu till the middle of the seventh century
when Buddhism is first alluded to. The two religions co-existed as in India,
though till the very end Hinduism continued predominant."
(source: Under Western Eyes - By Balachandra Rajan p. 37 – 38).
Suharto Sukarno (1901-
1970) Indonesian nationalist leader and the first President of Indonesia. He
helped the country win its independence from the Netherlands. He echoed the same sentiments. (source: Under Western Eyes - By Balachandra Rajan p. 37 – 38).
In a special article in The Hindu on 4 January 1946, Sukarno wrote:
"In the veins of
every one of my people flows the blood of Indian ancestors and the culture that
we possess is steeped through and through with Indian influences. Two thousand
years ago people from your country came to Jawadvipa and Suvarnadvipa in the
spirit of brotherly love.
"They gave the
initiative to found powerful kingdoms such as those of Sri Vijaya, Mataram and
Majapahit. We then learnt to worship the very Gods that you now worship still
and we fashioned a culture that even today is largely identical with your own.
Later, we turned to Islam: but that religion too was brought by people coming
from both sides of India."
(source: Prospects for a Bay of Bengal community - By V. Suryanarayan).
For more refer to chapter on Glimpses XV
and Sacred Angkor.
Norodom Sihanouk, Head
of the State of the Royal Government of Cambodia (1954-1970 and, again, since 1993) had on the occasion of
the inauguration of the Jawaharlal Nehru Boulevard in Phnom Penh, on 10 May 1955, traced the
cultural evolution in Southeast Asia to the pervasive Indian cultural
influence:
“When
we refer to thousand year old ties which unite us with India, it is not at all
a hyperbole. "
"In
fact, it was about 2000 years ago that the first navigators, Indian merchants
and Brahmins brought to our ancestors their gods, their techniques, their
organization. Briefly India was for us what Greece was to Latin Orient."
(source: The Fossilized Indian Culture of Southeast Asia - By Y Yagama
Reddy).
Sir Marc
Aurel Stein (1862-1943) a
Hungarian and author of several books including Ra`jatarangini: a chronicle of the kings of Kashmir and Innermost Asia : detailed report of
explorations in Central Asia, Kan-su, and Eastern Iran carried out and
described under the orders of H.M. Indian Government, whose valuable researches
have added greatly to our knowledge of Greater India. He remarks:
"The vast extent of Indian cultural influences, from Central Asia in the North to tropical Indonesia in the South, and from the Borderlands of Persia to China and Japan, has shown that ancient India was a radiating center of a civilization, which by its religious thought, its art and literature, was destined to leave its deep mark on the races wholly diverse and scattered over the greater part of Asia."
(source: The Vision of India - By Sisir Kumar Mitra p. 178 and Main Currents of Indian Culture - By S. Natarajan p. 50).
Will Durant (1885-1981) American historian, would like the West
to learn from India, tolerance and gentleness and love for all living
things.
He has observed:
"Indian art had
accompanied Indian religion across straits and frontiers into Sri Lanka, Java,
Cambodia, Siam, Burma, Tibet, Khotan, Turkestan, Mongolia, China, Korea and
Japan;
“in Asia all roads
lead from India.”
(source: Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage - By Will Durant
MJF Books. 1935. p. 605).
For more refer to chapter on Sacred Angkor,
Glimpses XII to Glimpses XV.
Reginald
Le May ( ? ) author of The culture of South-East Asia;: The heritage of India,
observed: “Indian art and culture seem naturally to have exercised an extraordinary art fascination over the indigenous peoples of all these territories, no doubt, owing to the attractions offered by Buddhism and Hinduism, while Chinese art, not bearing any particular religious message, apparently made but little impression inspite of the fact that they Chinese, too sailed the southern seas in search of trade from very early time.”
He wrote:
“The beginnings of
Indian colonization overseas eastward go back a very long way in time and it is
almost certain that the results seen today were, in the main, not achieved by
military expeditions, but by peaceful trading and religious teaching – and
thereby all the more permanent.”
(source: Greater India - By Arun Bhattacharjee - Munshiram
Manoharlal Publishers Private Limited, 1981, New Delhi p. 1 - 20).
Introduction:India is a country of temples without equal but there is a certain irony in that one of the largest and most dramatic monuments to Hinduism rests not in India but thousands of miles away from the subcontinent amid the ruins of a metropolis hidden in the jungles of Cambodia (formerly known as Kamboja). One of the largest cities of the ancient world, Angkor was built by King Suryavarnam II to honor Lord Vishnu, it is even larger than the Vatican. To know and understand India one has to travel far in time and space, to forget for a while her present condition, and to have glimpses of what she was and what she did.
(source: Eastern Wisdom: The Philosophies and Rituals of the East - By M. Jordan p. 52).
Henri Mouhot (1826 -1861) a French naturalist and explorer, who had gone to South-east Asia in the late 1850's and succumbed to fever there in 1861. Mesmerized by what he saw at the temple of Angkor Vat, Mouhot in lyrical descriptions said:
"At the sight of this temple, one feels one's spirit crushed, one's imagination surpassed. One looks, one admires, and, seized with respect, one is silent. For where are the words to praise a work of art that may not have its equal anywhere on the globe? ... What genius this Michalangelo of the East had, that he was capable of concaving such a work.''
(source: Le Tour du Monde, 2-1863-299). He said: "See Angkor and Die."
"What strikes the observer with not less admiration than the grandeur, regularity, and beauty of these majestic buildings, is the immense size and prodigious number of the blocks of stone of which they are constructed. In this temple alone are as many as 1532 columns. What means of transport, what a multitude of workmen, must this have required, seeing that the mountain out of which the stone was hewn is thirty miles distant!...."
(source: Angkor: Heart of an Asian Empire - By Bruno Dagens p. 140-141).
"It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome." "To obtain any idea of its splendor on one must imagine the most beautiful creations of architecture transported into depths of the forests in one of the more remote countries in the world."
Mahout recorded excitedly in his diary for January 1860 after gazing on the 200-ft temple of Angkor Vat.
(source: The World's Last Mysteries - Readers Digest ASIN 089577044X p. 243).
At Ongcor, there are ...ruins of such grandeur... that, at the first view, one is filled with profound admiration, and cannot but ask what has become of this powerful race, so civilized, so enlightened, the authors of these gigantic works?
(source: In Mouhot's Footsteps ).
According to historian A. L. Basham, "The whole of South-East Asia received most of its culture from India. Early in the 5th B.C. century colonists from Western India settled in Lanka. The Indian 'colonies' were peaceful ones, and the Indianized chieftains who had learnt what India had to teach them."
(source: The Wonder That Was India - By A L Basham p. 485).
Henri Mahout could hardly believe his eyes in 1860.
He wrote of
"ruins of such grandeur, remains of structures that must have been raised at such an immense cost of labor, that, at the first view, one is filled with profound admiration....One of these temples - a rival to that of Soloman, and erected by some ancient Michael Angleo - might take an honorable place besides our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece and Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation in now plunged."
To Mahout, those "prodigious works" were nothing short of astounding.
(source: Splendors of the Past: Lost Cities of the Ancient World - National Geographic Society. p. 186).
Philip S. Rawson writes in his book The Art of South East Asia:
"The culture of India has been one of the world's most powerful civilizing forces. Countries of the Far East, including China, Korea, Japan, Tibet and Mongolia owe much of what is best in their own cultures to the inspiration of ideas imported from India. The West, too, has its own debts." But the members of that circle of civilizations beyond Burma scattered around the Gulf of Siam and the Java Sea, virtually owe their very existence to the creative influence of Indian ideas... No conquest or invasion, no forced conversion imposed them. They were adopted because people saw that they were good and that they could use them..."
"To know Indian art in India alone,' says Sir John Marshall, 'is to know but half its story. To apprehend it to the full, we must follow it to central Asia, China and Japan; we must watch it assuming new forms and breaking into new beauties as it spreads over Tibet and Burma and Siam; we must gaze in awe at the unexpected grandeur of its creations in Cambodia and Java."
(source: Discovery of India - By Jawaharlal Nehru. p. 200 -210). For more refer to chapter on Glimpses XII to Glimpses XV
Will Durant (1885-1981) American historian, would like the West to learn from India, tolerance and gentleness and love for all living things.
He has observed:
“Angkor wat is a masterpiece equal to the finest architectural achievements of the Egyptians, the Greeks, or the cathedral builders of Europe. An enormous moat, twelve miles in length, surrounds the temple; over the moat runs a paved bridge guarded by dissuasive Nagas in stone; then an ornate enclosing wall; then spacious galleries, whose reliefs tell again the tales of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana; then the stately edifice itself, rising upon a broad base, by level after level of a terraced pyramid, to the sanctuary of the God, two hundred feet high."
"Here magnitude does not detract from beauty, but helps it to an imposing magnificence that startles the Western mind into some weak realization of the ancient grandeur once possessed by Oriental civilization."
(source: Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage - By Will Durant MJF Books. 1935. p. 605)
"India left the indelible impress of her
high culture, not only upon religion, but also upon art, and literature, in a
word, all the higher things of spirit."
M. Rene Grousset,
(1885-1952) French art historian, says: "In the high plateau of eastern
Iran, in the oases of Serindia, in the arid wastes of Tibet, Mongolia, and
Manchuria, in the ancient civilized lands of China and Japan, in the lands of
the primitive Mons and Khmers and other tribes of Indo-China, in the countries
of the Malaya-Polynesians, in Indonesia and Malay, India left the indelible impress of her high culture, not only upon
religion, but also upon art, and literature, in a word, all the higher things
of spirit.""There is an obstinate prejudice thanks to which India is constantly represented as having lived, as it were, hermetically sealed up in its age-old civilization, apart from the rest of Asia. Nothing could be more exaggerated. During the first eight centuries of our era, so far as religion and art are concerned, central Asia was a sort of Indian colony. It is often forgotten that in the early Middle Ages there existed a "Greater India," a vast Indian empire. A man coming from the Ganges or the Deccan to Southeast Asia felt as much at home there as in his own native land. In those days the Indian Ocean really deserved its name."
(source: Civilizations of the East - By Rene Grousset Vol. II, Chapter - Farther India and the Malay Archipelago p. 275 -343).
"Indian art in Java," adds Dr. Ernest Binfield Havell, "has a character of its own which distinguishes it from that of the continent from whence it came. There runs through both the same strain of deep serenity, but in the divine ideal of Java we lose the austere feeling which characterizes the Hindu sculpture of Elephanta and Mamallapuram."
(source: The Ideals of Indian Art - By Dr. Ernest Binfield Havell p.169
Discovery of India - By Jawaharlal Nehru. p. 214).
Rabindranath Tagore has said: "To know my country one has to travel to that age, when she realized her soul and thus transcended her physical boundaries when she revealed her being in a radiant magnanimity which illumined the eastern horizon, making her recognized as their own by those in alien shores who were awakened into a surprise of life."
Jawaharlal Nehru has written: "For it was India that functioned here and exhibited her vitality and genius in a variety of ways. We see her bubbling over with energy and spreading out far and wide, carrying not only her thought but her other ideals, her art, her trade, her language and literature and her methods of government. She was not stagnant, or standing aloof, or isolated and cut off by mountain and sea. Her people crossed those high mountains and and perilous seas and built up, as (French art historian) Rene Grousset says, ' a Greater India politically as little organized as Greater Greece, but morally equally harmonious."
(source: The Discovery of India - By Jawaharlal Nehru p.207).
Jawaharlal Nehru has lamented: "How few of us know of these great achievements of our past, how few realize that if India was great in thought and philosophy, she was equally great in action. Most westerners still imagine ancient history is largely concerned with the Mediterranean countries, and medieval and modern history is dominated by the quarrelsome little continent of Europe."
According to Indian historian, Dr. K. P. Jayaswal, "Further India was recognized as part of India in the Bharasiva-Vakataka period. In the Matsya Purana, for the first time we find that recognition. Between the Himavat and the Sea Bharatvarsha stands, but it covers a larger area on account of Indians living in eight more islands (Dvipas). All these Dvipas were to the east. The Malaya Peninsula was well-known to Indians at the time, a fact evidenced by an inscription of the 4th century A.D. on a pillar in the present district of Wellesley. Burma was known as Indradvipa. Ceylon was known as Lanka-Dvipa or Tamraparni. Similarly, Cambodia, Nicobar, Sumatra, Java and Borneo were also known."
The Agni Purana, along with many other Puranas, calls India proper as Jambudvipa as distinguished from Dvipantara or India of the islands or overseas India. Ancient Indians who explored the globe in times immemorial had a three-fold motto expressed in the terms "Charaiveti" (Let us move on and on), 'Krunvanto Viswam Aryan' (Let us make all people civilized, well-behaved, dutiful, god-fearing, noble, educated etc.) and 'Wasudhaiva-Kutumbakam (the whole world is one entity, one family).
A Sanskrit-Chinese dictionary compiled in Central Asia in the seventh and eighth centuries calls the countries situated in the Southern Seas as Jipattala which Sylvain Levi interprets as the Indian archipelago and the neighboring islands. These two Indias were called by the name of Bharatavarsha which included the nine islands of Dvipantara-Bharata, each separated from the other by sea. The names of those islands were Indra-dvipa, Kaseru, Tamravarna, Gabhastiman, Nagadvipa, Saumya, Gandharva and Varuna.
Masudi, born in Baghdad, the Arab geographer, historian and philosopher, states in his work called Muruj adh-Dhahab or 'Meadows of Gold' written in 942 A.D. that India in those days "extended over sea and land and bordered on the country called Zabag (Sumatra or Greater Java) ruled by the king of these islands."
Professor Sylvain Levi has shown from references in the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Mahaniddesa, and Brihat-Katha that the products of Burma and Malaya Peninsula were known to Indian merchants and sailors, and also some of its ports such as Suvarnakudya, Suvarnabhumi, Takkolam, Tamlin and Javam from at least first century A.D.
The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea written by a Greek sailor of Egypt in the first century A.D. mentions many ports of India then existing on its Western and Eastern coasts. Ptolemy in his Geography written in the second century A.D. refers to the ports of Malaya Peninsula, Java, and Sumatra and the Indian port of Palura from which voyages were directly made to Malaya Peninsula. Ptolemy's reference in the second century to Iabadiou certainly represents the Prakrit from of the Sanskrit Yavadvipa.
Indian culture flourished, reaching islands as far as Borneo and Bali. Some of it survives even today, evident from the quaint proto-Sanskritic names that still prevail in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia. Borneo's capital, Bandar Seri Begawan is a colloquialisation of Sri Bhagwan, Bali's headquarters, Jeyapora, is nothing but Jaipur, localised, just as Aranya Prathet in Thailand is simply the jungle province or Aranya Pradesh. Fortunately, much of the structure of the gigantic temple city of Angkor Vat has survived the ravages of the Khmer Rouge, while Borobudur in Java still shines in resplendent glory.
"A Tamil inscription found in Thailand, at the site of Takua Pa, testifies to southeast Asia commerce with the Pallava region. A poem written by the 8th century Vaishnava saint, Tirumangai, speaks of ports where "ships rode at anchor, bent to the point of breaking, laden as they were with wealth, with big-trunked elephants, and with mountains of gems of nine varieties."
(source: Indian Art - By Vidya Dehejia p. 186).
Names like Indo-China. Further India, Insulindia, Indonesia, etc., which are applied to various parts of South East Asia and the Far East are as significant as 'Ser-Inida.' This region is geographically an extension of India and Ptolemy rightly calls it 'Trans-Gangetic India.'
(source: Cultural Heritage of Ancient India - By Sachindra Kumar Maity p.121). For a virtual tour of extensive art from Southeast Asia, visit Museum Guimet).
The names that were given to these settlements were old Indian names. Thus Cambodia, as it is known now, was called Kambhoja, which was a well-known town in ancient India, as was Gandhara in (present day Afghanistan). (Please refer to Glimpses II for information on Afghanistan)
What led to these extraordinary expeditions across perilous seas and what was the tremendous urge behind them?
According to historian, Dr. R. C. Majumdar (1888 - 1980), has pointed out that:
"If literature can be regarded as a fair reflex of the popular mind, trade and commerce must have been a supreme passion in India in the centuries immediately preceding and following the Christian era."
All this indicates an expanding economy and a constant search for distant markets. "The military conquest of these early Indians colonists are important as throwing light on certain aspects of the Indian character and genius which have hitherto not been appreciated. But far more important is the rich civilization they built up in their colonies and settlements and which endured for over a thousand years. It is not known precisely when contact began between India and Southeast Asia. There is enough references in Indian books, accounts of Arab travelers, Chinese historical accounts, old inscriptions, as well as the magnificent ruins of ancient monuments, like Angkor and Borobudur. The old stories in Sanskrit contain many accounts of perilous sea voyages and of shipwrecks. Both Greek and Arab accounts show that there was regular maritime intercourse between India and the Far East at least as early as the first century B.C.
(source: The Discovery of India - By Jawaharlal Nehru p.200 -202).
India's Moonlight Civilization
"The brightest sun shining over Southeast Asia in the first centuries A.D. was Indian Civilization. Waves of Indian colonists, traders, soldiers, Brahmins and Buddhist beat upon one Southeast shore after another. Great military power based on superior technical knowledge, flourishing trade fostered by the remarkable increase in maritime exchanges between India and these areas, the vast cultural superiority of the Indians, everything conspired to heighten the impact of the Indian Civilization on the Southeast Asian. Passenger ships plied regularly between the Ganges, Ceylon and Malaya in the middle of the first millennium A.D. Indian settlers from Gujarat and Kalinga colonized Java, for instance, while others set out for Burma or Cambodia. Old Indian books – the Kathasagara, the Jatakas and others – refer to these wondorous regions that set the imagination of civilized Indians on fire, to Suvarnabhumi, the fabulous “Land of Gold.” On the whole, the Indianization of Southeast Asia proceeded peacefully. Local chiefs and petty chieftains were admitted into the caste structure as Ksatriyas through a ritual known as vratyastoma, performed by an Indian Brahmin. All over Southeast Asia tremendous ruins are strewn, testifying to the immense influence of Indian Civilization. "
Indian Civilization prevailed over an immense area stretching from Afghanistan to the Pacific, including most of what is known today as Southeast Asia. Passenger ships plied regularly between the Ganges, Sri Lanka and Malaya in the middle of the first millennium A.D. Indian settlers from Gujarat and Kalinga (Orissa) colonized Java, for instance, while others set out for Burma or Cambodia. Old Indian books - the Kathasaritsagara, the Jatakas and others -refer to these wondrous regions that set the imaginations of civilized Indians on fire, to Suvarnabhumi, the fabulous "Land of Gold" as Southeast Asia was then known. And all over Southeast Asia tremendous ruins are strewn, testifying to the immense influence of Indian Civilization. Side by side, the life history of Gautama Buddha carved delicately in stone continues the bas-reliefs depicting the legendary tales of Krishna, Vishnu and Rama. Moonlight Civilization glittered in all their magnificence, reflecting Indian Civilization at a time when it had been dealt a crippling blow at home, in India, after the Mohammedans arrived.
Everywhere, Indian influence prevailed over the Chinese, and for evident reasons: an undoubted cultural superiority owing to much greater philosophic and religious insight. Indian Civilization respected the political autonomy of its colonies and the cultural freedom of all its units, and, on the whole, worked through peaceful penetration. The Chinese, on the other hand, proceeded by conquest, assimilation and absorption into all encompassing Chinese Civilization.
(source: The Soul of India - By Amaury de Riencourt ISBN 0907855032 p. 157-162).
G E Geraini commenting on Researches on Ptolemy’s Geography rightly observes:
“From the Brahmaputra and Manipur to the Tonkin Gulf we can trace a continuous string of petty states ruled by those scions of the Kshatriya race, using the Sanskrit or the Pali language in official documents and inscriptions, building temples and other monuments of the Hindu style and employing Brahmin priest at the propitiatory ceremonies connected with the court and the state.”
Prof. Reginald Le May wrote: “The beginnings of Indian colonization overseas eastward go back a very long way in time and it is almost certain that the results seen today were, in the main, not achieved by military expeditions, but by peaceful trading and religious teaching – and thereby all the more permanent.”
(source: Greater India - By Arun Bhattacharjee - Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Private Limited, 1981, New Delhi p. 1 - 20).
(source: Cited in George Coedes, Journal of South East Asian History, September, 1964, p. 4).
"A people with no long cultural history of their own (like the British) could not be expected to be attracted by the ancient cultural past of the people they dominated. Equally strange is the attitude of Indian historians towards the cultural past of Southeast Asia. Most of them have remained indifferent, largely because of inheriting a set system of academic training. The eastward expansion of Hindu civilization has not yet been fully traced. On the other hand, some non-Indian scholars, especially modern writers of secondary works, tend to play down India's importance in the evolution of southeast Asian civilization."
(source: India and World Civilization - By D. P. Singhal p. 80-98).
The advent of Indians in Southeast Asia has hardly a parallel in history. It cannot be equated with the arrival of Europeans in America, because the Indians did not go to Southeast Asia as strangers. In view of the ethnic affinities between the prehistoric Austro-Asiatic races of India and those of Suvarnabhumi, contact between the two regions may well go back to the remotest antiquity. Whatever the relationship between the two regions may be the transplantation of Indian culture into Southeast Asia began in prehistoric times with trade contacts.
"This was the time of the great Indian expansion, when seafaring merchants fanned out across the Indian Ocean and brought to Southeast Asia a seething ferment of new ideas. From Burma to Indonesia, they established a chain of settlements along the coasts from which they traded for gold, precious stones, perfumes, and spices. The merchants brought with them their religion, Hinduism and Buddhism, their literary language, Sanskrit, their art and technology; and their science and mathematics."
(source: Splendors of the Past: Lost Cities of the Ancient World - National Geographic Society. p.186-190).
Indian culture, secular and religious, had found a permanent home in Southeast Asia. This was a peaceful process; unlike the Western newcomers in modern times, no forced colonization occurred.
"Seldom has the world seen such a protracted and pervasive cultural diffusion. It stands a monument to the vitality and magnetism of Indian civilization."
(source: A History of World Societies - By Mackay Hill Buckler p.318-319).
Indian culture penetrated the countries of South-East Asia entirely by peaceful means. This was the result of a series of enterprises by traders, adventurers, scholars and priests. Operating from Indian settlements that had been founded in the 1st century, these men brought the highly refined culture of India to peoples whose way of life was perfectly suited to Brahmanic and Buddhist teachings. Throughout this area Indianization took the form of the adoption of Sanskrit as the official and sacred language, the introduction of the Indian religions of Brahmanism and Buddhism, with their myths, philosophical systems and traditions and the establishment of a political structure very close to that of ancient India.
(source: The Oriental World - By Jeannine Auboyer Landmarks of World's Art quoted from Appendix page).
The Ramayana reveals some knowledge of the eastern regions beyond the seas; for instance Sugriva dispatched his men to Yavadvipa, the island of Java or Sumatra, in search of Sita. It speaks of Burma as the land of silver mines. Tamil literature contains references to tall roomy ships laden with goods returning from eastern ports. Puranic cosmology and geographical divisions into varshas and dvipas point to Indian knowledge of this area, although the knowledge of the Puranic compilers was somewhat vague. Lord Ganesha is found in Thai art especially around Sukhothai in central Thailand and Khmer art of Cambodia. There are also spectacular images coming from Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos and Vietnam - with both Buddhism and Hinduism intertwined and Ganesha appearing predominantly as a protector and guardian. Nowhere in South-East Asia is Ganesha as popular as in Indonesia: with most of Java and Bali islands carrying forward continued worship of Ganesha. There are some rare Ganesha bronzes as Vinayaka in Japan and some in China.
Ganesha has been a major deity, since the seventh and eighth centuries, in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It was Ganesha in his role as remover of obstacles that was primarily accepted in mainland Southest Asia. Even today in Buddhist Thailand, Ganesha is regarded as god of success. It is from Vinayaka that the old Myanmar name for Ganesha, Mahapinary purha, was derived. Other names with a similar meaning occur frequently in Cambodian inscriptions, such as Vighnesha and Vignesvara, both of which mean "Lord of removing obstacles". Ganesha was extremely popular in the art of Indonesian islands, especially of Sumatra and Java and compare favorably with the eighth-century Ellora caves, in images, style and iconography. At Candi Sukuh in central Java, a remarkable fifteenth century relief shows three figures, with a dancing Ganesha in the centre. There are paintings and stone sculptures of the deity found in China, apart from the textual references to Ganesha in the Chinese Buddhist canon. In Japan, there is the Shingon ritual practice that centres on Ganesha, with texts tracing back to China. Nearer India, the assimilation of the deity with the Buddhist images is almost complete in Tibet and Nepal. In the Tibetan Buddhism, the practice associated with Ganesha, as Buddhist Tantric deity, survives up to this day. In Jainism Ganesha occasionally found a place alongside Mahabir. The Tibetan Ganesha appears, besides bronzes, in the resplendent Thangka paintings alongside the Buddha. In a single Kathmandu valley of Nepal, there are four principal manifestations of "Binayak" in a protective role: Ashok, Surya, Chandra and Bighna. In that valley, Ganapati guards the Buddhist viharas where bhajans are sung in his praise.
Ganesha is a vibrant presence whose benediction is sought by traders, travelers, artists and statesmen. As lord of business and diplomacy, he sits comfortably on a high pedestal outside Bangkok's World Trade Centre, where people offer flowers, incense and a reverential sawasdee. A gilt Ganesha presides over the bustling charivari of lucrative tourism in the lobby of the Rama Hotel. Another commands the Isetan department store. Even Muslim Indonesia reveres him and European scholars call him the 'Indonesian god of wisdom'. Bandung boasts a Jalan Ganesa, and his image adorns 20,000 rupiah notes.
(source: India and World Civilization - By D. P. Singhal p. 80-98).
India's contact by sea with China would also imply Indian contact with Southeast Asia. All the Indian colonies were situated between two great countries and two great civilizations - India and China. Some of them, on the Asiatic mainland, others were on the direct trade route between India and China. Thus they were influenced by both, religion and art came from India, and philosophy of life came from China.
Sir John Malcolm wrote :
"Indian vessels "are so admirably adapted to the purpose for which they are required that, not withstanding their superior science, Europeans were unable, during an intercourse with India for two centuries, to suggest or at least to bring into successful practice one improvement. "
It was also known that in the third century a transport of horses, which would require large ships, reached Malaya and Southeast Asia.
In 1949, two scholars, Gordon Ekholm and Chaman Lal, systematically compared the Mayan, Aztec, Incan and North American Indian civilizations with the Hindu-oriented countries. According to them, the emigrant cultures of India took with them India's system of time measurement, local gods, and customs. (For more details, please refer to the chapter India on Pacific Waves ) Gene Matlock, author of India Once Ruled the Americas! states: The people of India have long known that their ancestors once sailed to and settled in the Americas. They called America 'Patala,' The Underworld,' not because they believed it to be underground, but because the other side of the globe appeared to be straight down."
Even in Cambodia and in the mighty remains of Angkor the only artistic influence that can be detected is from India. But Indian art was flexible and adaptable and in each country it flowered afresh in many new ways, always retaining that basic impress which it derived from India.
Sir John Marshall, discoverer of the Indus Valley, has referred to "the amazingly vital and flexible character of Indian art." Indian art derives its basic character from certain ideals associated with the religion and philosophic outlook of India. Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy, late curator at the Boston Museum, has said: " A more conscious of sophisticated art could scarcely be imagined. Despite its invariably religious subject matter, it is an art of "great courts charming the mind by their noble matter, this is an art of "great courts charming the mind by their noble routine."
(source: India Discovered - By John Keay p. 162).
That Indian traders and settlers repeatedly undertook journeys to Southeast Asia, despite the hazards and perils involved, speaks well for their physical prowess, courage, and determination, even if allowance for the pull of profit is made. Not only were the Indian traders vehicles of culture in this part of the world, but everywhere trade has been a major factor in dissemination of culture. Arthur Waley, author of the book, The Way and its Power, has declared that merchants were undoubtedly the main carriers of information about the outside world, and disputes the assertion which is derived from false analogy between the East and West that merchants are not likely to have been interested in philosophy. Indian or Chinese merchants, in contrast to European traders, were "reputedly capable of discussing metaphysical questions" and there is ample testimony in Buddhist legend of such merchants.
"Each blade of grass here breathes of Indian culture"- said Jawaharlal Nehru, during his visit to Cambodia in1954 to commemorate the 2500th birth anniversary of Buddha.
India, as Jawaharlal Nehru observed way back in 1954, continues to breathe in these parts. Lao religion is guided by both Hindu and Buddhist influences; the prevalent language here has Sanskrit and Pali roots; Laos has evolved Ramayana Ballet like an institution; ancient shivalingams were discovered in the south of Laos in 1999; Laotians greet their elders with a nop similar to the Indian namaste; they take their shoes off outside their homes; temples in the ancient Laotian Capital of Luang Prabang bear distinct Indian influences. All this and much more remain literally miles away from the collective Indian consciousness. Similarly, the ancient complex of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, rediscovered in the 1940s, is an incredible testimony to the reach of Hindu religion and culture way back in the 12th century. The massive temple complex dedicated to Vishnu and bearing frescoes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and detailed scenes of Samudramanthan tells the story of a time when despite transport handicaps Indians traveled to distant shores and placed their indelible signature on a civilization that breathes to this day. That these great civilizations of the Mekong River (Mekong is said to be a derivative for Ma Ganga) have kept alive a great Indian heritage is a little-acknowledged fact in India, except of course their lifeless documentation in Government records and academic research.
(source: South East Asia, truly India - By D. Ganguly - dailypioneer.com).
(source: India and World Civilization - By D. P. Singhal p. 80-98).
In the beginning of the Christian era, India lost Siberia as her most important source of gold, because political upheavals and large-scale movements of the people of Central Asia in the last two centuries B.C. cut off the trade route.
In Indonesia, Hinduism arrived first, but it was made no conscious attempt to convert local peoples to their faith or culture. They certainly did not impose it by force. Proselytism was precluded by the very nature of the Hindu faith, which explains the general unconcern of Indians with the Indianization of Southeast Asia. However, later Buddhist missionaries worked for the spread of their faith. In some countries, like Indonesia, Hinduism was intermingled with Buddhism, that Shiva and the Buddha were described as brothers! Indeed, in Balinese temples where the religion is Balinese Hinduism, Saiva and Buddhist priest sit side by side, although dressed differently, as they bless the laity.
Even the remarkable Hellenization of the Mediterranean world does not compare with the Indianization of Southeast Asia.
India was far from Southeast Asia. There were far fewer Indians in Southeast Asia than Greeks in the Hellenistic world, and those Indians had to contend with an equally powerful Chinese civilization in an area mainly frequented by Chinese. On the other hand, Greek civilization did not confront such a contrast of cultural and ethnic types.
There is nothing in the Hellenistic world to compare with the Angkor Wat or Borubudur. In addition, India contributed not only philosophy and thought, but also a religion that still survives in most areas of Southeast Asia. Greek religion is a thing of the past.
(source: India and World Civilization - By D. P. Singhal p. 80-98).
The Hindu kingdoms that rose in South-East Asia had no political connection with the mother country. Their inscriptions are in Sanskrit hardly differing from those of any Indian States. The Hindu epics and puranas still contribute to the themes for the theatre, dances, and shadow plays and the marionette shows of Malaya and Java. The influence of the Dharmasastras and the Arthasastra on the polity of these lands is clearly traceable. Their languages have been enriched by contact with Sanskrit. The scripts of all their languages are adaptations of Indian writing. The kings performed vedic sacrifices; they used the Saka era and the lunar-solar calendar. Tangible results of ancient Indian contact may be seen in their monuments and temples. Till very recently at Phnom Penh in Cambodia and at Bangkok in Siam brahmins of a very mixed descent followed Buddhism and wore the sikha and upavita, and worshipped an assortment of Hindu and Buddhist images.
Kambuja (Cambodia) according to tradition was established by Kambu Svayambhuva after whom the country was named Kambuja. Some of its famous rulers bore names ending in Varman as in South Indian; examples are Jayavarman, Yasovarman, and Suryavarman. The law books of Siam (Thailand) were framed on the basis of the Hindu dharmasastras and the temples of its capital, Bangkok, were adorned with sculptures depicting scenes from the Ramayana.
The peaceful and sympathetic methods of Hindu colonists were in striking contrast to the Chinese policy of conquest and annexation and to the severity and exploitation inherent in modern western colonization.
(source: Advanced History of India - By Nilakanta Sastri and G. Srinivasachari p.231-233).
Reginald S. Le May (1885 - ) author of The culture of South-East Asia; the heritage of India has observed:
"India, indeed, began to exercise a profound cultural influence on her neighbors to the eastward - Burma, Siam, Malaya, Cambodia, Java and Sri Lanka all falling beneath her sway. And this, as far as one can may judge, almost entirely as a result of trading and peaceful penetration by missionaries, merchants and others, and not by force of arms." "The beginnings of Indian colonization overseas eastward go back a very long way in time and it is almost certain that the results seen today were, in the main, not achieved by military expedition, but by peaceful trading and religious teaching - and thereby all the more permanent."
"Indian religious art and culture seem naturally to have exercised an extraordinary fascination over the indigenous peoples of all these territories, no doubt, owing to the attractions offered by Hinduism and Buddhism, while Chinese art, not bearing any particular religious message, apparently made little impression, in spite of the fact that the Chinese, too, sailed to southern seas..."
(source: India and The World - By Buddha Prakash p. 7-8 Institute of Indic Studies Kurukshetra University 1964). For more refer to chapter on Glimpses XII to Glimpses XV.
Countries:
Champa/Angadvipa on the coast of Annam - VietnamChampa is the remotest colony in the East and was less known than Kamboja and Java. According to Sir Charles Eliot, the Hindu dynasty of Champa was founded between 150 and 200 A.D. The conquerors were known as the Chams and hence the country came to be known as Champa. Vietnam, figures prominently as a stepping stone in the story of India's cultural expansion to the Americas.
According to historian Dr. K. P. Jayaswal, "The State of Champa, according the Chinese authorities was founded in 137 A. D.
Champa seems to have been mentioned under the name Angadvipa by the Vayu Purana.
Again, Champa was probably the earliest colony, it being a key to the Chinese trade and the point from the islands of Java and Borneo are easily accessible." It maintained close relations with Funan, a fact which must have been largely responsible for the penetration of Indian influence there.
A Hindu dynasty was founded by Sri Mara in the second century A.D. A successor to Sri Mara was the famous king called Bhadravarma. He ruled over the Northern and Central portions of the kingdom comprising the provinces of Amravati and Vijaya and possibly also the Southern province of Panduranga. His greatest contribution was to Hindu culture was the building of the temple of Bhadresvarasvamin (Shiva) at Myson which became the national shrine of the Chams.
It is said that Bhadravarman abdicated his throne to spend his last days on the banks of the river Ganges. This was followed by two dynasties - the Panduranga dynasty (757-860) and later by the Bhrigu dynasty (860-985).
Champa passed through various dynasties and war with China continued in the 3rd and 4th century. This was a period of political unrest in China, and which gave Champa the opportunity to expand into Chinese territory. Shiva and Vishnu were worshipped by various names. Goddess Laxmi was known as Padma or Sri.
As regards to literature, Sanskrit was the language of the learned. It was also the official language of the country. Many kings of Champa were Sanskrit scholars. Brahmi script was used in inscriptions.
The books were in use were the Vedas, Sastras, the Epics, Buddhist philosophy, Saivism, Vaisnavism, Panini's grammar along with its commentary, Dharmasastras of Manu and Narada, the Puranas and classical Sanskrit literature including prose and Kavya literature.
Vietnam's Siva Lingams
VIietnam, June 23, 2001: A Siva Lingam monument, a relic from the lost Champa Kingdom, stands proudly at the My Son site in Vietnam. Statues depicting Lingam and Yoni can be found in Hindu-influenced cultures across the entire Asian region. But the Cham religion in Vietnam has taken these images and fashioned them into a distinctive and different form.
Lingam and Yoni in the Cham religion differ from their Indian progenitors and their presence in Vietnam is evidence of the profound influence of Indian culture and religion in the country.
It is also proof of the strong sense of identity of the Cham people, who borrowed from Hinduism and created statues and temples with a style all of their own.
Cham Linga sculptures generally have a flat top, with only a few featuring spherical shapes. they are generally found in three different styles: square; another in two parts, one cylindrical and one square; and another has a cylindrical upper, the middle is octagonal and the bottom is square. Linga and Yoni are usually constructed as one structure. Traditionally only one Linga is attached to the Yoni, but in some Cham sculptures many Linga can be found on a single Yoni platform. The differences between Cham sculptures and those found else where in the Hindu world demonstrate subtle changes from their origins.
(source: Giving new image and likeness to old beliefs - by Nguyen Van Ngoc
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/2001-06/23/Stories/29.htm).
Java or Yavadvipa
Sir Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) the British Governor of Java, in his book, History of Java, II, p. 87, wrote:
“In the year 525 Saka era – 603 A.D., it being foretold to
a king of Gujarat that his country would decay and go to ruin, he resolved to
send his son to Java. He embarked with about 5000 followers in 6 large and
about 100 small vessels, and after a voyage of four months reached an island
they supposed to be Java; but finding themselves mistaken, re-embarked, and
finally settled at Matarem, in the center of the island they were seeking….The
prince then found that men alone were wanting to make a great and flourishing
state. He accordingly applied to Gujarat for assistance, when his father,
delighted at his success, sent him reinforcement of 2000 people…From this
period Java was known and celebrated as a kingdom; an extensive commerce was carried
on with Gujarat and other countries, and the bay of Matarem was filled with
adventurers from all parts.”
(source: Periplus of the
Erythrean Sea - W.H.
Schoff p. 245).
There is an Indian tradition at that
"those who go to Java do not come back." There are many views
regarding the beginnings of Hindu colonization of Java. One view connects the
original colonies under their leader called Ajisaka with the heroes of the Mahabharata
and Astina or Hastinapura. Another view traces the colonization to Gujarat. The
third view traces it to Kalinga (Orissa) from where "twenty thousand
families were sent to Java by the prince of Kalinga." The Javanese era
started by Ajisaka starts from 78 A.D. which is also the beginning of the Saka
era of India. According to historian, R.
C. Majumdar, "The Indian settlement in Java dates from the 2nd
century A.D. if not earlier, and the Hindu culture flourished there till the
end of 15th century.Fa-hien, the Chinese traveler, visited Java on his way to China in about 418 A.D. He tells that there was no Buddhism only Hinduism in Java. The name Java is taken from the Sanskrit word Yava. The kings of Java had their names which ended with Varman. There were several kingdoms in Java. Four Sanskrit inscriptions have been found me in Western Java mention a king named Purna-varmarn. One of them calls his grandfather Rajarishi and another ancestor his father Rajadhiraja. The latter is said to have dug the Chandrabhaga which reached the sea after passing by the capital city. Purna-varman himself dug a similar canal called the Gomati river. Purna-varman ruled in the sixth century A.D. and his capital was known as Taruma.
Both Hinduism and Buddhism flourished here. We find worship of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma in the temples. Grants of land were made to the priests. Images of Mahadevi and Durga have been also found. Literature was mainly theological. We have the Arjuna-vivaha, poetic rendering of the Bharat-yuddha from the Mahabharata, Kavi Ramayana, Vritta Sanchaya.
The temple of Java are a standing monuments of the influence exercised by Indian thought and art in moulding the development of the entire art of Java. The monumental history begins in Central Java, with the Chandi (temple) Punta Deva, Bhima, Sri Khanda, Pawon and Arjuna. Shiva temple of Chandi Bayon near Borobudur. Superb images of Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Ganesh, and Agastya Siva-guru have been found from there. The best temples at Prambanam are known as Chandi Loro Jauggrang. These are considered the greatest Hindu monuments of Java.
Indic Influence is
South east Asia: Chandi Sukuh Hindu Temple dedicated to Bhima of Mahabharata in
Indonesia strikes a disquieting alien chord with its flat topped step pyramid
and its Mayan calendar carvings.
In general layout, the
temple conforms to the plan of most other Hindu temples. There are three
precincts, consisting of three concentric terraces. However, where most temples
would have a large square shrine, Chandi Sukuh has a pyramid reminiscent of
Mayan structures from Central America .
The religious
structures in Java are commonly called Chandis, a term which originally meant a
commemorative building
The worship of Rishi Agastya, the sage responsible for the diffusion of Hindu
culture in Java, the frequent occurrence of Ganesha images, the organization of
rural economy and village administration, the shadow and puppet plays and Vedic
hymns and rituals of Bali, all point to the extension of Indian religious and cultural
influences of these islands. A statue
of Agastya is found at Candi Banon - early 9th century Batavia)(source: The Indians And The Amerindians - By Dr. B. Chakravarti. Self-Employment Bureau Publication Calcutta p. 32)
Prambanan - slender and ethereal Hindu temples
Built in the 10th century, this is the largest Shiva compound in Indonesia. Rising above the center of the last of these concentric squares are three temples decorated in relief illustrating the epic of the Ramayana, dedicated to the three great Hindu divinities (Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu) and three temples dedicated to the animals who serve them. The Prambanan temple, which was dedicated to Lord Shiva, was started in 856 AD and completed in 900 AD by King Daksa. Earlier Shiva temples were built in 675 AD on the Dieng mountain range, southwest of Medang Kamolan, the capital of the Mataram Kingdom.
Dr. Ananda Coomarswamy, late curator at the Boston Museum, was of the opinion that
"the Prambanam reliefs are, if anything, superior to those of Borobudur and certainly more dramatically conceived. "
Of the sculptures in Prambanum, Sir Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) the British Governor of Java and author of History of Java says:
"In the whole course of my life I have never met with such stupendous and finished specimens of human labor, and of the science and taste of ages long since forgot, crowded together in small a compass as in this little spot."
(source: History of Java. volume II p. 15).
Ancient Hindu Temples Unearthed in Perfect Condition in Indonesia
Researchers from the government’s Archaeological Office in Yogyakarta , excavated for 35 days and eventually unearthed two 1,100-year-old small temples. “The temples are not so big, but they have features that we haven’t found in Indonesia before." Historians believe that Hinduism spread in Java in the fifth century, followed three centuries later by Buddhism. Kingdoms hewing to both Hindu and Buddhist beliefs flourished in Java before Islam in the 15th century. But Islam itself incorporated beliefs and ceremonies from the other two religions. Just as some unearthed temples in east Java have a Hindu upper half and a Buddhist lower half, some early mosques had roofs in the shape of Hindu temples, said Timbul Haryono, a professor of archaeology at Gadjah Mada University here and an expert on Hinduism in Southeast Asia. Early mosques faced not in Mecca ’s direction, but west or east in the manner of Hindu temples.(source: Ancient Hindu Temples Unearthed in Perfect Condition in Indonesia - Hinduism today.com).
The Indonesian
Ramayana
The archaeological evidence of the Rama story in Indonesia
dates back to the ninth century AD, the period of the Sri Vijaya Empire. It consists of the bas-reliefs at Prambanan in Central Java. These
bas-reliefs, considered to be the most splendid depiction of the Rama story in
sculpture, do not follow the Valmiki Ramayana. Other reliefs, dating back to
the Majapahit period (13th
and 14th centuries AD) are at Panataran in East Java. These reliefs
have greater affinity with the Valmiki story.
Indonesia thus presents evidence of both the Valmiki and
non-Valmiki versions of the Rama story. The various written versions in
Indonesia are the Kakawin Ramayana, the Serat Ram, the Javanese Uttarakanda,
the Carit Ramayana the Serat Kanda, and the Rama King.
The Kakawin
Ramayana of Yogisvara is considered to be the oldest written version of
Rama story in Indonesia. It is placed between the 10th and 13th
centuries AD. The story, with some variations, follows the traditional version
given by Valmiki. Its source, however, is considered to be the Bhaatikavya, a
Sanskrit work on the Rama story written in Kashmir in the 5th century
AD. The Kakawin, like the Bhattikavya, does not contain the Uttarkanda (the
last book of the Valmiki Ramayana), nor does it give a detailed account of the
Balakanda. This suggests that the Kakawin is based on a version of the Rama
story which existed before the First and Last Books of Valmiki were added.
The Serat Ram and the Carit Ramayana are the modern
adaptations of the Kakawin. The Javanese Uttarkanda is a separate work
describing the genealogy of Raksasas (demons) and monkeys. The Uttarakanda,
although it exists as a separate work, complete the Kakawin Ramayana, which
ends only with the Yudhakanda (The Book on War). These works, along with the
Kalawin, constitute one of the groups of Ramayana which, with slight
variations, follow the Valmiki story.
In the beginning of the Yuddhakanda (the Book of War), the
author disgresses from the main story and begins to relate the life of the
Pandavas, the characters of the Mahabharata. He then resumes the Rama story. An
interesting observation in Indonesia is that while the oldest written version
is the Kakawin, the oldest bas-reliefs at Prambanan do not agree with the
Kakawin story, which follows the Valmiki
Ramayana.
(source: Hinduism
in Thai Life - By Santosh N Desai p 102 – 105).
The "Wayang kulit" of Java is
performed with leather puppets held by the puppeteer, who narates the story of
one of the famous episodes of the Hindu epics, the Mahabharata or the Ramayana.
The Indonesian flag, being of two colors, bears the Sanskrit name
Dwivarna. The famous dance dramas of Java and Bali are derived from Hindu
stories and often feature fragments from the Ramayana and Mahabharata Hindu epics.'Not very far from Borobudur, writes Dr. Raghuvira 'is the complex Prambanam, the like of which is known neither to India nor to any other neighboring or distant land...Here are the life-cycles of Lord Krsna known as Krsnayana parallel to the Ramayana, the powerful dragon being torn asunder by the superb arms of the Divine Krsna. In another place is the scene of Kumbhakarna being awakened by conches and screeches of elephants, a portrayal of the highest order....
(source: Proof of Vedic Culture's Global Existence - By Stephen Knapp p. 230).
Rabindranath Tagore has said about the culture of Indonesia: ' I see India all around me.' And in Indonesia, such words as 'sea' and 'ship' are recognizable for their Tamil roots.'
Lara Jonggrang Temple - commonly called the Prambanan Temple
"The great temple of Shiva at Lara Jonggrang is chiefly famous for its relief's which narrate before our eyes the whole story of the Ramayana. We need only mention a few particularly fine scenes from the principal series: that of Dasaratha saluting Visvamitra, with the noble, majestic figures of the old King; Rama drawing the bow of Shiva and thus winning the hand of the fair Sita - the first of the scenes in which we see the hero in the elegant attitude of an archer, together with a Sita whose slender, undulating form reminds us of the daughters of Mara at Borobudur.."
(source: Civilizations of the East - By Rene Grousset Vol. II, Chapter - Farther India and the Malay Archipelago p. 294).
Gedong Songo
The monuments of Gedong Songo display greater unity and with the ex-ception of the later Group I, must have been built in one period between 750 and 775 AD. Although the architectural compositions are similar to Dieng, the site plans of the groups are quite varied, and later exerted an influence on monuments of a much larger scale. Group III includes three main shrines oriented toward the west, dedicated to the three gods of the Trimurti: in the centre Siva, on the north Vishnu, on the south Brahma. In front of the Siva sanctuary a small building sheltered the vehicle of Siva, the bull Nandin. This latter edifice (right) is particularly interesting because it shows that a manual was used in its design. Because the proportions of this edifice were designed for a larger structure, the entrance would have been only one metre high. To avoid this inconvenience, the architect lowered the base of the opening so that it cut through the mouldings of the temple foot. This detail shows how, despite variations and alterations, the architects wished to conform to Indian texts which governed architecture.
Candi (temple) Badut - Dating from the late eighth century, Badut was constucted at the time when the Sailendra kings ruled in central Java. The Dinoyo inscription, which is written in Sanskrit, records the construction of a temple dedicated to Agastya by the son of a king named Devasingha ruling a kingdom called Kanjuru-han.
Siva linga in Candi Badut, the oldest known temple in east Java.
Candi (temple) Arjuna
This temple forms part of the largest remaining architectural complex on the Dieng Plateau. The interior houses a Siva lingga and yoni. The shrine is equipped with a makara-headed spout which was meant to channel the fluids used to lustrate the linga from inside the shrine to the outside. In this way, commoners who were not allowed into the shrine's interior could still benefit from the ceremonies held inside by collecting the water which flowed from this conduit, believed to be full of supernatural fertility and other qualities. This feature is common in Indian temples but in Indonesia only Candi Arjuna possesses such a sutasoma. This suggests that Candi Arjuna may be the oldest surviving building in Java, and perhaps even in all of Southeast Asia. The structure is relatively complete except for the pinnacle which has vanished.
(source: Indonesian Heritage).
Arnold Hermann Ludwig Heeran (1760-1842) wrote: "The colonization of the eastern coast of Java by Brahmins is "a fact well established by Sir Stamford Raffles."
(source: Historical Researches - By Arnold Hermann Ludwig Heeran Vol II p. 303 and Hindu Superiority - By Har Bilas Sarda p. 183).
From the Indian soil where he originated, prince Rama "traveled" across the oceans for 20 centuries, and made his way into the heart and mind of Indonesians. His life story, as recorded in Ramayana by Indian poet Valmiki around the seventh century BC, has undergone many transformations over the years. But one thing that persists throughout the recurrent transformation in Java and Bali is the perception of human values inherent in Ramayana's characters and, most importantly, its philosophical concept that governs human relationships that are but universal ideals. The transformation -- as a result of the cross-cultural exchange between India and Indonesia through trade dating back as early as the beginning of the first millennium AD -- and the many faces of Rama that were reconstructed by ancient Indonesian poets and scholars,
(source: Unveiling Rama in Indonesia - By Ivy Susanti - jakaratapost.com).
For more information on Java refer to chapters on Ethereal Prambanan and Glimpses XII.
The geographical position of Sumatra marks it out as pre-eminently the earliest Hindu settlement in Indonesia. At the earliest Hindu kingdom in Sumatara was Sri-Vijaya (Palembang). It was founded in or before the fourth century A.D. It rose to great eminence towards the close of the seventh century A.D. By that time, it had conquered another Hindu kingdom of Malaya and established its supremacy over the island of Banka. ITsing, the Chinese traveler, tells us that trading ships sailed between India and Sumatra. The city of Sri Vijaya was the chief center of trade with China. There was regular navigation between it and Kwan-Tung.
The empire was also a sea Power based on trade. Hence you find that it had ports wherever it could get the smallest footing. Indeed a remarkable feature of the settlements of the Sumatrian State was their strategic value - that is to say, they were carefully located at places where they could command the surrounding seas. Often they were in pairs to help each other in maintaining this command. Thus, Singapore, which is a great city now, was originally a settlement of the Sumatran colonists. The name, as you will notice, is a typical Indian name: Singhpur. The Sumatran people had another settlement just opposite the Straits, facing Singhpur. Sometimes they would stretch an iron chain right across the Strait and so stop all ships from passing till they paid heavy tolls.
At the beginning of the eleventh century the Chinese Emperor sent a gift of a number of bronze bells to the Sumatran King. In return the latter sent pearls and ivory and Sanskrit books. There was also a letter inscribed on a golden plate in "Indian characters." it is said.
(source: Glimpses of World History - By Jawaharlal Nehru p. 135).
Heine-Geldern has described the influence of South India on Sumatra.
He has said that: "We can safely assert that Sumatra has not only once been colonized by Hindus, but that, owing to more than a thousand years of close connection, it became an integral part of the Greater Indian cultural area."
Borneo or Varunadvipa
The earliest evidence of Hindu colonies of Borneo is furnished by inscriptions which have been referred on paleographic grounds to about 400 A.D. These inscriptions refer to king Mula-varman, son of Asva-varman and grandson of king Kundunga. Mula-varman performed a sacrifice known as Vahusu-varmakam and gave 20,000 cows to the Brahmins. A number of Hindu and Buddhist images have been found in Kombeng.
This explains why this period in history is called the Period of Hindu Kingdoms. It lasted from ancient times to the 16th Century AD. Because the culture and civilization, which emanated from the Hindu and Buddhist religions, were syncretized with the local cultural elements, the period was also referred to as the Hindu-Indonesian period. Indian culture and customs were introduced, such as the system of government in a monarchy, the ancestry system, the organization of military troops, literature, music and dances, architecture, religious practices and rituals, and even the division of laborers into castes or varnas. The Hindu literary works known as Vedas and the "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana" epics were also introduced through the wayang, or shadow-play performance, which is still very popular in many parts of present day Indonesia. The first indian migrants came primarily from Gujarat in Southeast India during the first Christian era.
The Caka period in Indonesia witnessed the introduction of the Sanskrit language and the Pallawa script by the Indian Prince Aji Caka (78 AD). The Devanagari script of the sanskrit language was also used, as shown in ancient stone and copper inscriptions (paracasthies) which have been unearthed. The language and script were adopted and called the Kawi language and included words and phrases derived from Javanese.Early trade relations were established between South India and Indonesia. Sumatra was then named Swarna Dwipa of "the island of gold, " Java was called Java Dwipa or "the Rice island," and a Hindu kingdom of Crivijaya in Sumatra and Nalanda in South India were not comfirmed to religious and cultural exchanges. They later developed diplomatic relations, and even covered a wide range of trade.
The influx of Indian settlers continued during the period from the first to the seventh century AD. Peacefully and gradually the Hindu religion spread throughout the archipelago. It was adopted by all layers of the people of Java, but limited to the upper classes on the other islands. (source: http://www.indonesia-ottawa.org/indonesia/general/history.html#hindu)
The sultan of Brunei (in Borneo) bore the title of Seri Bhagwan meaning Shree Bhagwan (Lord Almighty). Sarawak, a part of Borneo happened to lose its suzerainty to the British. Yet the white English ruler of Sarawak too was known as the Rajah.
Bali or Balidvipa
Bali has been justly called the island of thousands of temples. Despite the loss of about 2500 temples due to earthquake, it stil
mountain Gunung Agung, and associated with the Hindu Trinity. It is said to have been founded by Warmadeva Keshari (Wira Dalem Kesari). The island of Bali possesses the unique distinction of being the only Hindu colony in the Far East which still retains its old culture and civilization to a considerable extent. Islam has failed to penetrate into this island. The people are still proud of their Hindu connection. Vishnu, Shiva, Indra, Ganesh, Nandi, Krishna and the heroes of the Mahabharata are still known. The Vedas, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana are found there although not in Sanskrit but in Kawi. The people call their deities as Devas. We have the temples of Durga and the images of Durga and Kaliki. The bodies of the dead are still burnt.
Sir Stamford Raffles while describing the small island of Bali, situated towards the east of Java says: "Here, together with the Brahminical religion, is still preserved the ancient form of Hindu municipal polity."
(source: Hindu Superiority - By Har Bilas Sarda p. 184).
Sailing down the seas of history
Charting the coastline from Mumbai to the very end of Gujarat, where India ends and Pakistan begins, the 1,000 nautical mile voyage that will end on February 11 is in preparation for another, more ambitious voyage. The sailors, calling themselves the Maritime Exploration and Research Group, is getting ready to follow the path of ancient Indian mariners from south India all the way to Indonesia.
Inspired by the Chola kings of the 11th century, who discovered the present-day Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Bali, the group is preparing to replicate the feat using traditional instruments and a boat resembling the vessels of yore.
Called the Simulation of Chola Navigation Techniques, the forthcoming expedition will attempt to cover the distance between Nagapatnam in southern India and the Indonesian islands."The expedition will aim to show that our ancient seafarers were in no way inferior to their Western counterparts," said B. Arunachalam, a researcher who is the moving spirit behind the expedition. The expedition has cost the team members nearly Rs.100,000 but they have received substantial assistance from the Indian Navy.
(source: Sailing down the seas of history - newindpress.com). For more refer to Hindu Indonesia.com).
Hindu Presence in Indonesia
Indian culture, often in its pristine form, makes an
appearance whichever way one turns in this sprawling archipelago. The national language, Bahasa Indonesia, is
replete with Sanskrit words. So are names of people: Nirmala, Apsara,
Rati, Dewi and so on. The given name of
bdurrahman Wahid's wife is Sinta, which is Indonesian for Sita. And the
Vice-President is, of course, named Megawati
Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's first President,
Sukarno.
At a traffic roundabout on one of the busiest arteries of
the city stands a monumental sculpture facing the central bank on one side and
the national monument on the other. It
depicts Krishna and Arjuna in a chariot drawn by several horses. The sheer size
and magnificence of this famous scene from the Mahabharata has no parallel in
India.
The mottos inscribed on government buildings are equally
revealing. When you drive past the defence ministry -- called the Yuddha Graha -- you come across the
following inscription engraved in marble on the archway: Chatur Dharma, Eka Karma. Further down
the road is the ministry of sports known as the Krida Bhakti. The
government has also named its national airlines after Garunda Airways.
An image of Lord
Ganesha is printed on high denominational currency notes. Ganesha statues are seen everywhere, including a
magnificent one at the entrance of the presidential palace. Statues of dwarpalakas are to be found
in front of both public and private buildings. The exhibits in the national
museum are almost entirely Hindu or Buddhist: Shiva and Parvati, Vishnu, Durga,
Vigneshwara, Brahma Deva...
(source: Hindu presence in Indonesia - media watch.org).The royalty and aristocracy of South East Asian ruling kingdom too favored the flamboyant gold shot woven cottons and silks of India, the gossammar thin muslin, the intricate weaves and motifs which embellished textiles. The genesis of the lasting impact on South East Asia of Indian culture perhaps lies in the "Greater India" Hindu kingdoms of Khamboja, Champa, Annam Srivijaya and Madajahit, which flourished in (modern day) Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines and lasted from Second Century A.D. to the 15th Century.
The textiles of Indonesia have, across time, also incorporated and integrated Hindu's symbols such as the Garuda, the naga, the lotus, the elephant, the "mandala diagrams" and so on. In fact, the country's textiles — from apparel to ritualistic hanging, ship cloth and sacred religious cloth — demonstrate the remarkable exchange of ideas, materials, designs and images resulting from Indonesia's Indian trade links.
(source: Textiles as History - By Pushpa Chari - hindu.com). For more refer to chapter on Glimpses XII to Glimpses X
Burma or Indra Dvipa
Burma was known as Indra-Dvipa. Hindu settlements began to be established in Burma before the first century A.D.
It is contended that this relationship can be traced back to the time of the Buddha. Hindu settlements were set up in Arakan, Tagaung, Srikshetra, Thaton and Pegu at a very early period. Literary and archaeological evidence shows that the entire culture and civilization of Burma was borrowed from India and not from China. Ptolemy, the geographer, tells us that in the 2nd century A.D. many places in Burma had Sanskrit names. Indian religions flourished in Burma. Many religious structures having the images of Indian gods and goddesses have also been found from Burma.
Burmese history had been buried for a century or more as part of "Farther India."
The Burmese who are most Hinduised are the Mons. Some of their places have Pali names. The Mon kingdom in the 6th century A.D. was known as Dvaravati. The rulers of this kingdom had mostly Indian names. The Mon settlements of the Hindus were known as Ramanna-desa.
(Note: Considered the national epic of Myanmar, the Yama Zatdaw, an adaptation of Ramayana, has been influenced greatly by Thai, Mon, and Indian versions of the play. The Burmese name for the story itself is Yamayana, while zatdaw refers to the acted play.
The Yama Zatdaw was introduced by oral tradition during King Anawratha's reign. It was influenced greatly by Ayutthaya Kingdom, during which various Konbaung Dynasty kings invaded the kingdom. The invasions often brought back spoils of war, including elements of Ramakien (Thai version of Ramayana) into the epic. The characters of Yama Zatdaw share the same features and characteristics as those in the original story. However, in acting, the costumes are a mixture of Bamar and Thai elements. The names of the characters, in general, are Burmese transliterations of the Sanskrit names. Rama is known as Yama; Sita is known as Thida; Ravana is known as Dat-thigiri).
Ramayana and Mahabharata the two ancient Sanskrit epics of India exerted a profound impact upon the cultures of South East Asia and have played no small role in the Indianisation of the major portion of that region. Out of ASEAN TEN at least seven nations Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia have received the influence of Hindu culture since the early days of Indian colonisation.
(source: Ramayana in Myanmar).
The Pali literature of Burma on law is based on the Dharamsastras of Manu, Narada and Yajnavalkya. The art of Burma was also influenced by the Indian art.
In Burma, the finest temple is the Ananda at Pagan. It occupies the center of a spacious courtyard which is 564 ft square. There is no doubt of its derivation from Indian type. Temples of the same type existed in Bengal and most probably suggested the model of the Ananda temple.
Charles Duroiselle, pioneer of Burmese Studies in France, who composed the Epigraphia Birmanica, says on the Ananda temple:
" There can be no doubt that the architects who planned and built the Ananda temple were Indians. Everything in this temple from Sikhara to the basement as well as the numerous stone sculptures found in its corridors and the terra-cotta...adoring its basement and terraces, bear the indubitable stamp of Indian genius and craftsmanship...In this sense, we may take it, therefore, that the Ananda, though built in the Burmese capital, is an Indian temple."
(source: Ancient India - By R. C. Majumdar p. 497).
Michael Symes author of An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava in the Year 1795 p. 326 says: "The Burmans, we are told, call their Code generally, Dharmasath or Shastra; it is one among the many commentaries of Manu. Mr. Syme speaks in glowing terms of the Code."
(source: Hindu Superiority - By Har Bilas Sarda p. 180-181).
The names of its rivers are Sanskrit names - Irrawati, Brahmaputra and Chindwin. Her head of state is also known as Adipadi, which is the Sanskrit Adhaipati, referring to the chief executive.
Indian-Hindu influences must certainly have been the strongest if not the earliest influence upon that countryside. The Sarabha Gate, still standing, is commonly associated with 9th century King Pyinbya. It is the frontispiece to what will become Pagan a century and half later. It is Hindu in design and structure. This great out reach of Indian-Hindu style is also evident in some 9th century ruins surrounding Angkor Wat. This Hindu push through India, Burma, Thailand, Indochina and Indonesia must have been an extraordinary one, certainly equal to the Graeco-Roman thrust on the Mediterranean cultures. It left behind an indelible imprint upon the civilizations of those two peninsulas of Asia stretching deep into the Indian Ocean. The mark of its art, architecture, and its religion are still to be found in these Buddhist and Moslem countries.
Horace Hayman Wilson who used to be professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, says:
"The civilizations of the Burmese and the Tibetans is derived from India."
(source: Hindu Superiority - By Har Bilas Sarda p. 180).
Sri Lanka or Lankadvipa
Sri Lanka, Sinhala, or Ceylon, which is India's closest neighbor to the south, was possibly the first country in southern Asia to feel the impact of Indian immigration.
The Hindu epic, Ramayana, narrates the story in which Rama's conflict with Ravana, the king of Lanka, is the central theme. Although the history of ancient Sri Lanka is largely a complex of legends, it is undoubted that the early settlers of Lanka came from India. The Aryan migrants, members of the Sinhalas or the Lion Tribe, named their new home Sinhaladvipa, from which has derived its later variations: the Portuguese Ceilao or Zeylan, or the English Ceylon. The coming of the Aryans is represented in the Mahavamsa by the story of Prince Vijaysimha who came from northern India in the sixth century B.C. Close ties were established during the reign of Asoka, with the introduction of Buddhism. In Buddhist shrines,
Hindu deities occupy honored places. Vishnu is particularly popular in Sinhalese Buddhist temples, for he is not considered a rival of the Buddha but the protector of Sri Lanka. Hindu temples were also built, for example, the Shiva temple at Polonnaruva dating probably from the 11th century resembles the South Indian Chola buildings.
Thailand - Siam
According to S. Poolthupya from the Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand:
"In the Thai version or Ramayana called the Ramakien, brotherly love can be considered one of the main themes. One can see clearly which kind of brotherly love is worthy when one reads the Ramakien, a Thai work of great literary value. The Ramakien shares the universal idea of brotherly love as expressed in the original Ramayana from India."
(source: Indian Epic Values: Ramayana and Its Impact - By G. Pollet p. 215-219)
Hindu civilization spread to Siam in early times from about 2nd century A.D. The Hindus set up many colonies in Siam and the most important of them was Dvaravati which ruled from Cambodia to the Bay of Bengal up to the 10th century A.D. when it was overthrown by the Kaundinya kingdom. Numerous excavations have yielded extensive evidence of Indianization and some remarkable piece of art. Because Siam increasingly assimilated Indian art and culture into a local pattern, relics of pure Indian descent are more ancient than those reflecting local influences. One of the most remarkable sites in the center of Siam, is Srideb (Crip-teb), where statues of Hindu deities bearing Sanskrit inscriptions of the 5th and 6th century have been discovered. The ast of Srideb is of excellent quality and provides a link between Indian art and the art of Southeast Asia. Dr. Quartich Wales considered Srideb the oldest known Hindu temple in Southeast Asia.
Although Thailand is today predominantly Buddhist, there are traces of Hindu influence, visible mostly in the court ceremonials. Until recently, the court Brahmins cast horoscopes, consulted omens, and performed worship of both Hindu and Buddhist deities. Ceremonies of coronation, tonsure, cremation, and lesser rites connected with agriculture were developed by the Brahmins. The Siamese call their coronation by its ancient Sanskrit designation, the rajabhiseka. The entire complex of coronation ceremonies, such as homa (sacrifice of Fire), purificatory rites, ablutions, anointment, are closely modelled on Hindu rituals, and are presided over by the Brah Maha Raja Guru. The tonsure ceremony in Siam is a rite of initiation of youths, corresponding to the Hindu Cudakarma Mangala, which is very important Hindu Samskara. Cremation, an old vedic rite, is the only means of disposal of the remains of deceased royalty in Siam.
Even today, the kings of Thailand bear the royal title is Rama, a Hindu avatar, and the story of Ramayana is depicted on the palace and temple walls of Bangkok. Hindu festivals such as Dashahara, commemorating the victory of Rama over the demon king Ravana, are still observed in Thailand. The Thais, like the Hindus, still believe in Vishnu or Naryana (Phra Narain), and Mahadeva or Siva, and dislike the asuras (asuns) as the enemies of the devas.
Famous Indian works, such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and the Shakuntala have formed the basis of some of the outstanding Siamese literature. The Ramayana, known in Siam as the Ramakien "Ram - Akhyan" where Akhya is a Sanskrit word meaning "rendition of the story of". It is regarded as Siamese classic. Knowledge of this work is as essential for a cultured Siamese as Homer used to be for an European. The epic and Puranic literature of India constituted the principal source of inspiration not only for Siam but for the whole of Southeast Asia. It provided the themes for classical theatre, shadow theatre, and marionette shows.
Indian influence is
clearly seen on Siamese dance, drama, and music. Many of the themes of Siam's
various dance-dramas (lakhon-ram) are drawn from Indian stories: for example, the story of Savitri and Satyavan.
Many Thai musical instruments closely resemble those of India. The Siamese
legal system is directly descended from the Manusmriti. The Hindu Dharmasastras, provided the framework
for Siamese justice.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
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and also gratitude to Ms. Sushma Londhe ji for her
noble, magnanimous and eminent works on the peerless Wisdom
of our Sacred Scriptures)
(My
humble salutations to , H H Swamyjis, Hindu Wisdom, great Universal
Philosophers, Historians, Professors and Devotees for the
discovering collection)
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