RAMAYAN BY VALMIKI WAS NOT JUST A MYTH OR A LEGEND BUT A STARK REALITY.
When we were children our noted filmmaker Mr.Ramanand Sagar launched his opus magnum Ramayana on Indian television and during those days color Television was a novelty in every household and, though, under strict government control, the televisions had a limited number of channels. This television serial was aired in the evening prime time slot and we clearly remember that we would not shift anywhere during that hour and would watch Ramayana with rapt attention. As a child, I remember reading the unabridged Ramayana and it had taken me about a month to finish that epic. By the time I had reached the last chapters I had forgotten the intricate details of the earlier chapters.
Every Indian either living in India or anywhere else in this world knows about Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In India, it is every father's dream to have a son like Rama every brother’s dream to have a brother like Lakshman, every wife’s dream to have a husband like Rama. This epic or the Legend has a profound effect on the Indian psyche. The other great epic is Mahabharata,( about which I have written in my earlier article titled “Dwarka and Mahabharata” ) where there is a mention about Ramayana. Mahabharata was an event that had occurred about 5300 years BC which means about 7000years before the present. Therefore Ramayana is an event which precedes Mahabharata and that would also mean that Ramayana is 7000 years before the present.
Rich in its descriptions and poetic language, it consists of seven books or Kandas and 24,000 couplets and has been translated into many languages. The seven "kandas" of Ramayana are: "Bal Kanda", the boyhood section; "Ayodhya Kanda", Rama's life in Ayodhya, until his banishment; "Aranya Kanda", Rama's life in the forest and Sita's abduction by Ravana; "Kishkindha Kanda", Rama's stay at Kishkindha, the capital of his monkey ally, Sugriva; "Sundara Kanda", Rama's passage to Sri Lanka; "Yuddha Kanda" or "Lanka Kanda", Rama's battle with Ravana, the recovery of Sita, and return to Ayodhya; and "Uttara Kanda", the section narrating Rama's life in Ayodhya as a king, the birth of his two sons, Sita's test of innocence and return to her mother, and Rama's demise or "jala samadhi". The Ramayana tells of the birth and education of RAMA, (q.v.), a prince and the seventh the incarnation of the god VISHNU, (q.v.), and recounts his winning of the hand of Sita in marriage. Displaced as the rightful heir to his father's throne, Rama goes into exile, accompanied by Sita and by his brother Lakshmana. Sita is carried off by the demon king Ravana. With the aid of the monkey general Hanuman and an army of monkeys and bears, Rama, after a long search, slays Ravana and rescues Sita. Rama regains his throne and rules wisely. In the probable addition, Sita is accused in rumors of adultery during her captivity. Although innocent, she bears Rama's twin sons in exile, sheltered by the hermit Valmiki, said to be the author of the poem. After many years Rama and Sita are reunited.
The first thing that sets us thinking about the legend, not being a legend but could be a true story is the fact that Ravana abducts Sita and takes her in an aerial vehicle called the pushpak rath. The question is if we all say that this was a figment of Valmiki’s imagination then how did Valmiki imagine a flying object which could transport humans over great distance? Imagining something which you have never seen before is impossible, and cannot happen. Let us say that you are told to imagine a very ferocious and blood the thirsty beast then we would probably put a face of fire emanating dragon, as we have seen visuals of a dragon, then we would probably put a body of a tyrannosaurus as we know and have seen tyrannosaurus. In short, we have seen everything and we have taken parts of those to create a new thing. So Puspak rath was a type of an aerial vehicle and its mention in the epic makes the epic somewhat of a reality.
The second thing that comes to my mind is the very fact that
the monkey soldiers had to build a bridge to connect southern India with
Lanka ( In Ramayana Sri Lanka was known as Lanka ) which means Sri Lanka was separated from the
Indian subcontinent. Dr. Glen Milne of
Durham University is one of the world’s leading experts in the cutting edge
science of “inundation mapping”. They use a very powerful computer program to
calculate the complex variables to produce accurate models of ancient
shorelines at a chosen date and a chosen locality. He has done fantastic work
on the Indian shoreline from 21300 years ago to 4800 years BC. One can see the
comparative pictures in the book titled Underworld by Graham Hancock. Sri Lanka
was attached to the Indian subcontinent until 10600 years before the present. It
completely separated from the Indian subcontinent by 4800 years BC. We know
that Mahabharata was an event some 5300 BC ie 7000 before the present and Ramayana
precedes Mahabharata, therefore, Ramayana could have occurred before 7000 years
before the present. Also to make a land bridge between India and Sri Lanka (
between Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait ) was a daunting task as the length
was 48 Km The Encyclopedia
Britannica says it was once the world's largest tombolo, a sandbar
connecting an island to another island or the mainland. The existence of the
bridge obviously cannot be denied! However, to what extent there was manual
intervention in connecting the gaps between the shoals, islands and rocks is a
subject for detailed marine archaeological and geological research. This kind
of research has never been carried out nor has any team been constituted so
far. However, there is enough evidence about the existence as well as the use
of this bridge in ancient Indian history, literature, and travelogues, etc.
Maharishi Valmiki has recorded in his Ramayan- (Yuudh Kand, sarg 22 and shlokas
45-73) that Shri Rama’ s army constructed a bridge over the sea between
Rameswaram and Sri Lanka. Valmiki has narrated in detail that originally Shri Rama’s
army camped in Kodikarai but found that place unsuitable for constructing the
bridge. Therefore, the entire army was shifted to Rameswaram. Research was
carried out by Shri Ram for three days to find out a suitable location in the
sea for constructing the land route so that the army could cross over to Sri
Lanka. Finally, a suitable location was identified. Shri Nal was a famous
shilpakar, who had the expertise similar to that of Vishwakarma in constructing
the bridges, was requested to construct the bridge. ( 6/22/45).
After carrying out the survey, Nal declared that a bridge can indeed be
constructed. The army men of Shri Ram utilized various tools and implements for
uprooting trees like Taar, coconut, mango, Ashoka, Bakul, etc., and with the
help of various yantras transported these trees, stones, and rocks to the
seashore. Shilpakar Nal directed the army to stand with long ropes/chains on
either side and filled the space in between with creepers, trees, stones, and
rocks and bound them together. The construction of Ramsetu was completed in
five days by connecting the existing land route consisting of islands, rocks
and shoals. This bridge was being used as land route between India and Sri
Lanka for thousands of years, though sometimes part of it was submerged under
the seawater. King Asoka’ s son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra had used this
bridge to go to Sri Lanka more than 2,300 years back.
Dr. Tankeshwar Kumar, the then Vice-Chancellor, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology was delivering a lecture organized by Chandigarh Vigyan Parishad at Panjab University, Chandigarh, on the topic “Ramayana Retold Through Scientific Evidences”.
Dr. Tankeshwar said in no other nation in the world, true history was so meticulously documented. “The important aspect about the Ramayana is that when Valmiki composed the epic, he made it with many proofs. He packed so much information about various planetary positions of those days, the geography of the areas mentioned in the epic, seasonal events, and about the genealogy of various kings that it is virtually a no-brainer to establish the dates on which those events occurred.”
The ancient Indians had an accurate method of time measurement. They regularly and systematically recorded the `tithis', days marked according to the phases of the Moon, the months, the seasons, solstices, equinoxes, and the positions of astrologically relevant luminaries like the Sun, the Jupiter, the Venus, and so on. In other words, the timings of events were recorded in the astronomical format. To convert this coded information on heavenly positions into a simple calendrical timeline, all that is needed is a database of ephemeris. Sage Valmiki, the celebrated composer of the Ramayana records the birth of Rama in Uttarayana (the Divine Half-year), in the Chaitra month, in the bright fortnight, on the ninth day, in the Punarvasu nakshatra, on a Monday, and under Karka lagna. Valmiki further details the birth with various planetary positions in the zodiac: Sun in Mesha at 10 deg., Mars in Capricorn at 28 degrees, Jupiter in Cancer at 5 deg., Venus in Pisces at 27 deg. and Saturn in Libra at 20 deg. These starry configurations are so unique that they have occurred only once so far in measurable history and this helps us to fix the important date, the birthday of Rama, as the 4th of December, 7323 BC. Due to the slow yet continuous precession of the Earth, Rama's birthday anniversary, celebrated as Ram Navami, has since shifted by about four months over a period of about 9300 years.
Valmiki further has beautifully described the sky (Ayodhya 41/10), when Rama left for forest exile. He states, "Crux (Trishankhu), Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury have cornered the Moon. Vaishakha and Milky Way are shining in the sky". Crux is online with Hasta (Corvus) on the southern side. On the eastern side of Hasta, there are Chitra, Swati, and Vishakha. As seen earlier, Mars was at 303 deg. in Dhanishta. Calculations show that Jupiter was in Poorvashadha at 251 deg. Pushya was at the western horizon with the setting Moon. On the southern side, from the west to the east, all the other planets were situated. So poetically Valmiki describes the sketch as if the Moon was cornered by the planets. The description of the sky, 17 years after the birth-date of Rama, is perfect astronomically. By doing such astronomical calculations backward following are the dates of few events from the Ramayana:
Rama's Birth Date 4th December 7323 B.C
Rama-Seeta Married 7th April 7307 B.C
Rama Exiled 29th November 7306 B.C.
Hanuman enters Lanka 1st September 7292 B.C
Hanuman meets Seeta 2nd September 7292 B.C.
Seetu (Bridge) built 26-30th Oct. 7292 B.C on the ocean
The War begins 3rd November 7292 B.C
Kumbhakarna is killed 7th November 7292 B.C.
Ravana is killed by Rama 15th November 7292 B.C.
Rama returns to Ayodhya 6th December 7272 B.C.
These dates do have a standard deviation of plus or minus 10 years but in a time scale of thousands of years the 10-year deviation is also very precise. The Ramayana, therefore, precedes Mahabharata about which I have written another article which I shall share later.
Whenever Ravana has to be depicted either in texts or sculptures, he is shown to be having 10 heads. While the statement that Ravana has 10 heads might seem highly impossible, the fact that he ruled 10 kingdoms doesn’t seem farfetched. 10 kingdoms, 10 crowns. Simple. Another theory states that Ravana was a great scholar and his ten heads symbolize his mastery over 6 shastras and 4 Vedas. One of the theories states that the ten heads of Ravan depict the 10 negative senses or emotions in a human being, namely- lust, anger, delusion, greed, pride, envy, the mind, intellect, will, and ego.
Going by the mythological tale of the Ramayana, when Ram deployed the monkey forces to rescue his wife, Sita. He chose the strongest among them who was named Hanuman to find Sita’s exact location. Upon receiving blessings from Ram, the monkey God flew to Lanka to find the exact location of Sita. Full with power and divine blessing, Hanuman was endowed with a special ability to alter his form - i.e; he could maximize his size to that of a giant or even minimize his form to that of an average monkey! To support this- till date, there are footprints that have been said to be of Hanuman near Ashokvanam. These footprints differ in size and are a reflection of the special powers of the monkey God- Hanuman. Now the question comes in mind about the physical size and ability of Hanuman. Sri Hanuman was huge in terms of size if we have to believe that the footprints are of Hanuman indeed, but there are plenty of evidences of huge gigantic humans who might have ruled the earth. The stone henges, seven moai of au akivi in the Easter Islands are some of the few and the timeline of these sculptures coincides with the dates of Ramayana and therefore Hanuman could be one of the giants with humongous power and strength.
Another interesting fact is the Cobra cave which is located in Sigiriya in Shri Lanka. This cave is near to Ashok Vatikam in Shri Lanka and the scientists and archaeologists have done immense study on it and they have found that the cave is natural and there has been no human intervention in making the cave. The cave is shaped like the hood of the Cobra and hence the name. These caves have paintings which depict that Sita being captured by the asuras.
During the abduction of Sita by Ravana, Jatayu, the demigod came to rescue Sita. However, Ravana slew the wings of Jatayu and he fell to the ground. When Rama and Lakshmana arrived at the location, Jatayu was almost in the dying moment when Jatayu narrated the incident of Ravana abducting Sita to Sri Lanka. Using his divine powers Rama uttered the words,”Le Pakshi” which meant rise bird. In Andhra Pradesh there is a place called Lepakshi which is said to be the exact place where Jatayu fell.
In the News Paper Pioneer dated 15th June 2015 it was reported that Ramsevak Kol, a tribe from the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh stands head and shoulders above other Indians. Genetic studies prove that he is one of the descendants of King Guha of Ramayana. An international team of researchers consisting of geneticists, anthropologists, archaeologists and historians have found that Ramayana, written 10,000 years ago, is a chronicle of events and characters recorded by Sage Valmiki and not a work of fiction.
The mystery behind the characters in Ramayana has been solved by a team led by Dr. Gyaneshwer Chaubey, ace genetic scientist of the Estonian Biocentre in Estonia. Three-year-long research by Dr. Chaubey and his the team drew out from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, Delhi University, Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur and Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas has found that the Bhils, Gonds and the Kols, categorized as Scheduled Castes and Tribes by the modern-day administrators of India is the true descendant of characters featured in Ramayana. The peer reviewed scientific paper authored by the team has been published by PlOS ONE, a respected scientific portal.
The Kol tribe, found mainly in areas like Mirzapur, Varanasi, Banda, and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, are the descendants of the Kol mentioned in Ramayana, according to Dr. Chaubey and his team. Remember Guha, the chieftain of Sringiverapuram who helped Lord Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana cross the Ganga during their journey to the forests “Guha, the Nishad King, is the ancestor of the present-day Kol tribe we found in these regions. This ancestry was established by genetic studies. These groups of people carry the basic indigenous genetic traits of India. Ramsevak and thousands like him spread across the States of UP, MP, Odisha, Chhattisgarh are the true descendants of Lord Rama and his contemporaries,” Dr. Chaubey told The Pioneer from Tartu in Estonia via video conferencing.
Dr. Chaubey and Prof VR Rao, an anthropologist in Delhi University said that the studies proved that these groups of people have maintained their genetic continuity for more than 10,000 years. “This again sets at rest the Aryan invasion theory. There is no inflow into the genetic traits of these tribes from outside elements,” said Saroj Bala, a specialist in Vedic and Ramayana studies, who shot into fame by calculating the date of birth of Lord Rama based on planetary positions.
Prof Rao said the studies confirmed that the characters mentioned by Valmiki in Ramayana are real-life characters. “King Dasaratha, Rama and others were not fictional characters,” he said. Dr. S Kalyanaraman, an Indologist of repute, said the Kols are the iron smelters about whom there are mentions in Indus Script excavated from the banks of Indus as well as River Saraswathi.
M Amirthalingam, a soft-spoken botanist who undertook the journey from Ayodhya to Lanka to retrace the life of exile by Ram, Sita and Lakshman found that the flora and fauna mentioned in Ramayan is not a figment of Valmiki’s imagination.
“We found all the plants, trees, flowers, and fruits that have been mentioned by the poet in Ramayan. The accounts given by Valmiki about different landscapes, mountains, river basins, and forests are accurate. When the Ramayan was being written, there were thick forests in Naimisharanya, Chitrakoot, Dandakaranya, and Panchavati. The Kishkindha Kanda of Ramayan discusses the geographical distribution, botanical wealth, and forestry,” Amirthalingam, research scientist, CPR Environmental Education Centre, told The Pioneer.
Dr. Nandita Krishna, the director, CPREEC, said Kishkindha was nothing but Hampi in the Deccan plateau. “The places Ram chose to stay during his exile from Ayodhya were full of plants, vegetations and biodiversity. Valmiki has mentioned dense jungles full of lions and tigers, though the co-existence of the two cats is hard to imagine now,” she said, pointing out that a corollary proof of such habitat was found in the Bhimbedka caves in Madhya Pradesh that has 10,000-year-old wall carvings and paintings featuring lions and tigers. Here one should not confuse the Ramayana date with the cave painting date. The cave painting date can be earlier than the date of the epic which invariably means a continuation of the status for another 3000 years till it got recorded.
Thus Ramayana was not just a mere legend but a historical document of a highly civilized, scientifically oriented,( the people mentioned had the capacity to do research carry out megaprojects, and had all the advanced war equipment) civilization that existed some 9000 years before the present and if that be so then there was a civilization which preceded all known civilization of the world. Though Epic mentioned Bows and Arrows, do they remind us of hand-held or shoulder-fired missiles? Perhaps, yes. The Epic narrates arrows that could chase, change path and direction and always close in on the enemy. The modern weapons are aiming precisely at this. A reminder of heat-tracing missiles? Naga Paanam (Naga meaning snake and Paanam meaning weapon) which could kill a person if the remedial course is not administered immediately. We are now reminded of some of the chemical weapons used now. Paasa Paanam (Passa meaning that which could tie and Paanam meaning weapon). These were used to immobilize people temporarily. Immediately our mind goes to stun grenades. These are some of the weapons that were used in the war between Rama and Ravana.
Ramayana therefore is not just a figment of someone’s imagination but it is a reality and that is why it is still an awe-inspiring story to all of us. The recent re telecast of Ramayana during the lockdown period is just a point to prove that we as Indians have the same zest and zeal about Ramayana which we had when Doordarshan started the series in the early eighties. The only reason being that the entire epic was a reality and thus it has set certain standards for us today.
Bibliography
http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b60_156.pdf
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/344063/ramayana_a_forerunner_of_todays_scifi.html
http://varnam.org/blog/2007/09/ramayana_not_a_myth/
http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2008/5/28116_space.html
Underworld By Graham Hancock.
https://www.dailypioneer.com/2015/page1/ramayana-not-a-work-of-fiction.html
http://kushwaha.in/ramayan-is-now-scientifically-and-archeologically-proven/
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