Thursday 24 December 2015

GOBEKLI TEPE, TURKEY AND VEDIC MERU

The excavations have only begun on the 25 acre megalithic site of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey. In a predictable routine matter mainstream archaeologists originally presented the view that Gobekli Tepe was either a religious centre or a burial site, though that view has changed over the years.

Megalithic slab with animal carvings
Gobekli Tepe


Alternative archaeologists state that the size of the structures, the precisely arranged rocky megalithic T-shaped slabs which are aligned to specific celestial positions placed in several circular enclosures here tell an entirely and an amazingly different story.

Alternate archaeologists have stated that the site at Gobekli Tepe is most definitely related to the position of star constellations in the skies at the time when the site was being constructed. Some say that it records in stone the catastrophic events that have repeatedly destroyed civilizations in the past. The animal carvings on the T-shaped megalithic slabs at Gobekli Tepe, just as at Nazca, represent the cosmos and constellations. Constellations even today as in the past are named after animals and birds - such as Scorpius (Scorpio) or the Cygnus (Swan).

In this context it is surprising that the name Gobekli Tepe is almost always translated as 'Potbellied Hill' from the Turkish language with no further research. The word 'gobek' is 'belly' in Turkish. Tepe means mound but Gobekli was not a hilly mound when it was constructed. The structure it is said was intentionally covered with mud later which gave it the shape of a mound. The actual name of the site which is dated to 10000 BC is of course lost but if by some quirk of fate the remnants of its original name are retained in the words 'gobekli tepe' then one might look at some other ways to explain the etymology of the name 'gobekli tepe' in Turkish, and arrive at explanations that do greater justice to the name of this site.

The word 'tepe' translates as 'hill' from Turkish. But the word 'tapinma' translates as worship. This seems to be a cognate of the Sanskrit 'tapa' which means 'worship', 'asceticism' or 'hard work' , 'meditation' and 'penance'. In the Vedic context 'tapa' signifies 'religious austerity, asceticism and penance'. It also means 'meditate' or 'study with devotion'.

The word 'tepe' also has the meaning 'mound' in Sanskrit which appears in its more familiar form as 'stuup' (स्तूप्). With time the word 'stuup' got associated with the stupas - the blunt, mound shaped Buddhist shrines. In Turkish the word for 'temple' is 'tapinak' - certainly derived from the Sanskrit 'tapa'. The same word also appears in other parts of the world.

Says researcher Gene Matlock, "The ancient Indians and the Nahuatl speaking tribes in the Americas shared the same word for 'Hill or Mountain' - the Sanskrit "Tapa (तप्) and the Nahuatl, Tepetl or Tepec". 
The ascetics usually spent time in mountains and wilderness and hence the word associated with mountains often have links to words that mean asceticism. 

The word Gobekli is a little harder to explain. Gobek means potbellied and it certainly does nothing to explain the name of the site. Unless one looks at some other Turkish cognates, words such as 'gok', 'gokada' and 'gezegen' which mean 'sky', 'galaxy' and 'observe' respectively. 'Goc' is ‘migration’ or ‘roaming’. It seems here therefore that the sound 'go' as used has to do with the 'sky', the 'universe' and 'movement'. 


Go' in Sanskrit means 'Sun', 'Moon' or ' Stars'
'Tepe' means Study or Meditation.
Gobekli Tepe might have been an Observatory.


This is true of Sanskrit too. 'Go' (गो), for example, means 'sun', 'stars', 'ray of the sun', 'moon', 'earth' and 'thunderbolt'. 'Go' (गो) of course also means 'cow', 'cattle', 'ox' or 'cowherd' and the ‘sun sign Taurus'. ‘Go’ is also related to Goddess Saraswati who is linked to the Cygnus constellation. And 'go' (गो) also means 'migration' or 'transit' or 'to roam'. As per its Sanskrit and Turkish meanings, it is obvious that the name 'Gobekli Tepe' links the site to the skies and the movement of the celestial bodies.

But the word that certainly explains all of these names is the older name of the site which is 'Portasar'. Portasar translates from Greek and Armenian as 'Navel Mountain'. That reveals everything. We know that the site has to do with the 'cosmic mountain' of the world which is also defined as 'the axis of the earth', or the navel of the world. This is certainly a reference to which the Vedic Meru. 

Mount Meru, also known as Sineru in Hindu and Jain texts, is a golden cosmic mountain that stands in the centre of the universe and is the axis of the world. The Sanskrit word for 'axis' or 'spine' is also meru. The axis has two ends, known as the 'sumeru' and the 'kumeru'.

Meru is also the abode of gods, and its foothills are the Himalayas, which translates as 'the abode of snow'.  In various parts of the world we find the word Meru appear in various forms and is almost always connected with the name of a prominent and sacred mountain peak. Examples include, Mt. Hermon which was historically known as Mt. Sinieru with its meaning equated with 'mountain of snow'. There is the Mt. Moriah mentioned in the Book of Genesis where the binding of Issac to an altar by Abraham takes place.

In Vedic descriptions, the roof tower crowning a Hindu temple called the 'shikhara' represents the cosmic Meru. We see the Sanskrit 'shikhara' distort and appear as Ziggurat in the Sumerian, Akkadian, Elamite and Babylonian texts.


All of these names and concepts seem to come together at Gobekli Tepe. Dr. B. G. Sidharth, Director General of the B.M. Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad states in one of his research papers, that at Gobekli Tepe and Nevali Cori (another archaeological site in Turkey) there is archaeological evidence of what is stated in the Vedas. He says, "....there are several pillars and structures with all the astronomical motifs that could be found in the Rig Veda and indicative of a high degree of artistry. Most importantly, the latitude of this place is the same 37 degrees North alluded to earlier. Undoubtedly both these structures represented perhaps the oldest astronomical observation Centre in history". 

The design of the pillars and other structures is a reflection of the cosmos at the time the structures were built. It has been suggested that the builders of Gobekli Tepe were aware of precession. The structures correspond to the Orion-Taurus-Pleiades constellations which were visible before dawn on vernal equinoxes from the direction of the T-shape pillars at the centre of each enclosure. Gobekli Tepe and two other ancient sites Karahan Tepe and Nevali Cori are all located at around 37 degrees north.

At Gobekli Tepe, he adds, ".. in enclosure D there are 12 obelisks or pillars, one for each month. These pillars show the figure of a fox or wolf (Vrika)". The Vrika is a symbol of the moon. The Sanskrit Vrika (वृक्) has the meanings both of 'fox' or 'wolf' and 'moon'.

To elaborate this point Dr Sidharth quotes the Rig Vedic Hymn 1.105.18. which goes as follows:

अरुणो मा सक्र्द वर्कः पथा यन्तं ददर्श हि |
उज्जिहीते निचाय्या तष्टेव पर्ष्ट्यामयी वित्तं मे अस्य रोदसी ||

aruNo mA sakradvRkah patha yantaM dadarsha hi
uj jihIte nicAyya taSTeva prSTyAmayI vittam me asya rodasi

This verse is commonly translated as : 'A ruddy wolf beheld me once, as I was faring on my path. He, like a carpenter whose back is aching crouched and slunk away. Mark this, my woe, ye Earth and Heaven'.

The word 'vRkah' is translated as 'wolf'. But, if one were to refer to a Sanskrit dictionary, we find that the word 'vRkah' has the meaning of wolf and moon both. Sidharth clarifies further. He quotes the scholar Yaska of Nirkuta fame. Yaska had defined the property of the word 'vRkah' saying that it indicates an object whose 'light increases and decreases'. That is a property of the object moon.

Sidharth splits the next two words as 'masa krita' or 'creator of months' and the meaning of the verse changes to, "Moon, the creator of the months, passes through the houses (asterisms)".

He also says that the motifs on the pillars can be understood on the basis of the symbols of Rig Vedic Astronomy. In the Rig Vedic Culture animals were assigned as symbols to star constellations. At Nevali Cori, a sculpture of a human head, clean shaven with a Vedic shikha much like Hindu priests of antiquity and present day has lead to speculation that these sites were centres of Vedic learning.

Sculpture of clean-shaven human head with
Vedic shikha or ponytail
excavated at Nevali Cori, Turkey,

It is therefore very likely that 'Gobekli Tepe' was an observatory as well as that its structures were a representation of the Cosmic Meru. It certainly was not  a mound where the shepherds grazed their cattle and buried their dead. Infact ,it is in the modern era that Gobekli Tepe was being used for grazing cattle until excavations began on the site.

Suggested Links:
1. For a detailed discussion on the Etymology of the word 'Tepe', Click Here.
2. Was Gobekli Tepe an Observatory? Here's why! Gobekli Tepe Constellations
3. Why Study Sanskrit? Click Here
4. Gobekli Tepe and Nevali Cori - Astronomy
2. Ancient Places in Asia: Nevali Cori

Thursday 3 December 2015

THE VEDIC LINK TO THE ANCIENT BALTIC RELIGION 'ROMUVA'

The ancient Balts, ancestors of present day Lithuanians, Letts and Prussians are believed to have settled between the eastern shores of Baltic Sea and the upper Volga in the 2nd millennium B.C. The Balts followed an ancient Pagan religion by the name Romuva.

First, the name 'Balt'. 'Balt' is said to derive from the name of the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea was known as Mare Suebicum or Mare Sarmaticum up until 11th century. Tacitus, a Roman historian of the 1st century, in his work 'Agricola and Germania', dated to 98 AD,  stated that Mare Suebicum was named for the Suebi or Suevi tribe (Suevi translates as 'our own people' in the Baltic culture) - a large group of people who lived in Germania that were first mentioned by Julius Caesar. Etymologists trace the name Suevi from the Indo-European root 'swe', which is the same as the Sanskrit 'sva' (स्व) meaning 'self'. 

Even when the Russians, Poles and others finally accepted Christianity about a 1000 years ago, the Balts retained their pagan religion called Romuva for another four centuries. The Romuvans were fire-worshippers and kept their sacred eternal fire burning in the pagan temple in Vilnius. People still worshipped Perkunas, the Romuvan 'god of rain & thunder', who it is said is none other than the Vedic Parjanya, another name for Lord Indra. Parjanya (पर्जन्य) also has the meaning of 'rain-cloud' in Sanskrit.

The Cathedral at Vilinus is
built on the site of the Pagan Temple dedicated to Perkunas
which it is said was the same as the Vedic Parjanya or Indra

Like the Vedic institutions, the Balts had their official sanctuaries on high hills and on riverbanks. The ancient Lithuanian religion professed the virtue of tolerance which was encapsulated in the famous 14th century proclamation of Gediminas, one of the last of the Romuvan priests, "Let everyone worship their own Gods in Lithuania".

The remains of a Pagan temple and a star observatory
in a place called Palanga on the Baltic Sea.

However the principal of tolerance did not serve the Romuvan Balts well. Their resistance against Christian aggression crumbled in 1387. The last of the Romuvan sacred fires was extinguished in Lithuania in 1413.

The Baltics today have little recollection of the source of the name of their religion called Romuva. The terms Romuva, Romovė and Ruomuva came from medieval written sources in East Prussia mentioning the pagan Baltic temple Romowe. Romuva has meanings of 'temple' and 'sanctuary', but, further, also 'abode of inner peace'. Interestingly, the Baltic root word 'ram', has the meaning of 'calm, serene, quiet', stemming from the Proto-Indo-European 'reme' which is the same as the Sanskrit 'ram' (रम्) meaning 'serene', or 'calm'. It of course the source of the name of Sri Rama. 


The supreme or leader of the Romuvan gods was known as 'Dievas', the name being derived from the Sanskrit 'deva'. The essence of Romuvan philosophy was the concept of 'dharna' - 'the peaceful order of the universe, which again is the equivalent of the Vedic 'dharma'. There even is a lesser god by the name 'Vejopatis' who is the Romuvan 'god of the wind', Vejopatis is obviously a distortion of the Sanskrit 'Vayupati' which has the same meaning.

The Romuvan prayers are composed of verses known as 'daina'. Says Professor Lokesh Chandra, a prominent scholar of the Vedic period, Buddhism and the Indian arts, " .... the Lithuanian word 'daina' that usually is translated as 'song'...actually comes from an Indo-European root, meaning ‘to think, to remember, to ponder over’. This root is found in Sanskrit as dhi and dhya. The word also occurs in the Rigveda in the sense of ‘speech reflecting the inner thoughts of man." The Sanskrit roots 'dhi' and 'dhya' are also the source of the word 'dhyan'.

Sanskrit names are interspersed in the ancient river and mountain names of Lithuania. The longest river is Nemunas, the name is a distortion of the sanskrit Yamuna. The second longest in Lithuania is Neris, 'nira' is 'water' in Sanskrit. 


Old and new town names in Lithunia reveal their direct and indirect links to Vedic culture and the Sanskrit language. An ancient town which was referred to as Mitau up until 1917 was given the name Jelgava, which the Lithuanian believe to be derived from the Livonian word 'jalgab' meaning "town on the river." But 'Jalgram is Sanskrit for 'town on the river' - 'jalgab' is obviously its distortion. Then there are the towns by the name Trikai, Kursenai, Radhikiai and Varena.  Much like the Vedic culture, the Romuvan festivals include the celebration of the winter and summer solstices.


Suggested Links:

1.Lithuanian Folklore as a source of Baltic Religion
2. Revival of the ancient Baltic religion
3. Indian Influence on ancient Lithuania

Sunday 22 November 2015

A TINY NOTE ON THE ANCIENT SYSTEM OF MEMORIZING THE VEDIC TEXTS

It is common knowledge that the oral tradition of the Vedas (Srauta) consists of several pathas, that is ways of chanting the Vedic mantras. Eleven such ways of reciting the Vedas have survived - Samhita, Pada, Krama, Jata, Maalaa, Sikha, Rekha, Dhwaja, Danda, Rathaa, Ghana, of which Ghana is usually considered the most difficult.The students are first taught to memorize the Vedas using simpler methods like continuous recitation (samhita patha) before teaching them the eight complex recitation styles.

These methods of recitation were devised to maintain the correct pronunciation and intonation of each verse as well as the purity of the words itself. And with several different methods of memorizing the same verse, corruptions that would enter a verse can be corrected with ease thus maintaining the purity of the text. This system of memorizing the scriptures was considered superior to writing because memorizing the texts was the only way of passing on the correct pronunciation and intonation.


Here is an example of the Gayatri mantra recited in the Ghana formation where the original verse is converted into the following sequence.

1-2-2-1-1-2-3-3-2-1-1-2-3
2-3-3-2-2-3-4-4-3-2-2-3-4
3-4-4-3-3-4-5-5-4-3-3-4-5



"om thatsa vithusa vithusa that that savithur varenyamvarenyagum savithus that thatsa vithur varenyam !savithur varenyam varenyagum savithus savithur varenyambargo bargo varenyagum savithus savithur varenyam bargaha !varenyam bargo bargo varenyam varenyam bargo devasya devasyabargo varenyam varenyam bargo devasya !bargo devasya devasya bargo bargo devasya deemahi deemahidevasya bargo bargo devasya deemahi !devasya deemahi deemahi devasya devasya deemahi !deemahi thi deemahi !

dhiyo yo yo dhiyo dhiyo yo no no yo dhi yo dhi yo yo nahayo no no yo na prachodayathu prachodayathu no yo yo na prachodayathuna prachodayathu prachodayathu yo na prachodayathuprachodayathu ithi prachodayathuom buhu om buvaha om gum suvaha om mahahaom janaha om thapaha ogum sathyamom that sa vithur varenyam bargo devasya dheemahidhiyo yo naha prahothayathuomapo jothirasa amritham brhama boor buvasuar om"



Suggested Links:
1. No Textual Corruption in the Vedas

Thursday 5 November 2015

PURANIC GEOGRAPHY AND CETUMALA OF BELIZE PLUS A BIT ABOUT KURU AND BHADRSVA-VARSA

The Brahmanda Purana states that the worldly-lotus was born of the navel of Lord Vishnu. In the middle was located Mt. Meru. Round it were four large countries, Bhadrasva (भद्रस्व) to the east, Bharata (भारत) or Greater India, Cetumala (केतुमाल) to the west, Kuravas or Kuru (कुरु) to the north. These four regions, it says, cover the entire region of the earth.


The Worldly Lotus
as described in the Brahmand Purana

Cetumala or Ketumala, as per the Indian scriptures, was located to the western end of the world, in any case to the west of Mt. Meru which was located at the centre of the world. 

Interestingly, the name of the capital of an ancient Mayan state in Belize in Latin America was Chetumal. Chetumal is known to have been occupied from 2000 BC though it might have been inhabited earlier than that. This ancient site is located at present day Santa Rita. Though little structural evidence remains of ancient Chetumal, Santa Rita is indeed the site of some Mayan ruins. 


Pre-Classic era (2500 BC-200 AD) Ruins 
at Santa Rita built over an even more 
ancient site of Cetumal, Belize

Many Mayan sites, including Chetumal seem to have names of Sanskrit and Tamil origin. Chetu (चेतु) is a Sanskrit word that means 'heedfullness'  or 'consciousness'.  One of the meanings of  'Ketu' (केतु) too is 'intelligence' or 'discernment'. Chetumal has no known meaning in the Mayan languages, though Chactemal means Redwood, but it is highly unlikely that an ancient civilization was named after timber - especially when many centres of Maya civilization had names which have close cognates in Sanskrit such as Tikal (Trikaal), Tiwanaku (Devanaku) and Maitili (Mithila).


Kuru and Uttara Kuru of the Mahabharata and the Puranas have long been identified as north Russia and Siberia. Ancient Indian texts refer to Siberia as Uttara-Kuru. 'Uttara' means 'North', 'Kuru' is the name of the Indian tribe that had traveled north. 'Kara', the name of the Sea into which the Angara River falls, is most likely a distortion of the ancient Sanskrit name 'Kuru', though it is sometimes claimed to arise from the Turick 'kara' meaning 'black'. 

In his book 'Ancient Indian Province in Tibet, China and Mongolia: Identification of the Ancient Land of Bhadrāśva, author Shyam Narain Pande associates these three countries with Bhadrasva region of the Puranas. 

1. Ancient Indian Province of Bhadrasva by Shyam Narain Pande
2. Journal-of-the-American-Oriental-Society-1849-Volume-13

Tuesday 20 October 2015

ARTIFACTS FROM MEXICO. THE VEDIC LINK

In the Hindu scriptures the lotus represents eternity, purity and divinity. The lotus rises from the miry environment of the material world and passes into the heights of the spiritual realms leading to spiritual liberation and moksha. It is a symbol of purity, untouched by the slush and mud around it.

In the descriptions of the Vedic gods there are innumerable references to the lotus. Most gods are 'lotus eyed', their eyes are large and shaped like the petals of a 'blue lotus'. There are thousands of examples of this in the epics and the puranas. For example, in the Balakanda of Valmiki Ramayana in section 22, verse 4, Rama is said to possess 'rajeev lochanam', rajeev is 'lotus' - more specifically 'blue lotus'. Here is the verse:


"Then on seeing the lotus-eyed Rama following Vishvamitra the breeze became dustless and breezed pleasant for touch. [1-22-4]"


Vedic Gods are described as having
large eyes shaped like a lotus petal.

Lord Vishnu is also described as Lotus-eyed. He is known as 'Kamal-Nayanam'. Lord Shiva is 'Trilochana', 'Triyambaka' as well as 'Trinetra' all referring to his third-eye which emits flames and fire having the capacity to burn anything to ashes.

It is said that about 80 years ago, some ancient Mayan artefacts were found in central Mexico (the exact location has not been revealed). Because the artefacts depict what some say prove the fact that there was a higher species that established contact with earthlings, the Mexican government at that time decided to suppress the information. A couple of years back it was rumoured that Mexico would finally make an announcement to reveal the truth about the artefacts. But so far the Mexican government has not made any revelations and probably never will. 

Some photographs have made their way to the internet courtesy a couple of researchers. It is of interest that what is depicted in these artefacts bears a remarkable resemblance to the 'lotus eyed' Vedic gods. The artefacts also depict 'vimanas' and 'vanara' like creatures. Some have questioned the authenticity of the artefacts but their arguments seem more like attempts to debunk what is probably the truth. Have a look at the artefacts and decide for yourself:
















Though information about the dating of the artefacts mentioned above has not become public yet, the fact remains that many Vedic stories such as the 'churning of the ocean' have also been found earlier in other Mayan stone carvings and ancient objects. Sculpture depicting Vedic gods such as Hanuman, artifacts with yogic hand mudras, and Ganesha like idols have been found in Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Bolivia and other countries of Latin America. Here are a few:

A turtle carrying the cosmic world
on its back. Mural from temple at Copan, Honduras
'Churning of the Ocean' on the back of a turtle.
Mayan Plate from Guatemala

Mayan Sculpture.
The hand-mudra is yogic.

Monkey God statue
Copan, Honduras

Ancient Sea Routes from India to South America
(image source: The Indians And The Amerindians - By Dr. B. Chakravarti p. 82).
Courtesy: www.HinduWisdom.info/Pacific.htm


Suggested Link:
1. Hindu Wisdom
2. Who is Quetzacol

Saturday 3 October 2015

THE BOSNIAN PYRAMIDS AND TOPRAKALIA HILL - THE SANSKRIT CONNECT -

At the point where the Fojnica River flows into Bosnia in a the Visoko valley, a complex of five gigantic pyramids in a valley (since named 'Valley of the Pyramids') have been discovered by amateur archaeologist Muris Osmanagic. Adjacent to this Valley of Five Pyramids is a hill by the name Toprakalia. Toprakalia is hypothesized to be the site of a yet undiscovered tumulus - a mound constructed over a burial site - perhaps for one of the ancient builders of the pyramids. The five pyramids as well as the Toprakalia are still being excavated, and though there is a doubt whether the pyramids are natural formations or man-made, the site is extraordinary nevertheless. Three of the five pyramids are known to be aligned to the cardinal points and that alone is taken as evidence by some that the pyramids may not be natural formations. Toprakalia hill is no less significant either for reasons sited later.
Pyramid of the Sun is aligned to the cardinal points.


Of the name Toprakalia Muris Osmanagic says that it is a "strange, non-Slavic name". Its meaning is unknown. Some have conjectured that the name may have Turkish origins - 'toprak' is Turkish for 'ground'. Others say that Toprakalia was the name of a Turkish soldier from the times of the Ottoman rule in Bosnia. But if the name has more ancient origins one may look at decoding it with the help of Sanskrit.

In Sanskrit, the root word 'tap' (तप्) means austerity, penance and is often used in reference to penance performed by sages and their sacred sites. In the ancient times, and this is true even today, sages and rishis retire to the hills and mountains for 'tap' (meditation). The sacred sites are known as 'tapovan(s)' or 'tapod(s)'.

Cognates of the Sanskrit 'tap' appear in names of many ancient holy hills and mountain names in South America especially in Mexico. Some of these are Tepatit·n, Tuxtepec, Tepec, Tepic, Mazatepec, Tepetatas, Tepantita, Tepetzintla, Tepuste, Tepetlix and Tepetlalco. (These names are from the research done by Gene Matlock).

Distortions of 'tap' appear in the names of Goebekli Tepe in Turkey. The Turkish word 'tepe' is commonly translated as 'hill'. But the word 'tepe' also appears in the name of another ancient site called Gonur Tepe in Turkmenistan which is not a hill or a mound. In both these cases 'Tepe' refers to a sacred scientific site where it can be safely assumed much contemplation must have taken place in ancient times. And this is exactly what the Sanskrit 'tap' means.

Scholars such as Gene Matlock have linked the word 'tepe' to the Sanskrit 'stupa' (स्तूप) which means a 'heap' or a 'pile' or a 'mound'. Interestingly, in the Bosnian language the word for 'mound' is 'tup'.

The second Sanskrit word that appears in many ancient- site names, especially those which are thought to have been observatories is 'kala' (काल) which means 'time' or 'death' or 'black'. Examples include the Kalasasaya megalithic site in Bolivia and Callanish in Scotland. It is the same word that has made its way into the English word 'calendar'.

With this as the background, one may interpret the name Toprakalia as a site where studies and research was done to study 'kala' or 'time'. The Pyramids of Bosnia may have been observatories constructed at strategic sites the significance of which is unknown at this time.

Osmanagic Muris has described Toprakalia as a "place of a powerful magnetic pole" where compasses do not respond. Rather than a tomb for the dead Toprakalia may well be a place for ascension. The names Visoko and Vratnica, the site of the pyramids and other temple structures, translate as 'free from sorrow' and 'worship' from Sanskrit.


A replica of a pyramid from the Neolithic age dated to 6000-3000 has recently been excavated from Donje Mostre region of the Valley of the Pyramids. Richard Merrick, an acoustical engineer and alternative researcher is of the opinion that several votive pyramids excavated in Greece and Bulgaria are taken as evidence of Vedic Cosmology having being brought into Old Europe and the theological motivation for the construction of the pyramids in Bosnia. Click here more on this subject.


A votive-pyramid artefact dated to 6000-3000BC discovered
at the Donje Mostre site at the Valley of the Pyramids, Bosnia
Picture Courtesy: www.s8mint.com 

Suggested Links: 

Wednesday 16 September 2015

THE DEVETASHKA CAVE OF BULGARIA- THE SANSKRIT CONNECT TO ITS NAME

Krushuna is a quiet, unspoiled village about 35 km from the town of Lovetch in Bulgaria. On the south end of Krushuna, on the way to Devataki village, is located a magnificent cave by the name Devetashka. It is believed to have been a dwelling place for humans since the late Paleolithic era, and continuously for tens of thousands of years since then. The Devetashka Cave is also the location of svastikas found on ceramic pottery artifact dated to 6,000 B.C.


Devetaksha Cave, Bulgaria

The main entrance to the Devetaksha Cave, Bulgaria


The names Krushuna, Devataki and Devetashka are interesting - they appear remarkably close to the Sanskrit 'Krishna' and 'Deveta'. Though it is believed that the Devetashka caves were a dwelling place for people in antiquity, the names indicate that the caves were probably a centre for religious austerity, perhaps inhabited by seers and monks - just as the caves in India were dwelling places for monks, sages and seers.

Georgi Stoikov Rakovski (1821 – 1867), known also as Georgi Sava Rakovski was a 19th cenntury Bulgarian revolutionary and writer and an important figure of the Bulgarian National Revival and resistance against Ottoman rule. He firmly believed that the source of all the civilizations of the world is India.

Rakovski researched the original home of Bulgarians and the roots of Bulgarian culture and language. He found that both in respect of syntax and vocabulary the Bulgarian language was close to Sanskrit. For example, he pointed out that in Bulgarian (Slovenian) language there exists the root word 'veda' which means 'know' and 'vedar' which means 'to have knowledge or news' - which is the same as the Sanskrit root word 'vid' (विद् ) which means 'knowledge'.

Rakovski pointed out chants in the Bulgarian-Slovenian language which are close to Sanskrit. For example, the chant 'da ti podari bog oum' is translated as 'May God bestow oum on you'. The words translate from Slovenian 
as follows:

da = to
ti = you

podari =donate or bestow
bog = god
oum = oum

There is no translation of the word 'oum' in Bulgarian or Slovenian. Rakovski analyzed the terms 'oum' and another term 'razoum oumenie' that appear in Bulgarian ancient chants. He found that their meaning was the equivalent of the Vedic Sanskrit 'aum'.

In his research work Rakovski pointed out two Bulgarian-Slovenian folk songs of which the meanings are only partially known. The two songs are 'Sourva, sourva godina' (translated as 'Sourva, Sourva, Happy New Year) and 'Siva, Siva Visilitza' (translated as 'Siva, Siva, bliss). There is no known translation for 'Sourva' and 'Siva'. Rakovski has put forth the view that the words exists from an ancient forgotten past. His opinion was that the Bulgarians and Slovenians had come to their present hearth from the region of the Himalayas. --

       (Quoted from the book 'Georgi Stoikov Rakovski, a Great Son of Bulgaria and a Great Friend of India' by G. Mukherjee').


He believed that Sourva ans Siva are distortions of the name 'Shiva'.

Tuesday 1 September 2015

OF POLISH GODS AND GODDESSES AND A BIT ABOUT BALKAN RIVERS - THE SANSKRIT-VEDIC CONNECT

Popular information about the Black Madonna of Czestochowa housed at the Jasna Gora Monastery in Czestochowa in Poland says that the image is an icon of the Virgin Mary. The fact though is that the Roman Catholic Church in general has not warmly embraced such depictions of the Holy Mother or Virgin Mary because they fear that such representations are actually paying tribute to ancient Pagan goddesses. It is accepted that the Church at Jasna Gora is built on the site of a Pagan Temple.

In his book 'The Vedic Core of Human History: And Truth', author M. K. Agarwal says that the Jasna Gora or Asna Gora monastery stands  on the site of an ancient Vedic temple dedicated to the Black Virgin or Kali. So, is there any evidence to support his claim?

The origins of the icon (a four-feet painting of Mother Mary) and the date of its composition are still hotly contested among scholars. The difficulty in dating the icon stems from the fact that the original image was painted over, after being badly damaged. Medieval restorers were unfamiliar of restoration methods and their solution was to erase the original image and to repaint it. There is so much mystery to the origins of this painting, and has so many legends attached to it that it is difficult to derive the truth from them.


But the name 'Jasna Gora' sheds some light. It translates from Polish as 'Bright Mount'. The Polish word 'Jasna' meaning 'bright' probably stems from the Sanskrit 'Jyotsana' (ज्योत्सना) also meaning 'bright'. At least, the two words seem to have the same source. 'Gaura' is Polish for 'mountain' but in Sanskrit like 'jyotsna' , 'gaura' too means 'bright' or 'fair' . However, M.K. Agarwal is of the view that Asna Goura is a distortion of Isan Gouri, another name for Goddess Gauri, an avatar of the young unmarried 'Parvati'. He also states that three other Pagan gods revered in this part of the world, Bhag, Ogon and Parun are none other than the Vedic 'Bhagwan', 'Agni' and 'Varun'. 





M.K. Aggarwal sites other interesting points to support his view that Vedic Gods and Goddesses were not unknown in this part of Europe. He quotes Prof P.N.Oak who links the names Czech, Czechsloivakia and Czestochowa to the word to the Shaka clan of India, who he says were the forefathers of the Saxons of Europe and the Anglo-Saxons of England. Also, he says, that in the town of Scope in former Yugoslavia (Bosnia-Herzegovina)  there are 50,000 families that carry the name Ramas - derived from Sri Ram. Indeed, there is also a river by the name Rama in present day Bosnia and Herzegovina. 


Lake Rama on the River Rama
in Boznia and Herzegovina.

The lake is surrounded by the 
Krusnica and Radusa Mountains

At the confluence of River Rama and another river by the name Neretva lies the municipality of Prozar-Rama. An artificial lake and a dam are also named after the Rama river. The name 'Neretva' may itself be derived from the Sanskrit 'neer' (नीर) meaning 'water' though it is said that the name has an Illyrian (Balkan Peninsula) origin, from Indo-European base *ner-, *nor- to dive, dip, immerse. But Indo-European is just another way of citing Sanskrit. It is after all the oldest of the Indo-European group of languages.

A tributary of the 'Neretva' is the 'Krupa' (कृपा), Sanskrit for 'grace' or 'favour'. It is hard to believe that these name are mere coincidences especially because the list is endless.


The Neretva River- the largest river in Bosnia and Harzegovina.
'Neer' is Sanskrit for 'water',

The Una River is a small tributary of the Neretva.
Una (ऊन)  or
 'small'  in Sanskrit.
There is the Krika river, Krika (कृक) is 'navel'; there is the Sava, 'sava' (सव) is 'that which pours out'. Sava may also be a distortion of the name 'Shiva'. Then there is the 'Krusnica' river and a mountain by the name 'Krusnica'. There is even a 'Radusa' mountain.

Suggested readings:
The Vedic Core of Human History by M.K.Aggarwal

Saturday 22 August 2015

RIVER HUAALAGA, PERU - THE SANSKRIT CONNECT TO ITS NAME

It is intriguing that some of the major rivers of the world have names that end with the suffix 'aga'. The Ganga in India, the Volga in Russia which was also once known as Jilaga or Julaga, and the Huaalaga in the Andes, also known as the Guaalaga - literally 'cowherd's river' from Sanskrit. 'Ga' means to 'flow' or 'go'.  Hence, Ganga or 'swift-goer', Volga, originally called  the 'Jilaga' or 'Julaga' (जळगा) 'water-going'. And 'aga' (अग) stands for 'water-container'. Click on Volga for more on Sanskrit connect to its name.

The Huaalaga River is a tributary of the Maranon River, The Huaalaga is born on the slopes of the Andes in central Peru and joins the Maranon before the latter reaches the Ucayali River to form the Amazon. In ancient times the entire river including the Amazon was known as the Maranon. Click here and here for more on the Sanskrit connect to the name Maranon and the names of the cities of the Amazon.

At its source the Huaalaga is known as Ranracancha, and further down it is known as Chaupihuranga till its confluence with the Huarica.  Ranracancha can be decoded with Sanskrit thus- 'Ramra' (रम्र) 'beautiful' or 'that which entices', 'kancha' (काञ्चन) - 'gold' or 'golden'. 

If decoded through the local native language Quechua, it is said that 'Ranra'  means 'stony' and 'kancha' means coral'. Yet when the name 'KoriKancha' (temple) is decoded it is said that 'kancha' means 'enclosure'! 'Korikancha' is an ancient temple in Peru that was plated in gold and hence it is evident that the Quechua 'kancha' just like the Sanskrit 'kanchan' indicates 'gold'.


As far as Chaupihuaranga is concerned the Quechua decode is 'chawpi' - middle, and  'varanga' thousand. The closest cognates in Sanskrit are 'chapya' (चप्य) - 'sacrificial vessel' and 'varanga'  (वराङ्ग) - 'excellent'.

Many of the river names in South America
are easily explained with Sanskrit 

including the Maranon, the Ucayali and the Huallaga.


Saturday 8 August 2015

THE VEDIC TILAK IN ANCIENT ROME

The author of the now famous book 'India in Greece', Edward Pococke had also authored another book called 'India in Italy' which it is said was suppressed by the Vatican. Its copies today exist only in the Library of Vatican. What might Pococke have revealed about Italy and its ancient history in this book. 

It really is not that difficult to figure out since Pococke leaves us enough clues in his published work 'India in Greece' - such as the fact that many tribes from India, such as the Yadhus and Meghadans, emigrated West and in their path left a trail of names of mountains, rivers and towns, that have their origins in the names of mountains, rivers and towns in India - which have been elaborated elsewhere in this blog-site. Click here and here  for posts on the Ramayana connection to the Etruscans and Romans

Writers such as P.N.Oak and Stephen Knapp had collated evidence from murals, paintings and photos that have appeared in earlier books, about the influence of the Vedic philosophy and knowledge on the Etruscan and Roman civilizations. Click here and here for some of these photos. Though eyebrows had been raised by many on what these photos (especially whether there indeed is a Vedic Tilak on the forehead of a Roman in these photos) may or may not prove, more evidence keeps emerging that the 'forehead mark' was more prevalent in that part of the world than had earlier been believed.  

The Villa del Casale, near Piazza Armerina in central-southern Sicily dated to 285 AD has perhaps the finest and most extensive display of mosaics in the Roman world. This Roman villa was buried by a landslide in the twelfth century and was excavated in the 1950s. Here are 3 mosaics from Villa del Casale collection that show Roman fishermen cherubs with the same mark on their foreheads.



 Photo coutesy:  http://www.thejoyofshards.co.uk/visits/sicily/romana/

Friday 24 July 2015

VEDIC - HINDU ARTIFACT FROM COPAN, HONDURUS IN SOUTH AMERICA




Corn God, Copan, Hondurus, South America.
Notice the Vedic hand position



Stela at Copan, Honduras, South America
Figure & caption courtesy:
University of California, Riverside website

Elephant Pillars in Copan Temple, Honduras,
bear a resemblance to the elephant-pillars of India.



M
The Howler Monkey God
at the Copan Temple, Hondurus
bears a close resemblance
to the Hindu Hanuman.

Saturday 18 July 2015

THE RIVERS OF BRAZILIAN AMAZON - THE VEDIC-SANSKRIT LINK

In his book, Mysteries of Ancient South America, author Harold T. Wilkins writes about the findings of an expedition in the 1920s lead by Colonel P.H. Fawcett into the woods of the Brazilian Amazon where he chanced upon an ancient city and some rock inscriptions, about which Wilkins says, "... those strange writings are something more remarkable... they are of an esoteric Hindu cult." (page 63).

Writing about the inscriptions, he further adds," I have myself discovered some queer links between these strange letters of old Brazil, and characters found in Tibet and Vedic Hindostan". (Page 118).

Brazil which has no apparent link to Vedic India holds many a clue to its Vedic past which lie hidden in its ancient place names such as Ramilandia, and river names such as Parana, Sanskrit for flowing across, or Xinghu, which is just one sound away from the word Sindhu meaning river in Sanskrit. 

Brazil was once known as Pindorama and though it is said that 'Pindorama' translates as 'Land of Palms' from the native language Ayamara, Sri Rama was not unknown in this part of the world. RamaRama is also the name of a Tupian language.  Also, the Brazilian Amazon is home to several tribes which seem to have a link to the name Rama.

There is an ancient tribe in Brazil by the name 'RamaRama'. The RamaRama were a Tupi speaking group of considerable size, living in the Brazilian Amazonian area in a place called Rondonia who inhabited the banks of the Machadinho and Ahara rivers. The Amazon was itself known as the 'Maranon' in ancient times which appears to be a distortion of the Sanskrit 'jharana' meaning water cascade, stemming form the Sanskrit root word 'jhara'. This word also appears in the native name of the Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina. The Guarani name of the 
Iguazu falls is Chororõ Yguasu. Chororo is definitely a cognate of jhara, which distorts to sounds like phuhar फुहार in Hindi meaning drizzle.  There are other Sanskrit words such as 'tushar' (तुषार) which means 'a spray of water' that explain Guarani words with similar meanings. Other Sanskrit ognates of Maranon such as 'marmahan' (मर्महन्) which is the equivalent of 'striking the vitals', and 'mardana' (मर्दन) which is 'tormenting', seem to describe the temperament of the river Amazon accurately, but it is 'jhara' which is the more versatile of the two words. Various distortions of the word 'jhara' and 'jharana' appear in river names around the world, whether it is the river Jordon of West Asia, or the River Niger of Africa, or the river Parana of Latin America, etc.

Many of the tributaries of the Amazon still bear Sanskrit names. The Jara and the Javary are but a couple of examples that are definitely related to the Sanskrit 'jhara' (झर ) meaning 'waterbody' or 'waterfall, or 'jhari' (झरी) which means 'river.

Then there is the Kaiapo - a powerful and well-known Brazilian tribe who lives in villages along the Xingu River across the Central Brazilian Plateau. The Kaiapo call themselves Mebengokre, meaning 'the men from the water place'. The name Kaiapo was given to them by the neighboring native tribes, which means 'resembling apes' and was probably given because the men used to dance with monkey masks. It is interesting that 'kaipo' is a cognate of the Sanskrit 'kapi' (कपि) which means 'monkey' - in fact the etymological source of the English 'ape' is unknown and is sometimes attributed to the Sanskrit 'kapi'. 

Kaiapo Tribals of Brazil. They wore
masks to look like monkeys -
in tribute to monkey gods.

Hanuman, in a slightly different form, was also known in South America. The famous Monkey God Sculpture of Copan and the legend of Monkey God worship in the city of Ciudad Blanca in Honduras, is well known. Click here and here for more. 



The Howler Monkey God Sculpture
Copan, Honduras

The etymological source of the name 'Xingu' is largely unknown though it is conjectured that 'Xingu' may derive from the name given to it by a tribe named Asurini who called the river 'Yh Uu' meaning 'Great Water'. The fact remains that the tribe name 'Asurini' itself is Sanskrit. The name 'Xingu' is just one syllable away from the name 'Sindhu'. Sindhu is one of the most important rivers of ancient India, and though Sindhu is a pronoun, it is also a generic word for 'river'. The Asurini 'Yh Uu' is probably a distorted form of 'sindhu'. The Asurini language belongs to the Tupian group of languages and the most widely spoken language of this group, the Tupi-Guarani is close to Sanskrit.

Then there are the 'Paru', 'Para' and 'Purus' rivers. 'Paru' (परु) is 'sun' or 'heaven', 'Para' (पर) is 'greatest' or as a direction it means 'across', and 'Purus' (पुरस्) is the equivalent of 'in front' or 'ahead'. 



Other river names include the Uchayali. 'Uchayali' is probably linked to the Sanskrit 'ucchala' (उच्चल), i.e, 'spring forth'. Then there is the Apurimac. 'Apu' (आपू) means 'to flow forward after purification'. 'Apurima' (आपूरिमा) would covert the verb 'Apu' into a noun or pronoun of feminine gender, which aptly describes a river.


Even if the word Apurimac is split into two words 'Apu' (आपू) and 'Ramac' (रमक) as has been done for the Quechua decode, it still makes perfect sense in Sanskrit. 'Apu' (आपू) as mentioned above means 'to flow forward after purification', and 'ramak' (रमक) means 'sporting, dallying, toying amorously' - again an apt description for a flowing river.


Suggested Links:

1. The Indians of Central and South America: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary
2. From Kyper Pass to Gran Quivira

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