Indian Republic Day: What does it mean to

Google Doodle of the day
Republic Day of India, 2013

 Away from the glitters of big cities, chose a village Saraitikra (which means village of the 'Sal' trees, i.e. Shorea robusta) to see how this day 26th January passes in their lives in terms of human impressions, images in the deep down psyche, irrespective of the age, sex, caste, color, profession  and economic strata.

picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

It varies so much as if it says something about 'Today', which is just passing away to the unfathomable memories pf the 'Past'.

Dhananjay Kumar,7 years, Saraitikra, Ambikapur.
मिठाई खाने के लिए 
'A day to get dessert and goody'.
picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

Sona Rajwade, 20 years, Saraitikra, Ambikapur.
कार्यक्रम  देखने के लिये
'To see various cultural programs'.
picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

Ratan Sai, 80 years, Saraitikra, Ambikapur.
नाँच, गाना, भाषण, खेलकूद करने के लिये आते हैं
'To participate in dance, song, lectures and games'.
picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

Kashee Ram, ex-chief of village, 60 years, Saraitikra, Ambikapur.
आज गणतंत्र दिवस है। आज के दिन भारत का अपना संविधान लागू हुवा था।
'Today is the Republic Day, India adopted it's own constitution, so came to share the day'.
picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

Sadharan Ram, member of Shaila dance troupe, 60 years, Saraitikra, Ambikapur.
हमारा देश आजाद है। इसलिए ख़ुशी मनानें  आये हैं।
'Ours is the free nation, came here to enjoy this day'.
picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

Somar Sai, member of Shaila dance troupe, 55 years, Saraitikra, Ambikapur.
गणतंत्र दिवस मनाने। भारत आजाद है।
'Celebrating Republic day, we are free nation....independent'.
picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

Dharm Sai, 70 years, Saraitikra, Ambikapur.
सरकार आजादी दिया है। किसान की आजादी को मनाने आये हैं। 
'Government has given us freedom, celebrating the freedom of  farmers'.
picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

Dhan Kuwar, 55years, Saraitikra, Ambikapur.
26 जनवरी मनाये बर।
'Celebrating 26th January'.
picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

Dhanpatiya, 90years, Saraitikra, Ambikapur.
 प्रोग्राम देखे बर आये हौ।
'Watching the programs of the day'.
picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

Dev Chand Rajwade, 35years, Saraitikra, Ambikapur.
उत्साह वर्धन के लिए, सांस्कृतिक कार्यक्रम और राष्ट्रीय त्यौहार मनाने के लिए।
'Encouraging, celebrating cultural and national festival'.
picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

Satish Kumar Sinha, High school teacher, 45years, Saraitikra, Ambikapur.
सरकारी संस्थाओं और ग्रामीणों, विद्यार्थियों, सभी के साथ मिलकर एक त्यौहार के रूप में सौहार्द्य पूर्वक मनाते हैं।
'Government institutions, villagers, students: all together celebrate this day as a national festival for amity'.
picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

Nitesh Pande, Middle school teacher, 35years, Rampur, Ambikapur.
 स्वतंत्रता एक शरीर है और गणतंत्र उसकी आत्मा है।
'Indepedence is a body and republic is the soul'.
picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

And children of the village school (Government High School, Saraitikra) have such luminous faces to tell the story of the day..

picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

The three colors of the National Flag was the writ of the day in the cultural programs presented by 9thers of the school.

picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

Such was the vibrant day, the 26th January 2013....

picture at: Government High School Saraitikra, Ambikapur

#Author extends thanks to Miss Padmawati Pandey and Mr. Dileep Kumar Gupta, the teaching staff members of the Government High School, Saraitikra for their kind assistance in above survey.

Vedic rituals: Flow of civilization

From the dawn of human civilization in Indian subcontinent, the Vedic Period, whose collected wisdom remained unwritten for three thousand years since 1500 BC: Vedic books containing poetry, history, geography, archaeology, anthropology, anthropomorphism, palaeontology, genesis of the deities, science, phonetics, science of language, ethnology, mythology, theogony, jurisprudence, religion, vedanta, philosophy of people and places therein..

Like many other known past, this too came to exist not and new civilization (Aryan) and religion (Buddhism) sprouted on it's ruins.

But..yes..it's interesting to see those long forgotten past with their words, deities, rituals being observed by masses, just as if 'something' inspired them to do so, despite their 'present' of 2013 (January 10th to 13th),which is so different and so far away from 1500 BC.

The simple and logical explanation could be made for this flow of human mass that this also follows the Haeckel's Biogenetic Law (Theory of Recapitulation), i.e. Ontogeny repeats Phylogeny. (With different formulations, such ideas have been applied and extended to several fields and areas, including the origin of language, biology, cognition and mental activities, anthropology, education theory and developmental psychology.) 

"You will find yourselves everywhere in India between an immense past and an immense future, with opportunities such as the old world could but seldom, if ever, offer you". (F. Max Muller) 

http://throughpicture.blogspot.com/2013/01/kumbh-mela-allahabad-india.html

#pictures showing people participating in 'Fire' worshiping rituals with Vedic mantras in Bhitthikala, Ambikapur, India; organized from 10th January 2013 to 13th January 2013. 

Lines of Nazca Peru

The Nazca Lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. They were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. 

The shallow etchings were made well over 2,000 years ago by Indians who cleared the stony surface, exposing the whitish soil underneath. Scientists continue to debate their purpose, offering such theories as a calendar, a map of underground water supplies, ancient "message in the bottle" for the future generations - even landing strips for space aliens. 

Nazca is a city and a system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru, and the name of the region's largest existing town in the Nazca Province. It is also the name applied to the Nazca culture that flourished in the area between 300 BC and AD 800.

 The high, arid plateau stretches more than 80 kilometres (50 mi) between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pampas de Jumana about 400 km south of Lima. Although some local geoglyphs resemble Paracas motifs, scholars believe the Nazca Lines were created by the Nazca culture between 400 and 650 AD. The hundreds of individual figures range in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks, orcas, and lizards.

Nazca, Perú: Nazca is known primarily for the "lines" or "geoglyphs" in the desert, large depictions of animals and other designs etched into the surface by an ancient culture for reasons that continue to baffle scholars. Adding to the mystery is the fact that these designs can only be fully appreciated from the air (and except for a few amateur archeologists and UFO fanatics, no one believes this lost culture had developed flying machines). The Nazca lines are one of nine areas in Perú to receive World Heritage Site designation.

Nazca Lines seen from SPOT Satellite

Satellite picture of an area containing lines. North is to the right. (Coordinates: 14°43′S 75°08′W)

The Nazca lines, which are found in a thirty-mile area of the desert, truly are a remarkable sight. The hummingbird, for example, is approximately 250 feet long. Some of the straight lines run for miles. Other designs include a dog, a 300-foot monkey, various other birds, and a collection of spirals, triangles and trapezoids. Seeing the Nazca lines in person only deepens the mystery of how and why they were constructed. It is believed they were created between 900 BCE and 630 CE by three different groups of the Paracas people. They were drawn by moving surface stones and gravel aside to reveal the lighter soil underneath. But how the designers were able to create such complex figures and perfectly straight lines without aerial reconnaissance remains a mystery. No one really knows why the lines and figures were created. Speculation has included rituals related to astronomy, as well as elaborate tracks for terrestrial foot races

Another interesting sight near Nazca is the cemetery. Human bones are scattered all about, cast aside by grave robbers (huaqueros) who have looted the graves for the artifacts they once contained and discarded everything else. In the graves, the mummified remains of the ancient residents are remarkably well preserved, given that they are exposed to the open air. In many cases, textiles and lengths of human hair (up to six feet long) have survived. The climate is so dry (less than a quarter of an inch of rain per year) that moisture is not a problem. Although the area can be quite windy, the heat reflecting off the desert floor creates a "cushion" of stagnant air that shields the surface from the winds

The Hummingbird

The Condor

The Heron 

The "Giant"

The Spider

The Pelican

The Dog 

The Hands 

The Monkey 

 Peruvian archaeologist Toribio Mejia Xesspe was the first to systematically study the lines in 1926. However, since the lines are virtually impossible to identify from ground level, they were only first brought to public awareness with the advent of flight—by pilots flying commercial planes over Peru in the 1930s. American professor Paul Kosok investigated and found himself at the foot of a line on June 22, 1941—just one day after the winter solstice. At the end of a full day studying the lines, Kosok looked up from his work to catch the sunset in direct alignment with the line. Kosok called the 310 square mile stretch of high desert “the largest astronomy book in the world”.

Kosok was followed by the German Maria Reiche who became known as the Lady of the Lines. Reiche studied the lines for 40 years and fought unyieldingly for her theories on the lines’ astronomical and calendrical purpose (she received a National Geographic grant in 1974 for her work). Reiche battled single-handedly to protect the site; she even lived in a small house near the desert so she could personally protect the lines from reckless visitors.

 

Maria Reiche, the most famous Nazca-Researcher, prefers the astronomical theory. She theorizes that the lines could point in the direction of the rising of important stars or planets and events like sun solstices. Formations like the spider and the monkey could show star constellations like Orion and Ursa Mayor.

Clay pottery and debris has been found along the lines, suggesting food or water was carried to the location either for its construction, ceremonial use, or perhaps both. Radiocarbon dates, based on ceramic and wood remains which were left at the Lines by the Nazcan people has been dated to an era between 300 BC and AD 800. The pottery shards of the style and type of the Nazca culture, further establishing these recent dates as most probable.

Bray Warwick also tried to determine the site's age by examining the stones along the figures. In the heat, the upper exposed side of the stones form a patina of manganese oxide, traces of iron and clay minerals. Below, the stones are covered with mushrooms, lichens and cyanobacterias. Stones in proximity to the lines were used to analyze this organic matter by C-14-Method. Analysis revealed values between 190 B.C. and 600 A.D. 

The second piece of evidence is the alleged resemblance of the Nazca geoglyphs to certain features found on Nazcan pottery. This is an important issue because it potentially offers proof that the Nazcans had either designed the images or at least viewed them from the air, since the exact shapes could not otherwise have been known.

Erich von Däniken - Cargo-Cult

Erich von Däniken's theory is the most famous approach to solve the mystery of Nazca. He had the idea that long time ago visitors from other stars visited the earth and naturally Nazca. At this place they landed, during the landing stones was blown away by the power of rocket propulsion. By approaching more the power was increasing and the cleaned band broader. In this way the first trapezes emerged. Later the Aliens disappeared and left confused people. Like in the modern cargo cults they tried to call the Gods back by drawing lines, figures and trapezes. Never Däniken said the formations was made by Aliens. He discovered the GGF/Mandala/Zodiac and the mirror - Formation and compares them with modern VASIS or PAPI-Signs. 

more reference:
http://sciencedoing.blogspot.in/2013/01/high-civilizations-of-former-times.html

#share courtesy: wikipedia.org, nationalgeographic.com, google.com