India ( Bharatha ) - Geographic Location

As many of us know, there is a misconception that " India was never unified in previous times; it's the British who made present day India " Even many Indians believe this. But that is wrong.
In Vishnupurana ( 2. 3 ), it says Bharathavarsha is the name of the land lying north of ocean and south of Himalayas. And this part of land is surrounded by ocean. It also mentions an island named "Bharatham" is also part of Bharathavarsha. Couldn't that be present Srilanka ??

Bharathavarsha or Bharatham are the names given to present day India.
So when was this Vishnupurana written or compiled ? Nobody can give an answer in accuracy but it is clear that before the birth of Jesus it was already compiled. And still, they say the Brittish unified India !!!

The Harappan Civilization

Everyone would know about the Harappan Civilization. Though some say that was the beginning of an ancient culture, I would prefer to say that it was ending of a culture that we see today. Remains that we could obtain from Harappan civilization suggest that such a civilization was present in such a nature since quite a long time. I would like to highlight just one point - Harappan civilization didn't have an army !!!!! Interesting; right ? You look at any ancient civilizations as Egyptians and you come across many remains of war craft . They had maintained an army either for their self-defense or to attack others as part of expanding their boundaries. But one cannot find anything related to warfare in Harappan sites. That means one and only one thing - people in Harappa didn't want war; they neither attacked anyone nor were afraid of being attacked by some one - very peace loving people.

When two civilizations are in contact, you are ought to see some kind of exchange between them. But in the case of Harappan civilization, it's quite different.  We see artifacts from Harappan civilization in another parts of the contemporary civilizations. For eg: Mesopotamia, Iran, Magan( possibly today's Oman), Dilum ( possibly encompassed of present day  Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the coastal regions of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia ). But we don't find any of their artifacts in Harappa. How is that possible ? Could it be for some perishable items that we exchanged our artifacts with them ? 

Hanging Pillar at "Le Pakshi"

Located in present day Andhra Pradesh, the Lepakshi Temple lies on a minor detour from the Hyderabad- Bangalore road and can be accessed from both sides. It is about 480 kms from Hyderabad & 123 kms from Bangalore. The Lapakhsi Temple collocated with the Veerbhadra Temple is a glorious example of the Vijayanagar style of temple architecture.




Built on built on a low, rocky hill called Kurmasailam, which means tortoise hills in the local language, this temple was created in 1583 by two brothers Virupanna and Veeranna who were allies of the Vijayanagar empire. Legend has it that it was the site where Lord Ram’s faithful follower Jatayu fell down after having been injured mortally by Ravana. When Lord Ram reached the site he uttered the words” Le Pakshi’ translated imply the “rise bird”.




There is a pillar in the temple premises which does not rest on the ground fully ! Yes, this is real & this is the main attraction for many tourists.There are about 70 pillars at this fabulous 16th-century temple of stone in Vijayanagar style, but this one is the best known and a tribute to the engineering genius of ancient and medieval India’s temple builders. However, it is a bit dislodged from its original position — it is said that during the British era, a British engineer tried to move it in an unsuccessful attempt to uncover the secret of its support.




On the outer enclosure of the temple, you will see a mammoth Ganesha — hewn in stone and leaning against a rock. Perpendicular to it is a massive Naga with three coils and seven hoods. It forms a sheltering canopy over a black granite Shivalingam. It’s reckoned by many as the largest Nagalinga in India. On the main road of Lepashki approximately 200m from the temple, we can find Nandi; Shiva’s bull which is a granite monolithic sculpture . It is 4.5m high and 8.23m long making one of the largest Nandi in India. The sculpture has been positioned so that it faces the shivalinga which is shielded by a large serpent inside the temple. The nandi wears a kaasu malai, a bell chain, earrings and other jewellery. Legend has it that the Naga of the Nagalinga was carved out of a single stone by sculptors while they waited for their mothers to prepare lunch

So Who Invented Radio ???

 Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, ( 30 November 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a Bengali Polymath, Physicist, Biologist, Botanist, Archeologist, as well as an early writer of science fiction. He pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics, made very significant contributions to plant science, and laid the foundations of experimental science in the Indian Sub-Continent.
 

Sir J.C Bose

Sir J. C. Bose invented the Mercury Coherer (together with the telephone receiver) used by Guglielmo Marconi to receive the radio signal in his first transatlantic radio communication over a distance of 2000 miles from Poldhu, UK to  Newfoundland, St. Johns in December 1901. Guglielmo Marconi was celebrated worldwide for this achievement. (In May 1897, two years after Bose's public demonstration in Kolkata, Guglielmo Marconi conducted his wireless signalling experiment on Salisbury Plain. Bose went to London on a lecture tour in 1896 and met Marconi, who was conducting wireless experiments for the British post office. In an interview, Bose expressed disinterest in commercial telegraphy and suggested others use his research work. )

Bose was sometimes, and not unnaturally, criticised as unpractical for making no profit from his inventions.
 

Crescograph

In 1895, Sir J. C. Bose gave his first public demonstration of electromagnetic waves, using them to ring a bell remotely and to explode some gunpowder. He sent an electromagnetic wave across 75 feet passing through walls and body of the Chairman, Lieutenant Governor of Bengal.

He was also the first to study the action of microwaves in plant tissues and corresponding changes in the cell membrane potential. He researched the mechanism of the seasonal effect on plants, the effect of chemical inhibitors on plant stimuli and the effect of temperature. From the analysis of the variation of the cell membrane potential of plants under different circumstances, he hypothesised that plants can "feel pain, understand affection etc." He  invented the Crescograph; a device that is used for measuring plant growth.

Peaceful Realm Prevailed In India

Chandra Gupta II ( AD 376 - 415 ) became the sovereign King of almost all of Northern India and even some parts of present day Andhra Pradesh were under his influence. Kalidasa, greatest of India's poets and dramatist is traditionally associated with King Vikramadithya ( most probably another name of Chandra Gupta II ). It is during his reign that India reached it's zenithal stage of prosperity and happiness. This can be accounted from words of a Chinese Travellor - Fa hsien. He was a Chinese monk who came to India to obtain authentic copies of Buddhist Scriptures. He was in India for almost 6 years, travelling the length and breadth of India. He did note the peacefulness of India, rarity of serious crimes and the smoothness of administration. He stated that one could travel all over India without molestation and no documents were needed for travelling. People had great respect to each other and most of them were vegetarians.


At this time, India was perhaps the happiest and most civilized region in the world. ( Roman empire was nearing its final stage, China was passing through a period of troubles between 2 great periods of the Hans and T'angs )

Naval Conquest of Indian Kings

Its remarkable to say that our Kings were very good at Naval Expeditions too. King Raja Raja Chola ( AD 985 - 1014 ) & King Rajendra Chola (  AD 1014 - 1042 ) were regarded as the best Naval Expeditors ever. And yes, our Kings didn't just want to conquer some countries & ruthlessly loot them ( Conquest & looting was the practice of the Kings of rest of the world ). Our Kings were actually defending their subjects from the piratical activities of the Indonesian Kings ( ? ) who interfered with the flourishing trade between South India & China. Parts of Burma, Malaya & Sumatra were conquered.   Imagine the resources we had almost a 1000 years back to travel all the way by sea with all those troops, that also for the benefit of their subjects. Truly GREAT KINGS !!!!!

Recently I came across another interesting fact about the Chola Kings. They were not only great in expeditions, but also in maintaining their kingdoms. They had a council where people were elected. This council had a say in main decisions made by the king ( Democracy ?? ). Please find the image which says of qualifications and disqualifications for a candidate.

Plastic Surgery

So while checking as to who did first plastic surgery, google gives different answers. Some say in 1917, a British sailor - Walter Yeo is the first person to have undergone plastic surgery.

But in reality, during 6 th century BC, Susruta is believed to have undertaken Plastic Surgeries. He had contributed a lot towards Ayurveda - Indian medication.

British physicians traveled to India to see plastic surgeries being performed by native methods. Reports on Indian plastic surgery performed by a man named Kumar Vaidya were published in the Gentlemans's Magazine in 1794. Joseph Constantine Carpue spent 20 years in India to study these local plastic surgery methods. Joseph was able to perform the first major surgery in the western world (to be specific, in England) by 1815. Later, in Europe it became known as "Carpue's Operation".

( Below is added on 21 Jan 2015 )

"Sushruta was the first medical person to use leeches in medical treatment. In the last two decades, the FDA of United States has accepted leeches as a medical device,"- Dr Ashwin Sawant said during a symposium at the ISC ( Indian Science Congress ). "A drilled tooth dating back 7,000 ( BC 5000 ) years was found at a place now in Pakistan" - he quoted.
"Sushruta was the first to say that the human heart is the centre of the body's circulation system. However, we give credit to William Harvey for the discovery of the circulation of blood" - he added.