DEAR FRIENDS
GYANDOTCOM NOW ON FACEBOOK AND ON TWITTER
TO ADD IN FACE BOOK go to FACEBOOK SEARCH AND TYPE GYANDOTCOM
IN Google SEARCH JUST TYPE GYANDOTCOM
AND IN TWITTER CLICK BELOW TO ADD
KEEP READING GYANDOTCOM
REGARDS
ROHIT SHARMA
DEAR FRIENDS
GYANDOTCOM NOW ON FACEBOOK AND ON TWITTER
TO ADD IN FACE BOOK go to FACEBOOK SEARCH AND TYPE GYANDOTCOM
IN Google SEARCH JUST TYPE GYANDOTCOM
AND IN TWITTER CLICK BELOW TO ADD
KEEP READING GYANDOTCOM
REGARDS
ROHIT SHARMA
One of the more frequent means by which customers are defrauded is by cheque interception. On average, a cheque is handled by up to 20 people from the time you make it out to the time your branch pays it. This means that there are numerous opportunities for the cheque to be intercepted. Most commonly this happens when cheques are posted.
Another common way in which customers are defrauded is in accepting a cheque or bank deposit when selling goods. Often the cheque or the deposit turns out to be fraudulent and the seller is out of pocket. Sellers are advised never to release goods until they are certain that the payment is valid.
Always wait for the funds to be cleared before releasing goods, even if it seems to be a bank issued cheque. While the cheque may appear to be genuine, fraudsters have even gone so far as to print their own cheques. The cheque could also be stolen. Even if the cheque is genuine, there are certain circumstances when bank issued cheques will not be honoured.
A fake cheques scam estimated to the tune of Rs.52 crore has been unearthed in the State Bank of India’s (SBI) main branch in kanpur. Seven bank officers have been suspended, According to the official, the fraud, which was detected Tuesday evening, was being carried on with the active connivance of the branch officials. Most of the fake cheques were credited into the account of an influential petrol pump owner and one of his associates, who have reportedly fled the country.
“The suspended officials include an assistant general manager, two chief managers and some senior managers, who were suspected to be directly involved in pilfering the bank by crediting fake cheques into select accounts,” he said.
The Kanpur branch head and deputy general manager have been divested of the charge with immediate effect.
The scam was detected by SBI’s audit team in Hyderabad from which a special team had been sent here to this city, 80 km from state capital Lucknow.
A vigilance team from the Lucknow-based state head office was also sent to Kanpur.
While describing the case as the “biggest fraud in the Lucknow-Kanpur region in recent decades”, the bank official did not rule out the possibility of “more heads rolling” over the next few days.
Significantly, barely a few months back, a fake note racket involving SBI officials was discovered in a small SBI branch in Domariyaganj town on the India-Nepal border, about 200 km from Lucknow.
ATM fraud issues in the most part involve credit card fraud and debit card fraud. The ATM machine may be the ‘common purchase point’ (CPP) where analysis shows that a significant number of credit cards or debit cards were used genuinely in one specific location prior to detection of subsequent fraudulent transactions. Even when not the CPP, automated teller machines may be the mechanism used to convert compromised credit cards and debit cards into hard cash, so long as the credit card fraud or debit card fraud included compromise of the personal identification number (PIN).
ATM skimming is now common in most parts of the world that have a mature network of ATMs, self-service terminals and point of sale (POS) terminals that accept magnetic stripe based credit cards and debit cards. Most bank ATM security issues and ATM fraud issues involving ATM skimming are the result of criminals attaching an ATM skimmer to the ATM card reader slot. Europe has historically been one of the most targeted geographies for ATM skimming attacks, although the world-wide spread of such ATM skimming fraud has been, and continues to be significant.
ATM deposit fraud which includes both cash deposit fraud and cheque fraud (check fraud) at automated teller machines is one type of ATM fraud that is particularly common in the US where many banks have a culture of crediting and allowing drawings against the deposit prior to manual reconciliation and verification.
ATM hacking should really only be used to describe attacks against the internals of the ATMs software or the ATMs systems security but is commonly used to describe attacks against card processors and other components of the transaction processing network. The US have experienced a number of high profile ‘ATM hack’ attacks against well known credit card and debit card processors. Some of the systems security breaches have included compromise of the PIN in addition to the card data, with subsequent fraudulent spend using cloned credit cards and cloned debit cards at ATMs.
Another ATM fraud issue is ATM card theft which includes credit card trapping and debit card trapping at ATMs. Originating in South America this type of ATM fraud has spread globally. Although somewhat replaced in terms of volume by ATM skimming incidents, a re-emergence of card trapping has been noticed in regions such as Europe where EMV Chip and PIN cards have increased in circulation.
ATM funds transfer fraud is prevalent in Asia. This ATM scam involves criminals tricking victims into using the automated teller machine to transfer money into the criminals account.
ATM security attacks involving physical attacks against the ATM security enclosure are widely spread. ATM explosive attacks although originating and not uncommon in Europe are more prevalent in Australia and South Africa.
ATM ram raid incidents also occur globally but are most prevalent in the US, perhaps partly due to the large number of ATMs deployed in soft-target locations such as convenience stores.
ATM security incidents involving a high degree of precision to gain access to the ATM security enclosure occur globally. The UK and Canada have experienced many such precision ATM security attacks in recent years.Never accept a faxed bank deposit slip as proof of payment. Amounts and details can easily be changed to reflect a higher value or that it is a cash deposit. Check with your bank first that the correct amount has been deposited and whether the deposit is cash or cheque. If it is a cheque deposit, wait until the cheque has been paid (usually this will take seven days) before you release goods.
What is card skimming?
‘Card skimming’ is the illegal copying of information from the magnetic strip of a credit or ATM card. It is a more direct version of a phishing scam.
The scammers try to steal your details so they can access your accounts. Once scammers have skimmed your card, they can create a fake or ‘cloned’ card with your details on it. The scammer is then able to run up charges on your account.
Card skimming is also a way for scammers to steal your identity (your personal details) and use it to commit identity fraud. By stealing your personal details and account numbers the scammer may be able to borrow money or take out loans in your name.
Warning signs
* A shop assistant takes your card out of your sight in order to process your transaction.
* You are asked to swipe your card through more than one machine.
* You see a shop assistant swipe the card through a different machine to the one you used.
* You notice something suspicious about the card slot on an ATM (e.g. an attached device).
* You notice unusual or unauthorized transactions on your account or credit card statement.
Protect yourself from card skimming
* Keep your credit card and ATM cards safe. Do not share your personal identity number (PIN) with anyone. Do not keep any written copy of your PIN with the card.
* Check your bank account and credit card statements when you get them. If you see a transaction you cannot explain, report it to your credit union or bank.
* Choose passwords that would be difficult for anyone else to guess.
As well as following these specific tips, find out how to protect yourself from all sorts of other scams.
Do your homework
If you are using an ATM, take the time to check that there is nothing suspicious about the machine.
Ask yourself if you trust the person or trader who you are handing your card over to. If a shop assistant looks like they are going to take your card out of your sight, ask if it is really necessary.
If an ATM looks suspicious, do not use it and alert the ATM owner.
If you are in a shop and the assistant wants to swipe your card out of your sight, or in a second machine, you should ask for your card back straight away and either pay with a cheque or cash, or not make the purchase.
Now how to use ATM in Secure Way. Check it out
#1
First of all locate an ATM which you wan to use. They can commonly be found either on the outside walls of banks (inbuilt ATMs) or in convenience and department stores (freestanding ATMs). In terms of security they are similar because of the fact that freestanding machines are more closely watched and are in more public places. Bank ATMs are more difficult to tamper with and are regularly checked by the bank, however they are more often in secluded areas where thieves can take their time to work on them.
#
Step 2
Look around the immediate area where the ATM is located for security cameras. Thieves are much less likely to try to target an ATM if it is being watched by a camera. similarly if the machine is in a place with constant attention, such as a busy shopping mall, thieves are less likely to strike.
#
Step 3
When approaching the machine, look closely at the front of the card slot. If this has been burned and melted somewhat, of if the slot protrudes more than it usually would then a cloning device may have been fitted. Many devices for cloning cards fit over the existing slot, so if the colors of these parts are slightly different in color to the rest of the machine, this is also something to look out for.
#
Step 4
If the ATM look different to the last time that you used it, then look at the new pieces, as they might contain a cameras used to recording pin numbers, These cameras are often hidden in either plastic panels which are fitted over the original or in ordinary looking pamphlet holders on the side of the ATM. Real ranks pamphlet holders are always located to the side of the machine altogether rather than in a position that could be used for recording pin numbers.
#
Step 5
Contact your card provider if you suspect any ATM which you have seen has been tampered with. As an extra precaution, using a smart card is also a good idea These cards have a chip built into them and so are much harder for thieves to read. Because of this they are often impervious to most kinds of fraudulent card reader as the technology needed to read this chip is fairly large and bulky, and cannot easily be hidden on the outside of an ATM.
ATM skimmers are devices that thieves install on ATM machines to steal the financial information of others. Sometimes there is also a tiny camera installed that will record the user’s pin number. The criminals that use these devices are also called skimmers. Here are some Tips you can do to protect yourself from ATM skimmers.
#1
Learn to recognize a skimmer when you see one. If you see wires poking out, a scanner that does not seem secure, multiple scanning devices, or a sticker that says scan here first, do not use the machine.
#
Step 2
Do not use a machine if someone offers to help you with it. Often the criminals who install skimmers stay nearby and “assist” users with their transaction. They may pose as another customer, or a technician working on the machine.
#
Step 3
Be secretive when entering your pin number. Cover the keys with one hand in case someone is looking over your shoulder, or there is a hidden camera nearby.
#
Step 4
Make it a habit of using the same ATM machine as often as possible. If you do this you will be familiar with the ATM machine and will be able to spot if someone has installed a device or tampered with the ATM machine.
#
Step 5
Use ATM machines where video cameras are installed so that criminals will have a harder time installing skimmers.
#
Step 6
Check the balance on your ATM card often so that if someone steals your information, you can minimize the damage. The faster you respond to ATM card theft, the better your chance is that the bank will fully reimburse you.
Some sensible safety tips:
* The person writing out a cheque should always attempt to use a ballpoint pen instead of making use of pens with more erasable inks like fountain pens or felt tip pens.
* To prevent unauthorised additions and/or alterations, commence all writing as close as possible to the left-hand margin, leaving no gaps and drawing a line through unused spaces.
* Any cheques that the account holder does not wish to be cashed should be crossed and, to ensure that a cheque is paid into the intended beneficiary’s account, the cheque should be marked with the words “Not Transferable” between two transverse lines.
* The customer should take responsibility for keeping his/her chequebook in a safe place to prevent unauthorised use.
* The customer should always keep his chequebook separate from his credit cards, ATM cards or any other document that bears his signature. If a thief gets hold of your chequebook, but does not have a sample of your signature, a forged signature will probably not resemble yours.
* All paid cheques that are returned with your bank statements should be kept in a safe place because they contain your signature. Fraudsters may even try to re-use these cheques.
* The customer should make a habit of doing monthly reconciliations on the cheques that were issued on his/her account.
* Regular recons should be done on all unused cheques in a chequebook against counterfoil or carbon copy records.
* The customer should report a stolen chequebook to his/her account holding or nearest FNB branch as soon as he/she detects that the chequebook is missing. There is also the ability to stop a cheque online via FNB Internet Banking.
* The posting of cheques should be avoided and, should it be necessary, cheques should be placed in non-transparent or dark envelopes without any staples / paper clips, which can be felt through the envelope.
* Never have any cheques lying around that have not been completed or fully signed.
* Many alternative payment methods exist that are safe and convenient and can even save on bank charges. These alternatives include Visa Cheque Cards, Visa Electron debit cards, Internet, Telephone and Cellphone Banking, ATM payments, debit orders and future dated payments.
Ashish Ravindranathan the 18-year-old IIT-Bombay first-year student has allegedly duped 25 credit card-holders and made a whopping Rs 6.5 lakh in just six months. Ashish completed studies at Delhi Public School in Ahmedabad in 2008, with 90% marks and went on to IIT-Bombay.
Ashish Ravindranathan modus operandi
Ashish used to pose as a bank executive, Ashish got credit card details from customers. He then used the data to book air tickets and buy laptops. He had tied up with a travel agent to cancel the tickets and share the booty, while the laptops he sold across the country at a discount. Every day, Ashish would call 50-100 credit card holders, offering to issue credit cards. He would then get details of credit cards that they already had. Some gullible customers fell for his ploy and even parted with the critical CVV number.
Ashish Ravindranathan was operating since October last year, said crime branch officers. It was like a movie the way he was trapped – disguised as gardeners and security guards, police trailed him to some of his favourite haunts in Ahmedabad to catch him red-handed as he made calls to credit card holders, posing as a representative of Barclays Bank.
A resident of Hyderabad – his father works in the US. Ashish lives with his mother and younger sister and the family is very comfortable financially. Ashish allegedly told the cops that he had got used to lavish spending and wanted to make quick money on the sly.
how all this Techniques used ,we start with a credit card cloning technique used by conmens.
Credit card cloning, or “skimming” as it is sometimes called, is a new technique whereby someone obtains your credit card details, copies them onto a bogus card and begins using the credit card. While credit card theft itself is not new, the manner in which the information is stolen is.
The first step is to recruit an individual willing to participate in the scheme. Bartenders, wait staff or shop assistants are often prime targets because of the sheer volume of credit cards they handle.
Recruits are given a pocketsize device with a scanning slot, something that resembles a pager and can be worn on a belt. They are instructed to swipe customers’ credit cards through the device. Because the process takes only a few seconds it can be done easily and inconspicuously without the customer or another employee noticing.
Swiping the credit card through the device copies the information held on the magnetic strip into memory. That information can subsequently be copied to a counterfeit card, complete with security holograms.
Alternatively, the information can be used to overwrite a stolen credit card which has become too hot to handle.
Do not underestimate the size of this problem. In the U.K. alone an astonishing $200m was spent with cloned credit cards in 2000. That’s over $500,000 every single day!
Finally Tips & Warnings
DO NOT REVEAL YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION OR ANY RELEVANT INFORMATION TO ANY KNOWN OR UNKNOWN PERSON.
*
If you suspect any problems with the ATM machines, do not use it and report it to the bank or establishment where it is installed.
*
If you see suspicious looking people around the ATM machine, do not use it.
GUARD YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION.
Be careful with giving out your personal information. Never give anyone your information for a reason you don’t understand or are not comfortable with. Whenever possible, request to use other types of identification.
**Additionally, never carry around your social security card,Passport,Voters Id card,. Always keep it in a secure, private place.
#
Step 2
PROTECT YOUR E- MAIL,Post mailers,Telephone bills,Electricity bills,credit card recipts,credit card bills.
To keep a thief from stealing personal information about you by snooping through your trash or recycling bin, protect your all bills: Always tear or shred your charge receipts, credit applications, insurance forms, bank statements, expired charge cards, and preapproved credit offers. Additionally, put all outgoing mail in mailboxes or at your local post office and promptly take your mail from your mailbox after it’s delivered. If you’re going on vacation, call your post office to request a vacation hold.
#
Step 3
PROTECT YOUR CREDIT CARDS.
Keep the number of cards you carry in your wallet to a minimum. If you lose a card, contact the fraud division of your credit card company. If you apply for a new card and it doesn’t come in a reasonable amount of time, contact the card issuer. Watch cashiers whenever you give them your card for a purchase. Whenever you receive a new card, sign it in permanent ink and activate it immediately.
In addition, pay attention to your credit card billing cycles. Contact creditors if your bills arrive late or not at all. Missing bills could mean an identity thief has taken over your credit card account and changed the billing address.
#
Step 4
PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AT HOME.
Make sure you keep all personal information about you in a secure place in your home especially if you are having work done, employ outside help, or live with a roommate.
#
Step 5
PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AT WORK.
Verify that your personal information is kept in a secure location and is only accessible to employees with a legitimate reason to review it.
#
Step 6
BE CAREFUL WITH PASSWORDS AND PINS.
In general, it’s best to memorize passwords and personal identification numbers instead of carrying them with you. Avoid using obvious or easily available information such as: your name or birth date, your mother’s maiden name, the last 4 digits of your SSN or phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers or letters.
#
Step 7
MONITOR YOUR CREDIT REPORT.
To guard against identity theft, check your credit report regularly to ensure that the information it contains is true and accurate. Report any suspicious looking information to the credit agency.
#
Step 8
BE VIGILANT!
But if you ever suspect that you might be the victim of possible identity theft, you can place an Initial 90 day Fraud Alert by calling any of the 3 national credit reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian. The agency that accepts your request will notify the other 2 agencies, and will add the alert to your file or request additional information. You will receive a confirmation when the alert is added to your file.
Protect yourself from credit card scams
* NEVER send money, or give credit card or online account details to anyone you do not know and trust.
* Check your bank account and credit card statements when you get them. If you see a transaction you cannot explain, report it to your credit union or bank.
* Keep your credit card and ATM cards safe. Do not share your personal identity number (PIN) with anyone. Do not keep any written copy of your PIN with the card.
* Choose passwords that would be difficult for anyone else to guess.
* Try to avoid using public computers (at libraries or internet cafes) to do your internet banking.
* Do not use software on your computer that auto-completes online forms. This can give internet scammers easy access to your personal and credit card details.
* Do not give out your personal, credit card or online account details over the phone unless you made the call and the phone number came from a trusted source.
* Never send your personal, credit card or online account details through an email.
If you are buying something over the telephone or internet and want to use your credit card, make sure you know and trust the other party. If you want to provide your credit card details to a telemarketer, take their name and call them back on a phone number you find independently (i.e., not a number they give to you).
Check over your credit card and bank account statements as soon as you get them so that if anybody is using your account without your permission you can tell your bank.
Whenever you want to give out your credit card details, ask yourself if it is safe to do so. If you are very careful with your credit card and PIN, you can greatly reduce the chances of your credit card details ending up with a scammer.
So how do you protect yourself? You know the answer.
by Rohit Sharma for Gyandotcom
जी हां ये है झांसी की रानी की 1850 मैं खींची गई मूल तस्वीर, जिसे सन 1850 में अंग्रेज फोटोग्राफर हॉफमैन ने लिया था। पिछले दिनों विश्व फोटोग्राफी दिवस यानि 19 अगस्त को पद्मश्री वामन ठाकरे द्वारा खींचे गए छायाचित्रों, कैनवास पे उकेरे चित्रों, लेखन कार्य और अन्य कलाकृतियों की प्रदर्शनी का आयोजन भोपाल में किया गया था। इस प्रदर्शनी में उनके विशेष आग्रह पे अहमदाबाद के एक एंटिक संग्रहकर्ता ने यह छायाचित्र भेजा था।Communication link with Chandrayaan-1 broke on Saturday 29-8-2009
India’s moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, came to an abrupt end today after communication link with the spacecraft snapped. The spacecraft, which has 11 instruments on board including six from overseas, will now continue to orbit the moon and may eventually taste the lunar dust. Launched on October 22 last year, it was expected to orbit the moon for two years.
“We lost communication link with the spacecraft for the first time in the wee hours of Saturday. Attempts to re-establish contact have been futile. The mission is as good as lost,” Indian Space Research Organisation Director S Satish said. “We may have to abandon the spacecraft if we are not able to establish radio contact with it again,” he added. “The mission is definitely over. We have lost contact with the spacecraft,” Chandrayaan-1 Project Director M Annadurai told to gyandotcom.
The problem surfaced at 0130 hrs when ISRO suddenly lost radio contact with the spacecraft. Since then it has neither been able to receive nor send any data to the spacecraft. The Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bangalore received data from Chandrayaan-1 up to 0025 hrs. A detailed review of the telemetry data received from the spacecraft is in progress and health of the spacecraft subsystems is being analysed, said a statement from ISRO.
The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The project cost was around Rs 390 crore. The 1,380 kg spacecraft has completed 312 days in space and has made over 3,400 orbits around the moon. It has provided large volume of data from sophisticated sensors, and has met most of the scientific objectives of the mission.
ISRO had said last month that Chandrayaan-1 had sent more than 70,000 images of the lunar surface which provide breathtaking views of lunar mountains and craters, especially craters in the permanently shadowed areas of the moon’s polar region. It was also collecting valuable data pertaining to the chemical and mineral content of earth’s satellite. “It ( Chandrayaan-1) has done its job technically…100 per cent. Scientifically also, it has done 90-95 percent of its job,” PTI quoted Annadurai as saying.
However, in July, Chandrayaan-1 had developed a malfunction that put some experiments in jeopardy – it had lost a vital sensor. ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair had said that scientists had worked around the problem and patched two other instruments to help the spacecraft to the desired locations.
It was then that he had indicated that the life of Chandrayaan-1 may be reduced.
Still, on August 21, ISRO and NASA performed a unique joint experiment that the Indian space agency said could yield additional information on the possible existence of ice in a permanently shadowed crater near the North pole of the moon.
The idea of undertaking an Indian scientific mission to Moon was first mooted in a meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999 that was followed up by discussions in the Astronautical Society of India in 2000.
But it was only in November 2003 that the government approved ISRO’s proposal for the first Indian Moon Mission called Chandrayaan-1.
The government had also announced its plans to launch Chandrayaan-2, the second unmanned lunar exploration mission proposed by ISRO, at a cost of around Rs 450 crore.
The mission will include a lunar orbiter as well as a lander/rover.
However, the abrupt end of Chandrayyan-1 may now raise doubts about its proposed launch in 2012.

In the next six months the team will wrestle with the details of launching such a mission, including its cost-effectiveness and the areas in which Indian scientists can significantly add to the mountain of knowledge that has already been collected about the moon. It will form the basis of a project report that ISRO will submit to the Central Government for approval. The objective: to have an Indian lunar mission sent up by October 2008. “As a motivator, it will electrify the nation,” Kasturirangan explained last week. “If we go ahead, it will demonstrate to the world that India is capable of taking up a complex mission that is at the cutting edge of space. The spins-offs for us are going to be many.”first planetary mission, Chandrayaan-1, has now been rescheduled to take place in the first week of July as the mission personnel work overtime to sort out payload integration and launch-related issues. “We are targeting the end of June. We will try to make it in the first week of July,” a senior scientist associated with the Rs 386 crore moon mission told here on Monday on condition of anonymity.
The lunar mission was originally scheduled for April this year, a time-frame targeted four years ago to get all the payloads well ahead of time and to galvanise the scientists into mission mode with a target to work on.
Indian Space Research Organisation officials insisted that there are no hardware problems and that the space agency is moving more cautiously to ensure that all systems are well tested before and after integration at each stage.
The 525-kg lunar orbiter will carry as many as 11 instruments (payloads), including six from overseas — two from the US and one each from Britain, Sweden, Germany and Bulgaria.
“Normally we have 2-3 instruments (on board satellite). For the first time, we have 11 instruments from different institutions. We have to ensure that the integration work takes place to our satisfaction
Project Director of Chandrayaan-1.
Stressing on inter-compatibility of various instruments on board, Annadurai said ISRO is working on ensuring that “all the systems (one system) does not disturb other systems’ performance”. “Any system of this volume will have its own issues that need to be solved before proceeding to the next step,” he said.
“The issue gets compounded as the organisations are many. When we do this, it will add to taking away schedule cushions. Just to keep the launch target, we don’t want to overlook any issue that will compromise the unqualified success of the mission”.
ISRO had earlier proposed to launch the lunar probe on April 9 and if not on that day, then on April 23.
“If systems (once integrated and with propellants loaded) are kept for 14 days, then there could be some deterioration”, he said, adding, ISRO is now working on a strategy that would allow it to have more number of launch opportunities. “We have almost arrived at a strategy”.
ISRO would keep a half-an-hour launch window on a given day, and if it is not in a position for the mission during that period, it could be done in the subsequent two days as well, Annadurai explained.While the spacecraft itself will not land on the Moon, it will act as an orbiter and land a rover on the surface. The spacecraft is being launched next month sometime between October 22 and October 26 2008. The spacecraft payload includes 11 payloads (including one from NASA) and will perform remote sensing and studies of the lunar surface. The mission is estimated to cost Rs 386 crore (~ 84.3 million USD).”

The Working Model of Chandrayaan-1
How it Works?
The primary objectives of the Chandrayaan-1 mission are simultaneous chemical, mineralogicaland topographic mapping of the lunar surface at high spatial resolution. These data should enableus to understand compositional variation of major elements, which in turn, should lead to a betterunderstanding of the stratigraphic relationships between various litho units occurring on the lunarsurface. The major element distribution will be determined using an X-ray fluorescence spectro-meter (LEX), sensitive in the energy range of 1–10 keV where Mg, Al, Si, Ca and Fe give their Kαlines. A solar X-ray monitor (SXM) to measure the energy spectrum of solar X-rays, which areresponsible for the fluorescent X-rays, is included. Radioactive elements like Th will be measured byits 238.6 keV line using a low energy gamma-ray spectrometer (HEX) operating in the 20–250 keVregion. The mineral composition will be determined by a hyper-spectral imaging spectrometer(HySI) sensitive in the 400–920 nm range. The wavelength range is further extended to 2600 nmwhere some spectral features of the abundant lunar minerals and water occur, by using a near-infrared spectrometer (SIR-2), similar to that used on the Smart-1 mission, in collaboration withESA. A terrain mapping camera (TMC) in the panchromatic band will provide a three-dimensionalmap of the lunar surface with a spatial resolution of about 5m. Aided by a laser altimeter (LLRI)to determine the altitude of the lunar craft, to correct for spatial coverage by various instruments,TMC should enable us to prepare an elevation map with an accuracy of about 10m.Four additional instruments under international collaboration are being considered. These are:a Miniature Imaging Radar Instrument (mini-SAR), Sub Atomic Reflecting Analyser (SARA),the Moon Mineral Mapper (M3) and a Radiation Monitor (RADOM). Apart from these scientificpayloads, certain technology experiments have been proposed, which may include an impactorwhich will be released to land on the Moon during the mission.Salient features of the mission are described here. The ensemble of instruments onboardChandrayaan-1 should enable us to accomplish the science goals defined for this mission.Chandrayaan-1 is a remote sensing mission pro-posed to be launched from the Satish DhawanLaunch Station at Sriharikota in 2007 by theIndian Space Research Organization using thePolar Satellite Launch Vehicle. It will be injectedinto 240×36,000 km Elliptic Transfer Orbit (ETO)around the Earth and will be inserted in a circum-lunar orbit (LOI) via Lunar Transfer Trajectory(LTT). The launch profile is discussed in detail inan accompanying paper (Adimurthy et al 2005). Itwill enter the lunar orbit at about 1000 km altitudeand brought down to 100 km polar circular orbitin one or two stages. The lunar craft is designedto orbit the moon for a period of two years duringwhich it will carry out chemical, mineralogical andtopographic study of the lunar surface.There are several questions which are critical forunderstanding the formation and early evolution-ary history of the Moon, and the Chandrayaan-1mission objectives have been formulated keepingthis in mind.The main objective of the mission is simultane-ous chemical, mineral and topographic mappingwith the specific goal of understanding the earlyevolution of the Moon. Chemical stratigraphy canprovide better estimation of the average lunar com-position and processes responsible for chemical dif-ferentiation of the Moon. Transport of volatiles,specifically water, and their deposition in thecolder regions of the Moon and degassing of theMoon can be understood by using radon and itsdaughter nuclide210Pb as tracers.
When
Chandrayaan-1 planned to be launched in 2008 using spacecraft and launch vehicle of ISRO. The mission is expected to have an operational life of about 2 years.
The idea of undertaking an Indian scientific mission to Moon was initially mooted in a meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999 that was followed up by discussions in the Astronautical Society of India in 2000. Based on the recommendations made by the learned members of these forums, a National Lunar Mission Task Force was constituted by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Leading Indian scientists and technologists participated in the deliberations of the Task Force that provided an assessment on the feasibility of an Indian Mission to the Moon as well as dwelt on the focus of such a mission and its possible configuration.
Government of India approved ISRO’s proposal for Chandrayaan-1 in November 2003.
Chandrayaan will be ready to launch in between October 19 and October 28.
chandrayaan 1 is now in lunar orbit. the scientific objective of the mission is
| The Chandrayaan-1 mission is aimed at high-resolution remote sensing of the moon in visible, near infrared (NIR), low energy X-rays and high-energy X-ray regions. Specifically the objectives are | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Simultaneous photo geological, mineralogical and chemical mapping through Chandrayaan-1 mission will enable identification of different geological units to infer the early evolutionary history of the Moon. The chemical mapping will enable to determine the stratigraphy and nature of the Moon’s crust and thereby test certain aspects of magma ocean hypothesis. This may allow to determine the compositions of impactors that bombarded the Moon during its early evolution which is also relevant to the formation of the Earth.
|
by Gyandotcom
December 12-12-2012
End of Days
By Rohit Sharma
Over 200 predictions and counting!
Yes the end is coming, but all human predictions are wrong!
Mathew 24:35-36 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” Jesus Christ.
Will the world end in Dec 21-12-2012? No, it won’t.
Will there be a major cataclysm in 2012? Quite possibly.
This page examines some of the significances behind the date of December 12, 2012.
We are currently in a period of eleven years all of which have a day with the last two digits of the year repeated three times in mm/dd/yy form (or dd/mm/yy or yy/mm/dd). So May 5, 2005 was 05/05/05; June 6, 2006 will be 06/06/06; July 7, 2007 will be 07/07/07, etc. So what’s going to happen on December 12, 2012?
December 12, 2012 is 6 years, 6 months, 6 days from June 6, 2006, or 6/6/6 (or 2381 days)
December 12, 2012 is 7 years from December 12, 2005 (or 2557 days). Are we now in the Seven Year Tribulation Period?
December 12, 2012 is 11 years, 3 months, 1 day from September 11, 2001 (or 4110 days)
Why 2012?
THE HOW AND WHY OF THE MAYAN END DATE IN DEC 12-12-2012 A.D
Midnight ¾ April 5 , 2008.
Monday, April 07, 2008 The Logic behind.
Why did the ancient Mayan or pre-Maya choose December 21st, 2012 A.D., as the end of their Long Count calendar? This article will cover some recent research. Scholars have known for decades that the 13-baktun cycle of the Mayan “Long Count” system of timekeeping was set to end precisely on a winter solstice, and that this system was put in place some 2300 years ago. This amazing fact – that ancient Mesoamerica- can sky watchers were able to pinpoint a winter solstice far off into the future – has not been dealt with by Mayanists. And why did they choose the year 2012? One immediately gets the impression that there is a very strange mystery to be confronted here. I will be building upon a clue to this mystery reported by epigrapher Linda Schele in Maya Cosmos (1994). Visionary Perspectives and Calendar Studies (Borderlands Science and Research Foundation, 1994).
The Mayan Long Count
Just some basics to get us started. The Maya were adept sky watchers. Their Classic Period is thought to have lasted from 200 A.D. to 900 A.D., but recent archeological findings are pushing back the dawn of Mayan civilization in Mesoamerica. Large ruin sites indicating high culture with distinctly Mayan antecedents are being found in the jungles of Guatemala dating back to before the Common Era. And even before this, the Olmec civilization flourished and developed the sacred count of 260 days known as the tzolkin. The early Maya adopted two different time keeping systems, the “Short Count” and the Long Count. The Short Count derives from combining the tzolkin cycle with the solar year and the Venus cycle of 584 days. In this way, “short” periods of 13, 52 and 104 years are generated. Unfortunately, we won’t have occasion to dwell on the properties of the so-called Short Count system here. The Long Count system is somewhat more abstract, yet is also related to certain astronomical cycles. It is based upon nested cycles of days multiplied at each level by that key Mayan number, twenty:
Number of Days / Term
1 / Kin (day)
20 / Uinal
360 / Tun
7200 / Katun
glyphs represent periods of time.
| k’in= day winal = 20 day month tun = 360 day long count year (18 winal) katun = 7200 days (20 tun) baktun = 144000 days (20 katun) |
The periods are listed from largest to smallest in the inscriptions. Each period glyph is preceded by a number, usually written in “dot and bar” form: Bar = 5, and dot = 1. Zero is indicated by a “shell” glyph. The first numbered glyph here reads 9 baktun. It counts 9 x 144000 = 1296000 days since creation. The long count is the sum of the multiples of each of the five periods.
| The example can written (in the short-hand used by Mayanists) from baktun to k’in as 9.16.0.2.0. This is a total count of (9 x 144,000) + (16 x 7200) + (0 x 360) + (2 x 20) + (0 x 1) = 1411240 days. |
Notice that the only exception to multiplying by twenty is at the tun level, where the uinal period is instead multiplied by 18 to make the 360-day tun. The Maya employed this counting system to track an unbroken sequence of days from the time it was inaugurated. The Mayan scholar Munro Edmonson believes that the Long Count was put in place around 355 B.C. This may be so, but the oldest Long Count date as yet found corresponds to 32 B.C. We find Long Count dates in the archeological record beginning with the baktun place value and separated by dots. For example: 6.19.19.0.0 equals 6 baktuns, 19 katuns, 19 tuns, 0 uinals and 0 days. Each baktun has 144000 days, each katun has 7200 days, and so on. If we add up all the values we find that 6.19.19.0.0 indicates a total of 1007640 days have elapsed since the Zero Date of 0.0.0.0.0. The much discussed 13-baktun cycle is completed 1872000 days (13 baktuns) after 0.0.0.0.0. This period of time is the so called Mayan “Great Cycle” of the Long Count and equals 5125.36 years.
But how are we to relate this to a time frame we can understand? How does this Long Count relate to our Gregorian calendar? This problem of correlating Mayan time with “western” time has occupied Mayan scholars since the beginning. The standard question to answer became: what does 0.0.0.0.0 (the Long Count “beginning” point) equal in the Gregorian calendar? When this question is answered, archeological inscriptions can be put into their proper historical context and the end date of the 13-baktun cycle can be calculated. After years of considering data from varied fields such as astronomy, ethnography, archeology and iconography, J. Eric S. Thompson determined that 0.0.0.0.0 corresponded to the Julian date 584283, which equals August 11th, 3114 B.C. in our Gregorian calendar. This means that the end date of 13.0.0.0.0, some 5125 years later, is December 21st, 2012 A.D.1
The relationship between the Long Count and Short Count has always been internally consistent (both were tracked alongside each other in an unbroken sequence since their conception). Now it is very interesting to note that an aspect of the “Short Count”, namely, the sacred tzolkin count of 260 days, is still being followed in the highlands of Guatemala. As the Mayan scholar Munro Edmonson shows in The Book of the Year, this last surviving flicker of a calendar tradition some 3000 years old supports the Thompson correlation of 584283. Edmonson also states that the Long Count was begun by the Maya or pre-Maya around 355 B.C., but there is reason to believe that the Long Count system was being perfected for at least 200 years prior to that date.
The point of interest for these early astronomers seems to have been the projected end date in 2012 A.D., rather than the beginning date in 3114 B.C. Having determined the end date in 2012 (for reasons we will come to shortly), and calling it 13.0.0.0.0, they thus proclaimed themselves to be living in the 6th baktun of the Great Cycle. The later Maya certainly attributed much mythological significance to the beginning date, relating it to the birth of their deities, but it now seems certain that the placement of the Long Count hinges upon its calculated end point. Why did early Mesoamerican sky watchers pick a date some 2300 years into the future and, in fact, how did they pinpoint an accurate winter solstice? With all these considerations one begins to suspect that, for some reason, the ancient New World astronomers were tracking precession.
The Precession
The precession of the equinoxes, also known as the Platonic Year, is caused by the slow wobbling of the earth’s polar axis. Right now this axis roughly points to Polaris, the “Pole Star,” but these changes slowly over long periods of time. The earth’s wobble causes the position of the seasonal quarters to slowly process against the background of stars. For example, right now, the winter solstice position is in the constellation of Sagittarius. But 2000 years ago it was in Capricorn. Since then, it has processed backward almost one full sign. It is generally thought that the Greek astronomer Hipparchus was the first to discover precession around 128 B.C. Yet scholarship indicates that more ancient Old World cultures such as the Egyptians and Babylonians also knew about the precession.
I have concluded that even cultures with simple horizon astronomy and oral records passed down for a hundred years or so, would notice the slow shifting of the heavens. For example, imagine that you lived in an environment suited for accurately demarcated horizon astronomy. Even if this wasn’t the case, you might erect monoliths to sight the horizon position of, most likely, the dawning winter solstice sun. This position in relation to background stars could be accurately preserved in oral verse or wisdom teachings, to be passed down for centuries. Since precession will change this position at the rate of 1 degree every 72 years, within the relatively short time of 100 years or so, a noticeable change will have occurred. The point of this is simple. To early cultures attuned to the subtle movements of the sky, precession would not have been hard to notice.
The Details of the Calanders
The numbers before the day and month names in the Java calendar designate the date in each of the two Mayan calendars. The Mayans used two calendars running simultaneously.
The first is the religious calendar year of 260 days (numbers 1-13 X 20 day names).
The second is the solar calendar year of 365 days (20 days per month X18 months + 5 days in Uayeb). Uayeb is an unlucky period of the year used to synchronize the calendar with the sun. It was a period of many rituals and great sacrifices.
Together, the two calendars name the unique date in a 52 year cycle called the “Calendar Round.”
The second set of numbers, #.#.#.#.#, is called the Long Count date. It is a day by day count of days since the beginning of time for the Mayans.
The procession of numbers though the long count is much like an odometer, the numbers increasing in value from right to left, and the rollers counting through the following numbers: (0-12).(0-19).(0-19).(0-17).(0-20)
For example, 7/28/98 which has a long count value of 12.19.05.07.00 would be calculated
(12*144000) + (19*7200) + (5*360) + (7*20) + (0*1) to find out the number of days since this calendar has been running. This happens to be 1866740 days or about 5000 years. This is a very ancient calendar.
Solar Sun Calander (Below)

The Maya are not generally credited with knowing about the precession of the equinoxes. But considering everything else we know about the amazing sophistication of Mesoamerican astronomy, can we realistically continue to deny them this? Many of the as yet undeciphered hieroglyphs may ultimately describe processional myths. Visionary Perspectives and Calendar Studies, the Long Count is perfectly suited for predicting future seasonal quarters, indefinitely, and precession is automatically accounted for. Some of the most incredible aspects of Mayan cosmo-conception are just now being discovered. As was the case with the state of Egyptology in the 1870’s, we still have a lot to learn. In addition, Mayanists like Gordon Brothers ton (The Book of the Fourth World) considers processional knowledge among Mesoamerican cultures to be more than likely.
The Sacred Tree
We are still trying to answer these questions: What is so important about the winter solstice of 2012 and, exactly how were calculations made so accurately, considering that precession should make them exceedingly difficult?
If we make a standard horoscope chart for December 21st, 2012 A.D., nothing very unusual appears. In this way I was led astray in my search until Linda Schele provided a clue. Probably the most exciting breakthrough is her identification of the astronomical meaning of the Mayan Sacred Tree. Drawing from an impressive amount of iconographic evidence, and generously sharing the process by which she arrived at her discovery, the Sacred Tree is found to be none other than the crossing point of the ecliptic with the band of the Milky Way. Indeed, the Milky Way seems to have played an important role in Mayan imagery. For example, an incised bone from 8th century Tikal depicts a long sinking canoe containing various deities. This is a picture of the night sky and the canoe is the Milky Way, sinking below the horizon as the night progresses, and carrying with it deities representing the nearby constellations. The incredible Mayan site of Palanquin is filled with Sacred Tree motifs and references to astronomical events suggested that the Sacred Tree referred to the ecliptic. Apparently that was only part of the picture, for the Sacred Tree that Pacal ascends in death is more than just the ecliptic, it is the sacred doorway to the underworld. The crossing point of Milky Way and ecliptic is this doorway and represents the sacred source and origin. In the following diagram of the well known sarcophagus carving, notice that the Milky Way tree serves as an extension of Pacal’s umbilicus. The umbilicus is a human being’s entrance into life, and entrance into death as well:

Here is a full view of the sky at noon on December 21st, 2012 A.D. The band of the Milky Way can be seen stretching from the lower right to the upper left. The more or less vertical dotted line indicates the Galactic Equator. The planets can be seen tracing a roughly horizontal path through the chart, indicating the ecliptic. The sun, quite strikingly, is dead center in the Sacred Tree. Let’s look closer.
The field is now reduced to a 5-degree span, what astrology considers to be within conjunction. The dot to the lower right of the sun is the star 4 Sgr. Amazingly, the Sun is right on target. We couldn’t have hoped for a closer conjunction. 1 day before or after will remove the sun a noticeable distance from the crossing point. December 21st, 2012 (13.0.0.0.0 in the Long Count) therefore represents an extremely close conjunction of the winter solstice sun with the crossing point of Galactic Equator and the ecliptic, what the ancient Maya recognized as the Sacred Tree. It is critical to understand that the winter solstice sun rarely conjuncts the Sacred Tree. In fact, this is an event that has been coming to resonance very slowly over thousands and thousands of years. What this might mean astrologically, how this might effect the “energy weather” on earth, must be treated as a separate topic.
But I should at least mention in passing that this celestial convergence appears to parallel the accelerating pace of human civilization. It should be noted that because precession is a very slow process, similar astronomical alignments will be evident on the winter solstice dates within perhaps 5 years on either side of 2012. However, the accuracy of the conjunction of 2012 is quite astounding, beyond anything deemed calculable by the ancient Maya, and serves well to represent the perfect mid-point of the process.
Let’s go back to the dawn of the Long Count and try to reconstruct what may have been happening.
Why
: Winter Solstice Sun Conjuncts the Sacred Tree in 2012 A.D.
First, the tzolkin count originated among the Olmec at least as early as 679 B.C. (see Edmondson’s Book of the Year). We may suspect that astronomical observations were being made from at least that point. The tzolkin count has been followed unbroken since at least that time, up to the present day, demonstrating the high premium placed by the Maya upon continuity of tradition. In this way, star records, horizon positions of the winter solstice sun, and other pertinent observations could also have been accurately preserved. As suggested above, precession can be noticed by way of even simple horizon astronomy in as little time as 100 to 150 years. (Hipparchus, the alleged “discoverer” of precession among the Greeks, compared his own observations with data collected only 170 years before his time.) Following Edmonson, the Long Count system may have appeared as early as 355 B.C. Part of the reason for implementing the Long Count system, as I will show, was probably to calculate future winter solstice dates.
We must assume that even at this early point in Mesoamerican history, the crossing point of ecliptic and Milky Way was understood as the “Sacred Tree”. Since the Sacred Tree concept is intrinsically tied into the oldest Mayan Creation Myths, this is not improbable. At the very least, the “dark rift” was already a recognized feature. Early sky watchers of this era (355 B.C.) would then observe the sun to conjunct the dark ridge in the Milky Way on or around November 18th.5 this would be easily observed in the pre-dawn sky as described above: the Milky Way points to the rising sun on this date.
Over a relatively short period of time, as an awareness of precession was emerging, this date was seen to slowly approach winter solstice, a critical date in its own right in early Mayan cosmo-conception. At this point, precession and the rate of precession was calculated, the Long Count was perfected and inaugurated, and the appropriate winter solstice date in 2012 A.D. was found via the Long Count in the following way.
How:
Long Count and Seasonal Quarters
Long Count Katun beginnings will conjunct sequential seasonal quarters every 1.7.0.0.0 days (194400 days). This is an easily tracked Long Count interval. Starting with the katun beginning of 650 B.C.:
Long Count Which Quarter? Year
6.5.0.0.0 Fall 650 B.C.
7.12.0.0.0 Winter 118 B.C.
8.19.0.0.0 Spring 416 A.D.
10.6.0.0.0 Summer 948 A.D.
11.13.0.0.0 Fall 1480 A.D.
13.0.0.0.0 Winter 2012 A.D.
Note
that the last date is not only a katun beginning, but a baktun beginning as well. It is, indeed, the end date of 2012.6
The Long Count may have been officially inaugurated on a specific date in 355 B.C., as Edmonson suggests, but it must have been formulated, tried, tested, and proven before this date. This may well have taken centuries, and the process no doubt paralleled (and was perhaps instigated by) the discovery of precession. The Long Count system automatically accounts for precession in its ability to calculate future seasonal quarters – a property which shouldn’t be underestimated.
Mayan Zodiac Signs

Mayans Zodic Singns (Above) Original Mayan Calander( below)

tzolk’in
cycles. The Venus table is carried out even further, but only to ensure that it runs from a tzolk’in date of 1 Ahaw to another occurrence of 1 Ahaw on a day when Venus again rises with the sun.
This is likely the image of the sky the Palenque scribes had in mind when they carved the glyphs that tell us that Hun- Nal-Ye “entered the sky” and “made proper the Raised-up-Sky Place” on Feb 5 in 3112 BC. The god who raises the sky in the Palenque Creation story is the Maize God, Hun- Nal-Ye, “one sprout revealed”. In the Popol Vuh, the gods created true humans out of corn meal. It is the stuff of life. In one of its guises the World Tree is a corn plant. At Palenque, the cosmic World Tree is paired with another, the “Foliated Cross”, with images of the Maize God’s head in its branches, like cobs of corn.
Summary
This has been my attempt to fill a vacuum in Mayan Studies, an answer to the why and how of the end date of the 13-baktun cycle of the Mayan Long Count. The solution requires a shift in how we think about the astronomy of the Long Count end date. The strange fact that it occurs on a winter solstice immediately points us to possible astronomical reasons, but they are not obvious. We also shouldn’t forget the often mentioned fact that the 13-baktun cycle of some 5125 years is roughly 1/5th of a processional cycle. This in itself should have been suggestive of a deeper mystery very early on. Only with the recent identification of the astronomical nature of the Sacred Tree has the puzzle revealed its fullness. And once again we are amazed at the sophistication and vision of the ancient New World astronomers, the descendants of whom still count the days and watch the skies in the remote outback’s of Guatemala.
This essay is not contrived upon sketchy evidence. It basically rests upon two facts:
1) The well known end date of the 13-baktun cycle of the Mayan Long Count, which is December 21st, 2012 A.D. and
2) The astronomical situation on that day. Based upon these two facts alone, the creators of the Long Count knew about and calculated the rate of precession over 2300 years ago. I can conceive of no other conclusion. To explain this away as “coincidence” would only obscure the issue.
For early Mesoamerican sky watchers, the slow approach of the winter solstice sun to the Sacred Tree was seen as a critical process, the culmination of which was surely worthy of being called 13.0.0.0.0, the end of a World Age. The channel would then be open through the winter solstice doorway, up the Sacred Tree, the Xibalba be , to the center of the churning heavens, the Heart of Sky.
2004 and 2012 Transits of
Venus
Transits of Venus across the disk of the Sun are among the rarest of planetary alignments. Indeed, only six such events have occurred since the invention of the telescope (1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874 and 1882). The next two transits of Venus will occur on 2004 June 08 and 2012 June 06.
The principal events occurring during a transit are characterized by contacts. The event begins with contact I which is the instant when the planet’s disk is externally tangent with the Sun. The entire disk of the Venus is first seen at contact II when the planet is internally tangent with the Sun. During the next several hours, Venus gradually traverses the solar disk at a relative angular rate of approximately 4 arc-min/hr. At contact III, the planet reaches the opposite limb and is once again internally tangent with the Sun. The transit ends at contact IV when the planet’s limb is externally tangent to the Sun. Contacts I and II define the phase called ingress while contacts III and IV are known as egress. Greatest transit is the instant of minimum angular separation between Venus and the Sun as seen from Earth’s geocenter.(Low Res or High Res) illustrates the geocentric observing geometry of each transit across the Sun (celestial north is up). The 2004 transit crosses the Sun’s southern hemisphere while the 2012 event crosses the northern hemisphere. The position of Venus at each contact is shown along with its path as a function of Universal Time. Each transit lasts over six hours. The apparent semi-diameters of Venus and the Sun are 29 arc-seconds and 945 arc-seconds respectively. This 1:32.6 diameter ratio results in an effective 0.001 magnitude drop in the Sun’s integrated magnitude due to the transit. Geocentric contact times and instant of greatest transit appear to the left corners of (Low Res or High Res).
Geographic Visibility of 2004 June 08
The global visibility of the 2004 transit is illustrated with the world map in Figure 2 (Low Res or High Res). The entire transit (all four contacts) is visible from Europe, Africa (except western parts), Middle East, and most of Asia (except eastern parts). The Sun sets while the transit is still in progress from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, easternmost China and Southeast Asia. Similarly, the Sun rises with the transit already in progress for observers in western Africa, eastern North America, the Caribbean and most of South America. None of the transit will be visible from southern Chile or Argentina, western North America, Hawaii or New Zealand.
The horizontal parallax of Venus (~ 30 arc-secs) introduces a topocentric correction of up to ±7 minutes with respect to the geocentric contact times for observers at different geographic locations. Topocentric contact times (Universal Time) and corresponding altitudes of the Sun are presented for over one hundred cities in Geographic Visibility of 2012 June 06
The global visibility of the 2012 transit is (Low Res or High Res). The entire transit (all four contacts) is visible from northwestern North America, Hawaii, the western Pacific, northern Asia, Japan, Korea, eastern China, Philippines, eastern Australia, and New Zealand. The Sun sets while the transit is still in progress from most of North America, the Caribbean, and northwest South America. Similarly, the transit is already in progress at sunrise for observers in central Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and eastern Africa,. No portion of the transit will be visible from Portugal or southern Spain, western Africa, and the southeastern 2/3 of South America.
The horizontal parallax of Venus (~ 30 arc-secs) introduces a topocentric correction of up to ±7 minutes with respect to the geocentric contact times for observers at different geographic locations. Topocentric contact times (Universal Time) and corresponding altitudes of the Sun are presented for over one hundred cities.
Frequency of Transits
Transits of Venus are only possible during early December and early June when Venus’s orbital nodes pass across the Sun. If Venus reaches inferior conjunction at this time, a transit will occur. Transits show a clear pattern of recurrence at intervals of 8, 121.5, 8 and 105.5 years. The next pair of Venus transits occur over a century from now on 2117 Dec 11 and 2125 Dec 08.
Edmund Halley first realized that transits of Venus could be used to measure the Sun’s distance, thereby establishing the absolute scale of the solar system from Kepler’s third law. Unfortunately, his method proved impractical since contact timings of the desired accuracy are impossible due to the effects of atmospheric seeing and diffraction. Nevertheless, the 1761 and 1769 expeditions to observe the transits of Venus gave astronomers their first good value for the Sun’s distance.
The planet Mercury can also transit the Sun. Since Mercury orbits the Sun more quickly than does Venus, it undergoes transits much more frequently. There are about 13 or 14 transits of Mercury each century. All Mercury transits fall within several days of 8 May and 10 November. During November transits, Mercury is near perihelion and exhibits a disk only 10 arc-seconds in diameter. By comparison, the planet is near aphelion during May transits and appears 12 arc-seconds across. However, the probability of a May transit is smaller by a factor of almost two. Mercury’s slower orbital motion at aphelion makes it less likely to cross the node during the critical period. November transits recur at intervals of 7, 13, or 33 years while May transits recur only over the latter two intervals. The next two transits of Mercury are on 2003 May 07 , 2006 and Nov 2008.
The sky on December 21st, 2012 A.D. showing a rare astronomical alignment – The winter solstice sun is right in the “dark rift” in the Milky Way.The Milky Way Galaxy is the inspiration for the symbol of the Ouroboros. Myth refers to a serpent of light residing in the heavens. The Milky Way is this serpent, and viewed at galactic central point near sagittarius, this serpent eats its own tail
the Solar Eclipse on May 20 2012 shows the planatery positions see below

In 2012 the centre of the Galaxy is at 0 degree of the Western zodiacal sign Capricorn. 0 degree Capricorn is the point of the zodiac where the Sun is during the December solstice.
At December 21, 11.12 GMT during the December solstice the Sun is at the exact centre of the Galaxy. According to the Mayas the center of the Galaxy is the cosmic womb: the place of dead, transformation, regeneration and rebirth. This moment shows the end of their calendar.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ASTROLOGICAL CHART
The Sun is at 0 degrees Capricorn, the point of the December solstice. It makes a sextile to Neptune, right at the beginning of Pisces. This is an almost exact sextile. The orb is less then half a degree. This aspect can point towards a spiritual experience, a loss or both.
The most important configuration is a yod which we find in the chart. This is also called the Finger of God. It looks like an arrow in the chart and it indicates change and transformations. .
The yod consists of:
1. A quincunx (150 degree aspect) between Jupiter and Pluto.
2. A quincunx between Jupiter and Saturn.
3. A central opposition (180 degree aspect) made between Jupiter and the Mercury/Venus conjunction.
The two quincunxes are almost exact, they have an orb of less then half a degree. In fact the quincunx between Jupiter and Pluto is exact at December 21 2012.
THE MEANING OF THE ASTROLOGICAL CHART
Pluto is the planet of radical transformation, death and rebirth.
Saturn is the planet of the earthly realm and of learning experiences, especially those of a more painful nature.
Jupiter is the planet of expansion. It is the focus of the yod, the planet which receives the strong energy of the other planets involved. It also expands the energy of the other planets involved (especially Saturn and Pluto).
This yod indicates transformational processes which can be painful for many.
Jupiter has a central place in this because it is the focal point of the energy. This indicates changes in our religious systems, beliefs, philosophical systems. These fall under Jupiter.
Another notable configuration is the T-square with Neptune as focal point:
Jupiter makes a square (90 degree aspect) to Neptune.
Neptune makes a square to Venus.
Venus opposes Jupiter, this is the central opposition that activates the yod.
Therefore Neptune, the planet of spirituality, ascension, confusion and floods is a cruxial planet in this chart.
Keep Reading as My Research is Going on to find the truth behind december 21-12-2012 Mayans Calander.
By Rohit Sharma

| Because 13 x 20 = 260, each day in the tzolk’in cycle has a unique name-number combination. The day 3 Ahaw repeats only after 260 days. This system may seem rather complicated, but it is really little different than combining week day names with the day of the month in our system. Thus, for example “Tuesday the 31st” might be followed by “Wednesday the lst.” |
| The tzolk’in and haab dates. The lowest common multiple of the 260 days in the tzolk’in and 365 days in the haab is 18980. This is 52 haab, just short of 52 years in our calendar. Thus a combined tzolk’in and haab date repeats only after this lapse of time. |
The calendar round was the longest calendrical period recorded by the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican peoples outside the Maya zone. Only the Maya and their pre-Classical predecessors kept the long count that fixes a date unequivocally in time.
Solar System – Did you notice? In February 2001, the Sun did a magnetic polar shift. The next one is due again in 2012. NASA scientists who monitor the Sun say that our star’s awesome magnetic field flipped 22 months ago, signaling the arrival of a solar maximum. But it wasn’t so obvious to the average human.
The Sun’s magnetic north pole, which was in the northern hemisphere just a few months ago, now points south. It’s a topsy-turvy situation, but not an unexpected one. “This always happens around the time of solar maximum,” says David Hathaway, a solar physicist at the Marshall Space Flight Center. “The magnetic poles exchange places at the peak of the sunspot cycle. In fact, it’s a good indication that Solar Max is really here.”
The Sun’s magnetic poles will remain as they are now, with the north magnetic pole pointing through the Sun’s southern hemisphere, until the year 2012 when they will reverse again. This transition happens, as far as we know, at the peak of every 11-year sunspot cycle — like clockwork.
Earth’s magnetic field also flips, but with less regularity. Consecutive reversals are spaced 5 thousand years to 50 million years apart. The last reversal happened 740,000 years ago. Some researchers think our planet is overdue for another one, but nobody knows exactly when the next reversal might occur.
Although solar and terrestrial magnetic fields behave differently, they do have something in common: their shape. During solar minimum the Sun’s field, like Earth’s, resembles that of an iron bar magnet, with great closed loops near the equator and open field lines near the poles. Scientists call such a field a “dipole.” The Sun’s dipolar field is about as strong as a refrigerator magnet, or 50 gauss (a unit of magnetic intensity). Earth’s magnetic field is 100 times weaker.
When solar maximum arrives and sunspots pepper the face of the Sun, our star’s magnetic field begins to change. Sunspots are places where intense magnetic loops — hundreds of times stronger than the ambient dipole field — poke through the photosphere.
“Meridional flows on the Sun’s surface carry magnetic fields from mid-latitude sunspots to the Sun’s poles,” explains Hathaway. “The poles end up flipping because these flows transport south-pointing magnetic flux to the north magnetic pole, and north-pointing flux to the south magnetic pole.” The dipole field steadily weakens as oppositely-directed flux accumulates at the Sun’s poles until, at the height of solar maximum, the magnetic poles change polarity and begin to grow in a new direction.
Hathaway noticed the latest polar reversal in a “magnetic butterfly diagram.” Using data collected by astronomers at the U.S. National Solar Observatory on Kitt Peak, he plotted the Sun’s average magnetic field, day by day, as a function of solar latitude and time from 1975 through the present. The result is a sort of strip chart recording that reveals evolving magnetic patterns on the Sun’s surface. “We call it a butterfly diagram,” he says, “because sunspots make a pattern in this plot that looks like the wings of a butterfly.” In the butterfly diagram, pictured below, the Sun’s polar fields appear as strips of uniform color near 90 degrees latitude. When the colors change (in this case from blue to yellow or vice versa) it means the polar fields have switched signs.
The ongoing changes are not confined to the space immediately around our star, Hathaway added. The Sun’s magnetic field envelops the entire solar system in a bubble that scientists call the “heliosphere.” The heliosphere extends 50 to 100 astronomical units (AU) beyond the orbit of Pluto. Inside it is the solar system — outside is interstellar space.
“Changes in the Sun’s magnetic field are carried outward through the heliosphere by the solar wind,” explains Steve Suess, another solar physicist at the Marshall Space Flight Center. “It takes about a year for disturbances to propagate all the way from the Sun to the outer bounds of the heliosphere.” Because the Sun rotates (once every 27 days) solar magnetic fields corkscrew outwards in the shape of an Archimedian spiral. Far above the poles the magnetic fields twist around like a child’s Slinky toy.
Because of all the twists and turns, “the impact of the field reversal on the heliosphere is complicated,” says Hathaway. Sunspots are sources of intense magnetic knots that spiral outwards even as the dipole field vanishes. The heliosphere doesn’t simply wink out of existence when the poles flip — there are plenty of complex magnetic structures to fill the void.
Or so the theory goes…. Researchers have never seen the magnetic flip happen from the best possible point of view — that is, from the top down. But now, the unique Ulysses spacecraft may give scientists a reality check. Ulysses, an international joint venture of the European Space Agency and NASA, was launched in 1990 to observe the solar system from very high solar latitudes. Every six years the spacecraft flies 2.2 AU over the Sun’s poles. No other probe travels so far above the orbital plane of the planets. “Ulysses just passed under the Sun’s south pole,” says Suess, a mission co-Investigator. “Now it will loop back and fly over the north pole in the fall.”
“This is the most important part of our mission,” he says. Ulysses last flew over the Sun’s poles in 1994 and 1996, during solar minimum, and the craft made several important discoveries about cosmic rays, the solar wind, and more. “Now we get to see the Sun’s poles during the other extreme: Solar Max. Our data will cover a complete solar cycle.”
Kindly Read the new updated post on 21-12-2012. what will happen on 21-12-2012 dooms day click below link to read
by Rohit Sharma for Gyandotcom
Updated 6-6-2009
Time Concept of the Vedas
Linear Versus Cyclic Time
The modern historical scientists’ linear concept of time strikingly resembles the traditional Judaeo-Christian concept, and it strikingly differs from that of the ancient Greeks and Indians. The cosmological ideas of several prominent Greek thinkers included a cyclic or episodic time similar to that found in the Vedic literature of India.
For example, we find in Hesiod’s Works and Days a series of ages (gold, silver, bronze, heroic, and iron) similar to the Indian yugas (ages). In both systems the quality of human life becomes progressively worse with each passing age. In On Nature, Empedocles speaks of cosmic time cycles. In Plato’s dialogues, there are descriptions of revolving time and recurring catastrophes destroying or nearly destroying human civilization. Aristotle said often in his works that the arts and sciences had been discovered many times in the past. In the teachings of Plato, Pythagoras, and Empedocles on the transmigration of the soul, the cyclical pattern extends to individual psycho-physical existence.
When Judaeo-Christian civilization arose in Europe, another understanding of time became prominent — time going forward in a straight line. Broadly speaking, this concept of time involves a unique act of cosmic creation, a unique appearance of human beings, and a unique history of salvation, culminating in a unique denouement, the last judgment. The drama occurs only once. Individually, the life of a human being mirrors this process; so, with some exceptions, orthodox Christian theologians rejected transmigration of the soul.
Modern historical sciences share the basic Judaeo-Christian assumptions about time. The universe we inhabit is a unique occurrence: Humans arose once on this planet; the history of our ancestors followed a unique though unpredestined evolutionary pathway; and the collapse of the “Big Bang” universe will bring everything to a close.
One is tempted to propose that the modern account of human evolution is a Judaeo-Christian heresy that covertly retains fundamental structures of Judaeo-Christian cosmology, eschatology, and salvation history while overtly dispensing with the scriptural account of divine intervention in the origin of species, including our own.
The Vedic Calculation of Time: The Vedic concept of time is cyclic, rotating in cycles of four yugas:
Satya-yuga: 1,728,000 human years
Treta-yuga: 1,296,000 human years
Dvapara-yuga: 864,000 human years
Kali-yuga: 432,000 human years
This yuga cycle totaling 4.32 million years is also called a maha- or divya-yuga. One thousand such cycles, 4.32 billion years, make up one day of Lord Brahma, the demigod who governs the universe. Such a day of Brahma is called a kalpa. Each of Brahma’s nights lasts as long as his day. Life is manifest on earth only during the day of Brahma. With the onset of Brahma’s night, the entire universe is devastated and plunged into darkness. When another day of Brahma begins, life again becomes manifest.
Each kalpa (day of Brahma) is divided into 14 manvantara periods, each lasting 71 yuga cycles. Preceding the first and following each manvantara period is a junction (sandhya and sandhyamsa respectively) the length of a Satya-yuga (1,728,000 years). Each manvantara period ends with a partial devastation and starts with a partial recreation of the universe.
Brahma lives 100 years, consisting of 360 days and nights (the Vedic year is based on the cycles of the moon, not the sun). Thus Brahma lives 100 x 360 kalpas = 36,000 days plus 36,000 nights. In human years, Brahma’s life span lies far beyond our power of imagination: 72,000 x 4,320,000,000 human years = 311,040,000,000,000 human years.
The life span of Brahma is identical with the duration of the universe. This time span, called a maha-kalpa, is also the duration of one breathing in and out of Maha-Vishnu, the Personality of Godhead. Maha-Vishnu lies down within the ocean of causality and sleeps. He is eternal, and He dreams the material world in His cosmic slumber. When He exhales, all the universes emanate from the pores of His skin, and a Brahma is born within each universe. When He inhales, Brahma dies, and He sucks the universes into His mouth and destroys them. With each exhalation, the entire process starts anew. This cycle goes on eternally and is therefore also called eternal time.
The four yugas can also be calculated in demigod years:
Satya-yuga: 4,800 demigod years
Treta-yuga: 3,600 demigod years
Dvapara-yuga: 2,400 demigod years
Kali-yuga : 1,200 demigod years
Each six months of human time is one day for the demigods, and another six months is one night. When the sun is in the southern side of the universe (summer in the Southern Hemisphere), the demons have day and demigods have night, and vice versa when the sun is in the Northern Hemisphere. One of our years is one of their days, and 360 of our years is one of their years.
Most demigods maintain their positions within the universe for the duration of one manvantara (age of Manu). Because the demigods live for one day of Brahma, they change their positions each manvantara and become other demigods. Since 14 manvantaras (14 Manus) reign in one day of Brahma, a total of 14 x 360 x 100 = 504,000 Manus and demigods change shifts in the lifetime of Brahma.
The Four Yugas :
The Vedic Puranas describe the four yugas as follows:
Satya-yuga, or the golden age, is the ideal age, characterized by virtue, wisdom, religion, and practically no vice or ignorance. Humans do not hate or envy each other, nor do they ever feel anxious, fearful or threatened. They solely worship the one Supreme Personality of Godhead, hear the one Veda, obey the one law, and practice the one religious process — meditation on the Supreme. People live for about 100,000 years.
In Treta-yuga vice is introduced. The good qualities that humans had in Satya-yuga reduce by one third. People introduce religious rites, sacrifices, and ceremonies. They start to act with fruitive desires, expecting a reward for their work and religious activities. They live for a maximum of 10,000 years.
In Dvapara-yuga uprightness is only half of what it was in Satya-yuga. The Vedas are divided into four parts, and only a few people study them. Sensual desires and diseases begin to well up, and injustice spreads in human civilization. People live for a maximum of 1000 years.
In Kali-yuga only one fourth of human uprightness remains and gradually reduces to nil as the age progresses. We now live in Kali-yuga, the iron age, the most degraded of the four ages (kali literally means “quarrel and hypocrisy”).
In this age men are short lived and have less intelligence. They are especially lazy in performing their spiritual duties and exceedingly slow to surrender to the Lord. They are misled, frustrated and, above all, always disturbed. The qualities of religion (truthfulness, cleanliness, forbearance and mercy) and the qualities of life (intelligence, duration of life and bodily strength and beauty) all diminish. The maximum duration of human life is 100 years, and even that is rare.
Where We Are Now
According to the Vedic scriptures, we are now in the first day of the second half of the life of Brahma (even he gets old, and he is now 50). Within this day of Brahma, we are in the seventh manvantara (of Vaivasvata Manu), in the 28th turnover of its 71 yuga cycles.
Modern astronomy calculates the beginning of the present Kali-yuga at 2:27a.m. on February 20th in the year 3102 B.C.
Man has been on the earth a lot longer than generally accepted. Space images taken by NASA reveal a mysterious ancient bridge in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka.It has been believed that there is no evidence to determine the dates of events in the Ramayanic era. Some historians of the past even refuse to acknowledge that Rama and other characters from the Ramayana even existed. However, Sage Valmiki has recorded the dates if events in detail, albeit by describing the positions of stars and planets. To decipher the astronomical encodings has not been a trivial task, and not many have attempted to do so. It should be noted that the ancient Indians had a prefect method of time measurement. They recorded the ‘tithis‘, days according to the nakshatra on which the moon prevailed, the months, the seasons and even the different Solstices. By therefore noting a particular arrangement of the astronomical bodies, which occur once in many thousand years, the dates of the events can be calculated. The correct astronomical records goes to show that Valmiki’s has chronicled an account of a true story and also, that the an advanced time measurement system was known to the Hindus (Indians) atleast 9000 years ago.
The recently discovered bridge is made of a chain of shoals 18 miles long. The bridge’s unique curvature and composition by age reveals that it is man made. Legends as well as archeological studies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to a primitive age, about 1,750,000 years ago and the bridge’s age is also almost equivalent.
This information confirms the mysterious legend of the Ramayana, recorded to have taken place in the Treta Yuga (more than 1,700,000 years ago). At that time the inhabitants in the world were much more spiritual than they are today.
THE SCIENTIFIC DATING OF THE MAHABHARAT and RAMAYANA WAR (16th OCTOBER 5562 B.C.)
(by Gyandotcom )
Is Tajmahal Really Built by Shahjahan. Gyandotcom Revealed. read the post in gyandotcom
The Mahabharat has exercised a continuous and pervasive influence on the INDIAn mind for millennia. The Mahabharat, originally written by Sage Ved Vyas in Sanskrit, has been translated and adapted into numerous languages and has been set to a variety of interpretations. Dating back to “remote antiquity”, it is still a living force in the life of the INDIAn masses.
Incidentally, the dating of the Mahabharat War has been a matter of challenge and controversy for a century or two. European scholars have maintained that the events described in the ancient Sanskrit texts are imaginary and subsequently, the Mahabharat derived to be a fictitious tale of a war fought between two rivalries. Starting from the so- called Aryan invasion into Bharat, the current Bharatiya chronology starts from the compilation of the Rigved in 1200 B.C., then come other Ved’s, Mahaveer Jain is born, then Gautam Buddha lives around 585 B.C. and the rest follows. In the meantime, the Brahmanas, Samhitas, Puranas, etc. are written and the thought contained therein is
well-absorbed among the Hindu minds. Where does the Ramayan and Mahabharat fit in ? Some say that the Ramayan follows Mahabharat and some opine otherwise. In all this anarchy of INDIAn histography, the date of the Mahabharat (the mythical story!) ranges between 1000 B.C. to 300 B.C. Sanskrit epics were academically attacked occasionally in an attempt to disprove the authenticity of the annals noted therein. For example, the European Indologiest Maxmuller, tried the interpret the astronomical evidences to prove that the observations recorded in the history.
This presents photographs (listed below) that show the Vedic influence found in such buildings as the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, and other structures in India. It also presents photos of drawings and art that have been discovered from other parts of the world, such as Arabia, Egypt, Greece and Italy, that show a definite Vedic influence. No matter whether you accept all of this or not, it nonetheless makes for an extremely fascinating and interesting story. Take a look and decide for yourself what you think. Also, let other people know about these, or download them to print and use them for your own displays in your temple, office or home. The articles listed below are practically more important than the photographs that are supplied. So be sure to read them.We have all heard how the Taj Mahal, which is considered one of the great wonders of the world, was built as the preeminent expression of a man’s love for a wife. That it was built by emperor Shah Jahan in commemoration of his wife Mumtaz. However, in our continuous effort to get to the truth, we have acquired some very important documents and information. There is evidence that the Taj Mahal was never built by Shah Jahan. Some say the Taj Mahal pre-dates Shah Jahan by several centuries and was originally built as a Hindu or Vedic temple/palace complex. Shah Jahan merely acquired it from its previous owner, the Hindu King Jai Singh.
The point to consider is how much more of India’s history has been distorted if the background of such a grand building is so inaccurate.
These photographs listed below are taken from an album that was found in India.It is because of the manipulation of history by invaders that the true greatness of India and Vedic culture has been stifled or hidden. And it is time that people everywhere realize how numerous lies and false propaganda have been passed around as if it were the truth in regard to India and its past, as well as its art, archeology, and the wonder of its culture. India and its Vedic society
The magnificent marble edifice on the banks of the river Jamuna, in the southern part of Agra city. It is generally believed by historians and laymen alike that the building was erected as a mausoleum by the 5th generation Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, and that the period of its construction was 1631-53 AD. the edifice was originally built as a temple in the 12th century AD, and was subsequently used as a palace by the alien aggressors. The building again fell into the hands of the Rajput kings during the period of Humayun, and was put to use as a palace by Raja Man Singh of Jaipur. And that it was finally commandeered by Shah Jahan from Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur, and was converted into a mausoleum.
The controversy assumes importance as it questions some of the basic premises of mediaeval Indian archeology. This Article attempts to place in perspective some of the pertinent questions that arise on the subject.
Evidence
1.The term Tajmahal itself never occurs in any mogul court paper or chronicle even in Aurangzeb’s time. The attempt to explain it away as Taj-i-mahal is therefore, ridiculous.
2.The ending “Mahal”is never muslim because in none of the muslim countries around the world from Afghanistan to Algeria is there a building known as “Mahal”.
3.The unusual explanation of the term Tajmahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal, who is buried in it, is illogical in at least two respects viz., firstly her name was never Mumtaj Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani and secondly one cannot omit the first three letters “Mum” from a woman’s name to derive the remainder as the name of the building.
4.Since the lady’s name was Mumtaz (ending with ‘Z’) the name of the building derived from her should have been Taz Mahal, if at all, and not Taj (spelled with a ‘J’).
5.Several European visitors of Shahjahan’s time allude to the building as Taj-e-Mahal is almost the correct tradition, age old Sanskrit name Tej-o-Mahalaya, signifying a Shiva temple. Contrarily Shahjahan and Aurangzeb scrupulously avoid using the Sanskrit term and call it just a holy grave.
6.The tomb should be understood to signify NOT A BUILDING but only the grave or centotaph inside it. This would help people to realize that all dead muslim courtiers and royalty including Humayun, Akbar, Mumtaz, Etmad-ud-Daula and Safdarjang have been buried in capture Hindu mansions and temples.
7.Moreover, if the Taj is believed to be a burial place, how can the term Mahal, i.e., mansion apply to it?
8.Since the term Taj Mahal does not occur in mogul courts it is absurd to search for any mogul explanation for it. Both its components namely, ‘Taj’ and’ Mahal’ are of Sanskrit origin.
9.The term Taj Mahal is a corrupt form of the sanskrit term TejoMahalay signifying a Shiva Temple. Agreshwar Mahadev i.e., The Lord of Agra was consecrated in it.
10.The tradition of removing the shoes before climbing the marble platform originates from pre Shahjahan times when the Taj was a Shiva Temple. Had the Taj originated as a tomb, shoes need not have to be removed because shoes are a necessity in a cemetery.
11.Visitors may notice that the base slab of the centotaph is the marble basement in plain white while its superstructure and the other three centotaphs on the two floors are covered with inlaid creeper designs. This indicates that the marble pedestal of the Shiva idol is still in place and Mumtaz’s centotaphs are fake.
12.The pitchers carved inside the upper border of the marble lattice plus those mounted on it number 108-a number sacred in Hindu Temple tradition.
13.There are persons who are connected with the repair and the maintainance of the Taj who have seen the ancient sacred Shiva Linga and other idols sealed in the thick walls and in chambers in the secret, sealed red stone stories below the marble basement. The Archaeological Survey of India is keeping discretely, politely and diplomatically silent about it to the point of dereliction of its own duty to probe into hidden historical evidence.
14.In India there are 12 Jyotirlingas i.e., the outstanding Shiva Temples. The Tejomahalaya alias The Tajmahal appears to be one of them known as Nagnatheshwar since its parapet is girdled with Naga, i.e., Cobra figures. Ever since Shahjahan’s capture of it the sacred temple has lost its Hindudom.
15.The famous Hindu treatise on architecture titled Vishwakarma Vastushastra mentions the ‘Tej-Linga’ amongst the Shivalingas i.e., the stone emblems of Lord Shiva, the Hindu deity. Such a Tej Linga was consecrated in the Taj Mahal, hence the term Taj Mahal alias Tejo Mahalaya.
16.Agra city, in which the Taj Mahal is located, is an ancient centre of Shiva worship. Its orthodox residents have through ages continued the tradition of worshipping at five Shiva shrines before taking the last meal every night especially during the month of Shravan. During the last few centuries the residents of Agra had to be content with worshipping at only four prominent Shiva temples viz., Balkeshwar, Prithvinath, Manakameshwar and Rajarajeshwar. They had lost track of the fifth Shiva deity which their forefathers worshipped. Apparently the fifth was Agreshwar Mahadev Nagnatheshwar i.e., The Lord Great God of Agra, The Deity of the King of Cobras, consecrated in the Tejomahalay alias Tajmahal.
17.The people who dominate the Agra region are Jats. Their name of Shiva is Tejaji. The Jat special issue of The Illustrated Weekly of India (June 28,1971) mentions that the Jats have the Teja Mandirs i.e., Teja Temples. This is because Teja-Linga is among the several names of the Shiva Lingas. From this it is apparent that the Taj-Mahal is Tejo-Mahalaya, The Great Abode of Tej.
18. Shahjahan’s own court chronicle, the Badshahnama, admits (page 403, vol 1) that a grand mansion of unique splendor, capped with a dome (Imaarat-a-Alishan wa Gumbaze) was taken from the Jaipur Maharaja Jaisigh for Mumtaz’s burial, and the building was known as Raja Mansingh’s palace.
19. The plaque put the archealogy department outside the Tajmahal describes the edifice as a mausoleum built by Shahjahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal , over 22 years from 1631 to 1653. That plaque is a specimen of historical bungling. Firstly, the plaque sites no authority for its claim. Secondly the lady’s name was Mumtaz-ulZamani and not Mumtazmahal. Thirdly, the period of 22 years is taken from some mumbo jumbo noting by an unreliable French visitor Tavernier, to the exclusion of all muslim versions, which is an absurdity.
20. Prince Aurangzeb’s letter to his father,emperor Shahjahan,is recorded in atleast three chronicles titled `Aadaab-e-Alamgiri’, `Yadgarnama’, and the `Muruqqa-i-Akbarabadi’ (edited by Said Ahmed, Agra, 1931, page 43, footnote 2). In that letter Aurangzeb records in 1652 A.D itself that the several buildings in the fancied burial place of Mumtaz were seven storeyed and were so old that they were all leaking, while the dome had developed a crack on the northern side.Aurangzeb, therefore, ordered immediate repairs to the buildings at his own expense while recommending to the emperor that more elaborate repairs be carried out later. This is the proof that during Shahjahan’s reign itself that the Taj complex was so old as to need immediate repairs.
21. The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur retains in his secret personal `KapadDwara’ collection two orders from Shahjahan dated Dec 18, 1633 (bearing modern nos. R.176 and 177) requestioning the Taj building complex. That was so blatant a usurpation that the then ruler of Jaipur was ashamed to make the document public.
22. The Rajasthan State archives at Bikaner preserve three other firmans addressed by Shahjahan to the Jaipur’s ruler Jaising ordering the latter to supply marble (for Mumtaz’s grave and koranic grafts) from his Makranna quarris, and stone cutters. Jaisingh was apparently so enraged at the blatant seizure of the Tajmahal that he refused to oblige Shahjahan by providing marble for grafting koranic engravings and fake centotaphs for further desecration of the Tajmahal. Jaising looked at Shahjahan’s demand for marble and stone cutters, as an insult added to injury. Therefore, he refused to send any marble and instead detained the stone cutters in his protective custody.
23. The three firmans demanding marble were sent to Jaisingh within about two years of Mumtaz’s death. Had Shahjahan really built the Tajmahal over a period of 22 years, the marble would have needed only after 15 or 20 years not immediately after Mumtaz’s death.
24. Moreover, the three mention neither the Tajmahal, nor Mumtaz, nor the burial. The cost and the quantity of the stone also are not mentioned. This proves that an insignificant quantity of marble was needed just for some supercial tinkering and tampering with the Tajmahal. Even otherwise Shahjahan could never hope to build a fabulous Tajmahal by abject dependence for marble on a non cooperative Jaisingh.
A Sanskrit inscription too supports the conclusion that the Taj originated as a Shiva temple. Wrongly termed as the Bateshwar inscription (currently preserved on the top floor of the Lucknow museum), it refers to the raising of a “crystal white Shiva temple so alluring that Lord Shiva once enshrined in it decided never to return to Mount Kailash his usual abode”. That inscription dated 1155 A.D. was removed from the Tajmahal garden at Shahjahan’s orders. Historicians and Archeaologists have blundered in terming the insription the `Bateshwar inscription’ when the record doesn’t say that it was found by Bateshwar. It ought, in fact, to be called `The Tejomahalaya inscription’ because it was originally installed in the Taj garden before it was uprooted and cast away at Shahjahan’s command.
A clue to the tampering by Shahjahan is found on pages 216-217, vol. 4, of Archealogiical Survey of India Reports (published 1874) stating that a “great square black balistic pillar which, with the base and capital of another pillar….now in the grounds of Agra,…it is well known, once stood in the garden of Tajmahal”.A wooden piece from the riverside doorway of the Taj subjected to the carbon 14 test by an American Laboratory, has revealed that the door to be 300 years older than Shahjahan,since the doors of the Taj, broken open by Muslim invaders repeatedly from the 11th century onwards, had to b replaced from time to time. The Taj edifice is much more older. It belongs to 1155 A.D, i.e., almost 500 years anterior to Shahjahan.The two buildings which face the marble Taj from the east and west are identical in design, size and shape and yet the eastern building is explained away by Islamic tradition, as a community hall while the western building is claimed to be a mosque. How could buildings meant for radically different purposes be identical? This proves that the western building was put to use as a mosque after seizure of the Taj property by Shahjahan. Curiously enough the building being explained away as a mosque has no minaret. They form a pair af reception pavilions of the Tejomahalaya temple palace.A few yards away from the same flank is the Nakkar Khana alias DrumHouse which is a intolerable incongruity for Islam. The proximity of the Drum House indicates that the western annex was not originally a mosque. Contrarily a drum house is a neccesity in a Hindu temple or palace because Hindu chores,in the morning and evening, begin to the sweet strains of music.The embossed patterns on the marble exterior of the centotaph chamber wall are foilage of the conch shell design and the Hindu letter “OM”. The octagonally laid marble lattices inside the centotaph chamber depict pink lotuses on their top railing. The Lotus, the conch and the OM are the sacred motifs associated with the Hindu deities and temples.The spot occupied by Mumtaz’s centotaph was formerly occupied by the Hindu Teja Linga a lithic representation of Lord Shiva. Around it are five perambulatory passages. Perambulation could be done around the marble lattice or through the spacious marble chambers surrounding the centotaph chamber, and in the open over the marble platform. It is also customary for the Hindus to have apertures along the perambulatory passage, overlooking the deity. Such apertures exist in the perambulatories in the Tajmahal.Had Shahjahan really built the Taj Mahal as a wonder mausoleum, history would have recorded a specific date on which she was ceremoniously buried in the Taj Mahal. No such date is ever mentioned. This important missing detail decisively exposes the falsity of the Tajmahal legend.Even the year of Mumtaz’s death is unknown. It is variously speculated to be 1629, 1630, 1631 or 1632. Had she deserved a fabulous burial, as is claimed, the date of her death had not been a matter of much speculation. In an harem teeming with 5000 women it was difficult to keep track of dates of death. Apparently the date of Mumtaz’s death was so insignificant an event, as not to merit any special notice. Who would then build a Taj for her burial?Stories of Shahjahan’s exclusive infatuation for Mumtaz’s are concoctions. They have no basis in history nor has any book ever written on their fancied love affairs. Those stories have been invented as an afterthought to make Shahjahan’s authorship of the Taj look plausible.The cost of the Taj is nowhere recorded in Shahjahan’s court papers because Shahjahan never built the Tajmahal. That is why wild estimates of the cost by gullible writers have ranged from 4 million to 91.7 million rupees.Likewise the period of construction has been guessed to be anywhere between 10 years and 22 years. There would have not been any scope for guesswork had the building construction been on record in the court papers.The designer of the Tajmahal is also variously mentioned as Essa Effendy, a Persian or Turk, or Ahmed Mehendis or a Frenchman, Austin deBordeaux, or Geronimo Veroneo, an Italian, or Shahjahan himself.Twenty thousand labourers are supposed to have worked for 22 years during Shahjahan’s reign in building the Tajmahal. Had this been true, there should have been available in Shahjahan’s court papers design drawings, heaps of labour muster rolls, daily expenditure sheets, bills and receipts of material ordered, and commisioning orders. There is not even a scrap of paper of this kind.Description of the gardens around the Taj of Shahjahan’s time mention Ketaki, Jai, Jui, Champa, Maulashree, Harshringar and Bel. All these are plants whose flowers or leaves are used in the worship of Hindu deities. Bel leaves are exclusively used in Lord Shiva’s worship. A graveyard is planted only with shady trees because the idea of using fruit and flower from plants in a cemetary is abhorrent to human conscience. The presence of Bel and other flower plants in the Taj garden is proof of its having been a Shiva temple before seizure by Shahjahan. Hindu temples are often built on river banks and sea beaches. The Taj is one such built on the bank of the Yamuna river an ideal location for a Shiva temple.Prophet Mohammad has ordained that the burial spot of a muslim should be inconspicous and must not be marked by even a single tombstone. In flagrant violation of this, the Tajamhal has one grave in the basement and another in the first floor chamber both ascribed to Mumtaz. Those two centotaphs were infact erected by Shahjahan to bury the two tier Shivalingas that were consecrated in the Taj. It is customary for Hindus to install two Shivalingas one over the other in two stories as may be seen in the Mahankaleshwar temple in Ujjain and the Somnath temple raised by Ahilyabai in Somnath Pattan.The Tajmahal has identical entrance arches on all four sides. This is a typical Hindu building style known as Chaturmukhi, i.e.,four faced.The Tajmahal has a reverberating dome. Such a dome is an absurdity for a tomb which must ensure peace and silence. Contrarily reverberating domes are a neccesity in Hindu temples because they create an ecstatic dinmultiplying and magnifying the sound of bells, drums and pipes accompanying the worship of Hindu deities.The Tajmahal entrance faces south. Had the Taj been an Islamic building it should have faced the west.Mumtaz died in Burhanpur which is about 600 miles from Agra. Her grave there is intact. Therefore ,the centotaphs raised in stories of the Taj in her name seem to be fakes hiding in Hindu Shiva emblems.A pertinent consideration is that a Shahjahan who did not build any palaces for Mumtaz while she was alive, would not build a fabulous mausoleum for a corpse which was no longer kicking or clicking.Another factor is that Mumtaz died within two or three years of Shahjahan becoming an emperor. Could he amass so much superflous wealth in that short span as to squander it on a wonder mausoleum?While Shahjahan’s special attachment to Mumtaz is nowhere recorded in history his amorous affairs with many other ladies from maids to mannequins including his own daughter Jahanara, find special attention in accounts of Shahjahan’s reign. Would Shahjahan shower his hard earned wealth on Mumtaz’s corpse?Early in the year 1973, chance digging in the garden in front of the Taj revealed another set of fountains about six feet below the present fountains. This proved two things. Firstly, the subterranean fountains were there before Shahjahan laid the surface fountains. And secondly that those fountains are aligned to the Taj that edifice too is of pre Shahjahan origin. Apparently the garden and its fountains had sunk from annual monsoon flooding and lack of maintenance for centuries during the Islamic rule.The marble that Shahjahan used for grafting Koranic lettering in the Taj is of a pale white shade while the rest of the Taj is built of a marble with rich yellow tint. This disparity is proof of the Koranic extracts being a superimposition.A tiny mirror glass in a gallery of the Red Fort in Agra reflects the Taj mahal. Shahjahan is said to have spent his last eight years of life as a prisoner in that gallery peering at the reflected Tajmahal and sighing in the name of Mumtaz. This myth is a blend of many falsehoods. Firstly,old Shajahan was held prisoner by his son Aurangzeb in the basement storey in the Fort and not in an open,fashionable upper storey. Secondly, the glass piece was fixed in the 1930’s by Insha Allah Khan, a peon of the archaelogy dept.just to illustrate to the visitors how in ancient times the entire apartment used to scintillate with tiny mirror pieces reflecting the Tejomahalay temple a thousand fold. Thirdly, a old decrepit Shahjahan with pain in his joints and cataract in his eyes, would not spend his day craning his neck at an awkward angle to peer into a tiny glass piece with bedimmed eyesight when he could as well his face around and have full,direct view of the Tjamahal itself. But the general public is so gullible as to gulp all such prattle of wily, unscrupulous guides.That the Tajmahal dome has hundreds of iron rings sticking out of its exterior is a feature rarely noticed. These are made to hold Hindu earthen oil lamps for temple illumination.School and College history carry the myth that Shahjahan reign was a golden period in which there was peace and plenty and that Shahjahan commisioned many buildings and patronized literature. This is pure fabrication. Shahjahan did not commision even a single building as we have illustrated by a detailed analysis of the Tajmahal legend. Shahjahn had to enrage in 48 military campaigns during a reign of nearly 30 years which proves that his was not a era of peace and plenty.The interior of the dome rising over Mumtaz’s centotaph has a representation of Sun and cobras drawn in gold. Hindu warriors trace their origin to the Sun. For an Islamic mausoleum the Sun is redundant. Cobras are always associated with Lord Shiva.
HISTORY of Taj Mahal .
The legend of the Taj Mahal tells us that it was built by Shah Jahan (1628-1658 AD), the fifth generation Mogul Emperor, as a mausoleum to his wife Mumtaz Mahal. And that 20,000 men worked incessantly for 22 years to complete the magnificent marble edifice.
Mumtaz died in 1631 AD, at Barhanpur where she was buried and a mausoleum was erected. Six months later her body was shifted to Agra to be buried in what is known as the Temporary Grave–which is demarcated and can be seen even today–a few meters to the southwest of the Taj Mahal. And subsequently her body was laid to rest inside the Taj Mahal.
The main supporting pieces of the above article are cited from the following Research documents, which will be discussed in detail in the course of this Article.
i) The Badshahnama, an important court journal of Shah Jahan, written by Mulla Abdul Hamid Lahori.
ii) The firmans (court orders) of Shah Jahan to Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur, pertaining to the acquisition of marble from the Makrana quarries in Rajasthan.
iii) Travelogue of Peter Mundy, an employee of the East India Company, who visited Agra between 1631-1633 AD.
iiii) Travelogue of J. B. Tavernier, a French merchant who visited India five times between 1638-1668 AD.
The Taj Mahal is a seven storeyed edifice with its plinth at the level of the riverbed. The courtyard in front of the building corresponds to the third storey of the edifice. The entire skeleton of the edifice is made of red stone, the top four floors being plastered with marble. It measures a height of 243 ½ ft (whereas the Qutb Minar of Delhi is only 238 ft). The marble platform (4th storey) on which the central edifice is standing has a floor area of 328 ft x 328 ft, and has four marble minarets at its corners. The marble superstructure covers an area of 187 ft x 187 ft with 33 ft chambers cut off at each corner. It has a huge central dome with an inner diameter of 58 ft and a wall thickness of 14 ft — surrounded by four smaller copulas with a diameter of 26′8″. The central edifice is flanked with two identical red-stone buildings–the one on the western side is a mosque and the other a community hall–each having three domes. Facing the main building at the other end of the courtyard is the Main Gateway, which is a four-storeyed edifice covering a floor area of 140 ft x 110 ft. Midway between the Gateway and the marble edifice, there are two identical double-storeyed buildings, placed on either side of the courtyard known as the “Nagar Khanas” (Drum Houses). The courtyard covers a net area of 1460 ft x 100 ft.
Outside the Main Gateway is the Great courtyard, which covers an additional area of 430 ft x 1000 ft, having rows of redstone constructions, at present used as shops. Thus, the Taj Complex covers a net area of 1890 ft x 1000 ft, which is roughly equal to half the area of the Red Fort of Agra. The whole complex is perfectly symmetrical about the North-South axis, the two halves forming mirror images of each other to minutest details.
It must have been a challenging project both architecturally and financially, so much so that it made both Shah Jahan and his wife immortal. But it is surprising that in none of the hitherto known court papers of Shah Jahan–there are several of them–there is any record of the date of its commencement or of its completion, or the total period of its construction or the details of expenditure. (There is a brief remark in the Badshahnama that the expenditure incurred upon the building was Rs. 40 lakhs. And the present estimate of 20,000 workers and 22 years are based upon the writings of Tavernier, which shall be examined later.) Besides, several details of traditional Hindu symbolism can be located at various places in the Taj Complex. Therefore, it is a pertinent question whether Shah Jahan himself built the edifice, or he converted an existing building into a mausoleum. Badshahnama, one of the most important court journals of Shah Jahan, deals with the burial of Mumtaz in two pages of its first volume (pp.403-404).
(On) “Friday–15th Jamadi-ul Awwal, the sacred dead body of the traveller to the kingdom of Holiness, hazrat Mumtaz-ul Zamani–who was buried temporarily…. was brought to the capital Akbarabad (Agra)…
The site covered with magnificent lush garden, to the south of that great city and amidst which (garden) the building known as the palace of Raja Mansingh, at present owned by Raja Jaisingh (Pesh az ein Manzil-e Rajan Mansingh bood Wadaree Waqt ba Raja Jaisingh), grandson (of Mansingh) was selected for the burial of the queen whose abode is in heaven.
“Although Raja Jaisingh valued it greatly as his ancestral heritage and property, yet would have been agreeable to part with it gratis for the Emperor Shahjahan. (Still) out of sheer scrupulousness so essential in the matters of bereavement and religious sanctity, in exchange of that grand place, he was granted a piece of government land (Dar’ awaz aan aali Manzil-e az khalisa-e sharifah badoo marahmat farmoodand) after the arrival of the dead body in that great city on 15th Jamadul Soniya.
“Next year that illustrious body of the heavenly queen was laid to rest. The officials of the capital, according to the royal orders of the day, under the sky-high lofty mausoleum hid the pious lady from the eyes of the world, and the edifice so majestic and with a dome, and so lofty in its stature, is a memorial to the courage of sky-dimensions of the king–and a strength so mighty in resolution so firm–the foundation was laid and geomatricians of farsight and architects of talent incurred an expenditure of Rs. 40 lakhs (chihal lakh roopiah) on this building.”
Normally, the above quoted passages would need no further commentary. It is explicitly stated that the “palace of Raja Mansingh was selected for the burial of the queen”. That it is no ordinary building is obvious as Raja Jaisingh “valued it greatly as his ancestral heritage and property”. And piece of government land was given in exchange of that great palace (aali manzil). The transaction was clinched only after the arrival of the dead body in Agra (which explains the presence of the Temporary Grave). The body was finally buried in the “sky-high lofty mausoleum” the following year (probably soon after the palace was suitably modified). And the subsequent decorations and calligraphical work upon the building cost Rs. 40 lakhs.
What then is the basis of the claim that Shah Jahan built the edifice? In the last paragraph quoted above, there occurs a phrase, “…foundation was laid…” Some historians interpret it to mean that Shah Jahan laid the foundation of a new edifice–the Taj Mahal, and the support to this view is drawn from the Persian line quoted in the third paragraph dealing with the transaction. It is interpreted as a grand palace being granted to Raja Jai Singh in exchange of the land for building the mausoleum.
From the clear and explicit reference to Raja Man Singh’s palace, and the absence of any details about the duration and efforts involved in building the gigantic edifice, the operative phrase, “foundation was laid” can also be viewed as a figurative reference to the initiation of alterations in the edifice. However, the controversy makes it necessary to examine the issue more carefully.
The confusion can be resolved only by examining all other evidences including the architecture of the edifice. The details of architecture–the bulbous dome and the minarets being Mogul characteristics, etc.–are examined in the second part of this paper; but it is relevant to examine one particular aspect of the architecture at this stage.
As mentioned earlier, the Taj Mahal is a multi-storeyed edifice with its plinth at the level of the riverbed. The entire skeleton of the edifice is of brick and red-stone, with the superstructure standing upon the red-stone terrace being plastered with marble. In Mogul tombs it is customary to have two graves: the real grave containing the dead body in the basement of the building, and a well decorated cenotaph meant for the public eye on the upper floor. In the Taj Mahal the real grave is on the third storey of the edifice and the decorated cenotaph is on the fourth.
The basement floor is now completely sealed; but the floor immediately below the real grave has long corridor running East-West on the northern part of the edifice, which can be entered at either end by means of staircases from the red-stone terrace. The corridor is 5′8″ wide and about 322 ft long and opens into 22 rooms (between the corridor and the river side wall) of sizes ranging from 11 ft x 20 ft, to 22 ft x 20 ft. These rooms had windows opening to the riverside, but all of them are permanently sealed with brick and mortar from inside and with red-stone slabs having floral decorations from outside. On the other side of the corridor there are at least three entrances opening to the South, which are crudely sealed with brick and mortar. The staircases to the corridor from the floor above were detected in 1900 AD.
Point of Discussion 1.
If the edifice was originally constructed for the purpose of a tomb, of what utility were these underground chambers conceived? And then why were they sealed subsequently? Or, was it that the edifice was originally constructed for an altogether different purpose?
Badshahnama (vol I, p. 384) records the date of Mumtaz’s death at Barhanpur as the 17th Zi-it Quada 1040 AH (20th June, 1631). The passages quoted above mentions the date of arrival of the dead body at Agra as the 15th Jamad-ul Sanya 1041 AH (8th Jan., 1632). But the date of final burial of Mumtaz inside the Taj Mahal is not precisely recorded, except that it was done the following year.
That it was done certainly before the 25th February, 1633 becomes obvious from the writings of Peter Mundy, who finally left Agra on the date but has recorded that he had seen a rail of gold around the tomb of Mumtaz.
A completed mausoleum at Barhanpur indicates that the idea of a sepulcher in Agra must have occurred to Shah Jahan at least a few months after the death of Mumtaz. And the burial inside the Taj was complete with costly decorations and the tourists were allowed to visit by February, 1633. Even if one were to accept that the burial was done when the building was still under construction, it is unlikely that the cenotaph on the 4th storey would be decorated with gold, etc., unless the three lower floors of the edifice were complete.
How does it compare with the supposed period of construction of the Taj Mahal, 1631-53 AD? Is it plausible that beginning with the selection of the architects and building plan, the lower three floors of the edifice would be raised upon the riverbed within the span of a year?
Therefore, the translations quoted above regarding the acquisition of Raja Man Singh’s palace seem to be the correct interpretation of the Badshahnama. However, there is another aspect of the question which needs to be examined. Could it be that the marble superstructure upon the red-stone terrace was erected by Shah Jahan himself?
Age of the Taj Mahal
Modern techniques of archaeometry are used to determine the approximate age of historical buildings with reasonable accuracy. Marvin Mills11 of New York reports about the Carbon-14 dating of the Taj Mahal: “Another item of evidence concerning the alleged date of the Taj is adduced from a radiocarbon date from a piece of wood from a door on the north facade of the Jumuna River’s bank. The sample was tested by Dr. Even Williams, director of the Brooklyn College Radiocarbon Laboratory. The date came to 1359 AD with a spread of 89 years on either side and 67% probability, Masca corrected.”
That is, it can be said with 67% certainty that the particular door was made during the period 1270-1448 AD. However, the radio-carbon dating of a single door is not a conclusive evidence about the age of the building for two reasons; the sample itself might be contaminated. And that there is a possibility of the door being a subsequent replacement of the original one in the ancient edifice. Therefore, to arrive at a conclusion, more such samples need to be examined.
The discussion upon the historical evidences raises many pertinent questions regarding the architecture of the building. Does the edifice look like a palace or like a Mogul tomb? Is not the dome–the bulbous dome–a characteristic of Mogul architecture? Do the minarets and the single pointed arch not have religious significance in Islamic architecture? The discussion upon the Taj Mahal cannot be complete unless one finds satisfactory answers to the above questions.
Many historians (Havell, Batley, Kenoyer, Hunter, etc.), from time to time, have pointed out that the architecture of the Taj Mahal is not in the traditions of Saracenic style but resembles that of a Hindu temple. But this view has largely gone unnoticed primarily because it runs against the grain of some of the accepted premises of Indo-Saracenic architecture.
The single pointed door arch had great religious significance in Saracenic architecture as it represents the one and the only God of Islam. Such arches are commonly seen in the Islamic architecture of Bagdad and surrounding places, and hence it is generally believed that the single pointed arch and the arcuate style (as against the trabeate style) of constructing it are exclusive innovations or Saracenic architecture. And that it arrived at India as a resultant contribution of Afghan invasion at the close of the 12th century.
It is also generally believed that the bulbous dome seen in the Taj Mahal, migrated to India from Samarkhand, subsequent to the establishment of Mogul dynasty by Babur in the 16th century. There are significant differences between the Arab domes seen in Bagdad and Egypt and the dome of Taj Mahal, the bulbous dome of Samarkhand forming the link between the two. Since the arcuate style of constructing the arches and domes is believed to be exclusively of Saracenic origin, it is also believed that the bulbous dome originated outside India.
These premises were originally propounded by the well-known British historian James Fergusson12 who conducted the pioneer work in the field of Indian archaeology for nearly five decades from around 1835 AD. His assumptions–widely accepted today–preclude the question of the Taj Mahal being a Hindu construction. However, the historical evidences discussed so far, call for a thorough examination of the architecture of the edifice, notwithstanding the assumptions.
However, the assumption that the bulbous dome originated in Samarkhand requires a closer examination. The initiation and development of medieval architecture of Samarkhand is attributed to Timurlung (1394-1404 AD), the 6th generation predecessor of Emperor Babur. He invaded India in 1398 AD and after sacking Delhi and surrounding cities, carried off a large number of architects and other craftsman as captive labour to build his capital Samarkhand. A passage from his autobiography (Malfuzat-i-Timuri) would be illustrative:
“I ordered that all the artisans and clever mechanics who were masters of their respective crafts should be picked out from among the prisoners and set aside, and accordingly some thousands of craftsmen were selected to await my command. All these I distributed among the princes and amirs who were present, or who were engaged officially in other parts of my dominions. I had determined to build a Masjid-i-Jami in Samarkhand, the seat of my empire, which should be without a rival in my country; so I ordered that all builders and stone masons should be set apart for my own especial service.”13
It is important to note that the approximate period of construction of the Taj Mahal is around 1359 AD, whereas Timurlung invaded India in 1398 AD. Could it be that the bulbous dome was prevalent in India during that period and migrated to Samarkhand through the captive architects?
There are several important points which need to be considered in favour of the above conjecture:
(i) Similar buildings of the same period: There are several (more than a hundred) Jaina temples in the sacred mounts of Sonagarh (Bundelkhand) and Muktagiri (Berar) which contain the bulbous domes as well as the single pointed arches. Fergusson (p.62) attributes these temples to the 16th and 17th centuries, but it is important to note his uncertainty about their true antiquity: “So far as can be made out most of these temples date from 16th and 17th centuries, though a few of them may be older. Their original foundation may be earlier, but of that we know nothing, no one having yet enlightened us on the subject, nor explained how and when this hill became a sacred mount
(ii) The Lotus Canopy: various kinds of domes were used in the ancient temples of Mount Abu, Girnar, Udayapur, Mylass, Carla, etc., some of them as old as the 4th century AD. All types of domes in these temples are topped with an inverted lotus flower, its stem forming the pinnacle of the building. The bulbous domes of Sonagarh and Muktagiri also contain the lotus canopy. And every single dome in the Taj Campus contains a similar lotus canopy. Havell (pp.23-26) traces the constituent elements of the Taj dome to the Hindu Shilpa Shastra, and the lotus canopy to the ‘Mahapadma‘ in the ‘stupi’ (pinnacle) of the ‘vimana‘ type of temple dome.It is noteworthy that the lotus is a sacred flower of the Hindus associated with their gods and goddesses, whereas it does not seem to have any special significance in Islamic culture, and the Saracenic architecture of Samarkhan, Persia, Bagdad and Egypt do not contain the lotus canopy over the dome. Even the Humayun’s tomb, widely believed to be the prototype of the Taj, does not contain the lotus canopy.
In addition to the lotus canopy over the dome, there are many other symbolic and sculptural details in the Taj Mahal which are quite appropriate in a Siva temple.14 Some of them are quoted below:
(i) Recess above the entrance: In the southern entrance to the outer precincts of the Taj Complex (i.e., the Taj Gunj gate facing the main gateway), above the door arch, there is a small arched recess. It is customary in Hindu Forts (for example, the Nagardhan Fort, Nagpur) to place an idol of Lord Ganesa in a similar recess above the main entrance. Could it be that the recess above the Taj entrance also contained a similar idol, which was subsequently removed by the iconoclastic invaders?
(ii) The Rajput Welcome Signs: The walls of the main gateway and the “kitchen” in the great courtyard are marked with typical Rajput welcome signs, such as the “gulab-dani” (rose-water cans) and “ilaichi-dani” (cardamon pots). The Rajput palaces at Deeg (Bharatpur) and Jaipur also contain similar welcome signs.
(iii) Ganesa Torana: On the main gateway, the entire border at waist-height is decorated with what is called the “Ganesa Torana” (the elephant trunk and the crown can be clearly identified). It is noteworthy that animate decorations are taboo in Islam.
(iv) Other sculptural details: Upon the marble walls of the central edifice, there are sculptural details of flowers in the shape of OM and bell flowers which is of great significance in the worship of Lord Shiva.
(v) The pinnacle: On top of the central dome of the Taj Mahal, there is a copper pinnacle which measures a height of 32′ 5 ½”. On the eastern red-stone courtyard, in front of the community hall, there is a figure of the pinnacle inlaid in black marble which measures a length of only 30′ 6″.
In this regard, it is necessary to clarify another point. There are many Hindu religious symbols seen in the Taj Mahal, which are often attributed to the religious tolerance of Shah Jahan, under whom the Hindu craftsmen enjoyed considerable freedom. But the Persian manuscript (Section 7) lists the names of Ustad Isa and Ismail Khan Rumi as the chief architect and the dome expert respectively. There is some ambiguity about the nativity of Ustad Isa (as to whether he was a citizen of Agra or of Shiraz), but the dome expert, as the name suggests, was from Rum which means the area around Bagdad and Mesopotamia. Is it plausible that the dome expert from the heartland of Islam, built the dome according to the Shilpa Shastra with a lotus canopy?
(Incidently, what was this dome expe