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Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 09-30-2006
15 feet tall floral fountain in Tirupati, India. Made specially by devotees for the Brahmotsavam.
<img src='http://img.jagran.com/jagranimage/pimages/27sepk1106.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Artist gives finishing touches to an idol in Sri Dhakeshwari Devi temple of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
<img src='http://img.jagran.com/jagranimage/pimages/28sepk1006.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
A Bauddha bhikshu vacating a temple in Thailand. Flood has devastated the rural areas.
<img src='http://img.jagran.com/jagranimage/pimages/28sepk706.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 09-30-2006
An armed coup took place in Thailand this week. A soldier salutes a Hindu/Bauddha monk and accepts "mala" from him.
<img src='http://img.jagran.com/jagranimage/pimages/23sepk406.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
On Ganga and Yamuna's confluence at Sangam in Prayag/Allahabad, UP, India - some relatives performing Pind Daan for a departed one.
<img src='http://img.jagran.com/jagranimage/pimages/23sepk706.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
A sadhu at sangam.
<img src='http://img.jagran.com/jagranimage/pimages/22sepk706.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 09-30-2006
Hindu devotees at Mansarovar, in Tibat.
<img src='http://img.jagran.com/jagranimage/pimages/13sepk2506.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Head granthi Gyani Gurbachan Singh ji carrying Sri Guru Granth of Sri Akal Takht Saheb, Swarna Mandir, Amritsar for a traditional Nagar Kirtan on Monday.
<img src='http://img.jagran.com/jagranimage/pimages/9sepk1806.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Nihang Sikhs in a procession called 'Shan-e-dastar' (grace of sword) in Amritsar on Monday.
<img src='http://img.jagran.com/jagranimage/pimages/12sepk1306.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 10-21-2006
<img src='http://img.jagran.com/jagranimage/pimages/19octk2006.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Baba Ramdev is in the USA these days. Above, addressing people in New Jersey on Oct 18. And below in New York.
<img src='http://img.jagran.com/jagranimage/pimages/17octk1706.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<img src='http://img.jagran.com/jagranimage/pimages/21octk506.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Markets of Singapore on the eve of Dipawali.
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 10-21-2006
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->India's World-Wide Cultural Diffusion
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, October 20, 2006: "The diffusion of India's cultural immensity over the vast expanses of Asia and other continents is a glorious epic of human achievement in the domain of thought and its expression in space and time." This summarized former UNC Senator Suren Capildeo's feature address at the 20th annual Divali Nagar on October 12, 2006, before a packed assembly. Theme of this year's Divali Nagar was "The Hindu Contribution to World Thought and Culture." The Nagar ends Friday, October 20.
"Beyond the shimmering blue waters of Lake Baikal in the heart of Eastern Siberia lie monasteries studded with Indian images and silken scrolls of Tantric Deities. A little below lies the Mongolian People's Republic which has one of the richest treasures of translations of thousands of Sanskrit works and rare icons of India's Divinities like Maha Kala, Kali, Ayushi, Tara Devi and many others," Capildeo said.
From the Central Asian sands have been exhumed Sanskrit manuscripts, rare works of art, unique administrative documents in Prakit, exquisite murals and objects of a high material culture - all imbued with the spirit and form of India, Capildeo reported. "In the Far East, the sprawling mainland of China has preserved a rich heritage of the art, literature and philosophy of India. Stories of the Mahabharata in the classical Japanese theater, the art traditions of Ajanta at Horyuji Temples, or Sanskrit mantras, all are ageless symbols of India's contribution to Japan's evolution. The Tibetan books on medicine, astronomy, grammar, rhetoric and poetics are inspired by Indian works of similar description."
Capildeo said that the skyline of temples in Bangkok, Sanskrit words in the Thai language, Ramayana as the supreme expression of Thai theatre, Shiva ceremonies at the Royal Court - are parts of the stream that flows in the heart of Thailand from the deep of India's being. The enthralling stupa Borobudur, the Shiva Temple of Prambanan, the living presence of Hinduism in Bali, are some of the facets of the dynamics of India's cultural spectrum in the Isles of Indonesia.
"Modern research reveals that the dispersal of Indian culture, at least in the former Soviet Central Asia can be traced from the early stone age which will take us back over half a million years ago. But such studies of cultural contact between primitive peoples, being based solely on stone tools or other artifacts can only give us very meager and vague ideas on the subject of what we properly recognize as human culture," Capildeo said. "The great truth about Hinduism was hither-to-ignored or obscured by the fact there is no evidence of such missionary spirit of the Hindus during the last thousands years or more. It was Swami Vivekananda who revived the old missionary spirit of Hinduism towards the close of 19th century.
Capildeo went on to say that there is no denying the fact that the whole of the Far East is in India's debt for Buddhism which helped to mould the distinctive civilizations of China, Korea, Japan and Tibet. As well her special gifts to Asia, India has conferred many practical blessings on the world, notably rice, cotton, sugar cane, spices, the domestic fowl, the game of chess and most important of all, the decimal system of numeral notation, the invention of an unknown Indian mathematician.
Capildeo, had his audience spell bound, as he continued, "The extent of the spiritual influence of India on the ancient West is much disputed. The heterodox Jewish sect of the Essenes, which probably influenced early Christianity, followed monastic practices in some respects similar to those of Buddhism. Parallels may be traced between the passages in the New Testament and the Pali Scriptures. Similarities between the teachings of Western philosophers and mystics from Pythagoras to Plotinus and those of the Upanishads have been frequently noticed."
Deokienanan Sharma, president of the NCIC, in his address, said that the impact of Divali Nagar has extended beyond our shores and has triggered the revival of the almost lost Indian cultural practices in our sister isles of Martinique and Guadeloupe where substantial populations of East Indians live. Sharma said that the Divali Nagar festival has also spread to Canada where some years ago, a Divali Nagar festival was staged in Montreal and Toronto." The NCIC is proud of these developments having been not only the inspiration but has also assisted in whatever way its limited resources would allow," Sharma said. "My only hope is that they will continue to serve selflessly as before so that not only the Divali Nagar, but the NCIC will grow and develop into an even more formidable cultural organization," he said.
http://www.hinduismtoday.com/hpi/2006/10/20.shtml#4<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Shambhu - 10-22-2006
Violating Acharya's copyright (large text) <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> "Modern research reveals that the dispersal of Indian culture, at least in the former Soviet Central Asia can be traced from the early stone age which will take us back over half a million years ago. But such studies of cultural contact between primitive peoples, being based solely on stone tools or other artifacts can only give us very meager and vague ideas on the subject of what we properly recognize as human culture," Capildeo said. "The great truth about Hinduism was hither-to-ignored or obscured by the fact there is no evidence of such missionary spirit of the Hindus during the last thousands years or more. It was Swami Vivekananda who revived the old missionary spirit of Hinduism towards the close of 19th century.
This is what India is about. Get the truth out, and Hinduism builds strength. Keep hiding the truth and Xtianity and Islam gain strength. As simple as that. The truth, in everything, is all that we need to focus on.
Satyameva Jayate. Its not a piece of idealistic thinking. I have not come across anything better in life.
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Bharatvarsh - 10-24-2006
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Trincomalee - Holy Hill of Siva
S.J.Gunasegaram (from Selected Writings published 1985)
Trincomalee is known to the modern world as one of the finest harbours in the world; but the origin of its name and its fame from pre-historic times is associated with the sacred and ancient shrine dedicated by the early Tamils to Siva.
The antiquity of the worship of Siva has been amply attested to by scholars and archaeologists. "Among the many revelations that Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa have had in store for us", says Sir John Marshall, "none perhaps is more remarkable than the discovery that Saivaism has a history going back to the Paleolithic age or even further still, and it thus takes its place as the most ancient faith in the worlds".
In 'The History of Philosophy Eastern and Western (published by the Ministry of Education, Government of India) we read,
"Nearly all the Saivaite gods of Hinduism are non-Vedic and are recognised as Dravidian. 'Trincomalee' is the Europeanised form of the Tamil TIRU-KONA- MA -MALAI or TIRU-KONA-MALAI, 'the Holy Hill of Lord Siva'. The hill and the shrine are known by several Tamil names.
a.. TIRU-KONA-MA-MALAI
b.. TIRU-KONA-MALAI
c.. TIRU-KUNRU-MALAI
d.. TIRU-MALAI
e.. KONESWARAM
f.. KON-AR-KOVIL
g.. SWAMY-MALAI
There are other similar shrines dedicated to Siva in Ceylon and in Dravidian India. Some of the most famous are Tirukethiswaram in the Mannar district and Muniswaram in Chilaw - all in Ceylon and Tiruvannamalai, Thirukadaiyur, Tirumalai, Tirumylai, Kokannan or Kokarnam, Kokali-all in South India.
Tamil tradition has it that the wife of the mythical king of Lanka, Ravana who was a devotee of Siva, worshipped at the Koneswaram shrine.
The earliest reference in the Pali Chronicles of Ceylon to the Saiva shrine at Trincomalee is found in the Mahavamsa (Ch. XXXVII, vv. 40 44). It states that Mahesan 'built also the Manivihara and founded three viharas destroying the temple of the gods the Gokanna, Erukavilla, and another in the village of the Brahman Kalanda'. In a note below Geiger the official translator of the Mahavamsa, states, "according to the Tika, the Gokanna Vihara is situated on the coast of the Eastern sea, the two other Viharas in Ruhuna ... the Tika also adds everywhere in the Island of Lanka he established the doctrine of the Buddha having destroyed the temples or the unbelievers, i.e. having abolished the Phallic symbols of Siva and so forth."
If what the Tika says is to be accepted, Ruhuna and the Eastern coast would appear to have been early homes of Saivaism, the Tamil religion par excellence. The authors of the Pali Chronicles and the monk author of the later XIII century Tika were Buddhist priests at that time, the bitterest opponents of Saivaism and those who supported it in Ceylon. The truth and accuracy of the statements made by the commentator cannot be verified. It has however been pointed out that the unknown writer of the Tika had used his piety and his imagination rather than verify facts to explain the allusions found in the Mahavamsa.
What appears to be the truth is that Mahasen, the on time heretic, in his new formed zeal for Buddhism had ordered the destruction of all the temples of the earlier religion Saivaism including that at Trincomalee and those in Ruhuna. Ruhuna, from this and other evidences, appears to have been the stronghold of Pandyan Saivaite sub-kings who were the rulers of the district.
This is one of the strongest testimonies to Siva worship and its wide-spread influence in early Ceylon Buddhism took a long time to supplant the earlier religions - Saivaism and Vaishnavaism - which still have an abiding place in the hearts of the indigenous peoples of Ceylon. There is, however, ample evidence in Tamil religious literature to demonstrate the antiquity and the reverence with which these Saiva shrines at Trincomalee in the Eastern coast and at Tirukethiswaram in the Western coast were held by the Tamils in South India and Ceylon.
Suntharamoorthy Swamy (seventh century A.D.) and Tirugnanasmbanthar, (eighth century A.D.) two Tamil Saiva saints have left a number of Thevarams ('garlands of verses to god') of imperishable beauty celebrating these shrines. For a full text of these poems and commentaries the reader is referred to Mr. V. K. P. Nathan's 'Thevarath Thirupathikam', 1954.
That the Cholas and the Pandyans, two of the ancient historic Tamil kingdoms, had colonised the Northern, Eastern and South-Eastern districts of Ceylon, and from there Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa beginning from pre-Vijayan times has been attested to by historians.
In the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch) Vol. XXX, we are told,
"According to the KALVETTU (a Tamil stone inscription referred to by Codrington), the temple of KONESAR is said to have been founded by KULAKOTTAN, son of Manuwentan in the Kaliyuga year 512 (B.C. 2591) It was destroyed by Constantine de Sa in 1624, and the material used for the construction of the Fort."
De Queyroz, the Portuguese author of the 'Conquest of Ceylon' gives the name of the king as MANU-RAJAH. 'Venthan' in Tamil is another word for KING or RAJAH. VOGEL says,
"POLONNARUWA may have been an earlier Dravidian settlement. For it is only natural that the Dravidians entered Ceylon by the excellent port of the East Coast - Trincomalee, which as the name TIRU-KUNRU-MALAI indicates is an early Tamil settlement. From there their ships could have reached the interior of Mahavaliganga" (Vogel's letter 'Journal of Science', Vol. II, Part 1, pp. 231-232, quoted by Dr. Paranavitane).
'KUNRU', in Tamil means a 'rock' or 'hill'. MAHAVALI in Tamil is MA-VALI i.e. 'the great pathway'. Its branch the 'VERUGAL' is the Tamil 'PERUKAL' - 'flood', or 'that which overflows'.
I give below extracts from 'The Reefs of Taprobane' by ARTHUR C. CLARKE,
(Harper Brothers, New York 1956)
"Swamy Rock Is one of the most historic spots on the East coast of Ceylon. For at least three thousand years, with one brief interruption of a mere century or so, the rock has been the site of a Hindu temple. The interruption was caused by the arrival of the Portuguese, who looked with great disfavour on any religion except Roman Catholicism and who were men of violent action where matters of faith were concerned.
"... We soon became aware that there was something peculiar about the sea bed over which we were swimming. Huge blocks of stone were scattered in every direction, and though all were over-grown with weeds and barnacles many had a curiously artificial appearance. At first we decided that this must be an illusion; the action of the sea can sometimes carve rocks into surprisingly symmetrical patterns. But presently we had unmistakable evidence that beneath us was the work of man, not of nature.
"The capital of a stone doorway, badly eroded but perfectly recognizable (plate 21), lay in the jumbled chaos of rocks. Beside it was a broken column, its square ends bearing on each face a lotus petal design not unlike the Tudor Rose (plates 22 and 23). As our eyes grew more skilled in interpreting what we saw, other regularities began to make themselves apparent. The ruins of some great building had been scattered along the sea-bed, where they lay in hopeless confusion. The water at the foot of the headland was quite shallow; where we were diving it was nowhere more than fifteen feet deep, and most of the broken masonry lay only about five feet below the surface. We continued our swim, often pausing to argue whether some curiously shaped stone was natural or artificial. The fragments were distributed along some two hundred feet of the shore line, and we had covered about half this distance when we came upon debris of a later civilisation."
The Temple of a Thousand Columns Even before Buddhism came to Ceylon around 300 B.C. the rock was sacred to the Hindus, who built at least three temples on or around it. The largest of these was a colossal edifice known as the Temple of a Thousand Columns; It stood until 1624, when it was destroyed by the fanatically religious Portuguese, during their blood-stained occupation of the country.
Just below the highest point of the headland stands a new Hindu Temple.
Inside the temple ranged against the far wall, is a display of five bronze gods including Siva, his consort, and the elephant god Ganesa."
On the very highest tip of Swamy Rock there stands a single column, said to he one of the pillars of the original temple. The view from this point, four hundred feet above the sea, is both magnificent and vertiginous. One can look for miles along the coast, and see far down into the water washing at the foot of the rock.
As soon an we had located a temple attendant who spoke good English, Mike and I described our under-water discoveries and tried to obtain some informatlon about the origin of the ruins. It was not until then that we had any idea of the antiquity of the place. There is evidence that a temple had stood on Swamy Rock for thirty-five hundred years; so it must be one of the oldest sites of continuous worship in the world.
"The priests In particular were anxious to locate the Lingam-the phallic symbol which is the emblem of Siva Worship which one might reasonably suppose to have been one of the first things the Portuguese iconoclasts threw into the sea....... However, the immense jumble of stone, natural and artificial, covering so many thousands of square feet of the sea bed made any systematic search hopeless The best that we could do was to photograph the most clearly defined pieces of architecture so that those concerned would know just what was lying in the sea at the foot of the rock.
"The battered stone work at the foot of Swamy Rock was probably the most photographed under-water ruins in the world. (Plate 20).
The destruction of the temple began on the Hindu New Year's Day 1624, when the Portuguese soldiers disguised as Priests mingled with the worshippers and so entered the sacred precincts. They waited until the temple was deserted by the New Year's Day crowds, who followed theprocession down the hill and left only a few Priests on Swamy Rock. Then plundering started; probably all those left in the temple were killed, and in a few hours the accumulated treasure of about two thousand (three) years was looted. The Konesar Temple to give its proper name was one of the richest in Asia.
It must have contained a fortune in gold, pearls and precious stones, and though the Portuguese must have captured most of this wealth, they did not get it all as was demonstrated three hundred years later.
"In 1950 some workmen were digging a well inTrincomalee when they came across metal about a yard below the surface. Further excavation revealed the statues of three Hindu Gods which were handed over to the authorities they comprised more than a hundred pounds weight of gold and copper alloy.
"The five statues which now stand in the new temple are among the finest examples of Hindu bronze sculpture known to exist. In particular, the seated figure of Siva, which dates from about the tenth century A.D., is regarded as a master piece these were found about 500 yards from the temple... it would be most interesting to go over the rest of the Swamy Rock with a metal detector.
After the looting of the temple, the building was destroyed and the masonry either thrown into the sea or used to construct the fort which still guards the foot of the hill. Some of the temple's original stonework can still be identified in the European building, and by the entrance to the fort is a stone slain containing a curious inscription, which has been translated as follows:
'O King ! The franks shall later break down the holy edifice built by Kulakoddan in ancient times; and it shall not be rebuilt nor will future kings think of doing so.'
Constantine de Sa records the existence of the prophecy and was sufficiently impressed to send a translation to Lisbon. (The prophecy is certainly remarkable as it was apparently carved centuries before the Portuguese arrived).
"In any event, the men who looted the temple did not long enjoy their gain. Six years later de Sa and his army of three thousand men were enticed into the jungle in the hope of finally conquering the reigning monarch.
With the Portuguese were troops of local militia, who had learnt the lesson from the fifth column tactics the Europeans had used to enter and over-throw the temple. The Ceylonese recruits turned on the interlopers and slaughtered them to the last man.
"Siva the god of destruction, had worked his revenge. Today, more than hundred years later, he is still worshipped on Swamy Rock, while the men who smashed his temple are forgotten and their empire destroyed."...
http://kanaga_sritharan.tripod.com/trincomalee.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Bharatvarsh - 10-24-2006
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Portuguese: Religious conversion and ending Tamilsâ Sovereignty
Posted July 3, 2005
Revised version of: â11 February 1621: Tamils' Sovereignty ended,â which appeared in the âEelam Nationâ in 1999.
By: K. T. Rajasingham
Date : 2005-07-03
Asian Tribune
Chapter 01
This episode depicts the heroism of the Tamils, as well as the barbarity of the Portuguese, who enslaved the Tamils. Therefore, fighting against oppression and suppression is not something new to the Tamils. However, the Karava leader Sinna Meegampillai is no more with us, but his sprit lives on with each Tamil, even today.
It must be pointed out that after 1560; the Portuguese began destroying the ancient Hindu Temples and the Lord Buddhaâs sacred Tooth Relic. Destruction and vandalism by the Portuguese gathered momentum, immediately after the capture of the Tamil Kingdom in 1621.
Filipe de Oliveriya, the Portuguese Governor, who was acclaimed for destroying more than 500 Hindu Temples. Brutal acts of vandalism and destruction carried out by the ruthless Portuguese were, unfortunately being compromised and tolerated even today, without any whimper by the international community. Barbaric destruction by the Portuguese has to be condemned, universally. Tamils today demands unconditional apology and reparation for the damages.
The pink color Royal Standard, with recumbent bull, crescent and the rising sun, given by Irama (Rama) to the first Arya Chakaravarthy, fluttered high and aloft, in the proud land of the Tamils, for well over 2500 year long period, displaying loftily their sovereignty and independence. At last, it was brought down forever, on 11 February 1621, when the kingdom fell permanently in the hands of the Portuguese.
Nearly, 1200 heads of the Tanjore Nayakarâs troops were lopped off, at the last confrontation that ensued at Atchuvely. The fatalities included Tamil rebels, who joined forces to retrieve the kingdom from the Portuguese. Ultimately, Portuguese managed to hold on with their prized possession, "the Tamil kingdom," until 21 June 1658, on which day; the Dutch captured and brought the kingdom under their rule.
Filipe De Oliveriya
Earlier, when the Portuguese captured the last king Cankli Kumaran (Sankli Kumaran), the kingdom was incorporated with the crown of Portugal. Those Tamils, who were converts to Christianity, shifted their allegiance towards the new colonial rulers. When the kingdom came under the Portuguese possession, Christian Mudaliyars and the Christian Tamil chieftains, without hesitation, gave their allegiance by oath, for the subjugating the kingdom to the Portuguese overloadship.
Filipe De Oliverya, the commander of the Portuguese army, moved his base to Nallur, on 2 February 1621, and proclaimed himself, the Captain Major â the highest Portuguese army official in the region and the governor of the Kingdom. On the same day, most of the Hindu shrines, including Nallur Kandasamy Kovil were razed down on the explicit orders of the fanatic - Oliveriya. Portuguese and the Lascarins (hired Sinhalese mercenaries in the service of the Portuguese) from the South, looted Nallur Kandasamy temple, burnt it down and removed even the stones from the foundations, to build a Christian church at Nallur and a fort in Jaffna.
Oliveriya was acclaimed by the Portuguese, as a greatest savior of Christianity, for his feat of destroying more than 500 Hindu temples. The Portuguese historian, Father Fernoa De Queyroz acclaimed him, "God of the Sword."
When Filipe De Oliveriya became the Governor of Jaffna, he ruled the Kingdom with a strong hand, ruthlessly and with arrogant resolve. He proclaimed that people continuing with the practice of Hindu religion and rites, are anti-Christians, an act punishable by law. Under his hierarchy, the Society of Jesus â the Roman Catholic missionary, constructed nearly thirty Catholic churches by vandalizing and demolishing Hindu temples. He introduced compulsory proselytizing. Franciscan Friars converted more 6000 Tamils to Christianity.
The destruction of famous Hindu temples such as the Nallur Kandasamy Kovil (Nallur), Kailasanathar Temple (Nallur), in 1575 Muneswaram Temple, Chilapam (Chillaw), in 1588 Vishnu Temple in Devinuwera, Tirukethieswaram Temple, Mathoddam (Matota) and in 1622 Tiru Konesar Temple, Thirukonamalai (Trincomalee), caused great frustration, dissension and restlessness in the hearts and minds of the Tamils.
Oliveriya also burnt down "Saraswathy Mahal," â the oldest museum and the library, that housed precious and the most valuable historical documents, depicting the origin, history, literature, arts, science, medicine, culture, civilization and other details of the Tamils and of their proud ancestry. Once this ancient museum cum library was burnt down, up to date, the Tamils are left without any authentic records of their antiquity.
The Portuguese conquest of the Kingdom became possible, when the Tamil chiefs revolted against the traditional monarchs, due to their shift in allegiance, after conversion to Christianity. Portuguese managed to create a strong loyal group of Catholics, who provided them with the intelligence reports and reconnaissance to counter the moves of the kings. Portuguese also used the Sinhalese mercenaries for combat, as well as to guard the Tamil Kingdom.
Kingdom of the Tamils
People inhabited the Jaffna a peninsula even before the Irama â Iravanan (Ravanan) war. Before the arrival of Vijayan - the mythical, so called, progenitor of the Sinhalese race; the peninsula has been formed geographically, and populated. Anthropologists, geologists and other scientists are of the view, that the landscape pattern of the peninsula is a mixed quality of many physical features, with a marked characteristic of a limestone region, with red-yellow latosols soil in the central region of the peninsula and regosols (sandy) soil, along the Northeastern coast, with very flat terrains. On the surface, it had blown sandy tracks in the northeastern portion. In the absence of natural forest, except for a few scattered thorny bush tracks within the peninsula, it is difficult to estimate the terrestrial resources. There are no natural fresh water resources, such as lakes or rivers in the peninsula. The only possible source of water left for those inhabited on the region is to sink deep into the earth crust for the ground water.
The peninsula is of Miocene and quaternary formation. The limestones in the area are heavily faulted and segregate the aquifers into series of isolated blocks forming a number of ground water basins. To obtain water from the underground, technical knowledge, expertise and strong implements were needed. As the people who lived in the peninsula survived for ages, it became clear, that they had the expertise, skill in rhabdomancy to divine the water located underground and strong implements to sink in for water that lay beneath the limestone bed. A.M. Hocart, former Archeological commissioner of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) writes, "From the Eolithic Age, we jump straight to Iron Age. We do not know when Iron was introduced into Ceylon."
According to historical research, people in the sub-continent began using iron implements around 3000 BC. Therefore, those people who inhabited the Northern portion of Sri Lanka, after it emerged a distinct geographical entity, were fully aware with the usage of iron and used iron implements to sink wells to draw fresh water from the underground resources that lay beneath the limestone belts.
Portuguese historian Father Fernao de Queiroz, wrote about the Tamil Kingdom as follows:
" This modest kingdom is not confined to the little district of Jafnapatoa, because to it are also added the neighboring lands and those of Vanni, which is said to be the name of the Lordship, which they held before we obtain possession of them⦠and outside it there stretch the lands of Vanni crosswise from the side of Mannar to that of Triquilemale (Trincomalee) and â beyond."
Arrival of the Portuguese
Portuguese arrival to Ceylon was merely an accident. Their arrival was a rude quirk of destiny. In 1505, when Vira Parakrama Bahu VIII (1484-1509) was the king of Kotte, Senasammata Vikramabahu (1469-1511) was the king of the Hill country and Pararajasekaran (1478-1519) was the Tamil king, in the Northeast; a Portuguese fleet, under the command of Captainâmajor Don Lourenco de Almedia, forced by winds and waves was tossed into Cali (Galle,) the harbor, located in the Southern coast. He learnt that this was the famous island of Celio (Ceylon) and he sailed on to Colombo, the port in the Kotte Kingdom.
News of the arrival of a strange fleet reached the king. Rajavaliya, a Buddhist chronicle, describes the arrival of the Portuguese as follows:
"There is in our harbor of Colombo, a race of people, fair of skin and comely withal. They don jackets and hats of iron: rest not a minute in one place, but walk here and there. They eat hunks of stone (bread) and drink blood (wine). They give two or three pieces of gold and silver for one fish or one lime. The report of their cannon is louder than the thunder when it bursts upon the rock of Yugandhra."
Hearing the news of the arrival of the strangers, the King decided to receive them. Messengers were sent with gifts of fruits to receive the aliens. Don Lourenco was pleased with the goodwill gesture of the King. He dispatched Fernao Cutrim, one of his captains of the fleet, as his envoy to Kotte. However, the Portuguese envoy did not meet the King or had an opportunity to converse with him, but he was given the assurance that the King would be pleased to form an alliance with the Portuguese.
Subsequently, Don Lourenco chose Payo de Souza as his envoy to meet the King of Kotte and negotiate a treaty. At an audience with the King, de Souza proposed a treaty. Accordingly, the King undertook to give tribute of four hundred bahars of cinnamon every year. Portuguese agreed to protect and defend the ports of the King. The treaty heralded the entry of the alien forces in the political arena of the country. Portuguese came to the East for the three-pronged purpose of "Commerce," "Conquest," and "Conversion." Entry of the Portuguese changed the destiny of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), especially that if the Tamils, from being an independent proud Nation, to the present State of chaos, dissension and ethnic turmoil.
De Queyrozâs version about the Beginning of the Tamil kingdom
Father Fernao De Queyroz is the author of "The Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon." He was a Portuguese Christian clergy born at Amarante in Portugal in the Province of Entre Douro e Minho, in 1617.
He arrived in Goa, India in 1635. It appears that he began to write the book by about in 1671 and completed in 1686. The written work consisted of six books, but Father S.G.Perera, who translated the book from Portuguese to English, compiled the books into three volumes. The English translation was first published by the Ceylon Government Press, in 1930.
Father Pererea in his preface declared that the book to be second only to the Mahavamsa in its value for the history of Ceylon. The description found in the book is the most despicable account about the Tamils and warrants condemnation by the Tamils. Up to date, the Tamil historians who wrote the History of Tamils for their doctoral appellations have overlooked disparaging remarks, for reasons only known to them. It is very unfortunate and warrants outright condemnations.
Below the reader may read from, Book 1 Chapter 7: Description of the Kingdom of Jafanapatam:
"Before treating of the Kingdom of Candea, I shall speak of the Jaffnapatao, the whole which is also belong to the Crown of Portugal and wholly Christian. Its head lies in the form of a peninsula at the northern point of the island of Ceylon at 10 and two third degrees of altitude. Its name without corruption is said to be Jafana-en-Putalam, which means the âTown of the Lord of Jafana;â and is the name of him who first peopled it. Others say the name was Jafana-Patanaoture, which means âlong harbor;â whence its appears that it was called by mockery Napunay-Patanao, which translated means âLand of bad people.â This land was for long years without cultivation and subject to the Emperors of Ceylon, and though it abounded in groves of trees, its inhabitants lived more on fish and games than on other fruits of their labor. Its government at the beginning was only that of Vidanas or stewards (abegoes), afterwards industry increasing and with it profit, it came to be governed by Araches and finally by Mudeliares. Under this (form of) government it remained for many long years until, with the progress of the natives and commerce of the foreigners, when the Court of Ceylon was already in the Metropolis of Cota, in the Reign of Mha Pracura Mhabau there came to that City a certain Panical, a foreigner, native of the mountains of Malavar from a village called Tulunar, an expert Master in arms, and for this reason he was welcomed by the King, and being by him raised to the dignity of Modeliar, was call Panical Modeliar. There he married and had two sons, who being educated in the Palace, were most beloved by the king, who afterwards considering that on the side of their Mother they had many kinsmen, that, as he had no heir, he had sworn in a grandson as his successor, and fearing that two brothers, being less well affected because if that what there was a foreigner in them and very powerful because of their kindred, would disquiet his Kingdom after his death, determined to kill them. He communicated this intention to one of his favorites, who advised him not to kill them, but to send with some titles of honor, the one who was more to be feared to subdue Jafanapatao, because the Modeliar whom he has placed there had seized the lands and had done many wrongs and violences (sic) to his lieges."
"The King adopted this advice, and the Modeliar himself who had given it to him went on his order to call the son of Panical who was called Chamba-pera-Mali (Champaka-Perumal alias Sapumal Kumaraya). He gave him men, wherewith he became master of those lands with the title of Prince, ever acknowledging the King of Cota and paying him tribute faithfully. He, they say was the first who ruled Jafanapatao as King. In course of time there came some Bramanes, native of Guzarate, called Arus, who claimed Royal descent: and with the favor of the Nayaque of Madure they erected the pagode of Ramanacor, whence they began to have trade and friendship with the King of Jafanapatao, with one of them married a daughter of the King; and finally his descendents became heirs to that Kingdom. Of these the first who tries to free himself from the subjection of the King of Cota, was Ariaxac Varati, who being naturally proud and not brooking the haughtiness of the officers of that King, took the life of one who governed there, and the King of Ceylon preparing to punish him, they say, he went, to meet him at Ceytavaca and took him some verses whereon he so flattered him with praises of him and his ancestors that he left him completely vainglorious and satisfied, and the verse being helped by a goodly present, he not only made him desist from war, but also obtained Olas from him (what we should call Provisions) and the title of King of Jafanapatao, which his successors preserved paying in acknowledgment only some tribute: because this was the beginning of their greatness, his descendants from the name Aria, were called Ariavance, which means the generation of Aria."
Father Queyroz of the Society of Jesus writes this account after the departure of the Portuguese from the island of Ceylon. This is the worst anachronistic heresy forthcoming from a Christian clergy, who contributed in the conversation to Christianity, condemning the religions of the natives as heathenism. He managed to interpret the history of the Tamils to justify the Portuguese occupation and proselytization. However, this account has been overlooked without condemnation up to date, but it should not be allowed to pass, without recording the protest, against such discriminatory account, forever.
http://www.asiantribune.com/show_news.php?id=14939
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Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 11-10-2006
It appeared on some other thread. Just x-posting for archive purposes.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><span style='color:red'>Karma Capitalism - Bhagavad Gita is the new American Corporate Mantra: Business Week</span>
Times have changed since Gordon Gekko quoted Sun Tzu in the 1987 movie Wall Street. Has the Bhagavad Gita replaced The Art of War as the hip new ancient Eastern management text?
Signs of worldly success abounded as members of the Young Presidents' Organization met at a mansion in a tony New Jersey suburb. BMWs, Lexuses, and Mercedes-Benzes lined the manicured lawn. Waiters in starched shirts and bow ties passed out vegetarian canapés. And about 20 executives--heads of midsize outfits selling everything from custom audiovisual systems to personal grooming products--mingled poolside with their spouses on a late September evening.
After heading inside their host's sprawling hillside house--replete with glittering chandeliers, marble floors, and gilded rococo mirrors--the guests retreated to a basement room, shed their designer loafers and sandals, and sat in a semicircle on the carpet.
The speaker that evening was Swami Parthasarathy, one of India's best-selling authors on Vedanta, an ancient school of Hindu philosophy. With an entourage of disciples at his side, all dressed in flowing white garments known as kurtas and dhotis, the lanky 80-year-old scribbled the secrets to business success ("concentration, consistency, and cooperation") on an easel pad. The executives sat rapt. "You can't succeed in business unless you develop the intellect, which controls the mind and body," the swami said in his mellow baritone.
At the Wharton School a few days earlier, Parthasarathy talked about managing stress. During the same trip, he counseled hedge fund managers and venture capitalists in Rye, N.Y., about balancing the compulsion to amass wealth with the desire for inner happiness. And during an auditorium lecture at Lehman Brothers Inc.'s (LEH ) Lower Manhattan headquarters, a young investment banker sought advice on dealing with nasty colleagues. Banish them from your mind, advised Parthasarathy. "You are the architect of your misfortune," he said. "You are the architect of your fortune."
The swami's whirlwind East Coast tour was just one small manifestation of a significant but sometimes quirky new trend: Big Business is embracing Indian philosophy. Suddenly, phrases from ancient Hindu texts such as the Bhagavad Gita are popping up in management tomes and on Web sites of consultants. Top business schools have introduced "self-mastery" classes that use Indian methods to help managers boost their leadership skills and find inner peace in lives dominated by work.
More important, Indian-born strategists also are helping transform corporations. Academics and consultants such as C. K. Prahalad, Ram Charan, and Vijay Govindrajan are among the world's hottest business gurus. About 10% of the professors at places such as Harvard Business School, Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business, and the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business are of Indian descent--a far higher percentage than other ethnic groups. "When senior executives come to Kellogg, Wharton, Harvard, or [Dartmouth's] Tuck, they are exposed to Indian values that are reflected in the way we think and articulate," says Dipak C. Jain, dean of the Kellogg School.
Indian theorists, of course, have a wide range of backgrounds and philosophies. But many of the most influential acknowledge that common themes pervade their work. One is the conviction that executives should be motivated by a broader purpose than money. Another is the belief that companies should take a more holistic approach to business--one that takes into account the needs of shareholders, employees, customers, society, and the environment. Some can even foresee the development of a management theory that replaces the shareholder-driven agenda with a more stakeholder-focused approach. "The best way to describe it is inclusive capitalism," says Prahalad, a consultant and University of Michigan professor who ranked third in a recent Times of London poll about the world's most influential business thinkers. "It's the idea that corporations can simultaneously create value and social justice."
You might also call it Karma Capitalism. For both organizations and individuals, it's a gentler, more empathetic ethos that resonates in the post-tech-bubble, post-Enron zeitgeist. These days, concepts such as "emotional intelligence" and "servant leadership" are in vogue. Where once corporate philanthropy was an obligation, these days it's fast becoming viewed as a competitive advantage for attracting and retaining top talent. Where the rallying cry in the 1980s and '90s may have been "greed is good," today it's becoming "green is good."
And while it used to be hip in management circles to quote from the sixth century B.C. Chinese classic The Art of War, the trendy ancient Eastern text today is the more introspective Bhagavad Gita. Earlier this year, a manager at Sprint Nextel Corp. (S ) penned the inevitable how-to guide: Bhagavad Gita on Effective Leadership.
THE ANCIENT SPIRITUAL wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita seems at first like an odd choice for guiding today's numbers-driven managers. Also known as Song of the Divine One, the work relates a conversation between the supreme deity Krishna and Arjuna, a warrior prince struggling with a moral crisis before a crucial battle. One key message is that enlightened leaders should master any impulses or emotions that cloud sound judgment. Good leaders are selfless, take initiative, and focus on their duty rather than obsessing over outcomes or financial gain. "The key point," says Ram Charan, a coach to CEOs such as General Electric Co.'s (GE ) Jeffrey R. Immelt, "is to put purpose before self. This is absolutely applicable to corporate leadership today."
The seemingly ethereal world view that's reflected in Indian philosophy is surprisingly well attuned to the down-to-earth needs of companies trying to survive in an increasingly global, interconnected business ecosystem. While corporations used to do most of their manufacturing, product development, and administrative work in-house, the emphasis is now on using outsiders. Terms such as "extended enterprises" (companies that outsource many functions), "innovation networks" (collaborative research and development programs), and "co-creation" (designing goods and services with input from consumers) are the rage.
Indian-born thinkers didn't invent all these concepts, but they're playing a big role in pushing them much further. Prahalad, for example, has made a splash with books on how companies can co-create products with consumers and succeed by tailoring products and technologies to the poor. That idea has influenced companies from Nokia Corp. (NOK ) to Cargill. Harvard Business School associate professor Rakesh Khurana, who achieved acclaim with a treatise on how corporations have gone wrong chasing charismatic CEOs, is writing a book on how U.S. business schools have gotten away from their original social charters.
Vijay Govindarajan, a professor at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business whose books and consulting for the likes of Chevron (CVX ) and Deere & Co. (DE ) have made him a sought-after innovation guru, links his theories directly to Hindu philosophy. He helps companies figure out how to stop reacting to the past and start creating their own futures through innovation. Govindarajan says his work is inspired by the concept of karma, which holds that future lives are partly determined by current actions. "Karma is a principle of action. Innovation is about creating change, not reacting to change," he says.
There are also parallels between Indian philosophy and contemporary marketing theory, which has shifted away from manipulating consumers to collaborating with them. "Marketing has tended to use the language of conquest," says Kellogg professor Mohanbir S. Sawhney, a Sikh who discusses the relevance of the Bhagavad Gita to business on his Web site. Now the focus is on using customer input to dream up new products, Sawhney says, which "requires a symbiotic relationship with those around us."
Kellogg's Jain, who is working on a book about the customer-centric business models of Indian companies, believes that many Indian thinkers are drawn to fields stressing interconnectedness for good reason. "We have picked areas that are consistent with our passion," he says.
Whatever the common themes, India, of course, is hardly a showcase of social consciousness. While companies such as Tata Group or Wipro Technologies have generous initiatives for India's poor, the country has its share of unethical business practices and social injustices. In addition, some Indian academics bristle at the suggestion that their background makes their approach to business any different. They're quick to point out the wide range of religions, influences, and specialties among them.
Indeed, it's not surprising that thinkers from a country with as diverse an economic and social makeup as India would have different perspectives on the influences on their work. "We are a fusion society," says Harvard's Khurana. As a result, many Indian management theorists "tend to look at organizations as complex social systems, where culture and reciprocity are important," he says. "You won't hear too many of us say the only legitimate stakeholders in a company are stockholders." What's more, India's extreme poverty imposes a natural pressure on its companies to contribute more to the common good.
Indian thinkers are affecting not only the way managers run companies. They are also furthering their search for personal fulfillment. Northwestern's Kellogg even offers an executive education leadership course by Deepak Chopra, the controversial self-help guru and spiritual healer to the stars. Chopra also is on the board of clothing retailer Men's Wearhouse Inc. and has conducted programs for Deloitte, Harvard Business School, and the World Bank.
In a stark, brightly lit classroom, Chopra, sporting glasses with heavy black frames studded with rhinestones, led a class through a 20-minute meditation in June. "Sit comfortably in your chair with your feet planted on the ground," Chopra instructed the 35 mostly midlevel executives from corporations that are as far afield as ABN Amro Bank (ABN ) and sporting goods retailer Cabela's Inc. (CAB ) "Our mantra today is: I am.' "
OTHER B-SCHOOLS ARE adding courses that combine ancient wisdom with the needs of modern managers. A popular class at both Columbia Business School and London Business School is "Creativity & Personal Mastery," taught by Columbia's Srikumar Rao. Many attendees are fast-track managers who are highly successful at work but still miserable, says Rao. His lectures, which include mental exercises and quotes from Indian swamis and other philosophers, win praise from managers such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS ) Managing Director Mark R. Tercek. "Business schools ought to be championing this stuff," says Tercek, a yoga practitioner. "We can hire the smartest damn people in the world, but many of them ultimately don't succeed because they can't motivate and work with those around them. I think the Indians are on to something."
They may be on to quite a lot. Some Indian theorists have said their ultimate goal is to promote an entirely different theory of management--one that would replace shareholder capitalism with stakeholder capitalism. The late Sumantra Ghoshal was attempting to do just that. At the time he died, the prolific London Business School professor was working on a book to be called A Good Theory of Management.
As Ghoshal saw it, the corporate debacles of a few years ago were the inevitable outgrowth of theories developed by economists and absorbed at business schools. Corporations are not merely profit machines reacting to market forces; they are run by and for humans, and have a symbiotic relationship with the world around them. "There is no inherent conflict between the economic well-being of companies and their serving as a force for good in societies," wrote Ghoshal.
In their own ways, other Indian thinkers are picking up the mantle. Khurana's forthcoming book, From Higher Aims to Hired Hands, looks at the professional responsibility to society that managers and the business schools who train them were initially designed to have.
The quest, says Prahalad, is to develop a capitalism that "puts the individual at the center of the universe," placing employees and customers first so that they can benefit shareholders. This is a lofty if improbable goal. But if it is attained, business leaders may find that India's biggest impact on the global economy may be on the way executives think.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/conte...44/b4007091.htm
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Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 11-14-2006
<span style='color:red'>Indigenous Hindus in Oman</span>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Oman may be the only country in the Middle east which has an indigenous Hindu population.
But the number of Hindus have declined in the 20th century although it is now stable. Hinduism first came to Muscat in 1507 from Sindh. The original Hindus spoke Cutchi language. By early 19th century there were atleast 4,000 Hindus in Oman, all of the Intermediate merchant caste. By 1900, there numbers plummeted to 300.
In 1895 the Hindu colony in Muscat came under attack by the Ibadhis. By the time of independence only a few dozen Hindus remained in Oman. The historical Hindu Quarters of al-Waljat and al-Banyan are no longer occupied by Hindus. Hindu temples once located in Ma'bad al Banyan and Bayt al Pir, no longer exist. The only active Hindu temple today is the Muthi Shwar temple located in al-Hawshin Muscat. The only Hindu crematorium is located in Suhar, northwest of Muscat. The most prominent indigenous Hindus are Khimji Ramdas, Dhanji Morarji, Ratansi Purushottam and Purushottam Toprani.
Estimated Hindu poulation of Oman is about 15,000.
http://www.jepeterson.net/sitebuilderconte...rthern_Oman.pdf
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Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 11-14-2006
Continues from above. One of the biggest business houses of Oman is owned by a Hindu.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Â
Success Built on 135 Years of Heritage.Â
Khimji Ramdas LLC (KR) is one of the largest business conglomerates in the Sultanate of Oman. We are consistently creating new benchmarks to maintain leadership in the consumer as well as industrial arenas.
From trading in basic commodities and foodstuff to customized software solutions; turnkey telecommunication projects to retailing designer labels; manufacturing paints to selling furniture and home appliances⦠the diverse operations of Khimji Ramdas makes it an ubiquitous aspect of life in Oman. We are committed to improving life in Oman by offering world-class products and services.
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http://www.khimji.com/aboutus.shtml
<img src='http://www.khimji.com/images/inside/aboutus/visionary6.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Khimji Ramdas
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The legendary tradition of exceeding expectations began over a century ago when Ramdas Thackersey set sail from the coastal town of Mandvi in Kutch, on India's western coast. He was followed by his son Khimji Ramdas who sowed the seeds for a global enterprise. Subsequently, the baton of entrepreneurship was passed on to his sons, Gokaldas Khimji and Mathradas Khimji.
http://www.khimji.com/aboutus_visionaries.shtml
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Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 11-26-2006
I recently met a cab driver in mid-west USA. This guy was a typical Arab by looks and accent. Upon asking I learnt that he was from Jordan and a sunni. What was surprising was his name. His last name was "Krishan".
I asked him did he know what Krishan meant. He said it mean nothing in Arabic, and he was aware about what it meant in Hinduism. He also said Krishan is a common surname in Jordan, which was very surprising to me!
Towards the end of our interaction, he asked me what is the philosophy of Hinduism and Buddhism in brief. (He expected the Hindu version of 'there is no God except Allah, and Mohammed His Prophet'). We had just one minute and I could only say Hinduism and Buddhism could not be summarized so briefly.
I have been thinking since. What (if at all) could be 1-minute gist of Hinduism?
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 12-03-2006
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>The O'Odham: Native-Americans With Ancestors From India?</b>
By Gene D. Matlock, BA, M.A.
Hindu scholars have always claimed that in remotest times, their
ancestors visited every part of the globe, mapping it accurately,
and mining gold and copper in such places as Michigan, Colorado,
Arizona, England, Ireland, Peru, and Bolivia. Known to us as "Indo-
Europeans," they lost their grip on the world in about 1500 BC.,
retreating to what are now Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Northern
India. However, they continued to visit the Americas in their large
teakwood ships, many of them 250 feet long and five- to six-masted,
until about 1200 A.D. After that, the sectarian fanaticism and
territorialism of their religious leaders, rebellions among their
conquered subjects, constant internecine rivalries, and troubles
with Moslem invaders forced them into isolation.
No Westerner naively accepts India's claims of having once dominated
the world. Right? Well, some of us do.
In an essay entitled On Egypt from the Ancient Book of the Hindus
(Asiatic Researchers Vol. III, 1792), British Lt. Colonel Francis
Wilford gave abundant evidence proving that ancient Indians
colonized and settled in Egypt. The British explorer John Hanning
Speke, who in 1862 discovered the source of the Nile in Lake
Victoria, acknowledged that the Egyptians themselves didn't have the
slightest knowledge of where the Nile's source was. However, Lt.
Colonel Wilford's description of the Hindu's intimate acquaintance
with ancient Egypt led Speke to Ripon Falls, at the edge of Lake
Victoria.
The Hindus also claim that the gospel of their deity Shiva was once
the religion of the world and the progenitor of all religions coming
after it.
"Isvar was the only god in India, the whole of Asia, the southern
parts of Russia, Mediterranean countries, Egypt, Greece, the whole
of Europe, the human inhabited places of both Americasââ¬Â¦and also in
England and Ireland. In all these lands, Isvar was the religion with
slight variations in the pronunciation of the word Isvarââ¬Â¦.the Isvar
religion is the mother of all religions in the world, including
Christianity and Islam."
(Remedy the Frauds in Hinduism, by Kuttikhat Purushothama Chon; p.
36.)
While the languages our forefathers spoke thousands of years ago
would be completely unrecognizable to us now, the names of their
deities (those that survived to this modern age) may be immediately
recognizable to their respective modern adherents, such as the
Christians, Jews, Moslems, Jains, Buddhists, and Hindus. Names of
deities tend not to change.
Isvar was and is especially visible (to discerning eyes) in our own
Southwest as well as in Northern and Central Mexico. Some tribes
even worshiped God Shiva's wives and consorts. Spanish priest,
Andres Perez de Ribas wrote in his book, My Life Among the Savage
Nations of New Spain, that a Northern Mexican tribe worshiped two
deities: Viriseva and a mother goddess named Vairubai. Viriseva
means "Lord Siva" in Sanskrit. Vairubai has to be (a mispronouncing
of) Bhairava, another name of Siva's consort, Goddess Durga.
A few Hindu scholars insist that not all their gods and religious
traditions are natives of the Indian subcontinent. When the ancient
Nagas retreated to India, they also took back the deities and
religious traditions they had acquired abroad, incorporating them
into "Hinduism," a term meaning "The Indus Valley Way of Life."
Historian Chon states:
"There are strong indications in our ancient texts that the places
and events described in them are lying outside the geographical
limits of India But when we talk of geographical limits, ââ¬Â¦are they
the national boundaries of post-independent India? Or are they the
boundaries of India, the ancient?"
(Remedy the Frauds in Hinduism; p.30.)
I'm especially impressed with the traditions of the Pimas (Akimel
O'Odham) and Papagos (Tohono O'Odham) of Southern Arizona and
Northern Mexico. Although I could write a lengthy article about
Isvarist (worship of the Hindu deity, Shiva) practices in
practically every Southwestern United States, Mexican, Central and
South American Indian tribe, even India-Indian spiritual geography
is reproduced abundantly in the O'Odham nation.
Though the pre-conquest era O'odhams were relatively primitive, the
Spaniards admired them for their intelligence, industry, and high
philosophy. Some Catholic missionary priests thought they were the
progenitors of the Aztecs.
About 5,000 BC or earlier, a brilliant deified Phoenician Naga king
and philosopher named Kuvera (also Kubera) learned how to smelt
copper, gold, and other metals. These activities took place in the
kingdom named after him, Khyber ("Kheeveri"), which consisted of a
group of craggy mountains in what are now Southeastern Afghanistan
and Northeastern Pakistan (i.e. the Khyber Pass). According to Hindu
mythology, Kuvera and God Shiva lived in the totally barren, mineral-
poor, goldless, frigid, lofty, bell-shaped or pyramidical peak of
Kailasa in Western Tibet.
Edward Pococke stated in his book India in Greece,
The Khyber; its region is wealthy and abounds with rubies; gold is
found in the mines in its vicinity, and it (the Kheeveri kingdom)
was likewise the ruling power in those early days. (p.220.)
We derived our word "copper" from Kuvera's name. Eventually, the
Nagas extended their influence over all of India. If you've intuited
that Afghan Khyber (Kheever), Hebrew Heber (pronounced Kheever),
Egyptian Khepri, Greek Khyphera, Cabeiri, Cypriotic Cip'ri
(Kheep'ri), biblical Capernaum, Arabic Khabar, O'Odham Babo-Quivari
(Kheeveri), Francisco de Coronado's search for the fabled Quivira
(Kheevira), ad infinitum, are somehow linked, you've intuited
correctly.
But why do the Hindus and Buddhists worship Kuvera and Shiva in a
barren peak and not in the Khyber mountain range itself? I don't
want to get "mystical," but the "reason" for this anomaly is the
world's best-kept millennium's-old secret. Besides, it's not the
focus of this article.
Kuh or Koh = "Hump; Mountain"
while Vera or Vira = "Hero; Lord."
The Nagas, also called Nakas and Nahu(a)s, were a highly civilized
ruling, maritime and mercantile class who once inhabited what is now
Afghanistan, Tibet, Pakistan, and Northwestern India. The Nag ("Self-
Consuming Serpent") was one of their principal tribal emblems. The
substance of Kuvera's teachings is that God, then called Dyau, Deo,
Dyaus or Jyaus, put all the plants, animals, ores, and minerals on
earth for Man's enjoyment. As long as Man protects the happiness and
security of all humanity, he need not place any limits on his greed.
Kuvera's teachings spread throughout the whole world.
"Originally, the Asuras or Nagas were not only a civilized people,
but a maritime power, and in the Mahabharata, where the ocean is
described as their habitation, an ancient legend is preserved of how
Kadru, the mother of serpents, compelled Garuda (the Eagle or Hawk)
to serve her sons by transporting them across the sea to a beautiful
country in a distant land, which was inhabited by Nagas, The Asuras
(Nagas) were expert navigators, possessed of very considerable naval
resources, and had founded colonies upon distant coasts."
(The Encircled Serpent, by M. Oldfield, p. 47.)
"Asura" is the Indian equivalent of Assyria (really Asuriya and
Asir) and the Persian Ahura of Zoroastrianism. It derives from the
name of the ancient Hindu sun god Ashur. The Naga capital was called
Oudh, Iodh, Yudh, and Ayodhya. Located near what is now Herat,
Afghanistan, it is not to be confused with todays Oudh or Ayodhya in
the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The citizens of Oudh were called
Oudh-am and Otia-Am. Am = "People" in Sanskrit.
In those days, only a few million people inhabited the earth. Most
humans were cavemen and less. The Nagas didn't entrust their highly
developed technologies to such aborigines. But they did teach them
how to build simple thatch and adobe homes, and to raise vegetable
and animal foods. They also taught them about the Creator of All
Life, Dyaus or Jyaus. Even today the O'Odhams call it Jeoss or Josh.
Joshi is one of God Shiva's many names. Some White Arizonians
mistakenly insist that the O'Odhams derived this term from Dios
(Spanish for "God"), Jesus, or Joshua.
The innocent Arizona aborigines believed these Nagas from Oudh,
Afghanistan (part of India until the late 1700s) were gods. They
even named themselves Oudham, which they pronounced as O'Odham or
O'Ot'ham. An ancient Sanskrit word for "brotherhood; fraternity" is
Ton; Tahun. The Papagos called themselves Tohono O'Odham, or "Oudh-
am Fraternity." Tohono now means "Desert" in the O'Odham language.
The Pimas settled along winding rivers, which seemed to look like
writhing serpents. They named themselves Akimel O'Odham. "Akimel"
derives from the Sanskrit Ahi-Mahal (Great Serpent). This name
eventually came to mean "River."
The Nagas dug deep wells in the desert, siphoning water out of the
ground with long, thick tubes. The exterior ends of these tubes were
large and bulbous, and painted to look like human heads, in order to
mystify the aborigines. The water spouted out from what looked like
round, puckered human mouths. The heads had horns which were really
handles for pulling tubes to different irrigation channels. As the
flowing water caused these tubes to writhe and undulate like
serpents, the primitive Arizonians thought they were real. In
Kashmiri, Nag means "a snake, esp. a fabulous serpent-demon or semi-
divine being, having the face of a man and the tail of a serpent,
and said to inhabit Patala. In Kashmir, they are the deities of
springs." (Grierson's Dictionary of the Kashmiri Language; p. 624,
item 2.) The Kashmirians also called these siphons Nag-Beg (Snake-
Lords). Patala was one of the ancient Indian names for "America."
It's real meaning is "Underworld," but not an underground world.
They used it as we often call Australia: "The Land Down Under."
The Arizonian O'Odhams similarly called the water siphon Nah-Big.
According to both Kashmiri and O'Odham legends, the Nah-Big was
harmless. However, if someone "killed" it, the spring dried up - and
for good reason. Without a proper siphon, needed water could no
longer spew out of the well. Several Southwestern Indian tribes
worship exact replicas of the Kashmiri Nag-Beg (siphon) in special
religious ceremonies. However, some of them call it by other names.
Certain O'Odham and other Native-American clans in the Southern
Arizona and Northern Sonora area also call this mythical serpent
Corua (KoROOah, with the "R" trilled as in our English "City"). It
derives from Sanskrit: Krura-Sarpavat (Violent-Serpent); Kadruja
(Serpent Mother Kadru's equally serpent son).
Another O'Odham word for "snake," Vah-Mat, is nearly identical to
the Kashmiri/Sanskrit Veh-Mar: "Poisonous-Snake." The O'Odham
language contains an unusually high number of North Indian words.
When the Nagas arrived in Arizona, they found a huge stone peak in
the desert, resembling Kuvera and Shiva's (I-Itsoi's) Kailasa in
nearly every way except one. The Indian Kailasa, also in a desert,
is nearly four times higher above sea level than the O'Odhams' holy
peak. To honor their spritual progenitor, the Nagas named this
Arizona peak Babu-Kheever ("Grandfather" or "Illustrious Indian
Immigrant" Kuvera), adhering closely to the exact pronunciation of
the mineral-rich Kheever (Khyber) mountain range of Afghanistan.
Baboquivari (Babo-kheeveri) has retained almost the same name after
more than six millenniums. The O'odhams also call it Waw-Kiwulk,
which sounds like "Vahv-Kivur'." Just as the Hindus, Jains and
Buddhists call Kailasa the navel of the world, so do the O'odhams
give Baboquivari the same distinction.
Babo-Kheeveri and the Afghan Kheeveri mountains were supposedly
filled with unlimited gold, copper, and precious stones. Even today,
much of the gold mined in that part of Arizona keeps leaking
endlessly out of the Babo-Kheeveri (Baboquivari) mountain range.
Jutting upward at more than 7,750 feet above sea level, Baboquivari
can be seen on a clear day from as far away as 80 miles, even from
the Mexican side of the border. Few natural wonders equal the
majesty and beauty of this spectacular peak. In my opinion, it is
a "must-see" for any lover of Nature's wonders. You will notice that
the mountain enjoys the close association of lesser peaks, forming a
large trident.
Being such a prominent landmark, Baboquivari keeps incoming
undocumented Mexican aliens and drug smugglers from getting lost.
That part of the desert also abounds in water-filled cacti to slake
their thirst, including edible fauna and flora. Evidently, the INS
knows about Baboquivari. On the day my wife and I visited the peak,
we saw several of their vans in the area, waiting to pick up
uninvited guests and transport them back to the border - or to
prison.
When I told the O'Odhams that I had learned about the unlimited
quantities of gold within Baboquivari from Hindu books written
millenniums ago, one woman moaned hopelessly, "Now that this news is
out, the White man will even rob us of our God." She wasn't too far
afield. The government has always wanted to probe the interior of
Baboquivari.
A Possible Historical Scenario
About 3,000 BC, a saintly Indian prince and high priest of the
Kheeveri empire left Afghanistan for Arizona, to manage the mining
operations at Baboquivari and govern the O'Odhams. In India, he is
variously called Shiva, Siva, Shaveh, Suva, Su, Ish, Esh, Yesh, Isa,
Itsa, Ishvara, Yishvara, Yeshva, Moshe, Mahesh, Mahisa, etc. The
suffixes Va and Veh refer to someone who is vengeful and short of
temper. Vara = "Blessings of." The prefixes Mo, Mu. and Mah
means "Great." Ish, Esh, Yesh, Isa, etc., = "Material Universe" in
both Sanskrit and Hebrew cabalism. From these Sanskrit elements we
derived our term "Messiah," which in Sanskrit is Masiha, and
Massee'akh in Hebrew. These terms were honorific titles of the
highest ecclesiastical and leadership castes of that period in
history. These supreme "Sivas," whether good, bad, or indifferent,
were also regarded as earthly gods.
We may never know what this "Shiva's" real name was. The Pimas call
him Se-eh-ha; Siwa; Su-u (Elder Brother). The Papagos worship him as
I'Itoi or I'Itsoi, which linguistically is nearly identical to "Isa."
Not yet united by a centralized government, the ancient Hindus
weren't conscious of themselves as Indians - just as similar peoples
separated by different tribes and kingdoms. All of them competed by
fair and foul means for the resources of the world. Internecine
rivalries tore them apart constantly.
During Shiva's Arizona reign, a powerful Indian emperor, Priyavarta,
sent his armies to all the countries of the world, to unite all
Indians and their colonial possessions as one nation. He appointed
his sons as viceroys. One son, Sevana or Sewana, was sent to conquer
and govern North America. Notice that he, too, was a "Siva." O'odham
legends mention this Sewana whom they call Siwana. When I'Itoi or Se-
eh-ha wouldn't submit to Priyavarta, he and Siwana met on the battle
field. Ultimately, I'Itoi prevailed; Siwana was killed.
According to some Indian historians, later on, back in Southeast
Asia, the volcano Krakatoa exploded violently, creating the China
Sea. Our globe became extremely unsteady on its axis, causing rains,
earthquakes, and floods to occur all over the world. The coastlands
of Western India submerged by more than fifty feet and as many miles
inland in some places. Even as you read this article, Indian
archeologists are uncovering fabulous ruins lying just off the
mainland, under the Arabian sea.
Dwarka, Indian deity Lord Krishna's capital city, is the focal point
of these underwater digs. Dwarka may prove to be the greatest
archeological dig in human history.
These floods forced millions of Indian refugees to flee to other
parts of the world. When the Arizona desert flooded, the Pimas and
Papagos took refuge on Baboquivari where I'Itoi or Se-eh-ha (Siva)
helped them survive. After the waters had subsided, he helped the
O'Odham re-establish themselves. Therefore, no matter to what
religion they are converted, the O'Odham are always going to revere
and respect I'Itoi.
Nearly all of today's O'Odham are Catholics. However, the Franciscan
fathers tending to their spiritual needs allow them to set up the
Swastika, I'Itoi or Isa's standard, on the altars of the Catholic
churches there, even on the altar of San Xavier Mission church near
Tucson.
There are other Shaivite reminders among the O'odhams. O'Odham
Catholic churches usually face east as the Shaivite temples do in
India. And, like the Hindus, they bury their dead in an east-west
direction. They also revere the Shiva-Linga or Pillar of Energy,
usually erected in front of and some distance away from their
churches, placed on a tiered pyramid or pyramidical mound, exactly
as in India. However, nowadays the Shivling is a Christian cross. In
the book he wrote in 1644, Father Ribas acknowledged that the
Northern Mexican Indians worshiped Shivlings.
"One of the padres, traveling along a trail near Guasave, observed
an Indian suddenly depart into the woods. In curiosity they followed
this Indian, presently coming upon him in the act of making
reverence before a stone. This stone was about a vara (33 inches) in
height, shaped in the form of a pyramid, and had some crude
inscriptions carved upon it.
San Xavier Mission Church near Tuscon, Arizona.
"The Padre ordered this false idol destroyed. The Indian, horrified
at the thought, declared that he dare not destroy it, for fear of
death." (My Life Among the Savage Nations of New Spain; p. 34.)
During my visit at San Xavier mission, I also saw representations of
the undulating serpent Nah-Big on the exterior of the church of San
Xavier. And get this: The O'Odhams call their way of life Himday or
Himdag! Hindi?
I was especially intrigued by the Pima name for "Medicine-Man:"
Javet-Makai. Dyaus-Pitar or Jyapeti (Japhet) is really another title
of Shiva. Makai may be derived from Maga (Priest-Magician). Javet-
Makai = Jyapeti Maga?
DNA analysis may prove that today's O'Odhams are genetically related
to the India-Indians. Arjuna, Krishna's companion in the Mahabharata
Wars (fought on Northern India's Kuruksetra plains in about 3000
BC), was married to a Patalan (American) princess. Military forces
from Patala, possibly even some O'Odham among them, fought in those
famous wars.
How did I'Itoi's deification get exported to India? Because Isvar
was once the religion of all mankind, It could have been a partial
contributor to all worldwide myths about Siva, eventually becoming
consolidated in the Indian subcontinent. I'Itoi earned "godhood" on
his own merits. Also, as a Hindu supreme leader, he was deified
anyway. After all, the O'Odham and the Hindus do share the same
India-originated "Way of Life."
Hindu immigrants to this country often tell me that they see the
Southwestern Native-Americans as long-lost brothers. They say that
many Native-Americans tell them the same thing. If we use Sanskrit
language resources, Hindu mythology, Shaivite practices and mutually
identical holy names as measuring sticks, the kinship between Native-
Americans and South Asians becomes easily verifiable, no matter what
the "experts" say. Could there be a special political reason
why "The Great White Father" doesn't want certain Native-Americans
to know they're Himday?
Some tribes, such as the Huicholes in Central Mexico, even remember
from what Indian seaport they left for America - Aramra in Gujarat.
The Huicholes revere a part of the beach at the old Mexican seaport
of San Blas, Nayarit, as Aramara, "Place of Origin of the
Huicholes." Millenniums ago, Gujarat was called Jukhar. Juj-Kha is
an O'Odham name for "Mexicans." The Navajos call them Nakaii
(Nagas). The Apaches claim to be Inde (Indus People.) They worship
Shiva as Yusn. In Sanskrit, Yishan = "Shiva." Apache = "Enemy" in
O'Odham. In Sanskrit, Apachnan = "Destroyer." Another name of the
Zunis ("Zoonyees") is Ashiwi (Azhuva?, "Way of the Serpent," in
Sanskrit). Two of their principal deities are Shivani and
Shiwanikoya. Zoonya (Zuni?) and Zeenya ware epithets of ancient
Kashmir. According to Indian historian K. P. Chon, the Naga Azhuvas,
perhaps the forefathers of the Zunis, were India's oldest ruling
dynasty. He said that they ruled for more than a thousand years.
"The descendants of this dynasty are still to be found in the
southernmost part of India in Kerala. They are even now called
Azhuva or Ezhava. The emperor Azi Dahaka, -- with two snakes around
his neck -- was a devotee of Isvara."
(Remedy the Frauds in Hinduism; p. 22.)
The Ezhavas' ships were said to have sailed all over the world.
The Hopis worship Siva under several of his names, one of which is
Massawa (Maheswa?). The Hopis are ophiolators (snake worshippers).
Thousands of years ago, a famous Naga cult called Hophiz lived near
Kabul, Afghanistan. Orginally, this nation was named Oph (Serpent) +
Gana (Group; Family) + Stan (Nation). "Afghanistan" evolved
from "Oph-gana-stan." The Afghan Hophiz snake cult spread to Greece,
becoming Ophis. The Ophis cult was popular in the ancient world,
even among the Christian gnostics. Needless to say, it also found
its way to the American Southwest. We may never know the
exact "hows."
The name of the ancient Hopi village of Oraibi causes me to wonder
whether the Hopi nation was a famous stronghold of Saivism, known
even in India. This unusual word lacks only the "Bh" in Bhairavi,
epithet of Goddess Durga. However, Grierson's Dictionary of the
Kashmiri Language mentions another meaning of the term, which may
explain exactly how and why Oraibi got its name: "Name of a certain
class of lower deities who form Siva's host..." One of these is
after the local godling of some locality or tract of country.
Special localities protected by him are looked upon as sacred" (p.
129; item 44.) Was Southwestern United States an important Shaivite
holy center in earliest times?
Other ancient Naga sea-faring miners, traders, conquerors and
colonizers who left their bloodlines and names all over the Americas
and the rest of the world were the Ute, Yuti, Yutiya, or Juti
(Jutes). The Northern Mexican Indians called the invading
Spaniards, "People-Who-Came-Before:" Yutiya ("Judeeya"); Yuti; Juti
("Jodee" or "Judee)." In Spanish, the word is usually spelled as
Yori; Yuri. "R" is trilled as in "City." "Y" often approximates
our "J." Because of the Spanish spelling, we can't see that this
word is really the English "Jute.". Why did these Indians believe
the Spaniards were Jutes? Juti now means "non-Indian Mexicans and
Gringos." In Sanskrit, Juddhi; Yuddhi = "Conquerors." Our history
books tell us that the "Jutes" were "Northern German or Danish
tribes."
http://www.viewzone.com/baboquivari.html
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 12-06-2006
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=82...+du+ky+24&hl=en
Ramayana with Buddhism mixup in Chinese and dupped in Vietnamese.
This serial was/is very popular in China, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 12-06-2006
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I have been thinking since. What (if at all) could be 1-minute gist of Hinduism?
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
How about "Aham Brahmaasmi"?
I am an immortal soul.
This is accepted by both Advaitins and Dvaitins.
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 01-04-2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://in.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/04russia.htm
<b>Vishnu idol found during excavation in Russian town</b>
January 04, 2007 10:52 IST
<b>An ancient Vishnu idol has been found during excavation in an old village in Russia's Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia.</b>
The idol found in Staraya (old) Maina village dates back to VII-X century AD.
Staraya Maina village in Ulyanovsk region was a highly populated city 1700 years ago, much older than Kiev, so far believed to be the mother of all Russian cities.
.....
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Bharatvarsh - 01-08-2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Kosovian traces 1000-yr-old lineage
Smitha Nair
CNN-IBN
Posted Sunday , January 07, 2007 at 08:59
Updated Sunday , January 07, 2007 at 13:11
New Delhi: The 5th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas kicks off on Sunday. The cultural network of the diaspora has started a programme to help immigrants trace back their ancestry and among those rooting for their roots is a 24-year-old Kosovan girl who traced her roots back to the gypsies who left North West India a 1000 years ago.
She could be passed off as any other Indian girl shopping in Janpath â but she isn't. Meet 24-four-year old Miradiya Giozic who is from Kosovo and her interests in India travel far deeper than any other backpackers. She is here to trace her â believe it or not â Indian roots. And this is why she is not confused.
"We also say purdhan for curtain and purana for old. I am sure I came from here," Giozic says.
Her genetic memory is more than 750 years old. There are others like her from the minority Roma gypsies in Kosovo who talk about their migration from Punjab or Rajasthan centuries, probably a millennium ago.
Giozic adds, âItâs well documented that gypsies left India 1000 years ago making their way through to Europe. There the lohar caste in India we are blacksmiths too."
In India for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Miradiya is getting her DNA tested by the Diaspora Cultural Network. Now it's no longer a third generation quest. This particular search for ancestry goes back eight centuries. The newly set-up Diaspora Cultural Network is optimistic.
Diaspora Cultural Network advisor Suresh Pillai says, âCommunity identification, we hope she finds her people."
Time may have wiped out her exact lineage and her cousin would probably be fifty times removed but Miradiya insists there are uncanny similarities.
âEvery house has a house snake which protects it if its killed we would lose a family member, " Giozic says.
She has survived in strife-torn Kosovo. The Roma tribe has been persecuted through history with nearly three-fourths of the population wiped out. She doesn't see any future in her divided nation.
Talking about living in India she says, âI would live in India if get a job. At least I wonât be discriminated. You have the same color of skin I feel like I belong."
For Giozic, her future could well in her past.
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/kosovian-trace...op/30523-3.html<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The gypsies may no longer be Hindu but it's good to see some of them rediscovering their roots.
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 01-18-2007
This is the Vishnu murti excavated in Russia, as mentioned in post 56:
<img src='http://www.mosnews.com/files/18997/vishnu.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Guest - 01-29-2007
X-posting
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Hindu scholar finds similarities with Maori culture</b>
By IANS
Sunday January 28, 11:25 AM
Auckland, Jan 28 (IANS) Many similarities can be found between
Sanskrit, the classical language of India, and Maori, the language and
tradition of the indigenous people of New Zealand, according to an
Indian scientist.
Infact, some Hindu cultural facets are more similar to Maori than most
people realise, says senior scientist Dr Guna Magesan, who moved to
New Zealand from Nilgiri in India in 1988 to complete a PhD on soil
science at Massey University.
Next month, Magesan will share his Kiwi experience at the World Hindu
Conference to be held in India, where he has been asked to talk about
what it is like being a Hindu living in New Zealand, according to
Daily Post newspaper.
Similarities between Hindu and Maori customs and language are making
living in New Zealand an easier transition for some Indian immigrants,
said Magesan.
'There are at least 185 Sanskrit and other Indian language words
similar to the Maori language. For example, 'mana' means pride or
self-respect, ' he said.
The Indian scientist has written books on Indian culture and the
similarities between Hindu and Maori.
Magesan has also encouraged his son Murali, 11, to learn the Maori
language at school and be a member of the kapa haka group, a
contemporary performance style of the Maori people.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Global Hindu Footprint - Spread Beyond India - Bharatvarsh - 02-01-2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bali: Island Of the Gods
A tiny, lush enclave fights to preserve a magical culture little changed over the millennia
http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1998...998-10-09.shtml<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->