Indian stars system was called as Khagol-Shashtra initially which means the science of stars. The earliest records of the cosmic system noted in the Vedas are the Atharva Veda, Yajur Veda, and Rig Veda. Hymns in the Vedas talk about the position of the sun, moon, and stars. Later the people of the Indus Valley civilization could not determine the season for farming so they started to note the positions of stars in the night sky. Indian mythology includes seven major celestial bodies that are the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, and two evil objects named Rahu and Ketu which signify eclipses. They also knew about the solar and lunar eclipses.
Photo credit-bitsgcelestia.wordpress.com
Concept of Brahmanda:
The ancient Indians believed that the universe worked based on the cycle of creation, preservation, and destruction. This can be signified by the description of yugas such as Dwapara Yuga, Kali Yuga, and Treta Yuga. They believed in 'Brahmanda' meaning the cosmic egg wherein the entire universe is present. The axis of the universe was considered as Mount Meru surrounding which seven concentric rings are present. It was believed that the seven lokas were present on the seven rings.
Photo credit-twitter.com
Constellations:
The constellations were used to keep time, seasons, and navigation. The sky was divided into 27 nakhshtras which are groups of stars. The ocean travelers also used constellations for navigating their route. The lunar calendar and astrological charts were based on the constellations in the sky. Names of the constellations or the nakshatras are Ashwini, Rohini, Magha, Pushya, and many more. One of the major constellations is 'Sapt Rishi' which is called the 'Big Dipper' in Western astronomy. This includes the seven sages each representing one star. This constellation majorly helped in navigation and time-keeping.
Ancient astronomers:
Aryabhatta was the one who told about the rotation of the Earth on its axis and that the Earth is a sphere with a circumference of 39, 986 kilometers. His computation of the Earth's rotation, known as sidereal rotation or 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds, was based on fixed stars; the current number is 23:56:4.091. In a similar vein, his number for the sidereal year, 365.25858 days, represents an error of 3 minutes and 20 seconds over the 365.25636 day year.
Photo credit-esigm.com
Another important astronomer in ancient cosmology is Brahmagupta who gave concepts of gravity and parallax. Bhaskara I had immense contributions to the cosmology. His work included solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, and phases of the moon.
The study of Astronomy has benefited from the contributions of many other astronomers from antiquity to the medieval century. Some of their innovations are still in use today, such as Sawai Jai Singh's well-known Jantar Mantar observatories at Jaipur, New Delhi, Ujjain, Mathura, and Varanasi (1688–1743 CE).
Photo credit- www.jantarmantar.org
The ancient astronomy was far more advanced and accurate than the western world.
Bình luận