Quick read: Andaman has the earliest astronomical object, believed to be 12000 years old.

In every ancient culture, astronomy was born before mathematics: there is, in fact, no need of mathematics to look at the sky.

The first ‘astronomical’ objects, found in the Andamans, belong to the palaeolithic era, some 12,000 years ago. They are probably calendar sticks noting the waxing and waning of the moon by incising daily notches on a wooden stick.

Patterns of rock art in Kashmir, such as a double sun or concentric circles, may indicate depictions of a supernova and meteor showers 7000 years old. Ring-stones in Mohenjo-daro, with rows of small drilled holes could be tracking sunrise at different times of the year. The seal with seven figures in a row could be the Great Bear constellation or Star cluster of Pleiades (Krithika).

Picture Credit: CBSE

Quick read: The Yuga of Rig Veda was only five years old.

Rig-Veda speaks of a year of 360 days divided into twelve equal parts. It used a five-year yuga. This was perhaps to reconcile the 360 day length with the 365 day solar year. A month was added after five years to catch up. It also metaphorically recorded a solar eclipse. There are also other references to Yuga in Rig Veda that indicate a longer duration, i.e a generation.

The concept of five year Yuga was further elaborated in Vedanga Jyotisha.

Additional Source: Shri P.V Kane

Picture Credit: WikiMedia Commons

Quick read: The 27 stars are on the path of movement of the moon.

Yajur Veda gave the first list of 27 nakshatras. These are lunar mansions. Each nakshatra is the prominent star in the path of the moon on the celestial sphere.

Unlike Rig Veda which considered 360 days, the Yajur-Veda considered a lunar year of 354 days and a solar year of 365 days.

Greek influence introduced the 7 day week and 12 Zodiac signs into Indian astronomy. It was codified in the Yavanajataka in the 3rd CE. The seeds of the Zodiac existed though in the Vedas as 12 Adityas.

Picture Credit: CBSE

Quick read; Vedanga Jyotisha is atleast 3000 years old.

Astronomical calendars were needed to keep time for proper conduct of rituals. Vedanga Jyotisha is the first surviving Indian astronomy text. It is one of the six Vedangas(or limbs of Vedas), which are manuals for preservation and interpretation of Vedas. It was composed between 1500 BCE to 1000 BCE.

It identifies the length of the day within a range of 0.5 seconds. It discusses solstices (ayanānta) and equinoxes (viṣuva). It proposes two bridging months (intercalary lunar months or adhikamāsa) to periodically match solar and lunar calendars. This text remains the foundation for India’s traditional luni-solar calendars.

Picture Credit: Dall E render of astronomy as described in Vedanga Jyotisha period.

The second period of Indian astronomy (after the Vedic texts) extended from 3rd cent BCE to 1st cent CE. Jain astronomy (e.g. Surya Prajnapati) developed in this period. It is based on a peculiar model of two sets of 27 nakṣatras, two suns and two moons. It nevertheless resulted in precise calendrical calculations.

Picture Credit: Jambudvipa Map as per Jain Tradition from WikiMedia Commons

Quick read: Ghati Yantra measured time with a bowl of water.

Indian astronomers had a range of astronomical instruments, easily made by most craftsmen.

Brahmagupta’s magnum opus Brahmasputa Siddhanta describes among others, a water clock (ghati yantra). It is a bowl with a small hole at the bottom, which would sink in exactly 24 minutes (a ghati) if placed over water.

It also describes a gnomon (short stick kept vertically for the study of the motion of its shadow) and a graduated disk or half disk and a scissor like pair acting as compass. Later astronomers like Lalla described more instruments. Brahmagupta (born 598 CE), lived near Mount Abu. He mistakenly rejected Āryabhaṭa’s view of the earth as a rotating sphere. He contributed much to calculations of the mean and true longitudes of planets, conjunctions and problems of lunar and solar eclipses, applying to all these his considerable mathematical skills.

Brahmagupta was one of the major sources of inspiration to Arab astronomers, his works being translated into Arabic called Al-Zij-al-Sindhind in the late 8th cent CE.

Varahamihira was another great astronomer of this period. His Surya Siddanta is considered the fundamental text of Indian astronomy. He also summarized the tenets of Greek astronomy.

Picture Credit: CBSE

Quick read: The Kerala school produced India’s greatest astronomers.

Parameśvara (c. 1362-1455), an author of some thirty works, is the founder of the dṛk system. It improved computations of eclipses and the positions of the planets. Nīlakaṇṭha Somayājī (1444-1545) wrote his landmark Tantrasaṅgraha. It carried out a major revision of the older Indian planetary model for the inferior planets, Budha (Mercury) and Śukra (Venus). It described them as moving in eccentric orbits around the sun, along with Maṅgala or Kuja (Mars), Bṛhaspati or Guru (Jupiter) and Śani (Saturn).

Nīlakaṇṭha preceded Copernicus (1473- 1543), and propounded the heliocentric theory in Europe.

We do not have evidence that Indian heliocentrism directly influenced European advances in the field.

Picture Credit: Kerala Museum

Quick read: Its mandapa has 12 pillars each representing a Zodiac sign.

The mandapa of the Sringeri temple is dedicated to the 12 rasis or signs of zodiac as shown in the picture. Some of the pillars of the temple are also aligned to sunrise on the two equinoxes. Studies show that the arrangement of the pillars match the position of Zodiac signs around the year 2000 BCE. Scholars suggest that the pillar arrangement followed a 2000 BCE calendrical device or the structure of Vedic Altar.

In earlier times, temple architecture provided the populace with an interface with astronomy. Many temples show clear astronomical alignments with events such as sunrise at solstices & equinoxes, the most famous being the Sun Temple at Konark.

The more popular interface with the general public was through calendars & panchangs (almanacs) and the prediction of eclipses. Numerous inscriptions record a king’s reward to astronomers who could predict eclipses accurately.

The traditional calendars also require mathematical acumen – for example for calculating the length of a month which are different across months and the same month can have different lengths in different years.

Additional Source: N. Kameswara Rao and Priya Thakur

Picture Credit: N. Kameswara Rao and Priya Thakur

Quick read: Aryabhatta was launched from Soviet Union and was a “made in India” satellite.

Aryabhatta was the first satellite designed and made in India. It was launched from Soviet Union in 1975.

Āryabhaṭa I (born 476 CE), worked near present day Patna. He wrote Āryabhaṭīya. The treatise discussed units of time and features of the celestial sphere.

He estimated the diameter of earth within 12% of actual. His diameters for the planets and the sun are however much too small.

It described the earth as a rotating sphere hanging in space, and produced a table of the planets’ mean positions. Āryabhaṭa also gave a correct explanation for both lunar and solar eclipses.

Bhaskara 1 and 2 were the first two remote sensing satellites. Bhāskara I (b. 600 CE) provided a very useful elucidation of Āryabhaṭa’s astronomy, besides improved calculation methods. Bhāskara II (b. 1114), better known as Bhāskarāchārya, in addition to his astronomical contributions, was the first to explore the full and systematic use of the decimal number system.

Picture Credit: ISRO

Quick read: Jai Singh constructed these JantarMantars fusing Indian, Arabic and European astronomy.

In medieval times, the interface with Arab astronomy brought instruments such as the astrolabe to India. Sawai Jai Singh (1688-1743), the Maharaja of Jaipur built the famous and massive yantramantra or Jantar Mantar observatories at Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi & Mathura. They represent a convergence between Indian, Arabic and European astronomy. These were modelled on the observatory made by Ulug Beg in Samarkand.

Jai Singh collected & studied texts of all three astronomical traditions. He composed his own texts and designed 15 astronomical instruments.

Picture Credit: Rendering of the Jaipur Samrat Yantra, JantarMantar.org

Quick read: Rohini is the brightest star on the lunar path and is supposed to have been the favourite wife of Chandra, the moon.

Rohini is one of the 27 nakshatras and is the brightest star in the Taurus constellation.

Chandra had married twenty seven daughters of Daksha, the son of Brahma. But he was partial to Rohini and she shone the brightest when he visited her. Daksha was infuriated by this partiality and cursed that Chandra would lose his brightness. Chandra surrendered to Shiva who then diluted the curse. Shiva ordained that instead of losing the brightness forever, Chandra would wax and wane in a cycle.

Puranic stories such as this, were a good way to pass on scientific information (in this case astronomy) in an oral culture!

Additional Source: Manifestations of Shiva, RK Mutt.

Picture Credit: ISRO Launch Vehicle for Rohini

Quick Read: APPLE was India’s first communications satellite launched in 1981 and was better known than APPLE Mac.

APPLE is an acronym for Arianne Passenger PayLoad Experiment. It was built in India and was launched from Arianne in France in 1981. Indians above 50 years old knew this APPLE before APPLE Mac (or the IPod or the IPhone).

In the era of telephone and telex, it helped India use space for communication. The first signal telecast live through APPLE was a live dance programme. APPLE also telecast Rabindranath Tagore’s dance drama Chitraganda. APPLE was used for the first two way video-conferencing. It was between Indian scientists and the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi!

The image is a popular misrepresentation that ISRO had to transport the satellite to the launch centre because of a transport strike, or even that ISRO lacked money for proper transport. In reality, the antennae of the satellite had to be tested in an open field without any magnetic interference. Such test facilities were available only outside India, and were very expensive. ISRO found a solution by hiring a bullock cart for 150 Rs. The location is not launch site, but Peenya in Bangalore.

The average age of the APPLE team was 27 years; and the Director was only 37! APPLE was such a popular satellite that ISRO decided not to repeat the name for any future satellite.

Source: Dr. R.M. Vasagam, APPLE Project Director, ISRO

Picture Credit: ISRO