Archaeology Thread

[satchitananda]

Hirebenakal (Kar) Indian Megalithic wonder

[devendra1]

Originally Posted by kingkobra

I do not believe in Puranas for a second...in Bhavishya Purana it is said that Prophet Muhammad was actually a demon named Mahamada...no doubt in my mind that puranas are very very recent and have been written to fool gullible people..

Read this somewhere - Bhavishya Puran is definately edited or newly created or they have added part related to Muhammud because it does not have anything beyond that and seems it was edited just a few years back and it seems to end abruptly in era it was written. Other Purans are more or less intact. So you definately have to experience them(by practising some of the mantras) to make your belief strong.

[skganji]

Clubbing all the Puranas as very recent and therefore of little value is simply bogus. Vishnu Purana, Bhagavat Purana seems to have been very old going by the ancient stories and the matter in them. This is a easy excuse by western scholars to redicule puranas as recent and most likely written after the greek conquest.

[satchitananda]

On same token they dont claim prophecies of other religious texts as insertions after the fact it happened.

Its hard to reduce puranas to a simplistic idea. From my limited insights, I see it as strokes of genius with different timelines, some historical, some geological and some cosmic, all flattened to be palatable.

There are also inconsistencies that has crept into the narration, aiding such odd explanations. Despite all these, most narrations are consistent across multiple literature, which is really interesting. First of, no culture seems to have such volume of rich, deep insights on multitude of topics.

[Sir Lurkalot]

Reliefs from Sanchi Stupa gateways and railings.

Shows you the fortifications in ancient India.

These relief images were made in the early Satavahana period.

[Sir Lurkalot]

They are venerating the Peepal tree. The Peepal tree is one of the symbols that represents the Buddha, because in ancient India they never show the image of the Buddha. Essentially they are worshiping the Buddha.



Dharma Chakra also represents the Buddha.




Peepal tree.




Again Peepal tree.

[Sir Lurkalot]

edit












Armed Goddess. She has almost every weapon known to Indians sticking out of her hair.

This is from the Sunga empire.



Durga with multiple arms, slaying the demon is first visible in Mathura art in the 3rd century AD.




Durga with many, many arms are shown in Gupta art.



Modern examples

[skganji]

Great posts by Sir Lurkalot. . It is interesting to see Buddha being worshipped as a Peepal Tree and as Dharma chakra . So the worship of Durga seems to be from ancient times. Is the Armed goddess from Sunga period with numerous arms sticking out of her goddess Durga ?.

[satchitananda]

Originally Posted by skganji

Great posts by Sir Lurkalot. . It is interesting to see Buddha being worshipped as a Pippal Tree and as Dharma chakra . So the worship of Durga seems to be from ancient times. Is the Armed goddess from Sunga period with numerous arms sticking out of her goddess Durga ?.

Definitely nice posts by Sir Lurkalot.

Yes Durga was referenced extensively in portions of Mahabharatha. Prior to taking the Agyathavasa, Yudhishtra makes special prayers to Durga.. seeks her special blessings to complete the agyathavasa successfully. He gets a darshan of her and guidance.

Durga was Kshatriya's fave God since ancient times. Interesting to see archaeological time capsules.

[Sir Lurkalot]

Originally Posted by skganji

Great posts by Sir Lurkalot. . It is interesting to see Buddha being worshipped as a Peepal Tree and as Dharma chakra .

Not only those two. Many other symbols like stupas, etc, etc.

Here are examples below of king Siddhartha/Buddha.











You can see empty thrones, chariots, horses, etc. These scenes involve king Siddhartha/Buddha, but they never show his figure. Until around 2nd centiry AD.

Is the Armed goddess from Sunga period with numerous arms sticking out of her goddess Durga ?.

It's said to have evolved from it. The modern imagery you see today was made around the Gupta era.

[Sir Lurkalot]

More Buddha worship

[Sir Lurkalot]

2nd century BC, Bharhut



modern



Around 5th Century AD, Gupta art



modern






2nd-1st Century BC - Sanchi & Bharhut
Last one is Amaravati stupa relief, 1st-2nd century AD.



modern

[Sir Lurkalot]

Yakshis, Bharhut & Sanchi

Yakshis are goddess of fertility. You will see them a lot of times gripping on to a branch. The tree bares fruit/brims with life with her touch.

[Yagya]

can we have modern for the above as well

[Sir Lurkalot]

Originally Posted by Yagya

can we have modern for the above as well

No sirji, other people's morality have affected India deeply by now. So openness to nudity is one thing that did not survive.

But yeah... Indeed.

Anyways












Some Sunga vases with images on them.



















More Sunga art

[Sir Lurkalot]

Sunga art

[skganji]

Very impressive art from Sunga dynasty. Sunga dynasty seems to have ruled a powerful kingdom.Where did you get all these pictures from ?. Are these preserved in a Museum ?.

[Sir Lurkalot]

Originally Posted by skganji

Very impressive art from Sunga dynasty. Sunga dynasty seems to have ruled a powerful kingdom.Where did you get all these pictures from ?. Are these preserved in a Museum ?.

http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/.../freschi2.html
http://www.asianart.com/arga/d13781.html
http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/...eskenazi1.html
etc
etc
etc

various sites

















Example of ear plugs, popular in ancient and early medieval India.

more Sunga art

[Sir Lurkalot]

Some Sunga ivory works




Rare Sunga soldier

[Sir Lurkalot]

Sunga

A terracotta plaque with scene of abduction from the Ramayana




Modern painting