Temple architectures in Tamilnadu have stood across timelines carrying the architecture and history of those times.
Not sure if it has caught Graham's eyes..
Would it surprise you if I say a temple in the town of Thiruperundurai of Tamilnadu has the lunar stations etched in its temple walls and ceiling naming each of the lunar stations in ancient Tamil language?
What are lunar stations ? As per wiki..
Often called lunar mansion,[a] a lunar station or lunar house is a segment of the ecliptic through which the Moon passes in its orbit around the Earth. The concept was used by several ancient cultures as part of their calendrical system.
This temple is a testimony to the temple architectural skills of ancient sculptors and engineers. From all known sources, it is a construction made 1100 years old and has been mentioned in one of famous Tamil literature "thiruvasagam" a volume of Tamil hymns composed by 9th century poet "Manikkavasagar".
These are available in palm leaf manuscripts.
But the topic of discussion is not the temple architecture but the knowledge of lunar stations at those times. As per modern science the telescope was invented 400 years back somewhere around 1608 in Netherlands.
How did the ancient Tamils accurately find the patterns of lunar stations in those times which is atleast 600-700 years old than the invention of telescope by modern science? The temple has advanced lunar stations and star systems sculpted clearly in one of its entrances...
Pls refer to the below video of Mr.Praveen Mohan who is an Indian researcher well-known for his in-depth archeological research on Temple Architectures.
[youtu.be]
In the video, we can clearly see the sculpture of 27 lunar stations engraved which means they must have had required technologies to study the sky and learn the patterns of these lunar constellations. These are called as "nakshatram in modern Tamil which traces back to the word "nalchitram" which means nice picture in the sky. The names of these lunar constellations are also written in Tamil below each pattern which is highlighted in the video.
Why were these needed? To calculate times, dates, seasons for agriculture... Tracing the movement of moon around the earth, these stars/nakshatras were invented. Today many people think that these are solely for astrological purposes. But these were originally invented for the purpose of agriculture to define the annual cycle of activities related to the growth and harvest of a crop. These include loosening the soil, seeding, moving plants when they grow bigger, harvesting etc.
[duckduckgo.com]
More interestingly, one of the nakshatras called magam in Tamil and called as Regulus in modern astronomical science is one of the stars in the constellation of Leo. Regulus appears singular, but is actually a quadruple star system composed of four stars that are organized into two pairs. As per modern science only when see it with the telescope we can see that it is not a single star but a quadruple star... But the temple carving at Thiruperundurai shows Regulus a.k.a Magam as 4 stars.. How did they know about the quadruple star which can be found only with telescope as per modern science without having advanced technologies??
It is obvious that Tamils had advanced technologies on astro science. The temple itself is believed to have been built in the 8th century by poet-saint Manikkavasagar. If this has the carvings of lunar stations so accurate and precise, then the advanced technologies date even earlier than that.
If Graham is willing to make a visit to this temple, would be happy to assist.. :-)
Not sure if it has caught Graham's eyes..
Would it surprise you if I say a temple in the town of Thiruperundurai of Tamilnadu has the lunar stations etched in its temple walls and ceiling naming each of the lunar stations in ancient Tamil language?
What are lunar stations ? As per wiki..
Often called lunar mansion,[a] a lunar station or lunar house is a segment of the ecliptic through which the Moon passes in its orbit around the Earth. The concept was used by several ancient cultures as part of their calendrical system.
This temple is a testimony to the temple architectural skills of ancient sculptors and engineers. From all known sources, it is a construction made 1100 years old and has been mentioned in one of famous Tamil literature "thiruvasagam" a volume of Tamil hymns composed by 9th century poet "Manikkavasagar".
These are available in palm leaf manuscripts.
But the topic of discussion is not the temple architecture but the knowledge of lunar stations at those times. As per modern science the telescope was invented 400 years back somewhere around 1608 in Netherlands.
How did the ancient Tamils accurately find the patterns of lunar stations in those times which is atleast 600-700 years old than the invention of telescope by modern science? The temple has advanced lunar stations and star systems sculpted clearly in one of its entrances...
Pls refer to the below video of Mr.Praveen Mohan who is an Indian researcher well-known for his in-depth archeological research on Temple Architectures.
[youtu.be]
In the video, we can clearly see the sculpture of 27 lunar stations engraved which means they must have had required technologies to study the sky and learn the patterns of these lunar constellations. These are called as "nakshatram in modern Tamil which traces back to the word "nalchitram" which means nice picture in the sky. The names of these lunar constellations are also written in Tamil below each pattern which is highlighted in the video.
Why were these needed? To calculate times, dates, seasons for agriculture... Tracing the movement of moon around the earth, these stars/nakshatras were invented. Today many people think that these are solely for astrological purposes. But these were originally invented for the purpose of agriculture to define the annual cycle of activities related to the growth and harvest of a crop. These include loosening the soil, seeding, moving plants when they grow bigger, harvesting etc.
[duckduckgo.com]
More interestingly, one of the nakshatras called magam in Tamil and called as Regulus in modern astronomical science is one of the stars in the constellation of Leo. Regulus appears singular, but is actually a quadruple star system composed of four stars that are organized into two pairs. As per modern science only when see it with the telescope we can see that it is not a single star but a quadruple star... But the temple carving at Thiruperundurai shows Regulus a.k.a Magam as 4 stars.. How did they know about the quadruple star which can be found only with telescope as per modern science without having advanced technologies??
It is obvious that Tamils had advanced technologies on astro science. The temple itself is believed to have been built in the 8th century by poet-saint Manikkavasagar. If this has the carvings of lunar stations so accurate and precise, then the advanced technologies date even earlier than that.
If Graham is willing to make a visit to this temple, would be happy to assist.. :-)