Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India

encyclopedia

PERCEPTIONS

JYOTIRVIGNYAANA

(ASTRONOMY)

Astronomy in India, like in other civili-

sations, has very ancient origins. The earli-

est records of astronomical thinking in India

can be found among the

Vedas

dating back

to earlier than the 1st millennium B.C. Sub-

stantial progress was made in the 1st mil-

lennium A.D. with the primary interest in

the study of the motions of the sun and

moon in order to develop a working calendar

to determine the times for performing the

various religious ceremonies and agricul-

tural operations. For the ancient Indian, the

sun was the most important heavenly object

and its heavenly path was considered

sacred. The moon's path was observed in

relation to the 27

"nakshathras"

(lunar

mansions) or asterisms. It was found that

the moon spends a day in each

"nakshathra"

and momentarily comes into a state of con-

junction with the most conspicuous star in

that group. Then the names of the lunar

months, numbering 12, were given on the

basis of the

nakshathra

on which the full

moon occurred. These 12 lunar months total

to about 354 days and sixty-two lunar

months are approximately equal to sixty

solar months. Thus every thirty months an

extra month had to be added making that

particular one a thirteen-month year.

A very important feature of Indian as-

tronomy is the cyclic concept of time. This

was developed from the concept of

'yuga'

cycle. The

'Mahaayuga

or the great cycle, is

conceived as a period at the beginning of

which all the planetary bodies are in con-

junction. This period is given as 4,320,000

solar years which is then divided into four

mundane ages or

'yugas'

in the descending

order of 4:3:2:1. The last one is named as

"Kali Yuga"

or the Iron Age through which

the world is currently passing and is be-

lieved to have started in 3102 B.C.

Aryabhata, the great Indian astronomer

and mathematician of the 5th century A.D.,

differed from the other astronomers of the

time in saying that the earth was not

stationary but rotated about its own axis.

The ancient Indians were aware of the

seven moving celestial objects — Sun,

Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and

Saturn which were generally termed as.

planets since the belief was that the earth

was the centre of the universe around which

the planets move. To these seven Objects,

two more were added — the demonic

figures Rahu and Ketu, which are in fact the

ascending and descending nodes of the

moon, to facilitate the theories of the

eclipses. The priestly astronomers of the

era saw eclipses as caused by Rahu (the

demon's head) devouring the sun or the

moon. However, Aryabhata with his

mathematical knowledge, could provide an

explanation in terms of the sun being

obscured by the moon and the shadow of the

earth obscuring the moon. Great importance

was placed in the accurate forecasting of the

eclipses as religious rituals were observed

during the eclipses. Even now, these rituals

are practised in many parts of India.

There were many other great scholars -

Varahamihira, Bhaskara, Brahmagupta to

name a few — who improved upon the

knowledge of astronomy in India. Gradu-

ally, the interaction between the Indian as-

tronomers and those from as far as Greece

and Baghdad made very significant impact

on the advancement of knowledge of that

period.

The 2nd millennium A.D. saw the intro-

duction of some simple instruments like the

water clock for the measurement of time,

among others. A versatile instrument, the

astrolabe, which was known to the Greeks,

travelled to India along with Arab astron-

omy. In the 18th century A.D., a major

achievement in the usage of astronomical

instruments of medieval origins was made

by Maharaja Sawmi Jai Singh II of Jaipur,

who erected huge observatories with large

masonry structures for observing the celes-

tial objects. Two of his observatories can be

seen even today in Delhi and Jaipur under

the exotic name of "Jantar Mantar" or the

mysterious instruments. However, there

are records to show that in 1689, a tele-

scope was used for the first time on Indian

soil to make stellar observations from Pon-

dicherry, a coastal town in southern India.

And the subject of astronomy in its new

and modern form made inroads into India

with the arrival of the Europeans about

three centuries ago. Yet, even today many

sections of Indian society continue to prac-

tise the astronomically timed age - old re-

ligious rituals of ancient origin sometimes

meaningful and sometimes otherwise.

(G.S.D.B)