BALLOON FESTIVAL IN INDIA AT COIMBATORE.

My Friend Jagadish captures at Tamilnadu International Balloon Festival at Circus Grounds, Coimbatore tonight.

Organised by Global Media Box and Camping Retreats of India in collaboration with Tamil Nadu Tourism Department, it is intended to impart a boost to this activity here.

Chief Guest and Tourism Commissioner Har Sahay Meena, said that Pollachi can be developed into a major tourist hotspot with this activity.

Amaezing Art- Tamil Inscription In Egypt at 1st BC.

Exciting archaeological discovery with implications of import

CHENNAI: A broken storage jar with inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi script has been excavated at Quseir-al-Qadim, an ancient port with a Roman settlement on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. This Tamil Brahmi script has been dated to first century B.C. One expert described this as an “exciting discovery.”

The same inscription is incised twice on the opposite sides of the jar. The inscription reads paanai oRi, that is, pot (suspended) in a rope net.

An archaeological team belonging to the University of Southampton in the U.K., comprising Prof. D. Peacock and Dr. L. Blue, who recently re-opened excavations at Quseir-al-Qadim in Egypt, discovered a fragmentary pottery vessel with inscriptions.

Dr. Roberta Tomber, a pottery specialist at the British Museum, London, identified the fragmentary vessel as a storage jar made in India.

Iravatham Mahadevan, a specialist in Tamil epigraphy, has confirmed that the inscription on the jar is in Tamil written in the Tamil Brahmi script of about first century B.C.

In deciphering the inscription, he has had the benefit of expert advice from Professor Y. Subbarayalu of the French Institute of Pondicherry, Professor K. Rajan of Central University, Puducherry and Professor  V. Selvakumar, Tamil University, Thanjavur.

According to Mr. Mahadevan, the inscription is quite legible and reads: paanai oRi, that is, ‘pot (suspended in) a rope net.’ The Tamil word uRi, which means rope network to suspend pots has the cognate oRi in Parji, a central Dravidian language, Mr. Mahadevan said. Still nearer, Kannada has oTTi, probably from an earlier oRRi with the same meaning.

The word occurring in the pottery inscription found at Quseir-al-Qadim can also be read as o(R)Ri as Tamil Brahmi inscriptions generally avoid doubling of consonants.

Earlier excavations at this site about 30 years ago yielded two pottery inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi belonging to the first century A.D.

Another Tamil Brahmi pottery inscription of the same period was found in 1995 at Berenike, also a Roman settlement, on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, Mr. Mahadevan said.

These discoveries provided material evidence to corroborate the literary accounts by classical Western authors and the Tamil Sangam poets about the flourishing trade between the Tamil country and Rome (via the Red Sea ports) in the early centuries A.D. 

 This News Published in India's one of the Leading News Paper Hindu at 21/11/2007. 

Sharp Sword in Tiger's Mouth

Sesharayar Mandapam”

SRI RANGAM - the Largest functioning Hindu Temple in the World was patronised by the Chola, Pandya, Hoysala, Vijayanagara and Madurai Nayak dynasties. Their collective contributions made it as the biggest temple complex in the country.

Ancient Tamil Sangam literature makes mention about this temple and the temple abounds inscriptions dating between the early Chola and late Nayak periods. The inscriptions contain interesting and valuable information on the history, culture and economy during a period of over a thousand years.

”Sesharayar Mandapam” is famous for its monolithic pillars with sculptures of horses built during the Vijayanagara rule (1336-1565 CE). This Mandapam is a symbol of pioneer of art of the rulers of the Vijayanagar Empire and was called as 'Horse Court' by western historians.

The eight magnificent horses and riders on their backs dominate this Mandapam where the sculptors have run riot.

The warriors on the horses are fighting with tiger helped by infantry. The sharp edge of the sword piercing through and peeping out of the tiger's mouth and body must be sculpted with great care and effort.

The intricate carvings in ornamentations with minute detailing stand as witness to the artistic fingers of sculptors of the Nayak era.

Though the temple was crowded as usual, it was a pity that no local visitors were in this mandapam when I visited, except a few foreigners who were wondering and taking notes on the sculptures.

Forgetting to step into this Treasure trove of exquisite sculptures when visiting the Srirangam temple will be a great disrespect to expertise of the artisans. 

 Thanks To Mister Madhu Jagadish. 

200000 Year Old Shiva Temple In Colorado

Shiva Linka Worship is Very Old and Ancient. US Museum of Natural History Found 200000 Year Old Temple In USA at Colorado Hill. ths Temple is 9000 Feet Height.23/11/1937 News Review of London Published this News.

The Puranic legends of India speak of many worlds. for  Example Pathala Lokha. 

As per the Puranas, when Vishnu, in the form of a young scholar Vamana, humbled Asura king Maha Bali, Maha Bali was banished to Pathala Loka. When the Deva overcame the Asura in battles, the Asura were forced to migrate to thePathala Loka, the netherworld or the world below.

Where is this Pathala Loka?

People have conjured up images of Pathala Loka as being vertically downwards inside the earth.

The Puranic legends describe how the world is divided into different habitable regions. They list 14 regions, with 7 regions being the “nether worlds”, the Pathala Loka. The Puranic texts also give the notion of the Pathala Loka as being beyond the seas.

The words like location and locomotion are etymologically similar to the word, “Loka”.

There are other technical texts that mention the location of Asura and their adversaries, the Sura. A sloka in Surya Siddhantha throws some light on the exact location of the Pathala. The relevant sloka is,

Surasuranam anyonyam diva – ratra viparyayaha
For Sura and Asura, days and nights are interchangeable

According to this sloka, Sura and Asura would have lived on opposite sides of the earth as only then can their days and nights be interchangeable. The region of the earth diametrically opposite to the Indian subcontinent is the central parts of South America which was the Pathala Loka of the Asura.

If we want a modern analogy, we have the British calling Australia as Down Under. That does not mean that Australia is in the underground areas of England. What the English really mean by the phrase “Down Under”, is that, for England, high in the northern hemisphere, Australia is on the other side of the earth, down in the south.

Similarly, there is another popular term in the US, called the China Syndrome.

People often joke that, in case there were to be a nuclear mishap in America, then the nuclear explosion would burrow a hole beneath America, continue to burrow through the earth and come out on the other side of the earth, in China.

These phrases, Australia Down Under and China Syndrome are examples of usage by people on one side of the globe to bring out the concept that, there is another side, opposite to them on the earth, which is also inhabited by people.

It is in this similar vein of expression that the ancient Indians had used the term Pathala Loka, as the area on the other side of the spherical earth. It is not to be erroneously understood as an underground cavern or kingdom.

To have had this knowledge, the ancient Indians must have known that the earth was not flat but spherical in nature. 

 so. Pathala Ulakam is Called America. 

The Secret of Nagas. Written by Amish Tripathi. Million of Copies Selling book. in this book Mister Amith Tripathi said. Shiva was born about seven thousand years ago in Tibet.

i like Very Much. Mister Amith Tripathathi's Sense of Humour.

Tamil Inscription In China

 This Tamil Language Inscription Was Found In Ancient Chinese Shiva Temple.  It Was Found about 500 Miles North to Canton,  in a Place called Chuan Chou. This is a Port  City. it was the Important Port cityin the Ancient times also.

Normally, the Tamils used to sail to Ta Kua Pa in the west coast of Thailand.
They would then take an overland journey across the Isthmus of Kra to other ports like Nakon SiTammarat or Songkla. These ports were on the east coast of Thailand. From there they would sail on to one of the ports of present day Vietnam. Then they would sail northwards to Canton.

A straight sail would be a longer distance which would take them across the Bay of Bengal, Straits of Malacca, Gulf of Siam, and South China Sea. They would have to sail around the Malay Peninsula. This would have increased their journey by more than a thousand miles and would have taken up several more months.

Apart from Canton, the Tamils had gone to other places also and
established their own colonies. The merchant guilds like 'Thisai Aayiraththu AinnuuRRuvar' was very active around this part of the world.

In Chuan Chou, there was a Sivan Temple. In that temple, an image of Siva was consecrated under the 'Firman' - royal orders of 'Sekasai Khan'.
This was done for the health of 'Sekasai Khan'.

'Sekasai Khan' in this inscription is the name of Kublai Khan himself.
His full name was Kublai Sekcen Khan.
Sekcen Khan became Sekasai Khan in Tamil.

The Sivan Temple was known as ThiruKathaleesvaram and the Lord of the temple was known as ThiruKathaleesvaram udaiya Naayanaar.
The person who executed the order was Thava ChakkaravarththikaL Sampandha PerumaL.
It was done on the Chithra Paurnami day of Saka Era 1203 - 1281 AD.

This was during the rule of Kublai Khan who came to power in 1260 and ruled until 1294 AD.
Now, something about Kublai Khan and the Mongols......... 

The Mongols were a loose group of tribes wandering around the Cental Asian grasslands with their horses and cattle. They were warlike.

At one point of time, a great leader among them rose. He united all the Mongols and made them into a powerful force. He was also a clever strategist. He conquered Persia, Central Asia, Russia, parts of Europe, parts of Middle East, and China.

No single man till today has conquered so much land with his armies within a short period of time.
He was elected as the Grand Khan, the supreme leader of the Mongols. 

After his death, there were problems of inheritance. After Chengiz Khan, the Mongol Empire was divided into four parts of which China was one. The others were Persia, Russia and Europe, and the original homeland of Mongolia itself. One of them would be elected as the Grand Khan or Khan of Khans. 

Kublai Khan was the grandson of Chengiz Khan.
He was the third son of the fourth son of Chengiz Khan.

Kublai became the Grand Khan of all Mongols. He took China as his part of inheritance and ruled from there. He built Beijing and moved the capital there. He also had a summer capital. His country was big, wealthy, and prosperous.

He was mighty and powerful. His armies were immense, powerful, and invincible.
Only on two occassions, his armies failed. One was a naval expedition to Java which did not take place.
The other one was huge naval invasion of Japan. Due to a freak storm known as Kami Kaze, the ships were all destroyed. Whatever was left of his army was killed off by the Japanese.

Although he was a Mongol, he did not Mongolise the Chinese; neither did he force any change in administration. He only made it smoother and more efficient. 

His rule of thumb was efficiency. He revolutionised communications and postal systems. His espionage services were superb.

In spite of all this, he never learned Chinese.
He started an Imperial Dynasty called the Yuan Dynasty.
He ruled during the time when the Imperial Pandyas were ruling Tamilnadu and Kerala.
The Pandyas were on very close friendly terms with the Great Kublai Khan.
At the time that the inscription was inscribed, Kublai Khan was very ill.
Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller spent seventeen years at the court of Kublai Khan.
When he found that the Great Khan was getting old and sickly, he got permission and left China.

It should be noted that he temple was consecrated according to the Firman of the Emperor.
The word, 'Firman' is used in the inscription. 'Firman' is a Royal Order, instuction, or proclamation. When the Mongols captured the Middle East, Persia, and Central Asia, they adopted words and traditions of these regions.

The last line of the inscription is in Chinese characters.
Chola types of statues were also found in the temple site.
This is a rare inscription in Tamil which is found outside TamilNadu. 

  Thanks to Professor Doctor S Jaya Barathi.