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The Age of Innocence

In the Summer of 1985, Class X of “Sacred Heart Girls Convent” suffered an electric jolt. To be precise, there were 65 of us in the class (Hey – India is a densely populated country) & 64 of us were shocked out of our wits. As for the 65th scholar – Well, this post is about her.

We had finished our board exams & a few days later, we were all luxuriating in the shade of the many trees that dotted our campus. The weather wasn’t too bad for April, we were all in our “color” dresses (instead of the nerdy Maroon & Cream horror euphemistically called “Uniform Dress Code”) & many of us had iced lollies in our hands. Life was perfect, as life tends to get after grueling exams.

We spotted Innasi striding purposefully towards us. None of us knew what Innasi’s job title was – You could best describe her as an “odd-jobs woman”. She rung the school bell, swept the corridor, pruned the roses, fawned around the Head-Mistress & lorded over the pre-teens. She was a “personage” nevertheless & knew stuff that nobody else did. On the rare occasions that she led the school prayer (people, people – we are talking about a Catholic school), she sang in a mellifluous voice that startled & mesmerized in equal measure. Innasi always walked purposefully – strode, to be precise. Perhaps Alexander walked like that after defeating Darius in battle.

“Do you know why there’s a crowd before Sister Pauline’s office?” she asked smugly. “No, Innasi. Though we have a hunch that you’re dying to tell us – So, why don’t you get it over with?” – said Anita. The rest of us sniggered. Insolence is the right of the young. Innasi scowled & said – “Well, smart-asses! Malini is getting married”. Enola Gay couldn’t have left such a silence in its wake.

Malini, our classmate was getting married. Damn, we were 15 years old. Most of us were not averse to Holy Matrimony, but it loomed hazily in the future, somewhere after college graduation. All of us were looking forward to “Secondary School” & “Sweet 16” parties. Sister Pauline (our Head-Mistress) frowned upon anyone wearing make-up at school – and in sheer defiance, some rebels had secretly planned on painting themselves like trollops that very day & hitting a cool hang-out after that. Geeks like me were doing some “light” reading on “Nuclear Physics” to prepare – for Armageddon, perhaps? But now, all was forgotten. We were too stunned to speak.

Innasi was pleased as punch at our shock, so she readily answered our questions. Malini was marrying her uncle – Mother’s brother. The “groom” was 32 years old. The wedding will take place in May 1985. Sister Pauline had thrown a hissy fit, since she had strong feelings about minors getting married. But Malini’s parents were adamant & had terminated her education. If she was lucky, her husband-to-be might permit her to complete her Secondary School. “Oh, but Sister Pauline will not have her back!” – Innasi said ominously.

“What you mean, you old coot, is you’d rather derive perverse pleasure in Malini being a school drop-out!” – this was Beulah & her voice shook. She was almost in tears. “Do you brush your teeth with gun-powder, Beulah – because you are shooting your mouth off!” – Innasi walked off in a huff. In some communities, people marry their cousins – but, I have to confess that marrying an uncle freaks me out totally. I mean, your grandma becomes your mother-in-law! Somehow that doesn’t sound right to me.

A few months back, our Math teacher Ms Stella blurted out – “Isn’t Malini pretty?”. Ms Stella was like that – she never mastered the art of decorum. We loved her for that – she was rather refreshing. I gave Malini the once-over – Really, I can disconcert people with my critical eye. We were all gauche and either skinny or rotund with baby fat. We were as awkward as colts. Malini was already semi-Rubenesque, had long silky hair & a smooth skin. Why be unkind enough to dissect someone’s appearance beyond this? She was definitely pretty. Perhaps the problem started there.

Most of us took a bus or rode a bicycle to school. But, Malini was chaperoned to school. Her bosom friend, Shanthi, had obscenely rich parents & commandeered her own car. But, her driver dropped her off – she wasn’t chaperoned by a mother, clucking like an over-protective hen. Poor Malini. Apparently her looks had attracted the unwelcome attention of “loafers” – read boys in our age group. Some besotted boy tried to – GASP! – talk to her. Another rapscallion tried to woo her with roses. Her parents, obviously horrified with the attention their 15 year old daughter was getting, miffed her “suitors” by chaperoning her. Perhaps some moron serenaded her now, who knows? So, her devoted parents had arranged her marriage, thereby squelching her life.

“So, Malini will become what, sort of like a mother?” moaned Fatima. This was a depressing thought. Mothers carry large, ugly hand-bags the size of a circus tent. In it, they had bank statements, electricity bills, grocery lists, “to do” lists, spare diapers, an amazing assortment of keys that open no known doors in the universe & wads of tissues. They had “responsibilities” like paying the bills, buying provisions, making dinner, entertaining guests & overseeing the maid. Most of us were militantly irresponsible. A simple “Clean your room!” from our parents elicited nasty looks & much ominous mutterings akin to thunder from us. Malini probably would start investing wisely in shares, we thought gloomily. She’ll be buying a nice “starter home” when Shanthi – whom we knew was destined to be a doctor – was dissecting her first cadaver in Med school.

What did Malini think about this? – We wondered. She never struck me as a push-over. She was articulate, reserved but friendly. Why on Jan 85, when I was shopping for clothes with my mother, I bumped into Malini. Mum wanted me to get an ultra-traditional long skirt that looked totally dorky – and I mulishly chose a pair of jeans. And glared back at mum, willing her to order me around. Malini smiled at me sweetly & said – “Why don’t you buy a traditional long skirt? Isn’t that our culture?”. Mum looked ecstatic & beamed, while I gaped at Malini, horrified. “In any case, we have to listen to our elders in the long run!” she said, looking gentle like a Simmentaler cow.

That incident must have given me a clue. “Accede, don’t defy” must have been Malini’s Mantra in life. We saw a red-faced Sister Pauline getting out of her office. She had begged, harangued & threatened Malini’s parents on her behalf. But to no avail. We made a beeline for the Head-Mistress’s office. Malini was standing there alone, with her trade-mark gentle expression. We felt miserable. Many of us were tongue-tied for the 1st time in our lives. “So” said Shree brightly – “Joining us for a game of Volleyball?”. Anita kicked Shree’s legs violently. Maybe Malini was forbidden from playing games – brides-to-be have to behave in a dignified manner. “Hey, what do you all want to be, when you grow up?” – This was Lakshmi. We all groaned inwardly. She had no tact whatsoever – “I’m gonna be a Police Officer!!” – she bellowed. Poor Malini. Would she have the option of working?

“Well, Uh, Congratulations, Malini” we said uncertainly. “Thank You” she said. Her expression was inscrutable. “And wow, huh. Great news” – Each of us shook her hand. Shanthi hugged her & wouldn’t let go off her for 5 minutes. It was a sad scene, almost funereal, reminiscent of “Ode to the Nightingale” by Keats. Ms Stella & a few of us took Shanthi aside for a cup of tea. Shanthi looked very pale & her hands shook when she took the proffered cup. “Tell me something” she said. “How does she feel about, you know, having sex with this guy?”. I shuddered & tried not to think about Malini’s nuptials. She was 15 years old. He was 32. She was still a kid. And he was a full-blooded man. Life sometimes sucks. Shanthi sniffled once – just once. It was a heart-breaking sound.

Malini’s younger sister came gliding towards us, with the grace of an eel. 13 years old, she already had the allure of a wood nymph. Innasi told us darkly – “You know, Malini has a 28 year old uncle. They plan to marry him off to this kid”. For once, Innasi looked tormented, not ghoulish. And I nearly liked her at that minute.

Only Shanthi attended the wedding. The rest of us excused ourselves. You could say we didn’t have strong enough stomachs for that.

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The Real History of India – Part 6: Aryan Invasion Theory

Prolog:

Now that we have established the religion that was followed in the IVC, we will take a look at the Aryan Invasion Theory debate. The words “Aryan Invasion” seem to suggest that there was a sudden death for the Dravidians, the words “Aryan Infusion” seem to suggest a benign and gentle influence, the words “Indigenous Aryans” seem to suggest that the IVC was Aryan and they were always indigenous. I believe none of this to be true. We will see why, shortly. I would like to use the term “Aryanization”. It is the only one that explains the modern day Hinduism, which is a clever amalgamation of the Dravidian religion, Jainism and Buddhism, created using a combination of violent incursions/violence, proselytizations, influence and other techniques as appropriate . As a note of caution, the terms Aryans and Dravidians are being used in the historical context. At present, the Indians of India, excluding some racially pure tribals and the people of the North East, are a mix of both the Aryan and Dravidian peoples as well as other peoples like Scythians, Huns, Moghuls, Europeans and others, who had made India their home during the course of history.

The Principle of Concordance

When you want to analyze a book, a linguistic technique called Concordance is very helpful. The Concordance of a book is nothing but a compilation of the frequently used words within the book and their associated frequencies.

For example, take a look at the Concordance for Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code .You will notice that the top most frequently used words (occurrences) are Langdon (1516), Sophie (1103), Teabing (594) and Fache (397) – the most important names in the book. If you look further you will notice that Grail (286), Church (234), Silas (266), Grandfather(222), Collet(176) and Keystone(160) round out the Top 10. If you have read the book, you will know how beautifully the concordance captures the most important elements of the story.

Rig Vedic Concordance

I decided to apply the same principle to the Rig Veda (RV), the holiest of holy Vedic texts. Fortunately, I found the Concordance for the Rig Veda . It uses Griffith’s translation of the Rig Veda Samhita as its base. Griffith’s translation of the RV has come under attack. Since i am only using the concordances of the RV, his supposed translation errors will not affect it. Of course, if someone has the time and has access to a better Concordance Set, we can compare notes and make sure we are on the right track.

Then i went through the RV concordance and noted down the base set of concordances – important words and their frequencies in descending order. Then I derived some concordances by adding concordances of related terms together. For example, i added the frequency for Steeds and Horses together to get the concordance for Steeds. The resultant file is a pdf- Rig Veda Concordance .

The Top 10, in descending order of concordances are – Indra(2819), Agni(1921), Soma(1525), Prithvi(799), Chariot(775), Horses(761), Maruts(714), Asvins(588), Varuna(574) and Mitra(416).

In the previous post, we analyzed the IVC Religion and from that we know that the Sun, the Moon and the Mother Goddess (Earth) were the key gods.  In the RV, the Sun God has 397 occurrences, Moon+Moons have a combined concordance of 29 putting them both way down in the pecking order. Siva is not to be found at all. Yeah, Rudra was mapped to Siva later, but Rudra/Rudras combo concordance is 151 again way down the hierarchy of Gods. Visnu with 107 is ranked even lower than Rudra. As for Brahma, it wasn’t mentioned at all. Someone has interpreted Precem to be Brahma and assuming we accept that interpretation, the keyword Precem has the glorious concordance of 2!

Therefore, Siva (after mapping to Rudra), Vishnu & Brahma, the Vedic trinity that we now worship, was not at all  important to the RV.  That  means  they were made important later  to amalgamate with the IVC’s Proto-Trinity. We also know that cows and bulls were very important to the IVC people, whereas the RV concordance shows that the Horses and Chariots were more important. Both horses and chariots are conspicously absent from the IVC.

Indra Destroys Dravidian Puras

The RV talks of Indra destroying  Puras of the Dasyus (RV term for Dravidians). Western historians committed a critical error by assuming that this term meant the IVC’s beautiful cities. It is an error because the evidence from the IVC city excavations show no evidence of any destruction. So what did Indra destroy, then? I think Puram/Pura is referring to the clay brick village settlements, the people, outside the IVC’s cities, lived in. If you remember the interpretation for Meluhha=Melagam, i had mentioned that Agam also meant inside. Puram in Tamil is the opposite of Agam, which means outside. You can think of melagam as the inner city and the puram as the outer suburbs. Even in today’s modern world, we use the same terminology – inner city and outer suburbs. These destructions, that the RV refers to, must have been the Violent Incursions that the Aryans used. There are also multiple references in the RV to Dasas who were collaborating with the Aryans and adopting their systems [Citation: Romila Thapar’s Early India]. Therefore, the Aryans must have used a combination of military power, influencing some powerful Dravidian chiefs with their new religion, to Aryanize the IVC people.

Why RV couldn’t be about a riverine civilization like the IVC?

1. In a riverine agriculture-based civilization, the river would have great significance, as we have seen with Egypt, where even the calendar was fixed according to Nile floodings and the Deities were carried in a Nile Boat (barque) during processions. Whereas in the RV, concordance for Sarasvati is 73 (compare that to 2819 for Indra) and Sindhu has 50.

2. Riverine people use boats extensively. We also know that the IVC people were seafarers. RV Concordance for Boats+Ships = 16. Very insignificant.

3. If the RV was written by/for agriculturists, you will find more mentions of Agricultural elements. That is not the case with the RV – Plough/Ploughs concordance = 4, sickle=2, sowing=2, till=12. Very insignificant. Interestingly, Visnu, the agricultural god ranks way below the other important gods. Compare Visnu=107 with Indra=2819 concordances.

Therefore, saying that the RV represents the IVC [or the Indus-Sarasvati Valley Civilization as the revisionist Hindutvavadis call the IVC] is delusional.

Outside India

At this point, I decided to look at the neighboring areas of the IVC. Thanks to Priya Raju, I became aware of the Avesta . Just going through the various sites referring to the Avesta and its similarities to RV blew my mind away. They had the same Soma/Haomo rituals, they had the same fire worship rituals etc. It is so similar that, today, linguists use Vedic Sanskrit to decipher the Gathan Avesta language! I have compiled the similarities between Avesta and Veda in this PDF with citations – Rig Veda and Avesta Comparison. The only inference you can draw from this is that the Avesta and RV were written by the same people.

But the reference to Daha/Dahyu (RV Dasa/Dasyu) in the Avesta bothered me. The Avestans never came to India and we know that the RV is referring to the IVC people as Dasas, then how come both are talking about the same enemies? I concluded that the Avestan/RV people when they were together must have encountered the same people as well whom they called Dasas/Dahas. When i started looking at the pre-Avestan cultures, i found the same Mother Goddess religion, thereby confirming my inference that the Dasas of RV/Dahas of Avesta were the Mother Goddess worshippers .  That inference started my quest, which eventually led me to the point where i  realized/proved that the entire Neolithic Plate, as I called it, was following the Mother Goddess Religion.

If that is the case, who are these Avestan/Vedic people? Horses and Chariots seem to be very important to them and of course Agni, Varuna, Soma etc.

Epilog:

1. Where are these horse/chariot people from? What is the big deal with horses/chariots?

2. What was happening in the rest of the Neolithic Plate when the Aryans came to the IVC?

3. What about genetic evidence? Is there any?

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Alternative Medicine: Take 2

In my previous post, I had outlined some basic methods to distinguish good medicine from barking mad therapies. In this post, let’s dig deeper to see how the tricksters abuse science to confound lay-people.

Chain of Evidence
First, I have to debunk some ill-conceived notions about science & formal medicine. Science does not dismiss unproven healing methods, ideas or experiences right away. It systematically looks for evidence in an unbiased manner – and then, based on the outcome, chooses to support (or oppose) the proposed idea. Most importantly, it also tries to reproduce the reported success of the healing method – after understanding the conditions under which it manifests itself.

Science is not just based on experiments & personal observation. Several scientists have predicted outcomes thru Math, theories & repeating patterns – well before any evidence could be found. Mendeleev predicted the characteristics of several elements before they were discovered. Einstein dreamed up his Theories of Relativity first, proved it next. It was possible for him to do that because – he knew all the facts & principles leading to it.

Which brings us to “Chain of Evidence”, one of the corner-stones of science. Every new earth-shaking theory is like a chain of concepts, proven data points or experiments. For the final link in the chain (i.e., the new theory) to be correct, every link in the chain should be correct. How can we ensure that every chain in our reasoning is correct? By relying on scientific methods.

Quacks shouldn’t be taken seriously because – They are unable prove any/most of the links in their thinking. Their basic premises veer far from scientifically accepted principles. It is no surprise then that their theories are heckled by established scientific institutions the world over. They only seem to succeed in the public domain because – the general populace has very little knowledge on science. This means the charlatans have a field day & continue their vaudeville act.

Science is “Too Narrow”
I have a problem with squawking popinjays that claim their pet theories are 100% scientific, but when pressed for proof – throw a hissy fit, accuse everyone of being narrow minded & start ranting about how science is useless to understand the nuances in life. They may also say that science hasn’t “caught up” with them. Possibly & I hope it never does.

This double-speak gives me conniption fits. I just wish they’ll answer some simple questions, so that I can stop the woozy feeling in my head.

1. Folks – Your claims are either scientific or not. Make up your mind. Which is it?

2. If you think science is inadequate to explain your technique, why do you use scientific terms to explain it?

3. If you truly believe in what you say – Why do you resist all attempts by the scientific community to independently theorize, conceptualize, measure or analyze your claims & report findings?

4. If you think science is ill equipped to prove the veracity of you claims – How in the blazes did you conclude that your claims are scientific in the 1st place?

And finally – Narrating one anecdote after another is called “hearsay” – its not the same as providing verifiable supporting evidence.

Appeal to Authority
Since most people are not savvy about science, quacks get their attention easily by invoking the names of authority figures. Check if they make references to Tesla, Bohr, Farraday or other dead scientists – who can’t even whimper their protests from their grave. Such “Dead Scientists Societies” are very useful, since even lay-people know their names.

Like most crooks, quacks are getting smarter & smarter. Sadly, the same can’t be said about their victims. Tricksters usually play “Star Trek” by “cloaking” their shlock in scientific jargon like “Energy Fields”, “Molecular Clusters” & “Quantum Vibrations”. They’ll explain all these concepts admirably, but fail to explain scientifically how any of them have a bearing on the pseudo-scientific geegaw that they are selling. By juxtaposing their ideas with valid science, these nutters hope that a smidgen of the respect you have for physics will rub off on the sleaze that they are selling. They also hope fervently that this new-found respect will make you swallow all your questions & start believing them.

Excusez moi, but me thinks that it stinks 😉

Let me illustrate with some scintillating giberish that I’ve encountered. “During healing, the brain wave patterns of practitioner and receiver pulse in unison with the earth’s magnetic field, known as the Schumann Resonance. During these moments, the biomagnetic field of the practitioners’ hands is at least 1000 times greater than normal, and not as a result of internal body current”. Well, that’s illuminating 🙂

Let me clutch my sides for a sec – I’m laughing so hard they are about to fall off. First of all, Schumann Resonance is “Electromagnetic” – not just “Magentic”: the berks can’t spell “Electromagnetic” yet?? 😀 Second, its a standing-wave that will manifest itself only when a lightning strike excites the cavity between the atmosphere & the earth’s crust. Third, its not some magical energy field that can be “channelized” by people – unless you want to get hit by a lightning & join the party. And lastly, maybe I’ve missed it – did you catch them providing any evidence on their healing method’s mystical connection with Schumann resonance? Other than hearsay?

See what I mean? They’ve successfully distracted people, but they still haven’t proved a thing. They invoked Winfried Schumann, just like our ancestors invoked Mitra, Indra, Dagon or Zeus – to dissuade others from bothering them. They keep lives interesting for skeptics though 🙂

We are Too Stupid
When all else fails, they attack the arguer. This is a logical fallacy called Ad Hominem – Attacking the arguer instead of the argument. As in, they may blame us for being too stupid or too rigid to understand them & the possibilities they weave out of their imaginations.

An acquaintance once told me – “You know, I can heal people over the phone! The scientific (!) principle of Remote Healing relies on both me & the patient having access to the universal energy waves around us”. I sighed – life is indeed trying for a skeptic. I asked him – “No kidding? You can send healing signals pulsating over ether?”. He didn’t see what was coming, so he proudly puffed himself up & said “Yes!”.

I asked him calmly “If that’s true, why don’t you beam your magic pulses to Africa & cure all AIDS victims?”. He went pale & made some inconsequential noises about how Africans should want to get healed first. Nonsense – As if AIDS victims love the company of the HIV virus & can’t bear to be parted from it! I snorted & nearly said “Bollocks!” – but feigned a polite silence. He was already “Checkmated with Candles & Balloons” – as my brother used to say. Well, he also blew raspberries whenever he said that – He was a rare one for capturing the gravity of a situation 😆

Forewarned is Forearmed! My love for debunking runs deep. I may post a follow-up to this post.

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The Real History of India – Part 5: IVC Religion & the Proto-Trinity

Prolog:

When I started on this journey, i first looked at the Aryan Invasion Theory debates and had come across the Kurgan Hypothesis from Marija Gimbutas, a brilliant Anthropologist from Lithuania. As you know, i later switched strategies to look at the entire Neolithic plate and its mother goddess religion. Over the past few weeks, i have formed a hypothesis. When I was testing it, i again came across Gimbutas – and found that she had forecasted that the entire world was following the mother goddess culture. She added that the world was matristic initially and later changed to a patriarchal setup via the Kurgan Expansion. You can read her interview that throws some light on this.

This matristic-patriarchal aspect of Gimbutas’s theory was pilloried by critics and i think it also indirectly reduced the credibility of her Kurgan Hypothesis. I think that Gimbutas was right in guessing that the whole world was following the same religion in the Bronze Age. I agree with her on the broader principles, but i think she made some critical errors in assuming it was matristic.

At Priya Raju’s constant goading, i started reading Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. My hypothesis about the religion was formulated before i started reading this book. So any similarities you see are accidental and may serve to corroborate my hypothesis.

Astronomical Foundation – Solar with a Lunar Twist

Symbologically speaking, IVC denizens believed that the Sun, Earth and Moon were 3 equal parties in the functioning of the world as they knew it – the proto-trinity. Additionally, they also believed that the Earth was the one that was providing the energy to both the Sun and the Moon.

As i have mentioned before, these people had phenomenal powers of observation. They must have observed and calculated the day lengths and figured out that there are 4 equinoctial points – vernal and autumnal equinoxes, summer and winter solstices.

Next they partitioned the 360 degree sky into twelve 30 degree parts to arrive at the 12 zodiacs. Based on where the sun rises in the horizon, they assigned the sun rise to the various zodiacs throughout the year.

Next they looked at the moon and figured out that it revolves around the earth in a 27 day cycle (modern calculations put it at 27.3 days!). They assigned a star to each of the days of the moon there by giving rise to the 27 star system. From a symbology perspective, they thought that the Sun and the Moon were competing for their energy from the earth. When the winter solstice occurs (Uttarayana Punyakalam starts), they deemed it as victory for the Sun and this cycle lasts for 6 months till the summer solstice. At the summer solstice (Dakshninayana Punyakalam), the Moon is said to have won the contest and the Moon’s 6 month cycle continues till the next winter solstice.

The next piece of symbology is in the regular monthly cycle, the moon wins during the waxing phase and loses during the waning phase.

Therefore each day in the calendar was marked with the cycle (sun or moon), the zodiac, the month and the day marked by the phase of the moon and the star associated with it.

Tamils follow to this day the same calendar as outlined in their Panchank (Almanac). My research shows that Keralites, Bengalis, Punjabis also follow a similar calendar framework. [Citation Needed]

Flora & Fauna’s Impact

As we all know by now, Cows and Bulls were extremely important for the IVC people. The Bull symbol was assigned to the Sun – the Uber-Father God. The Cow symbol was assigned to the Earth – Uber Mother Goddess. It is not clear to me what symbol was assigned to the moon, but my guess is that they assigned a Goat (Ram). BTW, the Egyptians also equated cows with their mother goddess (Goddess Hathor).

Trees were very holy for them symbologically because, its roots connect it to the earth (mother goddess) and the top foliage connects it to the sky – and by extension, to the sun during the day & the moon during the night. Trees also bear fruits and seeds which indicate growth and fertility.

At this point, i recalled the Egyptian “Crown” Symbology – the type of crown the gods wear shows if they are from lower or upper Egypt. They controlled both parts if they wore both types of crowns.

Now when i looked at the 3-horned mother goddess, things fell into place. The 3rd horn in the middle is usually a branch of a tree & it signifies the Mother Goddess – Earth – Parvati. She was also known as Durga in Bengal. For some reason they also thought that the mother goddess was from a mountain. Ninhursag, the Sumerian Mother Goddess is supposed to be from a mountian as well.

Now when you go back and look at the peepul tree worship seal, you will see the 3-horned symbology with the middle horn shown as a branch of a tree.

Let us consider the Bull. It also has 2 horns, and we already know that the Lingam is a phallic symbol. If you now look at the 3-horned male god’s crown, you will notice that the middle horn is a phallic symbol and that represents the Father God – Sun – Shiva. In a later post, I’ll explain why I think this is a phallic symbol and why we worship it.

Now that we have established the premises for Mother, Father & the IVC Almanac, it must be now clear to you that the Uber Son is – the Moon. Also known as Murugan (Karthik in Bengal).

This Sun, Earth, Moon is the Proto-Trinity which is a concept that was later incorporated into Vedic Hinduism and Christianity as well [Father, Son and the Holy Spirit]. I’m not saying that IVC loaned the concept to Christianity. What I mean is, Christianity adopted a concept that was prevalent in Neolithic societies.

Let us review parallels from the reference cultures – Sumer started with a pantheistic religion and later moved to the Trinity – Utu (Sun), Ninhursag (Earth) and Sin (Moon). Egypt moved to the Theban Triad during later Middle Kingdom and the start of New Kingdom – Amun (Sun), Maat (Earth) & Khunsu (Moon).

I believe the Minoans had the same triad, but I couldn’t get the name of the Moon god – the male god was called Cernunnos and the female god was Potnia Theron (both are greekified names of Celtic and Minoan gods). Notice that Potnia is known as the Mistress of Animals. Please note that this concept is present in IVC also. In order to understand that symbology, i had to consult Desmond Morris’s brilliant work – “Animal Watching”. I will explain this in later posts.

Now going back to astronomy, they assigned the Bull Zodiac (“Taurus”) to the point at which the Sun rises during the Vernal Equinox. It also marked the New Year – the agricultural season. Pleaides are a part of Taurus. Due to precession, the vernal equinox now falls in March. But since the Tamils place a premium on “Taurus”, their new year still occurs on April 14.

Festival Framework

There are 4 major festivals coinciding with the 4 equinoctial points (new year coincided with the Vernal Equinox as explained above).

1. New Year – At Vernal Equinox, the agricultural season starts, the fields are ploughed and the seeds are sowed. Here is where their symbology of the Sacred Marriage enters. They analogized the start of a New Yearly cycle with the sexual union of the Sun and Earth.

So the festival celebrated sexual unions. Celts called it the “Beltane Festival” – sometimes also called Corn Prince/Princess Festival. There is evidence to show that real sexual unions took place to symbolize the holy union of the Gods. The Uruk Vase found in Sumer shows the “Akitu” festival; Egyptians celebrated the “Opet” Festival which i wrote about during my visit to Karnak. Minoans must have done it as well, as indicated in the Fresco of the Prince. This is celebrated as “Chithirai Thiruvizha” in South India – Where a sacred marriage takes place in madurai between Meenakshi (Parvathi) and Sundareswarar (Shiva). I guess over time the sexual union was converted to a wedding, which is more palatable to our prudery!

The festival of colors must have also happened duing this time with the associated drinking of the Bhang. I believe the IVC people had the Bhang as well. This will be covered later. Holi is today celebrated during the Vernal Equinox – which as we saw occurs in March due to precession. During the IVC days, it would have fallen in April alongside the new year. Even today, the sexual undertones of Holi can’t be missed.

2. Winter Solstice – this is the festival of Suriya Pongal, which marks the Victory of the Sun over the Moon. Bull leaping was done during this festival. As we saw previously, Minoans did the Bull Leaping too.

The above 2 are the only Tamil festivals i knew before i did this research.

3. Summer Solstice – this marks the start of the victory cycle of the moon, and there are festivals that celebrate this. Please delve into your backgrounds and see what your families celebrate during this time. I was able to predict the existence of this festival and I managed to find the Tamil festival celebrated around the Summer Solstice 🙂

4. Autumnal Equinox – this marks the culmination of the victory of the moon, over the evil forces. Again, dig deep into your backgrounds to figure out which Indian festival would be an ideal candidate for this equinoctical celebration.

Let me give you another insight into the minds of these people. Right after the Winter Solstice (Pongal in the month of “Thai”) – “Thai Poosam” which marks the birth of Muruga under the “Poosam” star is celebrated. Star Poosam is the 6th star from Karthikai (the Krithika goddess) – this is to accommodate the 6 pleaides stars [Citation needed]. Interestingly, “Thai” is the 10th month from “Chithirai” when the Holy Sexual Union takes place – They even made sure the gestation period was taken into account!

The celts had smaller festivals during what are known as cross-quarter days or mid-equinoctial points. I have not come across any festivals in India that coincide with this. If you think otherwise, please let me know. Do remember that the equinoctial points mark the quarters of the year.

Epilog:

Gimbutas had correctly predicted that the mother goddess woship was common. As you can see, the Neolithic people actually went a few steps ahead of that to create a religion that was egalitarian – with male, female and child having equal dominance to create the world’s First Trinity. Since the Sumerians and even the later Babylonians followed a Lunar Calendar, i think the IVC people are the first to originate a complex solar calendar system with a lunar twist. Egyptians did use a Solar Calendar, but i don’t think they superimposed the star system on it.

Some more puzzles for you to crack:

1. Who is the snake goddess in Tamilnadu (may have local variants in each region, i think) and why do we worship the snake goddess?

2. What was the real original name of Siva? [Shiva is the Aryanized name of Siva]

3. How did the Vedic Trinity – Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu replace the IVC Trinity?

4. How was the Muruga Symbology constructed? I believe it indicates a balance of both feminine and masculine symbols.

5. What was the Indus script element that signifies the Sun and Moon halves of the year?

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Crispy Dosas in the Microwave Oven

This is a follow-up to Sukumar’s post on Why can’t you make toasted bread and crisp dosas in your microwave oven?

A week ago, I saw an ad on the television about a new microwave. Whirlpool India has introduced MagiCook 22C Grey 22Ltr Convection Microwave with a Micro Tawa option, which can make a Dosa, Pizza, Parathas etc. This convection microwave uses Combination cooking method which combines traditional cooking(bottom up heating) with the microwave technology for shallow frying. For the CRISP mode, it is a combination of Microwave and Grill together, when the Tawa is set to a certain power level the active layer of the dish is uniformly crisped and browned to perfection thus creating the Maillard Reaction.

I started my research to understand the basic Oven and its types.

An Oven is an enclosed compartment used for heating,baking or drying. The earliest known ovens existing in the Indus
Valley Civilization and the proper front loading ovens were used in the Ancient Greek for making breads.

Now let’s see what is the difference between Microwave Oven, Conventional Oven and Convection Oven.

A microwave oven works by passing microwave radiation through the food.A conventional oven has heat radiating from a single or multiple sources and heating the internal area of an oven and cooking your food.

A Convectional Oven uses a fan and a heating element to create air flow patterns inside the oven, thus ensures optimum browning of the food in the fastest possible time, sealing the juices and prevents drying out of meats.

Look at the picture below, let me now tell you about a Convection Microwave.

Convection microwave ovens combine a convection cooking with microwave oven to cook food with the speed of a microwave oven and browning of the convection oven. Convection microwave ovens are more costly than the regular microwave ovens.

A convection oven will have about a 25 to 30% reduction in cooking temperature, and a 21% reduction in cooking time, compared to a conventional oven. This comparison will vary, depending on factors including, for example, how much food is being cooked at once or if airflow is being restricted by using an oversized baking tray.

Convection Microwaves were initially considered to be high-end kitchen appliances. They were more expensive than a conventional oven. Over time the price of convectional microwaves has dropped and can be bought for around the same price as a conventional microwave.

Please share your experience if you have tried it already. Does it really make good dosas and Parathas?