The journey of knowledge that we see moving forward, is actually not going forward. It is just an attempt to rediscover our old knowledge. We have so much old knowledge in store that we will be only getting it as we move ahead…! This is a small attempt to open up the door of that amazing knowledge
Treasure Trove : Prashant Pol
History is a very deceptive subject. Moreover, while exploring the history, we come to such a point that the mind becomes stupefied. A confusion arises as to whether this is really possible. One cannot believe that we had such an advanced knowledge one and half thousand years ago.
We find ourselves in such a situation after coming to Somnath Temple in Gujarat. Actually, the history of Somnath Temple itself is awesome. This is one of the twelve Shivalingas among 12 jyotirlingas—beautiful and rich. It was so affluent that every aggressor coming from north was attracted to Somnath and Somnath was looted a number of times. Gold, coins, silver, diamonds, pearls…everything was taken in cartloads. And yet, even after being looted in such a manner, the Shiva temple at Somnath would rise again to be as prosperous.
However, Somnath is not important just for this wealth. Somnath Temple is situated at the western seashore of India. The expansive Arabian Sea washes Somnath”s feet every day. And in the known history of last thousands of years, this sea has never derided Somnath. No storm has ever destroyed the glorious temple at Somnath.
There stands a pillar in the premises of Somnath Temple and it is known as the Baan-Stambh or Arrow-Pillar. It is difficult to say since when it stands here. As we explore the history, we reach somewhere in 6th century where this pillar is mentioned. However, that does not mean it was erected in 6th century. The antiquity of the pillar cannot be explained exactly.
This Arrow Pillar is a pillar showing the direction. It consists of an arrow and below it is written, Aasamudrant Dakshindhruvparyant Abadhit Jyotirmarga.
It means—There is no obstruction in straight-line from this point to the South Pole.
As I saw this pillar and read the inscription for the first time and understood the implying meaning, I got goose bumps! Did we have this knowledge so long ago? How is this possible? And if this is true, what a rich global heritage of knowledge we are carrying with us!
The meaning of the one Sanskrit line of the inscription is pregnant with so many interpretations. The straight meaning of this line is that no landmass comes if one draws a straight line between Somnath temple and the South Pole (or Antarctica).
Now, what is the veracity of claim? It should be easy to find out in today’s technology era. But it is not so easy. Apparently, no landmass is visible if one goes by Google Maps. However, that was bigger landmass. One has to enlarge the entire route to look for smaller landmass. This is a tedious task, but one has to persist. As one looks slowly, no big landmass—that is measuring 10 Km X 10 Km is visible. Landmass smaller than that has to be searched with special technology. In short, let us assume that the Sanskrit verse was true.
However, the original query remains unanswered. Even assuming that this Arrow-Pillar was built in 600 AD, from where did they get the knowledge that the earth had the South Pole? Okay, even assuming that they knew South Pole existed, who did the mapping to tell that no
landmass comes in between if one draws a straight line between Somnath temple and the South Pole? Everything is amazing!
It also means that Indians knew earth was round when they built the arrow pillar and not only this, they also knew that the earth had South Pole (and of course North Pole also). How was this possible? Had they any tool to have aerial view of the earth? If not, then was there map of earth available?
Cartography (taken from French original) is an old science. Maps of stars in the skies, carved in caves 6000 to 8000 years BC, have been found. Yet there is no consensus on who drew the first map of the earth. Since there is no proof of Indian knowledge, this credit goes to Greek scientist Anaximander. He belongs to 611 to 546 BC, but his map is very raw. That map shows the areas of the time where human habitation was known. There is no reason of showing north and south poles.
We see the closest map resembling today’s actual world being drawn by Henrics Martelas at around 1490 AD. It is said that Columbus relied on the same map.
The opinion that ‘earth is round’ was found to have been expressed by some European scientists in BC era. Anaximander had seen the earth as a cylinder in 600 BC. Even Aristotle had described earth as round.
However, we see many signs that India possessed this knowledge much earlier. It was on the basis of this knowledge that Aryabhatta not only said that earth was round in around 500 BC, he also emphasised that diameter of the earth was 4,967 yojan (which comes to 39,968 kms as per new measurement system). Today, the diameter of the earth was found to be 40,075 kms after using all modern technologies. It means deviation in Aryabhatta’s measurement was by just 0.26 per cent. How come Aryabhatta had this knowledge 1600 years ago?
German historian Joseph Schwartzberg had proved in year 2008 that cartography was in much advanced stage in India since 2000-2500 BC. Town planning maps were available in those times, and evidences of existence of even maps necessary for shipping are also found. The science of shipping was developed in India since earliest times. Going by the footsteps of Hindu civilisation found all over South Asia, there are solid proofs that Indian ships venture as far as eastern end Japan crossing over Java, Sumatra and Yavadweep. Remains dating back 2500 years have been found in Lothal in Gujarat during excavation in 1955.
Thus, people in those times must have the direction up to the South Pole when they built the Somnath temple. Another thought comes to mind—whether it was found later that sea existed in straight line up to the South Pole or Jyotirlinga of Somnath was built where the straight line having no landmass in between ended in India what exactly is the Jyotirmarga described in that line on Arrow-Pillar?
As of now, this is a mystery…!
