Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Quest for Dwarka


The sea, that had been beating against the shores, 
broke the boundaries imposed by nature..
It rushed into the beautiful city,
and swallowed everything in its path..
I saw the grand buildings submerge one by one,
In just a few moments it was all over..
The sea had now become as placid as a lake,
There was no trace of the city anymore, 
Dwarka was just a name; just a memory..


What a terrible end to witness, the submergence of an entire metropolis in front of one's own eyes.. Yet, this is what happened to the golden city of Dwarka and according to Mahabharat's Musal Parva, Pandav Arjun was eyewitness to this destruction!

In continuation of my previous post {Pralaya - The end of Days}, I decided to explore the topic further and assess its impact on Indian history. It leads me to believe that civilization hubs on the shores of our vast peninsula have succumbed to these calamities time and again, and Dwarka, was one of the most promising candidates for such a catastrophe.

What exactly was Dwarka? We know from ancient texts that the city was located on the western shore of Indian mainland; we know it was the capital of Yadavs after they migrated from Mathura; we know Lord Krishna made the city His capital and ruled the kingdom from there; and we also know, that this fabled city was submerged under huge Tsunamis as soon as Krishna left the Earth.

Let us now dig a little deeper and find out more about the rise and fall of Dwarka.

 


Dwarka, the Golden City

Dwarka or Dwarawati (The-city-of-Doors) finds mention in many Sanskrit epics including the Mahabharat, Harivansha, Bhagvat Puraan, Skanda Puraan and the Vishnu Puraan.  It is one of the sacred quartet that forms Char Dham of Lord Vishnu along with Shri Badrinath, Shri Jagannath Puri and Shri Rameshwaram.




Shri Dwarkadhish Temple in the modern city of Dwarka
My visit to the ancient temple


Legend says that the city was built by none other than Vishwakarma, the architect of demigods on the order of Lord Krishna at a site selected by the Divine Eagle Garud


Krishna's Golden City from a Mughal miniature painting



In order to know more about the creation of Dwarka, we would first have to understand the geo-political realities of the time. Let us take a look at the political dynamics in the country at the end of Dvapar Yuga.





Socio-political Condition in Mahabharat Times

The end of a Yuga is always a phase of tumultuous transition. We are talking about the period from the Dusk-of-Dvapar to the Dawn-of-Kaliyuga and there was a lot of political upheaval at this time in the civilized world.

Jarasandh, the king of Magadh had emerged as the most powerful and ambitious king of the time, aspiring to become the Lord of the entire land. He had entered into alliance with other tyrant kings like Kamsa and the Kauravs through matrimony and military deterrence and most other rulers were his vassals. 

Yadavs were settled on the banks of Yamuna and the cities of Mathura and Shauripuri in present Uttar Pradesh were their major centers. Mathura, the main hub of Chandravanshis was ruled by Kamsa who had dethroned his father Ugrasen and usurped the kingdom. 

Another Yadav prince Samudravijay was ruling over Shauripuri, while his younger brother Vasudev (the father of Krishna) was the captive of Kamsa along with his wife Devaki. When Krishna grew up, He liberated His parents from the dungeons of Kamsa, killed the despot and ended his reign of tyranny but Jarasandh (Kamsa's father-in-law), vowed to take revenge.

Since Krishna was too strong an adversary, Jarasandh, who was a master strategist, decided to target the Yadav subjects and launched a series of raids against the denizens of Mathura. Krishna, being a statesman par excellence, decided to wait for the right time (aka the Mahabharat War) and meanwhile thought of a way to secure His countrymen.

He decided to move the entire population of Yadav kingdom to a place far beyond the reach of Jarasandh and picked the western coast of India. The Sabha Parva of Mahabharat gives a detailed account of Krishna's emigration to Dwarka in order to save the lives of His subjects from unwanted attacks.
 


Migration routes of various clans due to Jarasandh's attacks

 


Krishna summoned Vishwakarma, the divine architect of the demigods, and commissioned a city that would be the envy of the civilized world. However, the architect wanted to reclaim some land from the sea and the task could be completed only if Varundeva, the Lord of the sea, acquiesced to this proposal. Sri Krishna worshiped Samudra-dev, who gave them land measuring 12 yojans and Vishwakarma then built the magnificent Dwaraka, a city in gold. 

This is what we know from the Mahbharat, let us see what other literary evidence we can gather from other sources.




Historicity of Dwarka - Literary Evidence

According to the Garuḍa Purāṇ [1.16.14], Dwarka was one of the seven ancient cities in the country that are believed to lead one to Nirvana.
 
Ayodhyā Mathurā Māyā Kāsi Kāñchī Avantikā
Purī Dvārāvatī chaiva saptaitā moksadāyikāh

Inclusion of Dwarka in this list gives reason that it would have been a historical city as the other six cities mentioned in the verse are very much alive and thriving even today.


Other scriptures record that the city was built on the sunken remains of a previous kingdom, Kushasthali, which itself was built on older ruins. The modern city of Dwarka is located in the westernmost part of India at the confluence of the Gomati river with the sea. 

 
 Western region of the Indian mainland


Rishi Ved Vyas has described Dwarka in great detail and calls it 'A city so golden that it cast its radiance on the ocean for miles around it'. The city extended over 104 Kms and was divided into six well-organized sectors, residential and commercial zones, wide roads, plazas, palaces and many public utilities. 

It had a special hall called Sudharma Sabha to hold public meetings and the city had beautiful gardens filled with flowers of all seasons and beautiful lakes. It was well fortified and surrounded by a moat, spanned by bridges, boasted of a good sea harbor and had an incredible number of 700,000 palaces made of gold, silver and other precious stones!
 



The city of Dwarka
 Narad Muni's visit to Dwarka




After Krishna departed from Earth, about 36 years after the Mahabharat War (3102 BCE), Arjun went to Dwarka to bring Krishna's grandsons and remaining Yadavs to safety. As soon as they left, the city was submerged into the sea and the eye-witness account is mentioned in the beginning of the post.

The Vishnu Puran also mentions the submersion of Dwarka, stating-
On the same day that Krishna departed from the earth, the dark-bodied Kali Yuga descended. The oceans rose and submerged the whole of Dwarka.

Besides Dwarka, there are mentions in the scriptures of many renowned cities which were washed away by the rivers on whose banks they were situated. Mahabharat mentions that Hastinapura was washed away by the Ganga and consequently the Pandavas had to migrate to Kaudambi

Similar was the case with Pataliputra which, even though the premier city of the land, later became the worst victim of inundation according to Dandin, the author of the Dashakumaracarita

The question in front of historians now is, whether these cities ever really existed or were they just a figment of poet's imagination? Let us try to understand where archaeology stands on this question.




Archaeological Evidence

Pargiter, a noted historian in British India, was the first to suggest that Dwarka was located near the Raivataka (Girnar) mountain and also mentioned that it was constructed on the remains of an earlier city known as the Kushasthali.

The Girnar mountain is considered holy not only by Hindus but is also a major site of pilgrimage for the Jain community. It is the place where the 22nd Jain Tirthankar, Lord Neminath (who BTW was a paternal cousin of Lord Krishna), attained liberation.

 


Girnar Mountain
 Jain Temples on top of Mount Girnar


Jain legends tell many stories of both the brothers and acknowledge the presence of the Metropolis of Dwarka as being close to the Girnar mountains.


According to Jain texts, Shri Krishna negotiated Neminath's marriage with Rajamati, (the sister of Kamsa), but Neminath, empathizing with the animals that were to be slaughtered for the marriage feast, left the procession and renounced the world!


Interestingly, Jain tradition also recognizes Krishna as Vasudev and Jarasandh as the prati-Vasudev (similar to the Christ & anti-Christ belief) showing how important the rivalry between the two was.

The Yadav kingdom at that time spread around Junagadh district and the nearby Gir Forest (which is the last sanctuary for the Asiatic Lions today). The first excavations at the site were conducted by Deccan College, Pune and the Department of Archaeology, Govt. of Gujarat, in 1963 under the direction of H.D. Sankalia


These and other archaeological excavations unearthed artifacts that prove that modern Dwarka is the sixth settlement of the name on this site. The earlier cities have been, at various times, swallowed by the sea. The waves of the sea still lap the shores of this famous town, lending scenic beauty to this important pilgrimage destination. 


The sea adjacent to Shri Krishna Temple


Gradually, the myth of Dwarka was coming alive, but the final breakthrough came with the discovery of submerged remains of Dwarka by the Marine Archaeology Unit (MAU) jointly formed by the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).






Underwater Exploration of Dwarka

This exploration was undertaken under the guidance of Dr. S.R. Rao. Dr. Rao is widely considered widely the Grand-father of Indian Archaeology and has served the ASI for over 32 years. He is credited with the discovery of a large number of Indus-Saraswati sites including the port city of Lothal in Gujarat.
 


 Dr. S. R. Rao


Before the underwater ruins were discovered, most scholars were of the view that the Mahabharat was just a mythological epic and it would be futile to look for the remains of Dwarka. However,
Dr. Rao and his team, undertook an extensive search of this city along the coast from 1984-88 and finally succeeded in finding the submerged city off the Gujarat coast.

The use of advanced techniques of geophysical survey combined with echo-sounders, mud-penetrators, sub-bottom profilers and underwater metal detectors helped uncover this missing link in our history! 

Between 1983 to 1990, the well-fortified township of Dwaraka was discovered, extending more than half a mile from the shore. In his work, The Lost City of Dwaraka, Dr. Rao has given scientific details of these discoveries and artifacts.  

You can find a similar report report on the link - {Recent underwater exploration at Bet Dwarka and Okha Mandal }
 


Excavations at Dwarka



Offshore exploration of the legendary city was resumed in 1988 and continued through 1990, further seaward of the Temple of Samudranarayana (Sea God) with a view to trace the plan and extent of the port-city and the purpose of the massive stone walls built on the banks of ancient Gomati. 


From the structural remains in Dwaraka and Bet Dwaraka waters, it is possible to visualise that the city-ports were large and well planned.

The findings of Bet Dwarka can actually be divided into two broad periods: Protohistoric period which includes seal, two inscriptions, a copper fishhook and late Harappan pottery; and the Historical period which consists of coins, ship anchors and pottery. 
 


Underwater exploration of Dwarka
 



JUST AS DESCRIBED in the scriptures, the township was built in SIX sectors along the banks of a river. The foundation of boulders on which the city's walls were erected proves that the land was reclaimed from the sea. 


The general layout of the city described in ancient texts agrees with that of the submerged city discovered by MAU. Mahabharat mentions a Prasada which corresponds to the high fort wall of Dwarka, a part of which is extant. The epic says that flags were flying in the city of Dwarka which can again be corroborated by the stone bases of flag posts found in the sea bed excavation. 



 Ruins of the Fort walls in Dwarka


A significant antiquity that further corroborates a statement of the Harivamsha is the SEAL bearing the motif of a three-headed animal representing the bull, unicorn and goat. The text states that every citizen of Dwarka had to carry a seal as a mark of identification and the seal recovered from the sea-bed matches with the scriptural description!


The seal of Dwarka



A large number of rectangular blocks of various sizes are also scattered in a large area in the vicinity and are evidently part of a single structure. These blocks are lying on a rocky seabed and a few of them are buried in sand.





The UAW began excavations at Dwarka again from January 2007. The objective of the excavation was to know the antiquity of the site, based on material evidence. In the offshore excavation, the ASI's trained underwater archaeologists and the divers of the Navy searched the sunken structural remains. 

According to the news releases made by the Govt. of India, the radiocarbon testing on a piece of wood from the underwater site has yielded an age of 9,500 years which would place it near the end of the last Ice Age. 

As discussed in the previous post {Pralaya - The End of Days}, the last melt-down was responsible for drowning a large number of civilizations all over the globe leading to the Flood Myths. This piece of wood could very well be a remnant of the same lost ante-diluvian civilization on the remains of which Dwarka was created. 

Offshore explorations near Bet Dwarka jetty also brought to light a number of stone anchors of different types that include triangular, Indo-Arabian and ring stones.

These are made of locally available rocks and their period may also be similar to those found at Dwarka and other places. Recent findings have also shown evidence of active Indo-Roman trade from the fourth century BCE to 4th century CE. 


Other artifacts recovered from the sea



All these findings should be able to build our faith in the belief that there indeed existed a port-city on the westernmost fringe of the Indian mainland which was into international maritime trade and hence would have been a popular and prosperous metropolis before its submergence.

The obvious next question is, what led to submergence of this massive trading city?



So what happened???

The answer lies in the progressive rise in sea-levels witnessed over thousands of years and tectonic upheavals taking place in the womb of the planet. These two combine like a potion being brewed in a witch's cauldron, and stir up giant Tsunamis capable of wiping out entire civilizations in one go!


In one of the major studies of its kind, scientists at National Institute of Oceanography have developed sea level variation history of the last ~14,500 years B.P. (Before Present), for the western coast of India. 

To generate the sea level variation curve for these past 16,000 years, they had to compile all the data of past shore line indicators available between 21°N to 14°N latitude (till south of Saurashtra Peninsula). These dates ranging from 14,500 to 1,500 yr B.P. were then plotted against height/depth from which the dated material was recovered. 

The sea level curve was then drawn based on geological reasoning and other supporting evidence such as the presence of terraces, nature of samples and inferences of sea-level rise from other stable areas.
 




The curve shows that 14,500 years ago, sea level along the west coast of India was about 100m lower as compared to the present, and rose to 80m depth around 12,500 years ago with a rate of ~10m/1,000 years. 


It was followed by a quiet period when the level remained unchanged for about 2,500 years, thus providing time for civilization to flourish before being engulfed by the sea again. From 10,000 to 7,000 years ago, sea level rose at a very high rate (~20m/1000 years) and after approximately 7,000 years B.P. it has fluctuated to more or less the present level.  




Animation depicting the shrinking of the Indian coast in years Before Present


 

The animation above shows how the shoreline has changed over thousands of years, and how much land has been lost to the sea. All along the peninsula, we have most certainly lost civilizations at various stages of development and out of these, Dwarka was one of the most prominent ones.

In another study conducted on the Seismic activity in the Western region, work in peripheral land areas of the Gulf of Cambay like Kathana, Lothal and Motibaur gave evidences of major earthquakes in the following periods -
(1) 2780 ± 150 years BP
(2) 3983 ± 150 BP and 
(3) 7540 ± 130 BP

In the first major event at about 7,600 BCE, the FIRST metropolis found in the underwater ruins appears to have succumbed to the tectonic forces and the sea appears to have inundated it. Because of this catastrophe, people would have proceeded north to the higher sea level and established the SECOND metropolis

This also got affected by faulting due to earth quakes around 4,000 BP and was destroyed by the second or the last Earthquake around 2780 ± 150 BP, when the sea transgressed to completely submerge it.

We have experienced in the recent years how catastrophic submarine earthquakes can be. They do not affect the land directly but lead to huge waves that are meters tall and are capable of wiping out cities in minutes just as described by Arjun in the beginning of the post!


Giant Tsunamis generated by Submarine Earthquakes

 

From our point of view, the older site of 7600 BCE could very well correspond to Kushasthali, the foundation of Shri Krishna's Dwarka and the second settlement of 4000-2800 BCE would then be the tentative time-frame of existence of the Golden City of the Lord.  


This also matches very well with Shri Krishna's historical dates that we arrived at in the post {Krishna - The Historical Enigma} and again proves that our scriptures are not mere figments of fertile imaginations but have a historical basis.



Dr. S.R. Rao after his careful research made the following statement: "The findings in Dwarka and archeological evidence found are compatible with the Mahabharat tradition and removes the lingering doubt about the historicity of the Mahabharat. We would say that Krishna definitely existed".

Krishna, the Great Statesman and King was indeed a historical figure who ruled from  the city of Dwarka until the day He departed from the mortal realm. He lived the life of a householder and raised His family in the city of Dwarka.

 


 Krishna, the Yadav king of Dwarka


If Dwarka excavations can throw light on the historicity of Lord Krishna, sea-bed excavations at Ayodhya situated on the banks of Sarayu might yield equally valuable information about the historicity of Lord Rama.

We, the youth of the country should participate more in spreading the knowledge of our ancient heritage and endeavor to be a part of a further exploration of its origins. Only then, we would be able to unearth the true history of our own civilization as well as that of Mankind.


 .
 Aum Shanti: Shanti: Shanti:
.

90 comments:

  1. Very well written article. Kudos to you. BTW, what does ± mean?

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    1. Thanx @Surya.. that sign indicates that the value before can be plus or minus the number after it.. THat is so because the dating methods are not accurate to the last decimal thus there is always an approximation given..

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  2. Gud wrk..makes me more curious bout ayodhya now.. enlighten us in t coming posts..

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    1. Will sure do mate.. the next post is gonna be on Rama :)

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  3. Great work buddy...lot of us think and research on these topics, you seems to have gone one step ahead....My good wishes and I hope that your life and circumstances permits you to carry on your work.

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    1. Thanx mate.. I really hope I can continue this work too!

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  4. Great work.. I have been following your blog for a long time. I lost faith on our religious beliefs but after reading your posts I am again regaining interest in our scriptures. I have few doubts related to Hindu philosophy. If you can provide me with your email ID I can mail you my questions. I feel after reading your posts that you can clarify my doubts in a better way.

    Thanks again for such valuable information and appreciate the research you did..

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    1. Hi Phaneendra.. if what u say is true m really thankful to God to have made my blog the catalyst :) u can post any queries u have right here buddy it wil b gud to hv a discussion which everybody can follow..

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  5. Fantastic Vineet!

    This is exactly our true mission to unearth our true culture and history that existed millions of years ago and thats why we are honored to have you on our team!!

    K.v

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  6. Awesome post vineet. The migration routes that you mentioned are the ones that Amish tripathi uses in his trilogy of shiva. Mahabharata is a huge epic, which can't be imaginative. It has to be based on real events. This proves that it was history, not mythology. Waiting for some great book from you vineet. There is a great narrative hidden somewhere in your research. Keep up the good work.

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    1. Pritee Mehta hahaha u know when I met him, Amish said that the book just happened to him.. bfr this book he had never even written a short article.. but yes he has put in a lot of research bfr writing it too.. dunno if that day wud come for me :P

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    2. I know :) I have a gut feeling that a book will happen to you too. You have read a lot, so mind will create a story... has to happen...

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  7. I do like to read about such hidden facts especially about our Indian culture. Good work.. pls keep posting such facts as and when you get any..

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    1. Thanx mate.. u can go thru the other posts on the page as well.. thr r couple of them dealing wid our history especially the one abt river SARASWATI

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  8. उत्तम प्रयास ,यद्यपि द्वारिकापुरी को साक्ष्य की आवश्यकता कहाँ ,किंतु अपनी जिज्ञासा की भूख को तथ्यों से शांत करने वालों के लिए , यह लेख भी एक सार्थक साधन हो सकता |
    आपने बहुत से तथ्यों को बटोरकर सुंदर प्रस्तुतिकरण किया |
    माँ भारती आपका मार्ग प्रशस्त करे !ओम्

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  9. Brilliant post !
    Feels good to know that our scriptures are not just mythological works!
    Looking forward to reading more of your posts !
    You should totally write a book !
    Kudos !

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    1. @Nikhil thats my endeavor indeed.. to prove that there's a lot of science hidden behind the myths that we have all grown up reading.. and abt d book haha lets see what future plans God has for me :)
      Thanx for writing

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  10. great article, mr mythological maestro!!!! yeah like Pritee Mehta, i m keeping my fingers crossed for a Fab book from u..... I expect free delivery and signed book from u, mind it!

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    1. Hahaha Sonu will definitely send u a copy IF i ever write a book :P

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  11. Hare Krishna!. . . . . mind blowing!. . very much impressed with ur reading,thank you v.much for sharing with us:-).

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  12. You doing great is all I want to say... We already lost so much...

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    1. Thanx buddy.. dont worry abt the loss it was meant to happen wid the advent of Kaliyug.. the important thing however is not to forget what was there bfr...:)

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    2. See how beautifully ur response recreates n restores things like always :-) ... Keep on going dear

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  13. I have an observation and would like to see your view on that.

    From our traditions, it is believed that Rama came before Krishna. Now, in the interactive map and the rising sea level theory suggests that India was separated from Sri Lanka around the same time as Dwarka was engulfed by sea. So, it means that at time of Rama (Satyug), India and Sri Lanka had land link. If this were true, then why would Ram have to build setu across an ocean? Doesn't the chronology appear out of order?

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    1. Well buddy ur observation wud hv been quite valid but for one slight technical glitch that I would be sharing pretty soon in the next post on Shri Raam which btw would be (hopefully) done by the next weekend :)

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    2. Waiting for your explanation around that. I am wondering if it is on similar lines as the chronology of Vishnu avatars are out of order (as mentioned in your post on Matsya and Vaaraah avtaar)

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    3. Ahhh took a while to reply coz m in transit at Malaysia right now however dont want to keep u waiting eventhough m hopeful of finishing the next post tonight.. wil give u a hint til then.. check the scriptures as to the era or yuga in which Shri Raam was born :)

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    4. Ram was born in Treta Yug. Krishna was born in Dwaapar Yug. In chronology, Treta Yug comes before Dwaapar Yug. So, can't understand what is the technical glitch you are hinting at. :)

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    5. Ahhhh but did you check WHICH Treta was Shri Raam born in and WHICH Dvapar did Krishna apear in :) to put u out of the quandary I have put up the new post.. hope that helps ;)

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    6. agar aap epic dekhoge, to us main asa bola gaya hain...Hanuman g Ram ke sath the...or Dwapara yuga unho ne Sri Krishan ke sath the

      is according to Ram Krishana se pehle hue right?

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  14. :) Saw your post. Great effort. And Happy Diwali too!!

    Still a doubt persists. Your post then means that at time of Ram (18mn years ago), India was separated from Lanka by sea. Then, by Krishna's time, sea had receded (so that original Dwarka could be build). Later, sea rose again, engulfing original Dwarka and again separating India and Sri Lanka.

    Also, I don't know what geologists state about Plate Tectonics and Earth's continents location and shape 18mn years ago. I believe India had not yet merged with Asia at that time. If this is true, then actually India would have been between present day Madagascar and present day India and Sri Lanka would have been closer to Australia. In this scenario, Ram Setu must be foun deep south in Indian Ocean, rather than today. Well, just a conjecture. ;)

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    1. Well your conjecture would have been true but for the fact that India crashed into Asian mainland about 50 million years ago so at the time of Shri Raam, India and Sri Lanka were already in their current positions.. also the sea has been receding and rising at numerous time periods in our history and it would be really difficult to calculate whether the Palk Strait did exist or not at that time.. we can safely calculate the sea levels for this inter-glacial but not for the respective periods before the last Ice-Age and the one before that and so on and so forth till 18 million years ago.. Hope it helps.. Thanx for writing again :)

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    2. You have great passion and clear thoughts to logically support your conclusions. :)

      Some more lines of enquiry or food for thought, considering a time 18mn years ago:
      1. Were there a species of simians between Homo Sapiens and monkeys which formed the Vaanar Sena and Hanuman. The same species (and sub-species) could be responsible for legend of Yeti and other abominable monkey-mans throughout the world.
      2. Would man at that time also be anatomically any different than present day man?
      3. If paleontologists can dig out dinosaur fossils from 65mn years ago and further before, and if they have also been able to dig out fossils of 4-tusked elephants, we would archeologists not find evidence of civilization artifacts from time of Ram?
      4. If Hanuman was able to survive 18mn years and appear again in Mahabharat (Bhim - Hanuman wrestling), then He should have survived another 7000 odd years and be still around somewhere in our present times. :)
      5. Did Kumbhakaran sleep near Arctic or Antarctic circle? His sleep of 6 months at time is eerily similar to six months night and day near the poles.
      6. How was the world destroyed at end of Kaliyug following Ram's Treta Yug? Even if there exist references of this in scripture, whu don't we hear more about such supposedly devastating world event compared to Ramayan or Mahabharat?
      7. How did technology from 18mn years ago survive till 7000 years ago (Mahabharat) and then suddenly disappear. If we take our current times to be an example, people in Mahabharat time should have completely forgotten about what happened or existed during Ram's time. Will after our current Kaliyug, all knowledge about past times and glory get restored when a new Satyug starts? Where is this knowledge currently lying hidden?
      8. Is it possible that only Earth has seen multiple rise and fall of intelligent beings in so many million years? Could these legends have occurred on some other planet? Could there be a local version of similar epics on those planets? Where are those extra terrestrial beings? :)

      Maybe some of the questions are out of scope of current discussion. But I have always been fascinated by such thoughts coming out of interdisciplinary enquiry. I have wondered earlier if a Shivaling was actually a nuclear power plan (both are stores of unimaginable energy, have same shape and require constant cooling (milk vs liquid sodium)). Is Shiva's trident forked in 3 because that shape is best possible for channeling electric surges (and is thus used similarly in lightning conductors).

      I also note that you constantly refer as "Shri Raam" while I keep referring as "Ram". I hope you don't mind that I am not deifying Ram in my references. :)

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    3. Man so many questions in one comment :P
      anyways starting with the first: 1&2. As of now scientists do not think there were advanced primates at that time.. the apes did exist but not neanderthals etc. so that is a problem.. but i think in future more information may come to light.

      3.the fossils are portions of our body which are indestructible like bones/teeth/impressions on rock etc which do not disintegrate so easily.. civilizational artefacts by nature are easily destructible and can not survive for so long.

      4.Hanuman ji is one of the six chiranjivis or immortals.. he will be here on our planet till the last avatar of Kalki arrives.

      5.Well u may have a valid observation with the six month thingi but actually he didnt stay awake for 6 months! He could stay awake for just ONE DAY every year thts y the 6 month duration :)

      6. The world is destroyed every Chatur-yuga in the same manner.. please check the Pralaya Post for more clarification.

      7. I dont think the technology survived till Mahabharat times.. the airplanes/space-ships were already gone and so was the science of performing Yagnyas.. imagine a nuclear holocaust like the Mahabharat taking place today and ask urself if any knowledge whatsoever would survive after that.. thts y every eon we start from the scratch.

      8. Please check the post on LOKAS for this query..

      9. Its gud to have these discussions.. stimulates the mind to work at different levels so m glad u are a part of this :) Jai Shri Raam

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  15. Excellent blog. I recently visited Dwarka and Bet Dwarka to get he sense of Krishna aura. When I asked to one of priest in Dwarka where is actually sub merge Dwarka found, he doesn't knew anything. He escaped from question saying that Govt. has intentionaly hiding this fact of exact location. Is it true.. can we see in geography map the locaton of ancient Dwarka

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    1. Thanx a lot :)
      Well the place can be checked out in the National Institute of Oceanography archives.. u can also check them online by searching for metropolis A and B in Dwarka excavations...

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  16. i have a feeling that dwarka may have been submerged at the end of ice age when the sea level rose dramatically ( see link https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kingdoms+of+ice+age&oq=kingdoms+of+ice+age&gs_l=youtube.3..33i21.13918.26642.0.26849.39.20.0.5.5.1.267.2564.5j2j9.16.0...0.0...1ac.1.9cK1gBHQOdo ) . This is similar to the stories of noah and flooding of Atlantis. So it is highly probable. Also the floods may be the basis of the apocalypse stories of the west.

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    1. Well for Dwarka to have been submerged at that time would imply that Shri Krishna existed before the last Ice Age.. I have also toyed with that idea but it does not match the scriptural descriptions.. please read the post titled KRISHNA-THE HISTORICAL ENIGMA for more clarity..

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    2. Have you heard about News going around about NASA Predicting Mini Ice age coz oceans are cooling down but then Indian and Pacific oceans are heating inside ,which is sort of anomaly so perhaps maybe Ice age was not world based I think it might be the American continents and some parts of Europe

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  17. i love your work you are gr8 definately india is sacred and mysterious place there are many mysteries in every corner like nidivan in vrindavan
    eyes of banke bhiari, formation of amarnath ,jvala ji and kamkhya etc

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  18. Well done bro ....it was very informative ....radhe radhe....

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  19. Loved your article but I think you are incorrect about the years. For example: 3102 BC is not the year in which Krishna ended his incarnation. There are many scriptures which say that the Dwapara yuga is dated several tens of thousands of years ago. Goes beyond 30000 BC. So a/c to your stats, Harappan Civilization was flourishing at the time of the Mahabharata. This is incorrect because Harappan civilization existed only in Kaliyuga but not Dwapar yuga.

    Dont misunderstand me. I am a great believer of Vishnu(god). I follow the Hindu way of living. I appreciate your work. This is our history so you have to get every detail spot on.

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    1. I understand ur concern but let me clear your misunderstanding here.. scriptures give the duration of the Dwapar Yuga as several thousands of years but DO NOT SAY that it ENDED thousands of years ago!! In fact astronomers right from Aryabhatta have given the start of Kaliyuga as 3102 BCE which implies Dwapar Yuga ended around that time. As you say it is HISTORY so we have to approach it in a scientific manner and not emotionally.

      P.S. - Please read the post about Lord Krishna to understand His timeline.

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  20. r u a mbbs doctor?
    if u have time, then u should translate or decode Vedas in scientific way(its original nature)

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  21. Yes I am.. There are plenty of websites that give the translations buddy.. my focus is on something else

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  22. Great Work and research Vineet,writing and gather all this information is an impossible task, I myself always know about our great Hinduism. still in our country Ramayan , Mahabharat this great epic called MYTHOLOGY its said, I personal believe in reincarnation and you are one amongs them. OM NAMAH SHIVAY, SATYA HI SHIV HAI OR WOHI HI SUNDER HAI Just Believe in Yourself

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  23. Great, Vineet...... All your posts are awesome....... I request you to throw some light on our system of caste... A very much contreversial topic!!! Om Namo Brahmane Vasudevaya

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    1. Sure thing Chandrashekar.. though in my opinion there's nothing controversial about it! It was a logical division of labor to run any civilized society and we see the same division in every company/institution/country. For the advancement of any society you need thinkers, for its protection you need soldiers, for the creative mind you need artists and for smooth running of all support functions you need the labor. It was never by birth and never very rigid hence whatever controversies surround it are relatively modern in nature and context.

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  24. Dear Mr. Vineet

    I have been browsing through your articles about Indian history and found them to be very information and astonishing. Kudos to you for the painful reaseach that you are doing in un-earthing the Indian mythology.

    Your calculation of dates for Ramayan episode, Mahabharata etc. looks strickingly correct.

    One thing I would like you to work on is please see the book from Swami Yukteshwar namely "The holy science" where he explained the yuga cycle in more scientific way which is linked to the Equinox and it surprisingly shows the same date as you have predicted with regards to Mahabharata etc.

    His books may not be very popular in India as some of our religious group don't like to say that Lord Rama is just few thousand years old as they believe that If we can prove him older than few million years.

    Have a look at above referred book, the book is around 200 pages but only the first 28 pages are what i am referring to. Once you read this book you can then reseach through the google to get the comments from other people. In fact some fo the scholars, astrologers even suggested that this book should be in our school syllabi.

    This book was written around 110 years back and surprisingly talking about modern day gazettes, the reseach on particles etc.

    I believe all your confusion with regards to dating of all episodes and the calculation of Yuga will be corrected and your focus will change.

    Only you can give justice to this book. This book is available on internet free of cost. Just Google.

    Best regards

    DEB, PK

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  25. Thanx a lot Mr Deb.. will check it out for sure :)

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  26. Hi,
    Great work. Can I know the sources of the paintings up there?
    Thanks,
    Heena

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    1. Thanx Heena, the paintings are all from ISKCON website gallery.. U can find more there :)

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  27. Hi Mr Vineet
    Gone thru article together with comments. It is an excellent. I have few simple questions for our thinking.

    1. Dwarka was constructed Lord Krishna and consists of thousands of palaces. All those are constructed with Gold & Silver etc. As you are aware, gold & Silvers are not bio-degradeable, these are to be available under Sea. With the existing technologies avaialable all over the world, is it not possible to unearth all of them ?
    2. As shown in Star Plus serial, Arjuna is using 'Gandeepam' to make fire, rain, smoke or multi tasks. Can you work whether these are possible to perform ?
    3. Regarding Ageing of Mahabharatha, You are correct and it is 3102 B.C. The evidence from my side is that:
    According to our Tamil Panchankkam (Tami Calender) the current year Kaliapdham is 5114 of total Kaliyugam years 432000 ( 'Seshakali' is 426886)

    My request to you is to be in touch with Mr Rao - Archieologist and bring evidences for Mahabharadha and also to bring to Media for spreading all over the world.

    Thanks for your work.

    S Raghavan
    Email: ukkadai@gmail.com

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    1. @S Raghavan thanx a ton for taking out time to comment and share your feedback.. will def work on your suggestion :)

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    2. Pls don't watch Mahabharat by Star Plus....they are all framed, inaccurate and madeup stories...if you are interested in Mahabharata go to Gita press ..read it

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  28. I read that the excavation process was stopped all of a sudden, and all the people involved are not reachable. Is that true? Any updates on this Dwarka excavation?

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    1. Well I don't know the circumstances in which it was stopped but yes an attempt can be made to contact the people involved in it for sure.

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    2. Also the Aryan invasion theory will be proved wrong ie framed

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  29. Yes excavations have been stopped and the reasons are political....if they excavate more then it will be proved that Krishna, Mahabharat ....all were real not any Myth...and that too 30,000 years old.....it would also mean that bible is False because as per bible and big bang theory there was nothing 4000 years ago....Also no one has the guts to restart the same

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  30. Dear Vineet
    With so many similarities between the lost city of Dwarka and Atlantis, dont you think that perhaps they are the same cities with different names....

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    1. well they may or may not have been the same bro.. since the sea-levels have risen considerably in many parts of the world, it i hard to say :)

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  31. In Bhavishya Puran , Pratisarga khand , it says krishna born at end of 4 phase of Dwapara yuga. And as per yuga system every yuga have sandhya and sandhya-ansha.

    Combining dwapara shandhya of 72000 year + kali yuga shandya ansha 36000 + kaliyuga years till present 5300 = becomes 113300 years till date since krishna born. Also Bhavishya Puran says krishna lived for 125-145 years . That means submerged dwarka must be 113250 years old (given that krishna made it at age of 25-50 years).

    let me know any mistake happen in caculations.

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    1. Hi Sandeep that sounds logical if we take the Yuga timelines as stated but I have a big problem believing in the said periods.. Given the scientific evidence available today, it seems more likely that the 12000 Celestial Years of a Yuga System are also the same for Humans and that would make the Dwapar Sandhyansh as 200 years while Kaliyug Sandhya would be another 100.. unless something else comes up I tend to lean towards this theory of Yuga periods rather than using the multiple of 360X12000

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    2. I agree with you, all 18 books are might be myth as it does show fact same today's science . But again all 18 purans speaks same timeline. No where I found they used different yuga system. Also 12000 year you mentioned are of devta which = 43,20000 human years. Many interpreter does not stick to original yuga system also get confuse when doing calculation.

      I request you if you provide current location of saptarshi in which nakshatra ( both by current science and Panchang).

      Also if vyas was writer of all vedas and puran , epics then he must have thought same for all yuga system. If we believe in current scientists who just wrote 5-50 papers / books and still unable to find what inside "SUN" yet ,then we also need to take in to account of what Purans says.

      It might be that possible we are not aware of calculation/ science/ knowledge that time used, Even sanskrit word interpretation might different , just as we take devta years as same as human years.

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    3. I know it may be difficult to interpret and I wish someone could understand this system scientifically and make our lives easier.. but the archaeological, literary and astronomical references all point to the timeline that i mentioned for Dwarka.. check my post on Shri Krishna and you will understand what I am saying..

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  32. Hi Vineet,

    First of all, appreciate your efforts information like this for us to know. Just wanted to if any recent explorations has taken place in dvaraka. If so can please share the details.

    Ram

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  33. Hey its sukrant sahu from chattisgarh...
    just gone through your article....
    i always wanted to read the books such as the BHAGVADGEETA ,BHAGVAD PURAN
    and OTHER SUCH BOOKS
    BUT there are many versions of these books nothing more than the views of the respective intellectuals......
    however could you just suggest me THE RIGHT VERSIONS OF THESE BOOKS!!!!!

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    1. Hi Sukrant.. well that is inevitable since each person reads the scriptures with a perspective he has developed through a lifetime of his own experiences.. while it is impossible to escape this interpretation, if you want an unbiased reading the best way is to read it in Sanskrit yourself! If that's not possible try comparing two editions preferably in different languages to give u a good sense of what each verse means. I would recommend Swami prabhupada's version called 'Bhagwad Gita - As it is' and the Hindi translation by Geeta Press Gorakhpur

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  34. What is further development on the excavation at dwarka? We the people, can fund it if our government is broke and this is very important not only to india but the whole world, it definitely needs some urgency

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    1. Yes it does but sadly i haven't heard of or read about any further research on this topic..

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  35. Nice. Finally I got the right matter to understand Dwarka for the purpose of my interview. Very interesting at the same time. Keep up the good work (y)

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  36. Commendable work and thankyou. (MAU) (NIO) and (ASI) reports and their was never public. Neither officially published photos from GOI. How do we raise these concern and understand the core reasons as research was stopped or not given any importance. It's an amazing subject from geological and archeological studies perspective. Corrupt Government Officials are you even listening or reading about India ???

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    1. Yes, very surprising indeed that no more work is being carried out there!

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    2. why has the project been called off? is it even being considered recently or just forgotten? can we not do anything about it?

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    3. No idea mate.. perhaps successive UPA Govts thought it may serve the Hindutva agenda if they went ahead with it.. we can write to the current PM though on his mygov website and request for a revival!

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  37. Hi vineet.. first of all thanks for your article.. it was very helpful.. i believe that ramayan and mahabharat happen really in indian history .. but why our indians now days no one considering about our hindu culture and its importance.. no has basic knowledge in it.. as we know vedas has great knowledge it gave vast information even western coubtries discovered all the things based on our vedas and they took away vedad from us. For example planets and sun are spherical in shape was in vedas.. there numbers upto trillions in vedas.. even before western countires found these things long aftrr vedas gave this konwledge to us.. then why we are forgetting brilliant vedas and lookibg after western countries.. all we kkow that now what ever plane we seeing was designed based on indian books like vaimanika shashtra.. then even now why cant indian design our own planes based on our brilliant old books and shastras.. there are a lot lot knowledge where we can top in any field and by any country in this world .. but know why indians lookibg always western side and forget about our great culture ,knowledge , vedas and hindusim. And also any government is interested in our vedas and old books and knowledge in it.. its pity of our great india.. jai shree ram..

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    1. My pleasure... yes it is unfortunate that many people in India deride their own scriptures without ever bothering to even go through them.. there's a mine of information in the scriptures that can come in handy for us but sadly this ignorance makes people look the other way

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  38. Vineet Ji, you have really put in your great efforts to extract historicity from mythology. I would put it as marvellous. You have perfectly put 3102 BCE as the period of Mahabharat which means some 5000 years back from now Lord Krishna took birth to grow up and get named and coronetted as Lord Narayan in India's golden age and golden kingdom of Kritya Yug.
    If we take a world's cyclical view of time (not linear), we are at the fag end of (5000 year old) Mahabharat War-a battle not in physical sense but as an inner battle between mankind's demonic propensities and divine proclivities- to be fought and won with wisest and purest cosmic power & conscience keeper God Krishna always in our consciousness as our divine friend, philosopher, guide and charioteer (of our mind-body-intellect combine Rath with our soul as Rathi & He, the Supreme Soul as our Sarathi). With our inner vices, negativities and ignorance sublimated by practice of His Gita Gyan and Raj-yoga Meditation, our submerged latent divine qualities & virtues will surface to make our individual Sanskar (personality traits) virtuous thereby through collective practice & efforts will lead to Devi (Deity) Sanskriti & Sabhyata (Culture & Civilization).
    By winning this subtle war of Mahabharat within, we will again usher into India's golden age or Kritya Yug of Adi Sanatan Devi Devta Dharma (the ancient most eternal religion of divine deities) to be led and presided over by creation's first deity prince, 16 celestial virtuous, Lord Shrikrisna who will grow up to become Lord Shri Narayan, the first World Emperor Deity Religion. That will be real Dwarka, the golden kingdom of Lord Krishna / Narayan which is being subtly built by the Supreme Architect (Vishwa Karma), the Supreme Soul Himself at the fag end of this Kali Yug through the regular practice and promotion of His spiritual knowledge, divine virtues, raj-yoga meditation, simple and satwick lifestyle by lakhs of like minded seekers around the globe. This divine work of world reconstruction and renewal of moral & spiritual character of mankind is silently taking place now, before the disturbed & polluted nature, climate, ecology and devilish human nature bring colossal destruction (Khand-Pralay) and an end to Kaliyug era. Incognito incorporeal Supreme Soul, Supreme Spiritual Light & Might, Jyotirlinga Shiva is performing His world transformation task again though His subtle & human mediums Brahma & Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya since 1936. When we change, the world changes. Our transformation will bring world transformation. We need to be the change we want to see in the world. Now or never.

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    1. Thank you Mr. Sushant for your insight on Mahabharat ans well as your kind words :) May we understand the true significance of Krishna's teachings

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  39. What a wonderful article! I too am an avid researcher of the past events. Please let me know where I can reach you for a personal discussion

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    1. You can find me on facebook as Dr. Vineet Aggarwal :)
      The link is also there in the blog top right corner.

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