3. THERE IS MUCH SPECULATION OF WHEN EXACTLY DID
THE VEDIC CULTURE FLOURISH. JOHN MARSHALL, WHO
FIRST STUDIED THE SAME, MENTIONED THAT IT
WOULD BE BEFORE 1500 OR 1000 B.C. BUT THE LATEST
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PINS THE VEDIC CULTURE TO BE
PREDATE THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION. THE
SUGGESTED TIME IS NEAR 9000 B.C.
THE VEDIC CILIVIZATION WAS OF AN AGRI - PASOTORAL
COMMUNITY LIVING IN SMALLER VILLAGES. THEY HAD
BEEN LIVING IN CLOSE HARMONY WITH NATURE.
MANY RISHIS AND SAGES OVER GENERATIONS LIVED
ISOLATED LIVES IN FORESTS KEENLY OBSERVING LIFE,
THE HUMAN BODY AND THE HUMAN MIND.
THEIR CONCERN WAS NOT INDIVIDUAL WELL BEING OR
THE WELL BEING OF THEIR VILLAGE OR CLAN, BUT A
GLOBAL HARMONY. THEY HAD AN OVERVIEW OF LIFE
AND UNDERSTOOD THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF ALL
LIFE - ANIMATE AND INANIMATE.
4. • MUCH IN AWE OF THE SPECTACLES OF NATURAL PHENOMENON, THEY SUNG PRAISES
OF THEIR GODS – AGNI, VARUN, INDRA, PRITHVI AND AAKASH. THEIR TRADITIONS
WERE ORAL AND KNOWLEDGE WAS PASSED DOWN GENERATIONS BY WROTE ,
LEARNING AND RECITING HYMNS. STRESS WAS LAID ON RIGHT PRONUNCIATION AND
IT WAS CONSIDERED MEANINGLESS IF THE PRONUNCIATIONS WERE IMPERFECT. TO
ENSURE THAT, TWO PRIESTS WOULD RECITE THE VERSES TOGETHER SO THAT THEY
SELF CORRECTED THEMSELVES BY LISTENING.
• THEY COMMUNICATED WITH THE SPIRIT WORLD AND THEIR GODS THRU FIRE.
MATTER WAS OFFERED TO THE SACRIFICIAL FIRE IN THE FORM OF BUTTER, GRAIN,
SOMA ETC AND THE FIRE PURIFIED IT AND CONVERTED IT INTO ITS NON MANIFEST
FORM FIT FOR THE CONSUMTION OF THEIR GODS.
5. ASTRONOMY WAS HIGHLY DEVELOPED TO ALIGN THEIR
WORSHIP AND SACRIFICES WITH THE EXACT POSITIONS OF
PLANETS. MATHEMATICS WAS DEVELOPED TO BUILD EXACT
ALTERS FOR WORSHIP. TRIGNOMETRY, GEOMETRY, ARITHMETIC
WERE WELL KNOWN.
SOCIETY WAS DIVIDED INTO THE FOUR VARNAS – THE
BRAHMANS WHO WERE THE CENTER OF ALL KNOWLDEGE, THE
KSHATRIYAS – WHO WERE THE CONTROLLERS OF POLITICAL
POWER, THE VAISHYAS- WHO WERE TRADESMEN AND FARMERS
AND THE SHUDRAS – WHO WERE THE ARTISANS AND THE
CRAFTSMEN . IT WAS THE DUTY OF THE KSHATRIYA TO PROTECT
THE BHRAHMAN AND THE VAISHYA COMMUNITIES WHILE THE
SHUDRAS, RICH IN TOOLS AND PHYSICAL STRENGTH PROTECTED
THEMSELVES.
DHYAN, YOGA AND MEDICINE WAS DEVELOPED. THERE IS
MENTION OFF CATARACT SURGERIES, PLASTIC SURGERIES,
OPERATIONS ETC. PREVIOUSLY LIQUOR WAS USED AS
ANESTHESIA, LATER WHEN OPIUM WAS INTRODUCED THRU THE
ARABS, OPIUM WAS USED AS ANESTHESIA.
AYURVEDA
THE VEDIC SYSTEM
OF MEDICINE
EVOLVED
YOGA
YOGA EVOLVED BY CLOSE
OBSEVATION OF
THOUGHT AND BREATH
AND MANY ‘AASAN’
WERE DISCOVERED FOR
PHYSICAL FITNESS AND
MENTAL CONTROL
7. THE VEDAS ARE REFERRED TO AS THE SHRUTI. THE VEDAS ARE THE
OLDEST EXTANT HINDU TEXTS. THE IDEAS EXPRESSED IN THE VEDAS
WERE TRADITIONALLY HANDED DOWN ORALLY FROM FATHER TO SON
AND FROM TEACHER TO DISCIPLE. THEREFORE, THESE IDEAS HAD BEEN
IN CIRCULATION FOR A LONG TIME BEFORE THEIR CODIFICATION AND
COMPILATION, WHICH ARE ATTRIBUTED TO A RISHI NAMED VEDA VYASA
(LITERALLY, "THE SPLITTER OF THE VEDAS," ).
THE VEDAS…
8. TYPES OF VEDAS
RIGVEDAM – THE VEDA OF VERSES, IS A COLLECTION OF POEMS, HYMNS AND
INVOCATIONS OF DEITIES, REFLECTING MYTHS, RITES, BATTLES AND INSIGHTS OF
MANY KINDS. TEXTS AND PROCEDURES FOR RITUALS AND RITES OF BRAHMANANS
ARE GENERALLY DERIVED FROM IT.
YAJURVEDAM – THE VEDA OF CHANTS CONSISTS OF VERSE (POETRY) AND PROSE
(WRITING STYLE) LARGELY CONCERNED WITH RITUALS.
SAAMAVEDAM - THE VEDA OF SACRIFICIAL FORMULAS ON THE OTHER HAND,
CONSISTS MOSTLY OF PARTS OF RIGVEDAM SET TO MUSIC, AND A FEW (LESS THAN
100) STANZAS OF ITS OWN. BUT THE TUNE OF RENDERING (CHANTING)
SAAMAVEDAM IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF RIGVEDAM AND
YAJURVEDAM, AND IS MELODIOUS.
ATHHARWAVEDAM –THE VEDA OF ATHARVA PRIESTS, IS SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO
RIGVEDAM, BUT WITH STRESS ON THE PRACTICAL ASPECTS, AND IS PROBABLY
ADDRESSED TO A DIFFERENT STRATUM OF SOCIETY.
9. The Vedas
▪ 1200 BCE-600 BCE.
▪ written in SANSKRIT.
▪ Hindu core of
beliefs:
➢ hymns and poems.
➢ religious prayers.
➢ magical spells.
➢ lists of the god and
goddesses.
Rig Veda → oldest work.
10. • LIFE EXPECTANCY WAS A 100 YEARS AND IT HAD BEEN SUBDIVIDED INTO THE
FOUR ‘ASHRAMS’ – THE STUDENT YEARS OF CELIBACY AND LEARNING, THE FAMILY
YEARS OF PROCREATION AND EARNING, THE NEXT 25 YEARS WERE DEDICATED TO
THE COMMUNITY AND WORKS OF CHARITY WHILE THE LAST 25 YEARS WERE FOR
GOD AND RENUNCIATION FROM ACTIVE COMMUNITY LIFE.
• IT IS NOW BELIEVED THAT THIS CIVILIZATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE CRADLE OF THE
WORLD. KNOWLEDGE PASSED ON FROM HERE INTO MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT
AND ONWARDS INTO EUROPE.
11. THEIR HOUSES WERE BUILT OF EARTH AND TIMBER, SO
THEY DO NOT SURVIVE THE CENTURIES. BURNT BRICK HAD
NOT YET BEEN EVOLVED. NO TEMPLES OF THAT PERIOD
HAVE BEEN FOUND. SEALS IN THE LATER INDUS VALLEY
CIVILIZATION CARRY IMPRESSIONS OF A SEATED GOD
SIMILAR TO ‘PASHUPATI’ – THE PROTECTOR OF THE
ANIMALS. THE COW WAS REVERED AND MILK & MILK
PRODUCTS, WHEAT &, BARLEY, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
WERE THEIR STAPLE DIET.
THE SURROUNDING FORESTS PROVIDED AMPLE BUILDING
MATERIAL IN THE FORM OF BAMBOO AND MUD. THE
ARYAN HUT IN ITS MOST BASIC SHAPE WAS CIRULAR IN
PLAN WITH A THACHED ROOF OVER A NETWORK OF
BAMBOO RIBS. THIS WAS LATER ELONGATED INTO A
REGTANGULAR PLAN WITH A BARREL SHAPED THATHED
ROOF. CLUSTER OF THESE HUTS FORMED A COURTYARD.
TO MAINTAIN THE BARREL FORM A THONG OR STRING,
PERHAPS AN ANIMAL HIDE WAS STRETCHED ACROSS THE
ENDS OF THE BAMBOO
12. THE CITIES OF THE LATER INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION WERE LAID OUT IN ACCORDANCE
TO THE TENTS OF THE VEDIC RULE. THE RIVER FLOWED TO THE EAST OF THE
SETTLEMENTS SO THEY COULD WATCH THE RISING SUN OVER WATER. STREETS WERE
NORTH SOUTH AND MOST HOUSES WERE ENTERED FROM THE EAST. THE INDUS VALLEY
CIVILIZATION IS NOW CONSIDERED AN EXTENSION OF THE VEDIC VILLAGES.
BY STUDYING THE ASTRONOMICAL POSITIONS MENTIONED IN THE VEDIC TEXTS, AND THE
MENTION OF CONSTELLATIONS MOVING ABOUT IN CIRLCES IN THE SKY, IT IS SPECULATED
THAT THEY BEGAN LIFE IN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE, IN A TIME WHEN IT WAS NOT COVERED
OVER IN ICE AS NOW.
13. EVOLUTION OF
VEDIC
HOUSES…
• CIRCULAR
INDIVIDUAL HUTS
WERE BUILT IN
CLUSTERS AROUND
A CENTRAL COURT.
• THESE CIRCULAR
HUTS EVOLVED INTO
RECTANGULAR HUTS
• THESE LATER
EVOLVED INTO THE
LATER COURTYARD
HOUSES.
15. LATER, WITH TRADE THE BURNT BRICK MAY HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED. MOHENJO DARO IS BUILT ON A HIGH BRICK
PLATFORM BECAUSE OF THE PERIODIC FLOODING OF THE INDUS RIVER.
THE ARYANS WERE NOT A BARBARIC TRIBE THAT SLAVED THE INDUS CIVILIZATION AND MOVED EASTWARD INTO
INDIA. RATHER , IT IS NOW BELIEVED THAT THE RIVER SARASWATI DRIED UP, BECAUSE OF PERHAPS DUE TO AN
EARTHQUAKE, AND WITH IT THE CITIES WERE ABANDONED FOR WATER AND HENCE FOOD. MOST OF THE PEOPLE
MOVED INTO ASSYRIA AND SOME CROSSED OVER INTO THE INDO-GANGETIC PLAINS IN AROUND 1500BC TO
1000BC.
IN THAT TIME THE SMALL
STATES EVOLVED. THERE
WERE:
GANDHAR
KANBOJ
KURU
PANCHALA
KOSALA
VIDEHA
MAGADH
KASHI
ANGA
KIKATA
BANAS
VIDARBHA
THESE, THOUGH CONNECTED
BY BLOODLINES AND
MARRIAGE WERE OFTEN AT
WAR WITH EACH OTHER
17. IT WAS DURING THIS TIME THAT THE VEDS WERE
FINALLY WRITTEN DOWN AND THEIR KNOWLEDGE
PRESERVED. THE UPNISHADS, THE GITA ARE THE
BRAHMANAS WERE WRITTEN.
BY NOW THEY WERE FAMILIAR WITH HORSES AND THE
‘ASHWAMEGH’ YAGNAS WERE CONDUCTED. HORSES
WERE ALSO USED IN BATTLE.
THE PRIESTS HELPED THE COMMON MAN IN
CONDUCTING THE PRAYER RITUALS. PEOPLE PRAYED
FOR ABUNDANCE OF SONS, CATTLE AND WEALTH.
THE GREAT EPICS , THE MAHABHARATA AND THE
RAMAYANA ARE FROM DURING THIS TIME.
THE TRANSITION FROM THE EARLY VEDIC AGE TO THE
LATER VEDIC AGE WAS MARKED WITH THE
EMERGENCE OF AGRICULTURE AS THE DOMINANT
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY WITH A SIGNIFICANT DECLINE IN
CATTLE REARING.
INITIALLY GOVERNED BY ELECTED LEADERS
COUNSELLED BY SABHAS AND SAMITIES, SLOWLY THE
PARTICIPATION OF PEOPLE IN GOVERNANCE
DECREASED. LAVISH CEREMONIES WERE PERFORMED
FOR THE CORONATION OF KINGS WITH THE PUROHIT
AND THE SENANI IN ATTENDANCE WITH ALL POMP
AND GLORY.
18. CITY-STATES AND TIMBER CONSTRUCTION…
With the conversion of the early
vedic people into agriculturalists, a
growing rivalry (competition) for
precious fertile land was inevitable.
groups of small villages banded
together, and small 'cities' began to
take shape. a palisade wall
inevitably protected these and the
buildings within were also made
almost entirely of wood. the vedic
carpenters developed skill in timber
construction of a very high standard
It is not surprising, therefore, that in later ages timber construction techniques were
employed even though the material of construction was radically different - i.e. stone.
In general, the cities of the Vedic period were rectangular in plan and divided into four
quarters by two main thoroughfares intersecting at right angles, each leading to a city gate.
One of these quarters contained the citadel and another housed the residential area. A third
quarter was reserved for the merchants, and the last for tradesmen who could display their
wares.
19. AT DAWN EVERY MORNING THOUSANDS OF
HINDUS GATHER ON ALL THE STEPS LEADING
DOWN TO THE SHORE (GHATS) TO FACE THE SUN
THAT RISES ACROSS THE BROAD EXPANSE OF THE
GANGES AND THAT IS REFLECTED IN THE WATERS.
KASHI : ONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST LIVING CITY (FROM 1200 – 1000 BCE)
(LEBANON HAS THE OLDEST FROM 5000 BCE, LOWER EGYPT FROM 4000 BCE, MYCENAEN GREECE FROM 1400 BCE, )
THE GANGES WAS AT THE CENTER OF VEDIC MYTHOLOGY. AT VARANASI, ON THE GANGES ,
EVEN TODAY VESTIGES OF VEDIC RITUALS CONTINUE. VARANASI WAS FOUNDED AS THE
CAPITAL OF THE KASHI MAHAJANAPADA BUT LOST ITS POLITICAL IMPORTANCCE AFTER
BEING CONQUERRED BY KOSALA AND THEN MAGADHA AROUND 600 BCE. IT DEVELOPED,
HOWEVER , INTO A LEADING RELIGIOUS SITE. WHEN BUDDHA GAINED ENLIGHTENMENT, HIS
FIRST STOP WAS VARANASI. (SARNATH IS A MERE 16KM AWAY)
20. • THE CITY IS BUILT ON A NATURAL BERM, LOCATED ON THE NORTHWESTERN BANKS
OF THE GANGES AT A POINT WHERE THE RIVER MAKES A SHARP RIGHT TURN,
FLOWING NORTH AND THEN WEST. THE HIGH BERM (BUILT UP WITH KARKAR OR
LIME CONCRETION) NOT ONLY ENSURES THAT THE CITY ENJOYS A DRAMATIC
PROSPECT, SOME 15 METERS ABOVE THE NORMAL LEVEL OF THE WATER, IT ALSO
ENSURES THAT THE CITY IS PROTECTED FORM THE RIVER’S FLOODS, THE IMPACT
OF WHICH IS BORN BY THE OPPOSITE SHORE.
• BECAUSE OF ITS GEOGRAPHY , VARANASI HAS BEEN SITUATED AT THE VERY SAME
SPOT FOR 3000 YRS, UNMOVED BY THE GANGES, YET IN CONSTANT ENGAGEMENT
WITH ITS RISING AND FALLING WATERS. BEHIND THE BERM, IN A SEMICULAR
ARCH, LIES THE DENSE FABRIC OF THE MEDIVAL CITY, WITH TWISTING NARROW
STREETS, TEMPLES, WATER TANKS AND STREET SHRINES.
21. THE GHATS AND THE RIVER HAVE AN ENGAGEMENT OF ‘SHIVA AND
SHAKTI’ - THE GANGES BEING ‘SHAKTI’.
BENARAS BECAME THE CENTER FOR LEARNING OF ARYAN RELIGION AND
PHILOSOPHY., CLASSSICAL MUSIC AND DANCE. THE CITY ALSO FLOURISHED
AS AN INDUSTRIAL AND ECONOMIC CENTER FAMOUS FOR ITS MUSLIN AND
SILK FABRICS, IVORY WORKS, PERFUMERY AND SCULPTURES.
THE VISHWESHWAR TEMPLE
IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE
PILLAR AT THE CENTER OF
THE WORLD – OR ‘AXIS
MUNDI’
22. THE PATTERN OF TRADITIONAL AND ROYAL
CITIES OF INDIA MOSTLY DUPLICATES A
CELESTIAL ARCHETYPE , REFLECTING COSMO-
MAGICAL POWERR.
PILGRIMS TO THE CITY TAKE THE FIVE SACRED
ROUTES (PARIKRAMA) FROM THE OUTER
CIRCLE TO THE INNER CIRCLE REACHING TO
THE HIGHEST AT THE INNER SANCTUM. EACH
OF THE FIVE JOURNEYS STARTS AND ENDS AT
THE VISVESHWARA SHIVA TEMPLE SITUATED
JUST OFF THE GHATS OF BENARAS.
THIS IDEA RUNS PARALLEL TO A SHRINKING
WORLD BUT EXPANDING UNIVERSE.
IT ALSO SHOWS PARALLELS WITH SHIVA’S
DANCE SYMBOLIZING COSMIC CYCLES OF
CREATION AND DESTRUCTION AND ALSO THE
DAILY RHYTHM OF LIFE AND DEATH.
PHILOSOPHY
24. QUESTION
•How was Vedic city planned and what kind of
architectural style developed during that period?
Explain with the help of suitable examples.
