From Khambat to Kaveripumpattinam to Poompuhar – The excavation, exploration and underwater exploration and excavation!

From Khambat to Kaveripumpattinam to Poompuhar – The excavation, exploration and underwater exploration and excavation!

From S. R. Rao NIO to Ramaswamy and NIOT: S. R. Rao, NIO conducted excavations at the Tranqubar-Poompuhar coastal area during 1960s[1]. He also preliminary underwater exploration and excavation carried on during 1980s[2] and at that time, the TN Government was not so interested in pursuing further under the pretext of funds and other reasons. In fact, the then, CM off TN reportedly and sarcastically remarked, “You are going to prove that the city was submerged and the evidences are excavated, but, our literary evidences already say that.” However, the TN archaeologists, historians, Dravidologists and “myth-makers” always talk glory about submerged cities off Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean off the south. The “Kumarik kandam” has always been favourite topic for them. Anybody, who does not support or talks against it would be dubbed and branded as “the enemy of the Tamils,” “traitor, renegade” and so on. The report of S. R. Rao with all details can be be read from this book[3]. Now SM Ramasamy has brought out details dating the city back to 15,000 YBP, relying upon Grahm Hancock[4].

The Sangam Cholas capital and Port city: The celebrated ancient port capital of Chola is situated on the confluence of the river Kaveri and the Bay of Bengal.  It is believed that the ancient city of Poompuhar was submerged by the sea which finds a detailed description in Manimekhalai. The archaeological explorations have brought to light a large number of evidences indicating the partial submergence of the ancient town. A few brick structures have been found in intertidal zone and explorations in 5 m water depth yielded the evidence of rolled pottery which suggests that some part of habitation was submerged. A shipwreck dated to late 18^th century CE has also been found off Poompuhar in 19 m water depth[5]. This shipwreck is yielding a large number of lead ingots. Tranquebar another site about 15 km south of Poompuhar has remains of Chola, Ducth and Danish period. There is a fort of Dutch settlement at Tranquebar which has been partially submerged in sea. This is an indication of shoreline changes during the last 300 yrs. 

Poompuhar or Kaveripumpattinam: The NIO gives this narrative on Poompuhar[6], “Poompuhar, the submerged ancient port city situated in modern-day Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu, might have existed 15,000 years ago, and not 2,500 years ago as was earlier believed”, researchers at the department of remote sensing of Bharathidasan University (BDU) have said[7]. No sample, however, has been collected or dated. A group of researchers from NIOT have been publishing papers in “Current Science” and other journals[8], jointly and individually on the same and similar subject for the last five years[9]. Earlier studies had established that Poompuhar, also called Kaveripoompattinam, had maritime trade links with South East Asia and Egypt, before it disappeared from the maritime map around 1,000 years ago[10]. “While initially it was believed that the port city that gained prominence during the Chola dynasty was around 2,500 years old, the latest study based on offshore explorations and geological features interpreted on the sea floor estimates it was at least 15,000 years old,” the university said in a press release[11].

Poompuhar and Khambat: If scientific dating confirms the estimate, Poompuhar could be the oldest known ‘town’ in India and, arguably, across the world. Similar undersea explorations in the Gulf of Cambay off the Gujarat coast in the early 2000s had discovered a lost city believed to be the ancient Dwaraka, then dated to 7,500 BCE (which predates Mohenjodaro by 4,500 years). Actually, the NIOT announced the discovery of objects and the dates of them recovered during dredging operations at the Khambat. When the discovery was briefed by Dr Murali Manoher Joshi, a Physics Doctorate and Professor teaching physics. However, as he was a BJP Minister at that time, his briefing was criticized and the dating of the objects etc., were questioned by the leftists historians. Even Iravatham Mahadevan reacted to it[12]. Just like “submerged 15,000 years old Poompuhar city,” a submerged city was described with the material evidences recovered. 

Research done in 2019 with NIOT-ships: The Poompuhar study, sponsored by the department of Science and technology and technically supported by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), found structures that could’ve been a harbour, dockyards, human settlements and a lighthouse, around 40km from the present coast, at a depth of 50m-100m. Sometime in the middle of 2019, when scientists on board Sagar Tara and Sagar Anveshika, research vessels from the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), neared Poompuhar off the Tamil Nadu coast, they knew they were floating over history. Just that they didn’t know how old the civilization, whose remnants lay about 100m beneath their feet, was. Poompuhar, the ancient Tamil port city lost to the sea, was earlier believed to have been about 2,500 years old, when the Chola kings set sail to capture distant lands in the east.

The 15,000 years – is assumed: Now, the research team from Bharathidasan University’s Department of remote sensing says they have reasons to believe it was 15,000 years old. The study, sponsored by the Department of science and Technology and technically supported by NIOT, compared offshore exploration findings near the Poompuhar coast with sea level data generated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In the next phase, NIOT will collect samples from the sea to substantiate the findings. The team said the geological features of the sea floor – a harbour, dockyards, human settlements and a lighthouse -have matched sea level conditions that existed 15,000 years ago.

Research carried on with Remote sensing methods: “Poompuhar had a harbour that sprawled over 11km in length and 3km in breadth, with breakwaters and canals to handle and store merchandise. We have found evidence of a primitive dockyard that could handle 70-80 ships at a time,” S M Ramasamy, professor of eminence and national coordinator, Project Poompuhar, Bharathidasan University, said. The university has published the part on harbour in the journal ‘Current Science’. D Rajasekhar, head, NIOT vessel management cell, said the team studied around 6,000sqkm and found most of the ruins at a depth of 25m to 50m below the seabed. A multibeam echosounder attached to the ship was used to study the variation in depth of the sea (bathymetry). Based on data collected by the echosounder, a sub-bottom profiler mapped the seafloor. In the next phase, NIOT will deploy a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to capture images.

Photos taken by remotely operated vehicle (ROV): “We have completed a trial run with an ROV, which was attached with a camera and a sonar. We plan to collect some coring samples,” he said. The study found rowed settlements with compound walls and geological evidence of pits dug on the seafloor. Remains of an ancient lighthouse were found at a depth of 50m, with a spiral staircase and causeway pillars having a design like the Cleopatra lighthouse of Egypt. So, how did the old city go under? Ramaswamy said the region was prone to floods, tsunamis and accelerated impact of sea level rise and cyclone-induced storms.

Poompuhar was relocated at least six times before settling down at the present place: “Poompuhar was relocated at least six times before settling down at the present place. Due to marine transgression, the sea might have reached the land till the present day Mayiladuthurai around 6,000 years ago and regressed later,” the project coordinator said. Around 12 government and private educational institutions including Tamil University, Annamalai University and SASTRA University will be engaged in further studies of the research. “The study will go on for another year and the findings will encourage a similar study to explore Kumari Kandam, a mythical lost continent in the Indian Ocean,” the research team said. (With inputs from U Tejonmayam).

Concluding remarks: Any way, going through all data and information, the following points may have to be kept in mind:

1. The Sangam literature has been dated from 300 BCE to 100 CE, and the Sangam period has been fixed accordingly.
2. Recently, based on the single C-14 dating of Keeladi sample, the 580 BCE date is claimed for the Sangam period.
3. Thus, the “historic period” of Sangam period is claimed to precede the Asokan period of 3^rd cent.BCE.
4. However, there has not been any inscription found comparable to the Asokan inscriptions, as the claim is made on few  “marks” found on potsherds.
5. However, there has not been any consensus among the historians and archaeologists, as the town formation and other material evidences do not go back to such 6^th cent BCE period.
6. Here, now no sample has been collected and therefore scientific dating cannot be thought of.
7. The “15,000” years claim has been far-feteched and has no historical basis.
8. No human habitation is proved for the different levels assumed for the existence of a city based on the photographs.
9. They also claim that they would excavate for “Kumarik kandam,” another myth floated by the Tamil protagonists and linguistic enthusiasts.
10. Under the guise of “scientific studies,” such claims need not be made and news created sending wrong signals to the general public.

K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

22-01-2023 / revised 15-04-2023

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[1] S.R.Rao, Excavations at Kaveripattinam, Transactions of Archaeological Society of South India, Madras, 1965.

[2] S. R. Rao, Marine archaeological explorations of Tranqubar-Poompuhar region of Tamil Nadu coast, Journal of Marine Archaeology, Goa,1991, No.2, pp.5-20.

S. R. Rao, Underwater explorations of submerged towns near Tranquebar Tamil Nadu, Recent Advances in marie archaeology, Goa, 1991, pp.60-64.

[3] S. R. Rao, Marine Arhaeology in India, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi,  2001, See Chapter-VI – Discovery of Poompuhar submerged in the Bay of Bengal, pp.169-192.

[4] Hancock, G., Underworld: The Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age, Penguin Books, London, 2002, p. 741.

[5] https://www.nio.org/galleries/show/poompuhar

[6] Times of India, Tamil Nadu’s Poompuhar may be over 15,000 years old: Study, DEEPAK KARTHIK / TNN / Updated: Jan 21, 2023, 05:03 IST.

[7] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/trichy/tamil-nadus-poompuhar-may-be-over-15000-years-old-study/articleshow/97186246.cms

[8] SM. Ramasamy1, J. Saravanavel, K. Palanivel, C. J. Kumanan and D. Rajasekhar, Detection of submerged harbour using GEBCO and MBES data, in the offshore region of ancient port city Poompuhar,South India, Current Science, Vol.119, No.3, 10 august, 2020, pp.526-534.

Click to access 0526.pdf

[9] Lissa, M., et al. “Semantic data model for knowledge representation and dissemination of cultural heritage site, Poompuhar.” CURRENT SCIENCE 123.10 (2022): 1237.

[10] The Hindu, Ancient port city of Poompuhar traced undersea, claim researchers, S. Ganesan, January 20, 2023 10:12 pm | Updated January 21, 2023 06:10 pm IST.

[11] https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/ancient-port-city-of-poompuhar-traced-undersea-claim-researchers/article66413969.ece

[12] Frotline, ‘Be sceptical, and not negative and destructive’, Interview with Iravatham Mahadevan. Published : Mar 30, 2002 00:00 IST.

https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/article30244518.ece

A National Seminar held on “Understanding the Cultural Focus on Thiruvarur Region Heritage of Tamil Nadu – Focus on Thiruvarur region” on March 17th and 18th 2022 at the Central University of Tamil Nadu – CUTN, Thiruvarur (3)

A National Seminar held on “Understanding the Cultural Focus on Thiruvarur Region Heritage of Tamil Nadu – Focus on Thiruvarur region” on March 17^th and 18^th 2022 at the Central University of Tamil Nadu – CUTN, Thiruvarur (3)

17-03-2022 breakfast

The first technical session started after lunch chaired by Prof S. Sundaram, HOD, History department, University of Madras. There were seven paper presenters:

Sl. No	Name of the paper presenter	Title of the paper
1	K. V. Ramakrishna Rao	The Cholas shipbuilding and ship breaking activities, changing river basins and coastal lines 1000 years ago
2	R. Devi	Nageswaraswamy Temple  Kumbakonam
3	G. Aruldas and R. Dinakar	Cholas influence on Southeast Asia and its maritime trade
4	Murugan and Basha	Muslim women’s education in the Vellore district
5	Natarajan	Kalpana and Kalpita in Thavil play – Innovation made in Thiruvrur
6	Madhusudhana Rao and K. V. Ramakrishna Rao	The Architectural link between Thruvaiyaru and Hemavati
7	N. Anita	A Vital role of the Dravidian movement n the abolition of the Devadasi system

Dr Sundaram delved upon “culture,” its definition and detailed its importance quoting from the related literature. From cherished historic monuments and museums to living heritage practices and contemporary art forms, culture enriches our lives in countless ways and helps build inclusive, innovative and resilient communities. Protecting and safeguarding the world’s cultural and natural heritage and supporting creativity and dynamic cultural sectors are fundamental to addressing the challenges of our time, from climate change to poverty, inequality, the digital divide and ever more complex emergencies and conflicts. UNESCO is convinced that no development can be sustainable without a strong culture component. Indeed only a human-centred approach to development based on mutual respect and open dialogue among cultures can lead to lasting peace.

UNESCO’s commitment to culture: UNESCO’s interdisciplinary mandate which includes the natural and social sciences and culture make it uniquely able to explore the diverse values of nature. Biodiversity is central to many cultures and culture itself plays a crucial role in how biodiversity is perceived. UNESCO is the only UN agency with a mandate in the field of culture. UNESCO’s Culture Sector, through its culture conventions and programmes, plays a unique role in promoting human creativity and safeguarding culture and heritage worldwide. UNESCO’s mandate for the social sciences enables exploration of the ethical considerations of nature’s intrinsic value, while  UNESCO’s  work  on gender provides a  space to  examine  how  biodiversity  is  experienced  and  utilized differently by women and men. Finally, the work of UNESCO in culture and communication and information demonstrates that language is key to how we understand and perceive the world, and shows how the concepts of ‘biodiversity’ and ‘nature’ are expressed in many different ways in different languages.

K. V. Ramakrishna Rao presented his paper with PPT, “The Cholas shipbuilding and ship breaking activities, changing river basins and coastal lines 1000 years ago.” Showing the fundamentals of the shipbuilding, he explained that shipbreaking worked as “Reverse engineering,” during the Cholas period, as huge quantity of wood, timber and parts were recovered, salvaged and reclaimed and they were again used for shipbuilding. Shipbuilding was always and also associated with ship-breaking and no researcher has looked into, in the context of the Cholas. Had the Cholas shipbuilding yards been busy with shipbuilding, naturally, they were busy by engaging themselves in the ship-breaking. The ship-breaking gave abundant wooden-ready-made parts that were easily used for the shipbuilding.  However, recycling can be described as making use of an object (such as a vessel) in a different way from its original function. In contrast, discarding is when unwanted objects and materials are simply dumped at some place.

K.V. Ramakrishna Rao presenting his paper

Recycling aims at the resourceful reuse of various materials, therefore, such huge quantity of wood and timber coming out of ship breaking was not discarded, but, used in the rebuilding ships and the rest for the construction of palaces and forts. If a ship anchors at a port, a lot of activities took place. Hundreds of people, mostly, foreigners entered the port cities. As they acted and interacted with the locals, problems had arisen. Therefore, taxes were also imposed to restrict their movements and goods[1]. From Kanyakumari to Bengal, there had been many ports, port-cities, shipbuilding yards and ship-breaking centres on the coast. Nagapttinam, Caddalore, Pulicat, Naasapurpeta, Kaligapatna, Sitakund are to mention a few. The waste from the vessels, cargo, men and materials polluted the port cities and the coast[2]. Therefore, they were also anchored at a distance and only goods were allowed to enter the port through boats. Thus, in Indian ports, boats were very important in handling cargo, of course, catamaran also played an important role, as they had been cheap and easy way of transporting goods from their ships to the coast. Thus, the small islands, atolls, coral reefs and such other areas nearby coastal areas, ports served as transit-temporary staying places for the foreign / incoming vessels / ships.

R. Devi described the features of “Nageswaraswamy Temple  Kumbakonam.”

G. Aruldas and R. Dinakar with the very attractive title, “Cholas influence on Southeast Asia and its maritime trade,” delved much on the literary evidence from the Tamil Sangam literature about the topic. After spending 80% on such literary narrative, they turned to the Cholas, but giving nothing new. The paper presenter was repeating the well-known details again and again.

Murugan and Basha, a joint paper but presented by Basha on, “Muslim women education in the Vellore district,” and it was not at all fitting into any theme of the seminar. The sectional President also pointed out this fact.

Natarajan presented on “Kalpana and Kalpita in Thavil play – Innovation made in Thiruvrur,” With demonstration of notes. He pointed out as to how a new note was added to the traditional seven notes[3].

Madhusudhana Rao and K. V. Ramakrishna Rao, a joint paper presented by Prof Madhusudhana Rao on, “The Architectural link between Thruvaiyaru and Hemavati.” Historians while describing the Ganges campaign of Rajendra Chola (1012-1044 CE), discussed and debated about many “Victory Trophies” brought back from the Ganges to Thanjavur. In the case of Nolambas, the carrying back of Hemavati temple pillars, the authors studied them at the Hemavati and Thiruvaiyaru temples. The 50 carved pillars in the corridors of the Apparsvami shrine of the Chola temple at Thiruvaiyaru have been under discussion in this paper. At Tiruvaiyar seven miles from Thanjavur, is an ancient Chola temple adjunct of which is the Apparsvami shrine. This small temple is associated with the great Saiva – saint who converted the Pallava king Mahendravarman to Saivism and the sacred spot has a temple erected by Rajendra. An inscription on the plinth gives the prasasti of Rajendra Chola. Around the temple are corridors with rows of pillars. There are about fifty exquisitely carved pillars in greenish basalt with intricate carving in a style so different from all around that they stand out distinctive entirely variant from their surroundings, in other words, they were brought from Hemavati and fixed here.

N. Anita, in her paper, “A Vital role of Dravidian movement n the abolition of Devadasi system,” delved upon 95% and suddenly narrated about the women engaged as “Devadasis,” during the Chola period[4].

After tea break, the Technical session – II started and 15 papers were presented. As only five minutes were given, the paper presenters rushed through and most of them had been of compiled and repetitive nature. No new facts or interpretations are given. Evidently, the paper presenters have not taken seriously in going through the sources and bringing out how this area had been so important in promoting the Tamil Heritage in many aspects and standardized during the Chola period. Unfortunately, many of the papers listed were not presented as the authors did not turn up. The hurriedly filled up readers could not do any justice. Thus, the first-day seminar session was over.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

19-03-2022

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[1]  The inscriptions like Mottupalli and Kaifeedus about Cholas Purvapattayams, Pulicat etc., detail the taxes imposed and collected on the goods imported and exported by the foreigners entering the Indian ports.

[2] This has been the most serious problem and even today and incidentally, the important ship-breaking centres have still been in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

[3] There are different types of swara sthayis or note pitches that leads to the total number of melakartha ragas. These different variations of swaras leads to more than one combination of musical scale. The different variations in swaras is mentioned below. Using this it is possible to mathematically ascertain the total number of melakartha ragas.

Sa (Shadja) – only one.

Ri (Rishabha) – Shuddha, Chathushruthi and Shatshruti Rishabha in increasing order of pitch.

Ga (Gandhara) – Shuddha, Sadharana, Antara Gandhara in increasing order of pitch.

Ma (Madhyama) – Shuddha, Prathi Madhyama in increasing order of pitch.

Pa(Panchama)- only one.

Dha (Daivata) –Shuddha, Chatushruti, Shatshruti Daivata in increasing order of pitch.

Ni (Nishada)- Shuddha, Kaishiki, Kakali Nishadham in increasing order of pitch.

[4] Of late, Rajaraja Chola is targeted very often for pro-Brahmin and started attacked by the Dravidologists. Recently also without knowing the difference between the script and language, some fringe groups were demonstrating against the arathi inscriptions found in the Big Temple and misinterpreting as if “Sanskrit” inscriptions were inserted and so on without any basis. Here, the accusation has been that Rajaraja was responsible for the increase of Temple prostitutes / Devadasis.

Tortoises and Turtles: myth and reality, their Scientific importance in the traditional cultures of the world! [2]

Tortoises and Turtles: myth and reality, their Scientific importance in the traditional cultures of the world! [2]

Maharashtra calls off turtle festival: In Maharashtra’s Velas and Anjarle villages in the state’s Ratnagiri district along the Konkan coast, the gram panchayat (village committee) and local community members were unanimous in calling off the turtle festivals that span through March each year, in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. In Ratnagiri out of 14 nesting sites, the festival is organized only in two villages, Velas and Anjarle, The turtle festival was initially started as a one-day event by SNM in 2006 in Velas as part of community conservation. Along the Konkan coast where the nesting happens, local communities would eat the turtle eggs. Thus, the contradiction is exposed. How the tamasha of celebration of protection of turtles, eggs etc., at one end and eating of turtle eggs could go together. In Assam, the nature-lovers have found a method of leaving “Black turtles” in the temple tanks, so that they grow easily and freely.

Importance of Olive Ridley Turtle:  Hindu Mythology worships sea / oceanic turtles as incarnation of God. Thus, most fishing communities do not consume turtle’s eggs or meats for this reason.  Modem science shows that sea turtles have been swimming the ocean for well over 100 million years even predating many Dinosaurs.  It symbolizes in mythologies of many indigenous cultures. Thus proving the antiquity of the tortoises and turtles. It represents creation, longevity and wisdom.  It forms an integral part in maintaining marine eco-system.  It is an indicator of the vitality of the overall marine environment. Even, in international turtle day and other depictions, the impact can be noticed that turtles and tortoises are always associated with the globe, cardinal points and oceans. But, all these factors are easily taken into account when they are made as God, that too, incarnation of Vishnu. That many saints, Ramanujacharya, Narahari Thirtha, Caitanya and others had been visiting these sacred places for centuries prove that all these eco-factors were already taken care of by them.

Difference between Tortoise and Turtle:  Many many not know the difference between tortoise and turtle, but, they have specific differences as follows:

Tortoise	Turtle
Tortoise live primarily on land	Turtle, live primarily in sea and freshwater
Tortoises are herbivorous	Turtles are omnivorous
Shell of Tortoise is dome-shaped and heavier	The shell of Turtles is more or less flat and lighter
Tortoise generally does not swim and dive and generally stay in one area	turtle swim, dive and migrate from one area to other.
The tortoise can withdraw the entire part inside the shell	Turtle cannot do so.
Tortoise is having normal feet without webbing	Turtle is having webbed toes with a flipper to facilitate swimming
On an average Tortoise lays 1-12 eggs	whereas Turtle lays 100-150 eggs.

The Global Positioning System (GPS): That turtles would return to the same place has already been pointed out as mentioned in the Indian literature, whereas, scientists have proved now. Scientists have long known that the turtles, like many animals, navigate at sea by sensing the invisible lines of the magnetic field, similar to how sailors use latitude and longitude[1]. But they didn’t know how the turtles were able to return to the very spot where they were born[2]. They reported that it was because the turtles rely on Earth’s magnetic field to find their egg-laying beach. Each part of the coastline has its own magnetic signature, which the animals remember and later use as an internal compass. Sea turtles use the earth’s magnetic fields to navigate back to the area where they were born decades earlier, according to a new study that used loggerhead genetics to investigate their travels[3]. The turtles can perceive both the magnetic field’s intensity and its inclination angle, the angle that the field lines make with respect to the Earth’s surface, earlier research has shown[4]. It is good that science and religion go together.

World ancient civilizations and cultures had the myth of earth supported by a turtle: According to the North American folklore, the continent of America is referred to as “Turtle Island,” as they believed that the weight of the continent was carried on a turtle’s back. The Wyandot thought that earthquakes were caused by the turtle’s shifting of his weight when got tired. Iroquoian belief that earth is supported by a turtle has been discussed by many anthropologists. In Chinese mythology, the turtle is the only living sacred animal and considered a symbol of wisdom, longevity, and wealth. They also believed that the shell of a turtle has markings of heaven, earth and the universe. They even used turtle shells at ceremonies to predict the future. According to Converse and Parker, the Iroquois faith shared with Hindu and other religions the “belief that the earth is supported by a gigantic turtle.” Here, the point has been that the turtles and tortoises resemble men, teach lessons and exhibit proof for their integrity and honesty. They live with the earth withstanding all-natural disturbances and disasters. They come to their places, lay eggs, hatch and go away, but, again come back to the same places.

Indians had their own educational methodology to teach difference audiences: That Indians had Vedas, Vedangas, Upanishads, Itihasas, Puranas, Siddhantas etc., prove that they had various audience or students for learning different subjects[5]. The Puranas had / have been to address different types of common men with varied interests, avocations and vacations. Thus, the choice of a temple for Kurmam has been well thought of by the experts and accommodated in their religious sacraments, rituals and pujas, during the first centuries and well developed in the medieval period. Of course, the disturbances of the Mohammedans and Colonial forces have been more than that of the natural disturbances and disasters and hence, it has been very difficult to demythologize and understand and bring out history. Throughout the world, the tortoise has been used as a base or supporting the upper portion of statue, sculpture etc., can be seen in many monuments. Now, other people might forget their significance. But, in India, in the temple worship itself, it is preserved and continued. And that is why, if a careful study is conducted, the facts are being verified, confirmed and made matching with the ancient literature. In India, it is possible even today. The colonial forces and the western expertise in Indology knew very well about the scientific content couched inside the puranic garb. But they wanted to dub them as myth, characterizing the devout Hindus as four blind men describing an elephant idiotically. Whereas, the elephant and tortoise myth many more scientific studies conducted, but, perhaps, suppressed from or known less among Indians, as none of the material evidences are here.

The fossil background of the Tortoise, Siwalik range etc: Col. Wilford, F. E. Pargiter, D. C. Sircar, S. M. Ali[6], Maya Prasad Tripathi[7], and others have dealt with the geography, geology and cosmology as described in the Itihasas and the Puranas. They have shown that the authors of the Puranas have been updating and incorporating the geographical and geographical knowledge in the Puranas, in their own way. D. C. Sircar[8] has used inscriptions also to locate ancient cities and places. D. N. Wadia has shown the geological approach to study India and recorded the presences of fossils of men, fauna and flora also. Hugh Falconer[9] (1808-1865) discovered a fossil of a huge tortoise at the Himalayan range and he explained its significance with the “Hindu mythology”. The Siwalik Fossil Fauna contained monkeys, camels, giraffes, mixed with Anoplotherium, Sivatherium and other mammiferous remais[10].  Though his findings, interpretations and drawings were discussed, they are not known in India[11]. In fact, the material evidences and his papers have also been not accessible to Indian researchers. The particular genus Megalochelys, known as Colossochelys fossil of a tortoise, has spread to coasts of Bay of Bengal down to SEA countries till Timor islands. Thus, it explains the maritime contacts of these countries since early times. Pratik Chakrabarti and Joydeep Sen have pointed out the work done by Falconer and the significance Kurma in Indian context[12].

The exploitation of tortoise in modern days: The concept, precept and global orientation of tortoise have been incorporated in the many ancient cultures. The Jain and Buddhist literature, paintings and sculptures vividly depict such features. The caityas and stupas incorporate the Kurma concept of cardinal points. Now, Vastu experts exploit the concept of a tortoise. The conduct and celebration of “International Turtles Day” have been the commercialization of the periodical egg-laying acts of tortoises coming back to their places. Just like “”Jallik kattu,” it is explotied, in the sense, as the supporters of “Jallikkattu” eat beef etc., of cattle, they cannot be vegetarians and sathvigavdi. Irony has been, those who eat all sorts of meat and flesh propagate “Jeevakarunyam,” i.e, showing utmost sympathy, empathy and feelings towards all living things on the earth. That “Turtle” celebrates eat turtles themselves has been pointed out above. Therefore, instead of making tall claims, at least one can show a little sympathy to living creatures or keep quite.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

24-05-2020

[1] National Geographic, How Do Sea Turtles Find the Exact Beach Where They Were Born?, BY CARRIE ARNOLD, PUBLISHED JANUARY 16, 2015.

[2] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/1/150115-loggerheads-sea-turtles-navigation-magnetic-field-science/

[3] New York Times, Sea Turtles Use Magnetic Fields to Find Their Birthplace Beach, By Karen Weintraub, April 13, 2018.

[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/science/sea-turtles-magnetic-field.html

[5] It is not that the student of history should not read the books of mathematics or astronomy and vice versa, but, they may not understand without knowing and understanding the fundamentals.

[6] S. M.Ali, Geography of Puranas, New Delhi, 1966.

[7] Maya Prasad Tripathi, Development of Geographic Knowledge in Ancient India, Varanasi, 1969.

[8] D. N. Wadia, Geology of India, MacMillan, London, 1944.

[9] Probey T. Cautley (ed.), Fauna Antiqua Sivalesis being the Fossil Zoology of the Sewalik Hills in the North of India, Smith, Elder and Co, London, 1846.

 

[10] Article V, Abstract of a Discourse by Falconer on the Fossil Fauna of the Sewalik Hills, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, John Paker, London, 1866, Volume 8, pp.107-113.

[11] Charles Murchison (ed.), Palaeontological memoirs and notes of H. Falconer, with a biographical sketch of the author, Robert Hardicke, London, 1868, Vol.I.

[12] Chakrabarti, Pratik, and Joydeep Sen. “‘The World Rests on the Back of a Tortoise’: Science and mythology in Indian history.” Modern Asian Studies 50.3 (2016): pp. 808-840.

The “National Seminar on Cataloguing, editing and Publication of Ancient Indian Manuscripts on Science and Technology” held on March 25th 28th 2019 at Bangalore [3]

The “National Seminar on Cataloguing, editing and Publication of Ancient   Indian Manuscripts on Science and Technology” held on March  25^th  28^th 2019 at Bangalore [3]

Nagarajan had specifically dealt with the manuscripts attributed to Siddhas and differentiated philosophical Siddhas from the medicinal Siddhas. Yet, the “Tamil Siddhas” categories differed much from others. Several poems are repeated not only in the same work, but also in other works. The poetry has been wordy, verbose and loquacious repeating the descriptions, ideas and lines just with some changes. Usage of Persian, Arabic, Urdu words prove the 19^th century influence through handlers of herbs, chemicals and living organism and traders.

H. S. Sudharshana presented paper on “A Critical study Vridda-gargiya-jyotisha based on manuscripts” Vriddha Gargiya Jyotisha (Astrology of the Sage Garga). He pointed out that the manuscripts mention the author as garga, gargiya, vruddha garga and so on. Therefore, a question arises as to who is “Garga,” his authorship, authenticity of manuscript, mss available in more than one language or many languages printed forma are also available etc.

The second session – 11.15 to 1.00 pm:  Manuscripts on Astronomy and Mathematics: The second session was presided over by Prof K. S. Kannan Retd. Prof of SanskritNational College, Bangalore, on the theme, Manuscripts on Astronomy and Mathematics with the following speakers:

Sl. No.	Name of the Presenter	Topic
1	M. D. Sreenivas,  Chairman Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai	The Largely Untapped Wealth of Manuscripts in Indian Astronomy and Mathematics
2	Dr Yoganand,  Prof of Mathematics SJCE, Mysore	ICT tools to organise transcription and editing of manuscripts
3	Dr. Gopi Krishna, Prof. of Rasa Shastra, Koppal, Ballary, Karnataka	Sanskrit Manuscripts dealing with Alchemy

M. D. Srinivas gave lists of manuscripts available in different universities, colleges and private collections. He himself showed the printed pages from books showing listed out manuscripts.

C. S. Yoganand detailed as to how the Information Communication Technology [ICT] tools are digital infrastructures such as; computers, laptops, desktops, data projector, software programs, printers scanners and Interactive teaching box. The information technology fusion with the communication technology gave birth to the concept of information and communication technology (ICT) which made the world of library easily accessible from any corner of the globe. Now one user can regularly visit public or academic library without coming into place for a single day. The application of ICT has now touched the manuscript section of the library more or less. Online access to manuscripts over a computer network is the third aspect of ICT application in repositories. The manuscripts stored in different repositories are the primary source of information which are searched and used by the researchers of different subject areas. Digitization of manuscripts to make them searchable and accessible online. Nowadays, application of various tools and technique of information and communication technology (ICT) for this purpose is a common practice. The National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) uses the software ‘Manus Granthavali’ for preparing bibliographic databases of manuscript collection in the entire country. The general library automation software is also used for creating manuscript databases. Software for Library Information Management (SLIM) is another such package used in a manuscript repository for developing bibliographic database. The NMM and the IGNCA have already digitized the manuscript collection of different repositories of India as well as Assam. The digitized versions of these manuscripts in CD/ DVD are now available in those repositories. Now for long term preservation, microfilming of digitized manuscript is preferred.

27-03-2019- Mss seminar -audience.3 middle during Srinivas, Yoganand, Gopi Krishna presentation

27-03-2019- Mss seminar -audience.3 middle during Srinivas, Yoganand, Gopi Krishna presentation. LHS

Dr Gopi Krishna Maddikera, dealing with “Sanskrit Manuscripts dealing with Alchemy,” informed that he found out some old manuscripts with the tribes of Nalla Malla forests that reportedly give medicinal formulation to cure certain types of fevers. The mss could be dated to the period of c.575-1022 CE. They have been written in an old pandyam language, old Telugu and translated into Telugu and then into other languages. He was explaining as to how different medicinal epagatios could be prepared with mercury. Cinnabar is a beautiful bright red or brick red sulphide mineral that is sometimes known as vermilion. It is a major ore for the production of Mercury and is made of a compound called mercury sulfide (also known as mercuric sulfide), which has the chemical formula HgS. Most of the world’s mercury supply is obtained from cinnabar. Hingula, how far it is effective as a rasyana, as a jwaragna, as a pramehagna etc is debatable issue. He also claimed that he has discovered several medical formulations, which could cure diseases. However, he accepts that he has not obtained any IP for such  medical formulations developed and administered to the patients.

Third session – 2.30 to 4.00 pm – Application of technology for manuscripts: As, I have been attending hundreds of seminars and conferences listening to paper presenters, researchers and others, generally, they repeat the ideas, writing and related details again and again in other forums also, as clould be noted from their already published papers and so on. The third session was chaired by  E. S. Dwarakadasa,    Retd Prof., IISc, Bangalore.

Sl. No	Name of the Presenter	Topic
1	Dr. Sai Susarla Dean MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune.	Crowd-sourced Text Extraction from Indic Manuscripts using Machine-learning
2	Dr.Ravikiran Sarvadevabhatla Assistant Professor of Computer Science, IIIT Hyderabad	Shaastra Mapper: A Conceptual Browser for Indian Shaastra Texts
3	Prof. Lakshmithathachar

What Sai Susarla presented could be read from his earlier paper[1], “Architectural considerations for Scalable Indic document Analytics.” He discussed issues in building scalable Indic document analytics services, and presented metadata organization decisions that enable interoperability, rapid development and scaling. He approached Indic document analytics from a systems architecture perspective, without a computational linguistics background, with a feel that these two disciplines can complement each other to enable large-scale exploration of Indic knowledge repositories. The first step is standardization of tool interfaces and data exchange formats[2].Indic heritage knowledge is embedded in millions of manuscripts at various stages of digitization and analysis. Though numerous powerful tools have been developed for linguistic analysis of Samskrit texts, employing them together on large document collections and building end-user applications is a challenge due to non-standard interfaces. This paper examines the architectural needs of scalable Indic document analytics, and presents our experience in building an actual system. Though it is a work in progress, we demonstrate how careful metadata design enabled us to rapidly develop useful applications via extensive reuse of state-of-the-art analysis tools.

Ravikiran Sarvadevabhatla explained that freehand line sketches are an interesting and unique form of visual representation, as typically, they are studied and utilized as an end product of the sketching process[3]. However, he found it instructive to study the sketches as sequentially accumulated composition of drawing strokes added over time, that could be found in the manuscripts[4]. Studying sketches in this manner has enabled us to create novel sparse yet discriminative sketch-based representations for object categories which we term category-epitomes[5]. His procedure for obtaining these epitomes concurrently provides a natural measure for quantifying the sparseness underlying the original sketch, which he termed epitome-score. He tried to construct and analyze category-epitomes and epitome-scores for Sanskrit manuscripts belonging to various object categories. His analysis provides a novel viewpoint for studying the semantic nature of object categories.

When I asked about the conversion of “black and white” copies of inscriptions to this type of digitized images with script recognition, he did not answer directly. Thathachariyar appreciated their papers and hoped that their technology would help manuscripts to be deciphered so that the contents could be used immediately.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

30-03-2019

[1]  Susarla, Sai, Parag Deshmukh, and K. Gopinath. Architectural Considerations for Scalable Indic Document Analytics.,

[2] http://cse.iitkgp.ac.in/resgrp/cnerg/sclws/papers/susarla.pdf.

[3] Sarvadevabhatla, Ravi Kiran, and R. Venkatesh Babu. Category-Epitomes: Discriminatively Minimalist Representations for Object Categories. arXiv preprint arXiv:1502.00082, 2015.

[4] Sarvadevabhatla, Ravi Kiran, Sudharshan Suresh, and R. Venkatesh Babu. “Object category understanding via eye fixations on freehand sketches.” IEEE Transactions on Image Processing 26.5 (2017): 2508-2518.

[5] https://arxiv.org/pdf/1703.06554.pdf

The “National Seminar on Cataloguing, editing and Publication of Ancient Indian Manuscripts on Science and Technology” held on March 25th 28th 2019 at Bangalore [2]

The “National Seminar on Cataloguing, editing and Publication of Ancient   Indian Manuscripts on Science and Technology” held on March  25^th  28^th 2019 at Bangalore [2]

5.15 to 5.40 pm prof. Khincha, Ex-Chairman at Manipal University Jaipur : keynote address given by Kincha. “Though Thatachariar invited me to present keynote address, I do not know how I am fit to be here to do so,” thus, he started and went to point out that Jaina manuscripts of 1400 years old are available. Preservation of manuscripts started long back. There a manuscripts available in the libraries of Vatican London etc. ow many manuscripts have been digitized and useful for further benefit is not known. More digitization means more funding. Digitization should give information for carrying out research s that it is useful. Advanced image techniques can be used for digitization. Charred mss, where indentations were not visible, such techniques could be used. Archimedes project[1] is used to decipher manuscripts…When characters are recognized, then, they can be subjected to machine translation. Manuscript is one time documentation, whereas, digitization can be done again and again with new techniques.

Subject of digital humanities. Digital archives of India[2] is carried on at IIT, Kharagpur. Whether these manuscripts are preserved in the manuscript form or digitized form, their usage is important. Society has to adjust with technology. Nearly 30 years were taken to adjust with the introduction of sewing machine.

5.45 to 6.05 pm – Sri Manjunatha:  Sri Manjunatha has been working with Patanjali group of Industries. He has been visiting many places and collecting manuscripts. He saw 9000 manuscripts gathering dust in the Oriental Manuscript Library, Mysuru, 6000 in Mysore palace shed, 60,000 in Banaras Hindu University, he also purchased manuscripts for research at Patanjajil Research Institute, where, 45,000 manuscripts were there. He asked the British library for taking copies, but, they refused. He got manuscript for curing cancer, but, he would not tell the source. They have developed medicine for Dengu fever. And HIV aso, they have medicine, but, the patient has to come to Haridwar and they give medicine free. They have manufactured medicine with the combination of Arjuna rishta [pathimara] with other Ayurvedic formulations, that would clear all blocks to heart. Baba Ramdev wants all research should be done in Sanskrit only, so that the westerners could not steal our knowledge, even, if they want to do that, they have to learn Sanskrit to copy. In that way Sanskrit lives. Baba is ready to buy manuscripts.

6.10 to 6.39 pm Lakhsmi Thatacharya: In his presidential speech, Lakshmi Thatacharya pointed out that it is very important to extract information from the manuscripts. To some extent in shastra University, the IIT students are made to take interest in manuscripts, as they have one paper on manuscriptology. In Kanchi University, Computer science students are reciting Sanskrit mantras, but, to what extent, they are interested in Sanskrit is not known. When he was in MIT, he asked the experts to give importance to linguistics, while researching in the recognition of characters etc. For digitization of one manuscript man years are required, if that is the case, for digitization of millions of manuscripts, the Kaliyuga is not enough to complete the job. Dating of manuscripts is done paleographical method. C 14 can also be used for dating. M.S.Dwarakadass is interested in manufacturing new alloys with the combinations given in the manuscripts. Manufacture of several alloys have been tried.  Trinetra…….is mentioned. For alloying, it is mentioned ruruka has to be added. It is nothing but bone of ass / deer. So it was also added and tried, but, e cud get only 40% success.  There have been manuscripts on stones. In one manuscript, it is given that when juice of two herbs were applied on the surface of stones, the surface becomes soft and one may write / inscribe easily and the next morning, it becomes hard. Definitely, it is good method.  There are manuscripts to control different types of fevers, however, they have not been deciphered and encoded completely to distinguish the fevers and medicines mentioned for cure.

6.40 to 6.55 pm – Sanjay Singhal:  Sanjay Singhal from Jodhpur, It and software business told his experience at the World Sanskrit Conference held at Vancouver, where 500 participated 300 from India and 200 from other countries. When parallel paper reading sessions were going on, Indian delegates were attending to Indian paper presentation session and foreigners to their session. In other words, there was a divide between these two expert groups. Western scholarship does not respect Indian scholarship. Yet, there was none to question, when foreigners were presenting papers, even, belittling Sanskrit. Thus, there has been a great divide between the Indian and non Indian Sanskrit scholarship. Thus, the inauguration function was over.

Why many people, organizations and institutions engage in the same job?: As a researcher and attending hundreds of seminars, conferences and workshops for the last 40 years, I could find that many people, organizations and institutions engage in the same job of collecting, Cataloguing, editing and Publication of Ancient   Indian Manuscripts on many subjects and evidently including that of Science and Technology, as many deal with such subjects. In Bangalore itself, dozens of organizations have been engaged in doing the same work[3]. Thus, one news go like this[4], “Thousands of ancient medical manuscripts, including several written on palm leaves centuries ago, are now available at the click of a button thanks to a decade long effort by researchers at Bengaluru’s TransDisciplinary University (TDU). Thousands of ancient medical manuscripts, including several written on palm leaves centuries ago, are now available at the click of a button thanks to a decade long effort by researchers at Bengaluru’s TransDisciplinary University (TDU).”In spite of the fact that the invading hoards looted, burned, destroyed and carried away crores of manuscript, that still, 50,000,000 mss are available proves the fact that Indians have been recording their past in the mass for many years, as these are only copies or reprinted books of the old ones.

27-03-2019- Mss seminar -N. V. Prasada Rao, M. J. Nagarajan, H. S. Sudharshan

27-03-2019- Mss seminar -N. V. Prasada Rao, T. N. Sudharshan. M. J. Nagarajan, H. S. Sudharshan

27-03-2019- Mss seminar -audience – centre from the stage

27-03-2019- Mss seminar -my bag.audience. LHS

View of the audience RHS from the stage

Academic Sessions Session 1 – 27-03-2019: 9.30 to 11.00 AM: The technical session actually started on 27^th with the paper presentation of the following: with the Chairperson: Prof. Ch. N V Prasada Rao,  Retd. Prof. AP chaired the session and theme was “Manuscripts on Medical Sciences”.

Sl. No. Name of the Presenter Topic 1 T. N. Sudharshan, Infinity Foundation, Bangalore AIyush – AI enabling the Āyurveda Ecosystem 2 Mr. M. J. Nagarajan, Independent researcher, Chennai The Manuscripts attributed to Siddhas and their Critical Study 3 H. S. Sudhsrshan, Research Associate, Centre for Ancient Histor, Jain University, Bangalore. A Critical study Vridda-gargiya-jyotisha based on manuscripts Sudharsan stressed upon the AI enabling the Āyurveda Ecosystem. The 7th World Ayurveda Congress to be held in Kolkata during December 1–4, 2016 has very apt focal theme ‘Strengthening the Ayurveda Ecosystem’. It is very heartening to note that eminent biomedical scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Secretary, Department of Health Research and Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research has accepted to be Chairperson of the Organizing Committee. Already, she and AYUSH Secretary Shri Ajit Sharan have initiated AYUSH-ICMR Mission for collaborative scientific research. This is very promising example of integrative approach where confluence of traditional and modern systems of knowledge can strengthen the Ayurveda ecosystem to shape the future global health. The establishment of AYUSH independent ministry has a commitment towards strengthening the AYUSH ecosystem. Health problems involving chronic diseases, non communicable diseases etc, there is a scope for complementary as well as preferential choice of any system including Ayurveda. There are a large number of clinical setups in national/state Ayurveda institutions, but the quality publication outcome is low. In the present article, being a scientist and science manager, I have just summarized my opinion to strengthen and growth of Ayurveda. Development of special validation methods for Ayurveda research based on Ayurveda principle is an hour of need. Randomized controlled trials on the use of new innovations are needed in Ayurveda. To strengthen Ayurveda, interdisciplinary approach may prove beneficial. Value addition based synergy and partnerships with ICMR/DBT/DST/ICAR would be beneficial for the growth of Ayurveda[5].   © K. V. Ramakrishna Rao 30-03-2019

[1] The Archimedes Project aims to develop model interactive environments for scholarly research on the history of mechanics and engineering from antiquity to the Renaissance. It is designed to integrate research and knowledge dissemination in new ways and to serve as a proof-of-concept project for open digital libraries on topics in the history of science.  http://archimedes.fas.harvard.edu/

[2] http://nationalarchives.nic.in/ and http://www.ndpp.in/digitalarchive/

[3] Economic Times, From Palm leaves to Computers – ancient medical scripts turn digital, By Bharat Joshi, ET Bureau, Updated: Jun 30, 2016, 10.34 AM IST.

[4] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/from-palm-leaves-to-computers-ancient-medical-scripts-turn-digital/articleshow/52984142.cms

[5] Katoch, V. M. “Planning action for strengthening the ecosystem for Ayurvedic research.” Journal of Ayurveda and integrative medicine 9.4 (2018): 248-249.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0975947618310210

[6]  Susarla, Sai, Parag Deshmukh, and K. Gopinath. Architectural Considerations for Scalable Indic Document Analytics.,

[7] http://cse.iitkgp.ac.in/resgrp/cnerg/sclws/papers/susarla.pdf.

[8] Sarvadevabhatla, Ravi Kiran, and R. Venkatesh Babu. Category-Epitomes: Discriminatively Minimalist Representations for Object Categories. arXiv preprint arXiv:1502.00082, 2015.

[9] Sarvadevabhatla, Ravi Kiran, Sudharshan Suresh, and R. Venkatesh Babu. “Object category understanding via eye fixations on freehand sketches.” IEEE Transactions on Image Processing 26.5 (2017): 2508-2518.

[10] https://arxiv.org/pdf/1703.06554.pdf

The “National Seminar on Cataloguing, editing and Publication of Ancient Indian Manuscripts on Science and Technology” held on March 26th 28th 2019 at Bangalore [1]

The “National Seminar on Cataloguing, editing and Publication of Ancient   Indian Manuscripts on Science and Technology” held on March  26^th  28^th 2019 at Bangalore [1]

From Chronology seminar to manuscript seminar in Bangalore: After attending the two day National seminar held at Bangalore on February 18^th and 19^th 2019, we received a brochure through e-mail. Not only the brochure, even the contents had been also attractive. As the theme and approach were very attractive for researchers, immediately, we decided to attend. Above all, it is to be held in the ISKCON temple complex. I thought, it is the suitable place for the conduct of the seminar, as, Sri Krishna has been the historical personality of Indian history with the start of Kali Era that is the “sheet anchor of Indian history.” In spite of short notice, we could prepare papers, as we have had details ready. As I have been researching for the last 40 years, with data and information available with me, I could prepare papers, immediately and send to the organizers.  I booked tickets also informing them.

First experience at ISKCON, Bangalore (26-03-2019): This is the second time, I am visiting ISKCON, Bangalore. Twenty years back, I came to the temple for darshan. This time, I came as a delegate to present paper. We reached ISKCON temple complex and accommodated at room no.211 by 2.00 pm. The reception asked us to take food coupon and have food, as it closes by 2.30 pm. We had food there and had some rest after discussing the papers to be presented. I was really happy to be there at the place of Sri Krishna, whom I consider as the Lord of Chronology, HOD of Indian history and the greatest historiographer of India, that is Bharath, and perhaps, of the whole world during the 3100 BCE period. I was enquiring about the venue and the program, but, the persons at the reception were telling that some volunteers would come to inform! As none came and it was already 5,00 pm, I contacted and she [Samskriti Foundation representative] responded that she was not feeling well, …………………………….the program had already started, tried to contact, but, could get line and so on. Anyway, we proceeded to the hall and it was nearby only. The “National Seminar on Cataloguing, editing and Publication of Ancient   Indian Manuscripts on Science and Technology” was inaugurated at the auditorium, ISKCON, Bangalore on March 26^th evening and it was funded by the National Mission f0r Manuscript. Dr Alwar was compeering the proceedings. The following few paras tell the information about the theme of the seminar[1].

Indian manuscripts distributed and available countries: The Indian Scientific heritage has been extremely productive. India has one of the largest collections of Scientific manuscripts of any civilization in the world. While there is no precise enumeration of the number of manuscripts, estimates vary widely, putting it in the region of 20000 to 100,000 manuscripts. Several of these manuscripts are now in institutions such as – Oriental Manuscripts Libraries, Indological Research Institutions, Universities, Mutts and Archives and many are still in private collections. Manuscripts are also available in foreign libraries in U.K., France, Germany & USA and in Asian countries like, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Burma, Bhutan, China (Tibet), Thailand. Unfortunately there is no detailed and accurate data about the number, extent and distribution of the Scientific manuscripts of India. The presently available published Scientific texts, which are in contemporary use, represent less than 2% of the Scientific literature that is available in the form of manuscripts. However, as of today, there is no proper methodology to know or verify the names, authors or any other details of manuscripts that exist on the topic of Science and Technology in ancient India.

The Samskriti Foundation: The Samskriti Foundation, Mysore, is organizing this national seminar. It has, at present, embarked on a project to collect, collate and present information about a bibliography of manuscripts exclusively dealing with Science and technology. So far it has collected and listed information about 7,000 numbers of such manuscripts, which turned out to be a very meticulous, pain-staking task.  Thus, the Foundation has a unique database of ancient manuscripts dealing with Science and Technology (S & T) of Ancient India.

The Problem dealing with the manuscripts available: Though the Foundation has collected and prepared an electronic database of ancient manuscripts dealing with Science and Technology of Ancient India, there is still a long way to go, as these Manuscripts have to be procured from various institutions, University libraries and personal collections. Further the following steps have to be undertaken:

1. Cleaning etc of the Manuscripts and making them ready for digitization
2. Digitization of the concerned Manuscripts
3. Deciphering the Manuscripts
4. Transcribing the Manuscripts
5. Editing the Manuscripts
6. Preparing English Translation / regional languages translation etc. in collaboration with scientists / technocrats connected with the concerned field.
7. Making other value editions
8. Publishing the Manuscripts

To undertake the above tasks, the active collaboration of scholars and scientists / technologists alike is very much necessary. This is because, unlike while dealing with Manuscripts on literature, philosophy etc., Manuscripts on S & T contain many technical terms that even scholars who are familiar with the particular language would not be able to interpret properly. Apart from this, these exist several other problems in deciphering / interpreting / editing Manuscripts belonging to many new areas like ancient geography, alchemy, earth sciences and such other subjects.  Therefore, there is a dire need to unearth and train a new breed of persons who are ‘scientist-manuscriptologists’. As of today, there are not many scientist-manuscriptologists who can undertake such tasks and bring to light the ancient Manuscripts on S & T of yore which can bring to light the expertise of our forefathers in various fields of S & T.

The solution envisaged: To overcome the above problem, it is proposed to bring together expert scientists and technologists on one side and expert manuscriptologists on the other on a common platform and make them interact with each other so that there can be a healthy exchange of ideas and concepts that can help in taking the task of deciphering / interpreting / editing Manuscripts belonging to many new areas like ancient geography, alchemy, earth sciences and such other subjects dealing with S & T. The proposed seminar specifically wishes to address and make considerable headway in solving the problems mentioned above.

The purpose of the seminar: The seminar will be organized in such a way that an exclusive session will be devoted for a particular con temporarily relevant field of science and technology and experts in that particular field will speak on particular unpublished, valuable Manuscripts that is concerned with that particular field. For example, there will be an exclusive session for unpublished Manuscripts on the subject of ‘Mathematics’ and in that session, experts on Mathematics will speak on deciphering, publication  etc. of unpublished, useful Manuscripts on Mathematics and their utility. Similarly separate sessions will be schedules for other important subjects. Of course, it will be impossible to deal with all such subjects in a very short span of three days. However, the topics will be prioritized based on contemporary relevance and the sessions will be held in a highly sophisticated manner. The seminar will be a pioneering one, since, as far as information available at present, such a seminar for deciphering / interpreting / editing Manuscripts belonging to many new areas like ancient geography, alchemy, earth sciences and such other subjects dealing with S & T has not been organized so far by any agency.

 

ISKCON guest house

Samskriti Foundation had already organized a National Seminar on “Application of Information Technology for conservation, editing and publication of Manuscripts” on the 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd of January 2013, at Multivision Theatre, ISKCON, Harekrishna Hill, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, with support from the National Mission for Manuscripts, IGNCA, Govt. of India[2]. Thus, it is evidet that, this is also a similar seminar conducted after six years. Coming to the current seminar, as mentioned above, we reached the hall “Multi-vision theatre”, the program already started. As usual, I started taking photographs and sat down.

When I was just entering, I took this photograph……………..

Pranava Khular, Manjunatha, Khinchi, M. S. Lakshmi Thathachariyar

26-03-2019- Mss seminar -inauguration-audience

6-03-2019- Mss seminar -inauguration-audience.2

26-03-2019- Mss seminar -inauguration-audience.3

5.00 to 5.14 pm – Sri Pranav Khular, Joint Secreary, Ministry of Culture: Vajpayee commented that if all the manuscripts were many IVCs and Dwarakas might be discovered. Launching the Mission, the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee said[3], “…the NMM is different from the other missions undertaken till now.  In this the benefits are neither direct nor visible….I believe that the NMM will bring to light many more Mohenjodaros and Dwarakas.”

Referring to the technological aspect of the Mission, the Prime Minister noted that modern science asks proof for claims and this very science (modern technology) is providing tools for resurrecting these proofs of our glorious past.  Shri Vajpayee highlighted three aspects of the mission: since 70 per cent of the manuscripts are in Sanskrit, the teaching and learning of the language will have to be further promoted, several institution that are already working in the field will have to be associated with the Mission and finally, a huge awareness campaign has to be undertaken to encourage individual custodians of manuscripts to come forward and give them to the Mission. The National Mission for Manuscript has been given several extensions and now it has been extended up to 31^st  March 2020. Work has to be done, as there was no pace in it.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

30-03-2019

[1] Taken from their brochure and their website: http://www.samskrti.org/; http://samskrti.org/seminar/ ;

Email: samskrti@hotmail.com

[2] https://samskrti.org/seminars-and-conferences/

[3] https://namami.gov.in/about-us-0

The Fourth session of Telangana History Congress held at the Kakatiya University on January 27th and 28th 2019 [3]

The Fourth session of Telangana History Congress held at the Kakatiya University on January 27^th and 28^th 2019 [3]

11.47 to 12.02 – A. Shyamala: She presented a paper on the rights of women drawing attention to the UN declaration made on women in 1945, 1975 (Mexico), 1980 (Coenhagen), 1985, (Nairobi), 1995 (Beijing) etc., at different places, where conferences were held. The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, adopted unanimously by 189 countries, is an agenda for women’s empowerment and considered the key global policy document on gender equality. It sets strategic objectives and actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality in 12 critical areas of concern: Women and poverty, Education and training of women, Women and health, Violence against women, Women and armed conflict, Women and the economy, Women in power and decision-making, Institutional mechanism for the advancement of women, Human rights of women, Women and the media, Women and the environment and the girl-child[1]. However, she did not bother about the recent Supreme Court judgment that have bearing on Indian women – consent to sex, living with other, living together relationship, hereditary rights after conversion, etc., as I pointed out.

28-01-2019 .Post lunch session – paper presentation.

12.03 to 12.23 am – Subash: He stressed that the folk paintings had narratives hidden behind. Jitendra Babu added points to his paper.

12.30 to am – Kanakaratnam: He presented a paper on Kakatiyas.

12.25 to 1.05 pm – D. Suryakumar: He claimed that there were factories manufacturing huge stones used for inscriptions. He belies that whatever mentioned in the inscriptions were true and facts. He also explained as to how the inscriptions were made. First, the content of the script was written by the Brahmins on paper, then, it was read and accepted; the inscriber started  cutting on the stone under supervision; the name of the inscriber / cutter was mentioned below the inscription or at the corner.

1.05 to 1.15 pm – On medical tourism, one paper was resented.

28-01-2019 audience

28-01-2019 audience.second day

After lunch, the paper reading session started.

28-01-2019 .Lunch.

28-01-2019 Lunch

28-01-2019 .coins displayed

2.28 to 2.40 pm: …………………..Presented a paper on Sculptural art of Kakatiyas As Kakatiyas were Saivites, they built temples to Siva mainly. Here, in this paper, he studied manly about “Nandis” in the temples built by the Kakatiyas.

2.41 to  2.50 pm : ……………..presented a paper on “Lambadi”…

There were papers presented by the B.A. M.A, M.Phil and other students for the first time also. Some papers were presented in Telugu. They were encouraged  by the audience and others.

Valedictory function invitation with the details of speakers etc 28-02-2019

28-01-2019 . Valedictory function

hakkalapalli Purushothama Rao was chief Guest, former Minister speaks

Valedictory function – 4. 00 pm: The function started by 4.30 pm, when one “Swamiji” like person the hall entered with others. Later, he was know to be an ex-minister of AP. K. Purushotham, Registrar lamented that students do not want to study history, he asked why? Now they read maths, science, engineering and other subjects, but, not history, why? Perhaps, history is not properly taught in colleges. The worry of history teaches, professors etc., are visible. Every subject has history, but, history student, lecturer, professor or historian cannot write history of other subjects, as they do not know and understand the nuances of other subjects.

Vireendar, General Secretary of THC: He thanked Vijaya Babu for hosting the fourth session of THC at the Warangal University premises by history department. He appraised the proceedings – 190 registered, more than 100 attended memorial lecture; 37 papers presented and 9 not presented, because of lack of time and they would be treated as presented. THC would publish the proceedings and he requested the sectional president to edit the papers presented. The General Body meeting and EC meeting could not be conducted, as the quorum was not there. Within few days, the proceedings would be set right as per the bye-laws. It is a fact that the history is neglected in schools and colleges and most of the students do not like to read, study history. The position should change.

Opinion of the Participants: Then, P. Hymavathy, Surya Kumar, Kanakaratnam, K. Srinivasulu and Babu Rao Naik gave their opinion about the proceedings of the THC session. Surya Kumar openly told that te Guest house isnot maintained properly in many aspects. In fact, he could not take  bath, as the geyser was not working and the he managed with his friend’s room . Kanakaratnam opined that workshops should be conducted to know more about history, historiography, epigraphy and related subjects, so that all could come, attend and understand the subject matter. Babu Rao Naik spoke in his own way, just like a politicians getting applause from the audience . B. Srinivas was thanked for sponsoring to provide bags by donating Rs. 25,000/-

Opinion of Dr Dayakar and other delegates appeared in local daily

Thakkalapalli Purushothama Rao was chief Guest, former Minister[2]: He spoke philosophically citing examples from the Sanskrit literature. He wanted to explain with four examples of characters from the literature. He explained about Satyakama Jabali[3] and Astavakra[4]. Because of his digressive narratives, he forgotten the other two examples. Perhaps, he tried to emphacize the importance of lineage, dynasty, roots, sources, for history and historiography through Jabali paradigm. Through, Astavakra, perhaps, he tried to stress that history should not be distorted and the sources, particularly, Indian literary sources might appear as “astavakra – a form bent awkwardly in eight ways,” the truth has to be brought out by analyzing critically with the available evidences.

Sudharshan Rao, chief guest: Taking clue from his yesterday’s memorial lecture, he started speaking in Telugu, he told that he would have delivered his lecture in Telugu, had he been informed so. He wished that THC should grow in coming years. He recalled as to how even the APHC suffered in the 7^th year of its starting, when 200 came from outside. Therefore, the 2^nd or 4^th session of THC should gather strength to grow. He proposed that a “Telangana Council for Historical Research” should be formed on the lines of ICHR. The TCHR would foster the interest of Telangana. He wished that the 5^th session of THC would be conducted with more vigor and strength.

After the facilitation of the VIPs, the following resolutions were passed:

1. History subject should be introduced in all schools and colleges.
2. “Indian culture” should be in the syllabus of all academic curriculum in all educational institutions.
3. “Telangana Council for Historical Research” should be constituted immediately to proceed further.
4. Even in 10^th and +12 level, history should be included.

6.55 to 7.00 pm – Vijaya Babu: Vijaya Babu vote of thanks to all participated, took part and helped in all ways. The next THC may be held in Khammam / Nizamabad. All started moving away. I felt that I was alone. I requested one known friend to drop me at the Guest house, so that I could collect my luggage and proceed to station by auto. One volunteer dropped me at the guest house and he contacted Dr Rajakumar and then informed that he would come and drop me at the station. As the time was already 8.00 pm, I was little bit worried.  Around 8.30 pm, he came and dropped meat the station. Of course, the train came late by half-an-hour.

How and where does the Telangana history go?: Some of the remarks made by the VIP speakers have been intriguing.

1. Kurra Jitendra Babu asserted that, “The papers presented so far has been useless…” Can he simply decide in this way? Had he any doubt, he could have questioned every paper presenter and expose theso-called “useless” nature of such papers!
2. Sudharshan Rao, “With the recent division of the state into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh sharing Telugu population, perhaps, the entry of third genre of ‘invented history’ as rampant in the West may have to wait in our regional sphere.” The Telangana history writers should take note of it, as how their historiography has to be combatable with the counterpart of Andhra Pradesh.
3. Of course, two worried about the status of history subject in the schools and colleges. Here, unless, awareness is created and the subject is updated to suit the current job-market, definitely, there would not be any improvement in the status.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

02-03-2019

[1] http://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/intergovernmental-support/world-conferences-on-women

[2] Thakkalapalli Purushothama Rao is an Indian politician. He was the cabinet minister for Roads, Buildings and Ports, Government of Andhra Pradesh from 1993 to 1994. Presently he is the Chairman for High Power Committee on Remote Interior Area Development. Rao was instrumental in persuading Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy to have peace talks with maoists and was the government representative during the peace talks. The AICC has made him the chairman of Gandhipatham of APCC to propagate the ideals of Gandhiji, in intellectual circles he is called Gandhian Marxist. The Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University honored Rao with Doctorate in 2008 for his service to the society.

[3] Satyakama Jabala is a boy, and later a Vedic sage, who first appears in Chapter IV of the ancient Hindu text, the Chandogya Upanishad. As a boy, he enquires about his father from his mother. His mother Jabala, tells him that she went about many places in her youth, and did not know who his father was. Satyakama graduates and becomes a celebrated sage, according to the Hindu tradition, and a Vedic school is named after him, as is the influential ancient text Jabala Upanishad – a treatise on Sannyasa (Hindu monk, monastic life).[5] Upakosala Kamalayana was a student of Satyakama Jabala, whose story is also presented in the Chandogya Upanishad.

[4] Ashtavakra (Sanskrit: अष्टावक्रः, IAST Aṣṭāvakra) is a revered Vedic sage in Hinduism. His name literally means “eight bends”, reflecting the eight physical handicaps he was born with. His maternal grandfather was the Vedic sage Aruni, his parents were both Vedic students at Aruni’s school. Ashtavakra studied, became a sage and a celebrated character of the Hindu History(Itihas) Epics and Puranas. Ashtavakra is the author of the text Aṣṭāvakra Gītā, also known as Aṣṭāvakra Saṃhitā, in Hindu traditions. The text is a treatise on Brahman, Atman and monism (Advaita).

The Proceedings of the National seminar on “The Rock art and Paintings in South India”held on March 22nd and 23rd 2018 at the campus of University of Madras (3)

The Proceedings of the National seminar on “The Rock art and Paintings in South India”held on March 22^nd and 23^rd 2018 at the campus of University of Madras (3)

K. V. Ramakrishna Rao presenting his paper, “Boat-ship depicted in rock art, stone art and paintings of South India.”

Second day paper presentation session – 22-03-2018: The second day proceedings started with paper presentation with chairperson as Dr R. Poongundran and rapporteur Dr A. Perumal.

1. Mani presented another paper on Kailasanathatemple etc., pointing out that the sculptures were coated with painting for preservation purposes, as they were sculptured with soft stone.
2. K. V. Ramakrishna Rao presented his paper[1], “Boat-ship depicted in rock art, stone art and paintings of South India.” With powerpoint, he showed how the boar symbol was depicted in the Kizhvalai, Kavundanpatti rock painting and Azagankulam graffiti. He opposed the mentioning of “Azagankulam as Roman port city,” as the maritime trade could be reciprocal and therefore, Indian material evidences must have found in Roman cities. Thus, he pointed out the discovery of an ivory sculpture of Lakshmi at Pompeii city and questioned as to whether, that city could be called as “Indian port city.” Next he sowed the boat depicted in Kerwaaghat, Kowar Khoh and Gajara rock paintings in Son valley of the northern Vidhyas. The Chamardi near Bhavnagar depicted masted ship. He compared them with that of ships depicted in the Satavahana and Pallava coins. T he medieval Chola ship was compared witn that of Kadakkarappally boat found in Kerala, that has been dated to 920-1160 CE coinciding with the rule of the imperial Cholas. For paintings, he showed the Tiruppudai Marudhur and European paintings of the Coromandal Coast with varieties of ships and boats, which were built on the west coast and sailed to Europe. He also showed hoe the carpenters, shipbuilders and others worked with their tools depicted in the paintings. Raju Kalidoss appreciated the point about the “reciprocity, mutuality” of availability of evidences to be present at both dealing cultures.
3. Poongundran in his paper[2], “Mother Goddess in Rock art,” pointed out, based on the literary evidences of Sangam period as to how, “Kollippavai” was drawn on the surfaces of hills. He explained the significance of “anangu,” asto how it denoted to bewitching beauty, disease, death, etc. He compared the literary evidences with the depictions of “Mother Goddess” in different sculptures.

Dr S. Vasanthi chaired the session and K. A. Jothi R ani acted as rapporteur- Ramesh presenting his paper

Second day  paper presentation session – 22-03-2018 – afternoon session: Dr S. Vasanthi chaired the session and K. A. Jothi Rani acted as rapporteur.

Sl. No	Paper presenter	Title of the paper
1	P. Ramesh, Research scholar, Dept of Sanskrit and IC, SCSVMV, Kanchipuram	Human Thought and Techniquein rock art of Tamilnadu
2	K.A. Jothi Rani	Paintings of the Sangam period

Ramesh, The Rock paintings are found in different parts of Tamilnadu. Among them, Alambadi, Settavarai, Kizhvalai, Mallachandram and Kamayakaundanpatti are also vital role in the history of Tamilnadu because it is reflecting human thought and technique meanwhile providing us valuable information about the human past history. Jothi Rani presented a paper, “Paintings of Sangam period,” based on literary evidences.

Last session was chaired by M. Gandhi with R. Mani as rapporteur. Preeta presented her paper, The chronology of rock art- with special reference to Maraiyur.

Second day  paper presentation session – 22-03-2018 – last session: The next session was chaired by M. Gandhi with R. Mani as rapporteur.

Sl. No	Paper presenter	Title of the paper
1	N. Preetha, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Meenakshi College for Women (Autonomous), Chennai – 24	The chronology of rock art- with special reference to Maraiyur
2	Temjenmongla Imchen, Ph.D. Research Scholar, Dept. of  Ancient History & Archaeology, University of Madras, Chennai	The Culture Of Rock-Art and Wood Carving In Nagaland

1. Gandhi[3] presented a paper “Rock Art in Vellore District” about the rock art found at Chinnapalampakkam, Sivanathapuram, Kizhminnal, Vellakalnatham, Chandrapuram and discussed about them.
2. Preeta presented her paper, “The chronology of rock art- with special reference to Maraiyur,” from Kerala. She tried to compare human neurotic development with that of lithic period. These enigmatic spiral intricate designs unique to the subcontinent and calls these designs “emblemic inseriation”. These designs are considered to be earliest as they are always on the ‘virgin surfaces’. She mentioned about some sort of waves, neuorometer etc., but how they could be used to determine date is not known.

Temjenmongla Imchen, in her paper “The Culture Of Rock-Art and Wood Carving In Nagaland,” covered  the archaeological findings there, but, she could not correlate and correspond with the local myth, cdevelopment of meth and thus dating the material evidences.

Paramanathan[4] presented a paper on “New Rock Art in Krishnagiri District.”

Anantapuram K. Krishnamurthy presented his paper on Kizvalai rock art with powerpoint. He claims that he discovered the Kizvalai rock art. He tried to interpret that the IVC script was Tamil and they were reflected in the rock art. They could be dated to 2000 BCE to 2^nd Cent. CE and comparable with IVC. According to him, Pitchavaram was the place, from where the Chola navy was sent for oversea expeditions. Similarly, the Pallavas were also used old-traditional coastal ports for their maritime operations, though, they were ruling from Kanchipuram.

Valedictory function – Panneerselvam, Dayalam, R Nagasdamy, Kannanbabu, Jinu Koshy

Before valedictory function – audience

Valedictory function: K.Sridhar briefed about the seminar proceedings to inform that totally 30 papers were presented on the specific topics.

Panneeerselvam, Dayalan, Nagasamy, Kannan Babu, Jinu Koshy were on the dias.

Rock Art Seminar – 23-03-2018 -valedictory-audience.RHS

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Rock Art Seminar – 23-03-2018 -valedictory-R. Nagasamy addresses

Panneeerselvam, Dayalan, Nagasamy, Kannan Babu, Jinu Koshy were on the dias.  Dayalan urged that research should be focussed on pigment study, chemical analysis and dating, sequencs / patterns observed in the rock art etc. Unlike Bjimbetka paintings of 500 paintings, other rock arts found do not have any sequencial pattern. The chronological gaps, contradictions and other issues have to be tackled. Sameness do not make any two evidences belonging to the same period / date and therefore, the comparison of few symbols found in the TN rock art cannot be compared with IVC seals and come to any conclusion. In fact, they do not have any relation at all. In dating the TN rock art, care should be taken, as, at present, they could be dated to megalithic, pre-historic and historic periods only[5].

Valedictory function -R. Nagasamy honoured

Padmabushan R. Nagasamy recollected that earlier, K.A. Neelakanta Sastry[6] [1892-1975, [Padmabhushan awarded in 1957] and T. N. Ramachandran[7] [1901-1973, awarded in 1964] were also honured with Padma awards. He pointed out that the archaeological evidences help to rewrite / reconstruct history scientifically and it is a powerful tool. Experts should use the evidences in right perspective for historiography. He left the function, immediately, as he was having another engagement.

KAN and TNR got Padmabhushan earlier in 1957 and 1964 frespectively

Rock Art Seminar – 23-03-2018 -valedictory-audience.another view

Kannan Babu pointed out that it is very difficult to stop quarrying companies, as they took contract through tenders from the government and their activities have been resulting in many paleolithic, megalithic and other evidences to disappear.  The granite manufacturing and exporting companies break hills with machines, cut, polish and export granites and thus, they do not bother about the monuments.

Jinu Koshy proposed vote of thanks to all. After National Anthem, the seminar concluded.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

31-03-2018

[1] J. Soundararajan (Ed.), opt.cit, pp.171-178.

[2] J. Soundararajan (Ed.), opt.cit, pp.224-230.

[3] J. Soundararajan (Ed.), opt.cit, pp.204-207.

[4] J. Soundararajan (Ed.), opt.cit, pp.187-190.

[5] D. Dayalan, ROCK ART IN TAMIL NADU AND ITS ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE, https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/38033250/Rock_Art_of_Tamilnadu.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1522490954&Signature=mcwHz2gv%2BxXgKsDDDwv%2B1PlWUGo%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DROCK_ART_IN_TAMIL_NADU_AND_ITS_ARCHAEOLO.pdf

[6] Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri (12 August 1892 – 15 June 1975) was an Indian historian who wrote on South Indian history. Many of his books form the standard reference works on the subject. Sastri was acclaimed for his scholarship and mastery of sources and was a recipient of the third highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Bhushan.

[7] T.N. Ramachandran (1901–1973) was an Indian art historian, artist, archaeologist and a Sanskrit scholar, specialising in the study and exposition of various aspects of Indian art. He was born to Narayanan (who performed yaga and is a Sanskrit scholar) & Visalakshi (an able administrator). He was the author of several monographs, and was the Director General of Archaeology In India. He conducted research and wrote extensively on various subjects during his tenure as Curator of Archaeology at the National Museum, New Delhi.

“Culture, Commerce and Empire: Exploring the Coromandel Coast”, the National Seminar held on 8th and 9th February 2017 at Puducherry (2).

“Culture, Commerce and Empire: Exploring the Coromandel Coast”, the National Seminar held on  8^th and 9^th February 2017 at Puducherry (1).

Technical session conducted on 08-02-2017 (Wednesday): After lunch, the technical session was started with the paper presentation.  The “Abstract volume” and the program list were provided. As per them, there were 28 papers, but, 9 had not turned up. At the end, there were 21 papers were presented and thus, it is evident that two were accommodated, but listed earlier.

Section	Theme	Chaired by[1] (as per the program)	Actually chaired by
I	Culture and commerce in Colonial India	B. B. Mohanty	Venkata Ragotham
II	Renaissance and the Making of Modern India	K. Srinivas	Do
III	Pre-Colonial, Colonial  and Post colonial India	D. Subramanyam Reddy	G. J. Sudhakar
IV	Science, Technology and Empire Building	Deepak Kumar	Deepak Kumar
V	Colonialism and its Multifarious Impact	Shri Krishan	Shri Krishan
VI	Emergence of New cultural practices, public spaces and architecture	G. J. Sudhakar	Venugopala Reddy

Audience view on 08-02-2017

The first paper “The Indigenous merchants and the English East India Company on the Coromandel Coast in the Seventeenth century” was presented by S. Babu[2]. Under Session – I chaired by G. J. Sudhakar.  He argued that the commodification of convicts’ labour through enforced work on various public works and the indoor labour within the prisons went beyond the colonial concerns of punishment, reform and disciplining of the delinquents to constitute a captive body of enforced labourers available at beck and call of the colonial state.

Then, G. J. Sudhakar[3] presented, “Socio-political views of Vivekananda and an overview of the work of the Ramakrishna Mission”.  He explained how Swami Vivekananda with his Vedantic universalism treated all equal and tried to achieve such goal thriugh the establishment of Si Ramakrishna Mission rendering services to all.

Next paper, “Fishing and fisher folks on the Coromandel Coast (fromcolonial period to present): A social history” was presented by Shri Krishan[4].

Vineeth Thomas[5] presented a paper on the position of Dalits in the pre-colonial period.  He was rather confused about the semantics of SC, “dalit” and other expressions.

Raman P. Sinha[6] presented his paper on “The Making of a culture in Pre-colonial India: A case study of Dakkani”.  He pointed out as to how Dakkani (Proroto-khari- boli Hindi-Urudu) literary corpus was created in large numbers during the 14^th to 18^th centuries in the Deccan India.

Sudharshan Kumar[7] presented a paper on “Maritime networks of Kollam in the Pre-Colonial period”, pointed out the role of  maritime relations of Kollam in the pre-colonial period based on inscriptions.

The last paper “From Cholas ocean to Lake to “Bay of Bengal”: The Chnge in the Colonial Cartography, Historiograhy and Maritime Ethics” was presented by K. V. Ramakrishna Rao[8], where he explained with maps as to how the name of “Bay of Bengal” came from earlier expressions of golfo di bangala, sinus ganteticus, Ganga-darya, Mahadadhi, Cholas’ lake, Cholas’ ocean. Thus, the concept of “Coromandel” was changed to attain the present cnntation. There were querries, clarification and lively discussion about the papers presented.

The “Historia” – T-shirt and the Students: “Historia”, the Greek word was borrowed into Classical Latin as historia, meaning ‘investigation, inquiry, research, account, description, written account of past events, writing of history, historical narrative, recorded knowledge of past events, story, narrative’. The colur red has been chosen for the shirt. Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. Red is a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure. In fact, I was asking many students as to how it came, how the T-shirt was designed and so on. A Google search showed some designs. The students of the History department have designed, ordered and worn the T-shirts during the seminar. Incidentally, I too wore a red shirt on the first day.  Yes, the students have been young, energetic, with strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love for history and they were seen everywhere like birds and flowers rendering their services.

Technical session conducted on 09-02-2017 (Thursday): The second day proceedings started with the paper presentation as follows:

G. Chandrika	Edward Green Balfur: Surgeon, scholar and environmentalist[9].
T. Sandeep	Conception, obsevation and reflection: the cartographic representation of south India under the European colonialism[10].
Kale Sanjay	Introduction of Technical Education in Shipbuilding Industries: An Inevitable outcome of Industrial revolution[11].
Krisha Kumar Panjaje	Naval warfare in the colonial coast in the eithteenth century.
Manoj Kumar Sahu	Early colonial intervention in health services in Odisha[12].
Sovon Sanyal	Nature of colonialism and anti-colonialalism in India: Studies on the Revolts of 1878 and 1857[13].

However,  Sanyal’s paper topic was changed to “Reading an Indo-Portuguese novel in the light of the Revolts of 1878 and 1857”.

Bitin Thakur	Colonialisation and its effect on Indegenous culture – Reconsidering the statement of Doodnath Tewarry[14].
A. Arul Jothi

After lunch, the following papers were presented:

N. Chandra	The cultural impact of the French Empire in Puducherry: A postcolonial Reading[15].
Nivedita Ejilane	The influx of French culture, Architecture, Cuisine and Recreation in Pondicherry[16].
G. Balajee	The New Architecture of colonial Madras[17].

G. Balajee’s papar was the last one and the technical session was wound up, getting ready for the valedictory function.

Valedictory Function (4.00 on 6.00 pm): The valedictory function was held in the same auditorium. Dr / Prof / HOD Chandramouli, Rila Mukherjee, Venugopal Reddy, Subramanyam Reddy and Venkata Ragotham were on the dais. The special address was about “Armagaon and Pulicat: The first fortified ports and factories of the Dutch and the English on the Coromandel Coast od India” was delivered by Subramanyam Reddy. He gave many details as to how Alfondo de Souza came with soldiers and tried to loot Tirumala but went away; as the Dutch was dominating at the Pulicat, the British moved from Armagoan to Machlipatnam; how Mallayaa Chetti was dominating; how varities of textiles were manufactured for export; and finally pointed out that both ports were now disappeared and become neglected villages / spots.

Audience during the valedictory – from LHS

“Envisioning the Maritime silk Roads” – Rila Mukherjee: The valedictory address, “Envisioning the Maritime silk Roads” was delivered by Rila Mukherjee. She emphasized that research should be oriented towards “interpretation with critical thinking useful to the present reality with active engagement with the present”. She went on explaining as to how Silver had connected the world. It created the Eurasian silver century long before the First Global Age between 1400 and 1800.

Even earlier, when Arab and Persian traders traded across the Indian Ocean from the seventh-eighth centuries, silver coins had been the trade currency of the Indian Ocean, while usage of copper cash was the norm in Southeast Asia. China, lacking adequate sup-plies of both, repeatedly tried to break into the Indian Ocean trade by way of its paper currency, but was not successful;

silver remaining the currency of long distance Indian Ocean trade until the nineteenth century. A ‘lesser’ currency—the kauri shell or cypria moneta—bridged the gap between silver and local currencies all along the Indian Ocean littoral. One of the more intriguing aspects of the monetary history of early medieval Bengal is the almost total disappearance of silver coming in from Bagan (a medieval kingdom in present Myanmar) from the 9th century by the traditional land routes into Bengal. China chronically required metals during the 7^th to 10^th centuries and getting from India.

How India was important in the maritime trader – Venkata Ragotham: The presidential address was delivered by Venkata Ragotham and he gave many important points to ponder over. He pointed out that till 19^th century, India was exporting goods, but now exports people. He gave specific examples to prove as how India was dominating in the export of steel, sugar, salpetre etc. With the story of Walters Scott, he brought out the uniqueness of Indian steel, “Wootz”.

He asked why should India now import steel fro m China and Korea.  With the establishment of sugar mills at Jamaica, the importance of Indian sugar was reduced by the British.  The slave trade was controlled by the Arabs. In India, actually, the rulers prevented export of men as slaves. He pointed out that the Raja of Thanjavur intervened the export of slaves through Karaikal. He showed how the “House of Commons” became rich citing the scandal of Warren Hastings. The sugar profits were used to buy tea and coffee that enriched China. Thus, Opium exported from India to balance the trade of tea. Therefore, the research should be oriented to facts, instead wasting time of hypothetical “nation-state” debates, he emphasized. The function was ended with vote of thanks and National Anthem.

K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

11-02-2017

[1] All are Dr / Prof  / HOD and therefore for brevity, they are not repeated here in the list.

[2] Abstract Volume, p.2.

[3] Abstract Volume, p.11.

[4] Abstract Volume, pp.17-18.

[5] His paper was nether listed nor included in the abstract volume.

[6] Abstract Volume, p.15.

[7] Abstract Volume, p.16-17.

[8] Abstract Volume, p.17.

[9] Abstract Volume, p.21.

[10] Abstract Volume, p.24.

[11] Abstract Volume, p.23.

[12] Abstract Volume, p.25.

[13] Abstract Volume, p.31.

[14] Abstract Volume, p.33.

[15] Abstract Volume, p.35.

[16] Abstract Volume, p.37.

[17] Abstract Volume, p.38.

“Culture, Commerce and Empire: Exploring the Coromandel Coast”, the National Seminar held on 8th and 9th February 2017 at Puducherry (1)

“Culture, Commerce and Empire: Exploring the Coromandel Coast”, the National Seminar held on  8^th and 9^th February 2017 at Puducherry (1).

The National Seminar On “Culture, Commerce and Empire: Exploring the Coromandel Coast” was held on 8^th and 9^th February 2017 at the Convention-cum-Cultural Centre, Pondicherry University under the UGC – SAP [DRS-II] program. The SAP and DRS may apear differently for engineering and IT students, but, here, they have different connotations. SAP = Special Assistance Programme and not SAP SE[1] or SAP [Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte] as known. DRS = Departmental Research Assistance and not anything else. The delegates were accommodated at the Convention Centre and the “International Guest House”, Pondicherry[2].

The International Guest House was started in 1972 by the Aurobindu Ashram[3] situated near to Manakkula Vinayagar temple. The registration was done at the Convention Centre on February 8^th 2017 and the proceedings were conducted at the Convention cum cultural centre.

On 7th evening, Kanaka Ratnam and Paldurai came to take us [Shri Krshna, Sovon Sanyal, Bijender Singh, Raman Sinha and myself] for dinner.

I could meet Prof Venkata Ragotham after several years!

The Theme of the Seminar: The theme of the seminar was given a follows by the organizers[4]:The onset of modern age intersected with the emergence of colonial empires in the non- European world. Therefore, the expansion of modern culture contributing to the explosion of commerce which in turn culminated in the rise of empires in the non-European world are closely interconnected. The commercial and trading activities of the European powers close to the first half of the eighteenth century had not brought about a significant impact on social and cultural realms of the non-European societies. The cultural transaction between the European and non-European worlds was non-intrusive and not very contagious. However, with the coming of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of Capitalism, the European countries witnessed unparalleled growth in their economies and in the realms of culture. Following this, there was an intense drive for acquisition of colonies. The non- European world, powerless to prevent the onset of this rapacious process, began to experience a decisive and irreversible transformation. The advancement of the European nations and disintegration of the non-European countries was thus simultaneous and parallel process. Cultural transformation was concomitant with the intensified expansion of commerce. The emergence of new libertarian culture accelerated the endeavours to explore new frontiers of the world and seek new avenues for expansion of trade and commerce. The culture changes assisted commercial expansion and the commercial contingencies contributed to the construction of empires in the non-European world. Indian Ocean trading network massively expanded after 1500 A.D. The network of long-distance commerce and creation of network of communications climaxed ultimately in founding empires in India and elsewhere. The exchange of commerce eventually led to the control of the territories and colonization. Commerce was thus connected to the colonization and vice versa.

How the initial commercial and cultural transaction had taken place in the early stages in India was alluded by a foreign traveller, who extols the ingenuity of Indians. Pyrard de Laval (1619), exudes: “I have never seen men of wit so fine and polished as are these Indians: they have nothing barbarous or savage about them as we are apt to suppose. They are unwilling indeed to adopt the manners and customs of the Portuguese; yet they readily learn their manufactures and workmanship, being all very curious and desirous of learning. In fact the Portuguese take and learn more from them than they from the Portuguese; and they that come fresh to Goa are very simpletons till they have acquired the airs and graces of the Indies. The European trading companies seeking to establish their trading contacts with the Eastern world initially traversed along the coastal regions establishing their trading posts and in the process nurturing their territorial ambitions on account of the politically volatile environments in India. European commerce and its expansion with the East were essentially hinged on the policy of conquest and control. It was the lucrative trade and commerce and the unlimited opportunities for exploitation of the natural resources of the non-European world, which finally set off the colonization process”. W.H. Carey (1882) writes thus: “At the commencement of the Company’s commercial operations in India, the trade was not extensive; but small as the Company’s power to trade was, limited as their means were, the profits were nevertheless large. It was not uncommon to make 100 per cent, of profit on their capital and in some cases it even exceeded that percentage. It is axiomatic that it was the prospect of unlimited profits that lured the British trading company to India. Despite of initial hiccups, the Britishers were firm on pursuing their trade and commerce with India”.

The lust for fortune more than their appetite for territories tied the British firmly to Indian trade till the mid-eighteenth century. The commercial and trading company was finally transformed into a Colonial Power. Ports turned into Fortresses. Merchants found themselves reincarnated as Messiahs of India, a development, which had been described by Adam Smith as a “strange absurdity”: that is, a Company-State and a merchant-empire, and which was further ‘pilloried’ by Edmund Burke as “a state in the disguise of a merchant”. (Philip J, Stern, 2011). The seminal theme for the seminar is the great expansion in interaction between the world’s distinct terrains, cultures and peoples and the change that was caused by contact with the foreigners and their armies, commodities and ideas. Aspects particularly the trajectory of trade and commerce, the emergence of new markets, the transformations in the production process in the areas of agriculture and industry, the demise of old cities and emergence of new ones, the process of de-industrialization and its attendant social and economic outcomes, the growth of the capitalist enterprises, the emergence of new social classes, viz., capitalist class, working class would also be covered.

The Objectives of the Seminar:  It would focus on the trajectory of Coromandel Coast from early modern era to the end of the colonial rule in India. It primarily seeks to focus on the interconnections between culture, commerce and empire building process in the Coromandel Coast.

• The phenomenon of Colonialism unleashed the consequences, which were disastrous for the colonized people. The foundation of British colonial rule in India was a protracted and painful process. In the process of its establishment, it devised varied instruments and endeavoured to alter or disorganize the Indian economy, distort the society and disorient the patterns of development. Precisely, the National Seminar seeks to interrogate this excruciating process, explore the narrative of colonial trauma, and the strategies employed by the colonial powers in building their empires.
• The Seminar aims at providing comprehensive understanding of the transformations in the economy and society of colonial south India. It covers the introduction of diverse policies under the British rule. It also discusses the transformation that was effected in the urban space of British India. It focuses on the endeavours to reconstruct India and also on the emergence of modern industry and the rise of new social classes in colonial India.
• The Seminar also attempts to bring focus on the spread of Western science, the condition and contribution of science in the colonial process and the nature of scientific progress in a colony with special reference to India. It seeks to critically survey the role played by the East India Company in the diffusion of science and technology in India, and also the introduction and the degree of support extended to Western medicine in India with particular emphasis on the Coromandel region.
• The seminar chiefly focuses on the interrogation of the cultural and commercial transactions between the Western colonial powers and India, the foundation and the role of Colonialism in India’s social, political and economic evolution. It aims to reassess the adequacy of the interpretive strategies or the historiography hitherto followed in the study of nature of the Colonial State.
• It also endeavours to articulate on the necessity to look for new sources i.e., non archival sources to construct or reconstruct the history of Colonial State and its accountability in the transformation of social, political and economic aspects of colonial India especially the Coromandel region. It also seeks to address the emergence of new perspectives on history and historiography of Colonial State.

The Broad Sub-themes of the Seminar: Besides the above, the broad sub-themes were suggested as follows:

• State and Society in pre-colonial India
• Trade and Commerce (17th -20th Century).
• Empire building: Wars and Technology: Ship Building Technology (17th -20th Century)
• Early Cultural Transaction and Travelers’ Accounts.
• Debate on Indian Economic Transformation in 19th Century
• Rise and growth of New Market Networks
• Advent of New Technologies: Printing Technology
• Indian Renaissance and Making of Modern India
• Influx of New Cultural Practices: Western Food Culture and New Recreational Avenues
• Emergence of New Public Spaces: Museum, Zoo, Botanical Gardens, Herbarium
• Rise of New Architecture: Insignia of Colonial Rule
• Science, Technology and Empire: Growth of Scientific and Technological Research Centres and Laboratories
• Colonial rule and its multifarious impact on Coromandel Coast

The convener of the seminar was Dr. K. Venugopal Reddy, Associate Professor and Head, Department of History[5].

Inaugural, keynote, felicitation and presidential addresses: As usual, though the inauguration was to start by 10.30, it was delayed slightly. Again, as usual, the “Kuttuvilakku” (lighting the traditional lamp) was lighted by the VIPs with shoes, as a sign of inauguration. Prof G. Chandrika recalled as to how the department of History was started in 1986 with K. S. Mathew as HOD and then had association with S. Gopal, Chempakalakshmi, M. G. S. Naraynan and others. Of course, it has grown with Dr Venkata Raghotham with the tradition of “dissent and debate”. In 1992, there were only three students in history department, but, now, there are more than 150 students.  Thus, the history department here has been active. Then, K. Venugopal Reddy explained the theme of the seminar. He pointed out that it was a collective effort to organize the seminar with the participation of all. Even the topic of the seminar was discussed and decided with much thought process gone into. He appreciated Deepak Kumar for his contribution to “History of Science and Technology”.

Deepak Kumar in his inaugural address stressed about the “dispersion of knowledge” is more important than the “generation of knowledge” in the context of “knowledge-society”. The volume of exports carried on from India to other countries has not been quantified, as such statistical figures are important for research. “Canonized knowledge” (Sastra sambanda gyan) is useless, as it leads to static society.

During inauguration, a section of audience with students

 During inauguration, a section of audience with students, another view

Ratan Lal Hangloo in his keynote address elaborated the historical background starting with Persians, Alexanander to 13^th century.  Some of his observations are intriguing – greek langage was studied in the Indus valley[6], Ramayana was copied from Odessy[7], Chinese sponsored pagoda at Nagapatnam which bore the inscription dated 1267 a Tamil temple was built in Quanzhou[8], a recently discovered papyrus[9] contract recording the terms of shipment of goods between Muziris in India and Roman port etc., had been intriguing as they were involved with the complexities of controversies and extra-historical enthusiastic activities[10].

Venkata Ragotham pointed out that India and China were controlling the 2/3rds of world economy, but such details were not discussed. History seen beyond the confinements of “nation-state” is better concept for understanding India. Both oppressive nationalism and post-colonialism marred the historiography of India and that is why we know more about historians than history, as historians have become the prisoners of the state. With K. N. Chaudhury, the Indian Ocean studies developed. In “construction and deconstruction” processes, opaque language as some (e.g., Gyan Prakash) use should be avoided. The “academic deception” could be noted more in the post-colonial historiography. He concluded with the note that history is not survey, collection of data etc., but is is what actually happened in the past.

Anisa Basheer Khan, VC of Pondicherry University briefly touched upon the seminar theme.  She suggested that the topic of the seminar “Culture, Commerce and Civilizations” could be better. She also pointed out that Puducherry is a mini “India”!

K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

11-02-2017

The students serving the participant delegates and others.

After lunch, the scholars had discussion

[1] SAP SE, a global software company, is one of the largest vendors of ERP and other enterprise applications. The company is headquartered in Walldorf, Germany. SAP was started in 1972 by five former IBM employees in Mannheim, Germany. The original name for SAP, Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte, is German for “Systems, Applications and Products.”

[2] “International Guest House”, 47, Subash Chanra Bose Road, Pondicherry – 605 001; 0413-23366999  / 2221812; ingh@aurosociety.org Amenities – Internet – None; Laundry facility – Available; vehicle parking space – None; In rooms – TV – None; Refrigerator – None; Water Heater (shower) – In select rooms only. Those who want hot water should inform and get one bucket with charge of Rs.5/-

[3] http://www.aurosociety.org/visiting/accommodation.aspx – International Guest House (INGH)

[4] http://www.pondiuni.edu.in/sites/default/files/national_seminar_history10112016_0.pdf

[5]  Dr. K. Venugopal Reddy, Seminar Convener, Department of History, Pondicherry University Puducherry-14 ; Mobile: 09994190670; Office:0413-2654382 / 2654771; e-mail: rk_venugopalreddy@yahoo.com, or kvgreddy.his@pondiuni.edu.in

[6] The dispute that the Indus script and its language was Aryan or Dravidian has not yet resolved in spite of thousands of attempts made by the various experts and pundits. Under such circumstances, the study of Greek language in the VC is intriguing.

[7] For more details – see at http://navalanthivu.blogspot.in/2006_02_01_archive.html

D. C. Boyd, Weber on the Ramayana, Indian Antiquary, 1872,Vol. I, p.120, 172, 239 and 1875, Vol.I.

Kashinath Trimbak Telang, Was the Ramayana Copied from Homer? A Reply to Professor Weber, (first printed in 1873), Publishers Parlor (India), New Delhi, 1976.

Krishnamachariar, History of Classical Sanskrit Literature, Motila Banarasidas, New Delhi, 1937, pp.14-22.

[8]  The Quanzhou inscription was a bilingual (Tamil-Chinese) informing that the Siva temple there was built by one Sambanda Perumal with the permission of Senis khan. However, that temple was demolished by the Chinese authorities in 20^th century.

[9] This is related to the controversial “Pattanam excavations” stopped by the ASI, where the archaeologists have differed widely about the claims made.

[10] See  his paper “Commerce, Culture and Empire: Interests Intertwined” circulated – p.7, 9, 11, etc.