Guru Purnima
गुरु ब्रम्हा गुरु विष्णू गुरुः देवो महेश्वरा गुरु शाक्षात परब्रम्हा तस्मै श्री गुरुवे नमः Gurur Brahmaa Gurur Vishnu Gurur Devo Maheshwarah Guru Saakshaata Parabrahma Tasmai Shri Guruve Namah Guru Purnima, also known as Vyasa Purnima is a festival commemorating the goodness of spiritual gurus and teachers. Celebrated each year on the full moon day of the month of Ashadha of …
The Hindu Lunisolar Calendar
This animation illustrates the basic concepts of the ancient Hindu Lunisolar calendar which is in active use in India even today. By definition, a lunisolar calendar is based on the orbital motion of the Sun and the Moon as observed from the Earth (i.e. in a geocentric model). Saura Mana The solar months (Rashis) are nothing but the familiar signs …
“Fathers of” Ancient India
1. Father of Astronomy: Aryabhatta ; work – Aryabhattiyam 2. Father of Astrology: Varahamihira , works; Panchasiddhantika, Bruhat Hora Shastra 3. Fathers of Surgery : Charaka and Sushruta , works : Samhitas 4. Father of Anatomy: Patanjali , work: Yogasutra 6. Father of Economics : Chanakya , work: Arthashshtra 7. Father of Atomic theory : Rishi Kanada , Work : …
The Vanishing Stairwells of India
Scattered across India’s vast landscape of ancient architecture including temples, mosques, and palaces are an often overlooked relic of historic infrastructure called stepwells. These subterranean buildings, once numbered in the thousands, were originally dug into the landscape so residents could easily access water. Over time, stepwells grew increasingly elaborate in their construction, morphing from modest rock-cut holes into fully functional …
Vastu Gallery
Kerala School of Astronomy and Mathematics
Kerala School of Astronomy and Mathematics Madhava is not only a pioneer in discovering an exact infinite series for pi, he is also a trail blazer in discovering rapidly convergent approximations and transformations of the series. In the same way, Madhava is not satisfied with merely enunciating the infinite series for the sine and cosine functions (the so called Newtons …
Vastu Temple Architecture
The architecture of Dharmic temples evolved over a period of several thousands years guided by Vastu principles. Dharmic temples are of different shapes and sizes – rectangular, octagonal, semi circular – with different types of domes and gates. Temples in southern India have a different style than those in northern India. Although the architecture of Hindu temples is varied, they …
Pramāņa Systems
Pratyaksha Pramāņa Pratyaksha or Perception implies direct, immediate cognition. There are two kinds of direct perception, external and internal. The ‘external’ perception implies cognition of sense objects, namely – sound, touch, form, taste and smell by our five sense organs or gyanendriyās – ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose. When the sense organs contact their respective objects then the …
Ramanujan’s Divine Mathematics
Researchers recently solved the cryptic deathbed puzzle renowned Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan claimed came to him in dreams. While on his death-bed in 1920, Ramanujan wrote a letter to his mentor, English mathematician G. H. Hardy, outlining several new mathematical functions never before heard of, along with a hunch about how they worked, decades later, researchers say they’ve proved he …