An insight into 'cosmic cities' described in the Ramayana and Mahabharata can be obtained by analysing pictures sent by an IRS satellite, said P S Thakker, a senior scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
These ancient cities, which existed during the time of Ramayana and Mahabharata, followed a definite pattern with temples being at the centre, then the palaces and other townships, Thakker explained.
These cosmic cities, as described in the shastras, include different shapes of settlements ranging from square, circular, triangular, rectangular, lunar shaped to swastik-shaped.
Though these sites are known to people, it is not possible to know the settlement pattern from the surface as they have been destroyed with passage of time and some have been buried. However, by looking at satellite pictures one can see things that are not visible to the naked eye, he says.
Thakker said remote sensing can play an important role to corelate archeologial findings from ancient sites, which are
mentioned in the scriptures of Hindu religion including the Vedas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
"Corelating archeaological findings from the ancient historical sites acquire a new meaning when they are seen against the background of description given in the Indian scriptures" said Thakker while talking to PTI.
Thakker has worked on a project called Remote Sensing of Comsic Cities in Ancient India, studying important historical and ancient cities, which are descibed in the Hindu scriptures and corelating them with remote sensing data obtained from satellite. Some sites which he has studied include Kausambi, Ahichhatra, Lumbini, Shravasti and Nalanda.
"I have shown how remote sensing date obtained from satellite at the altitude of above 800 kms in space can be successfully used as non-destructive method to locate the archeological sites," he added.
He said close cooperation among scholars of ancient literature, anthropologists, archaeologists and remote sensing scientists can achieve a better understanding of India's past. Remote sensing data can also successfully be used for building up historical records of changes that might have taken place on the surface of the earth. The data may also be used in updating ancient atlases.
For example, Pataliputra or the present day Patna was circular in shape according to the ancient scripture Matsya Purana. This shape is confirmed by the satellite imagery.
Ancient texts mention Lumbini's settlement pattern as rectangular and this is confirmed by the remote sensing data
that shows a clear rectangle.
Scriptures mention Ahichhatra (1100-1300 BC) to be triangular in shape and this is also coroborated by the data
obtained by IRS, the scientist added.
He said using the remote sensing data, a scientist can prove whatever historical or geographical descriptions that
have been given in the Vedas or the puranas were real or imaginary.
Thakker has specifically studied Lumbini -- the birth place of Buddha -- Ahichhatra, which was a flourishing metropolis at the end of the Mahabharata war, Kalinga Nagari and Nalanda.
