Guest guest Posted March 21, 2002 Report Share Posted March 21, 2002 Hindu Temples in Vietnam Mr. Jagdish C. Sharma, Consular General Consulate General of India, 455 North Cityfront Plaza Drive, #850, Chicago, IL 6-60611 India's cultural relations with Southeast Asia are one of the most fascinating fields. Hindu-Buddhist monuments of Southeast Asia bear silent testimony to the two millennium of peaceful and mutually beneficial Indo-Southeast Asian interaction. Awareness and knowledge about these monuments is not only important for the study of history, art and culture of this region but it is also important for understanding ancient India. There is a good awareness about the temples of Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myannar and Laos, very few outside the academic circles know about Hindu Temples in Vietnam. In this presentation, I will outline my own work as well the work done by several French scholars on temples of Champa. These temples which are in crying need of conservation and restoration, are the last remaining edifices of a kingdom which was the farthest outpost of Indian civilization in Southeast Asia. It may be mentioned that it was from 2nd to 16th century that there existed Hindu Kingdom of Champa. The loss of Amravati region, to its powerful neighbor in the north, began a process of decline from which Champa could never recover. It is hardly surprising that with the dissolution of the kingdom these temples became virtually unknown to the outside world. The first Royal Shiva Linga in Southeast Asia was established at Mi- Son near Da Nang, and the oldest Sanskrit inscription was found in a village Vo Canh near Nha Trang in the southern part of Vietnam. Dong Sonian and Sa Huynh cultures were prevalent in prehistoric times. Vedic Heritage of both India and Europe David Frawley (Vamdev Shastri), American Institute of Vedic Studies, Santa Fe, NM 87501 Vedicinst@a... The Vedic tradition was not only the basis of ancient Indian civilization but that of all the Indo-European peoples. This occurred not only through linguistic connections but common cultural and religious ideas and practices. There are now not only new movements in India to reclaim the Vedas but among the Europeans to reclaim their pre-Christian traditions. This is bringing about a new dialogue between Hindu and native European religious groups to try to restore not only their traditions but the commonalities that existed between them. The Polynesians - A Link to the Prehistoric India Shanti S. Clancy 925 Hartford Ave., Holly Hill, FL 32117, USA A number of researchers are working on the origin of Polynesain people. Archaeologists and linguists are using sophisticated tools of science, including DNA, to racially place the origin of these people. However, the modern Polynesian population is so racially mixed that it will not be easy to determine their original racial origin. Modern science of DNA from the point of view of mitochondria only sheds light on the origin of the people by the genetic makeup of the female. What about the origin of most of the men, who mostly migrated one place to another without a large group of their women? In fact prehistoric navigators of the Southern Seas would be all men! Their are two current theories about origin of Polynesians. One theory states that their original homeland was Southern China making them to be of Mongolian origin. The other theory states that their original homeland was South Asia, which is India and beyond. The Polynesians brought with them the rudiments of early Neolithic culture such as astronomy, navigation skills, a rich oral literature of chants, boat building and a well organized early class or caste structure in their society. In view of all of the above theories, I have noticed prehistoric connection with India. This paper will point in the direction of archaic Vedic beginning. The studies have drawn on the work of specialists from various scientific disciplines such as anthropology, archaeology. Linguistics, botany, and literary comparisons. I have used oral knowledge from my ancestors and my late-distinguished father who had a working knowledge of languages especially in the area of South and Southeast Asia. Migrations Relating to Ancient India & the Vedic Aryans: A New Scientific Analysis Harry H. Hicks, Foundation for Cultural Preservation, P. O. Box 111, Menlo Park, CA 94026 Robert N. Anderson Emeritus Professor of Material Engineering, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA It seems increasingly important that a more accurate and chronologically correct migrational chart be presented to the scholarly world. Scientific tests on the ancient Vedic Aryans head that was cast nearly 6,000 years ago, research and related astronomical and scientific calculations, ongoing archaeological work, the use of recent technologies such as satellite photography, research relating to the Sulba-Sutras and discoveries such as the astronomical code in the Rigveda, strongly support ancient Indian science. They indicate a need to correct some misconceptions that have been held for over 100 years concerning the time and events relating to the Vedic-Aryans and the extent of their early cosmic and mathematical knowledge. This new knowledge determines a more accurate time frame and indicates an earlier flux, merging and some reflux of proto- Europeans, Indo-Europeans, Kurganians, Indo-Aryans, and Vedic Aryans concomitant with their movements and migrations. Hopefully this will clarify, and help to sort out some of the cross cultural contacts, descendent sub-cultures and other inter-relationships, and the confusion arising from racial miscegenation and the many evolved names and designations. New Historical Dates of Gautam Buddha, Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka Dr. Narayan Joshi Department of Civil Engineering, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446 For more than 100 years, Indian people believed their pre-history (history prior to 500 BC) as told by the European scholars and their own India scholars. They were told that some people call Aryans from either Eastern Europe or Southern Russia invaded Dravidian India coming through the north-western mountain passes around 1500 BC and pushed the Dravidian people down to south forcibly occupying a big chunk of north India. In the period of past 10 years, evidence has been presented by the new breed of the Indian scholars from India and from abroad against the theory of the pre-history of India called the 'Aryan Invasion of Dravidian India'. Surprisingly, a couple of western scholars joined hands with Indian scholars in demolishing the old theory by presenting evidence of the Sarasvati culture along with Indus valley civilization. At present, however, there exists a big gap in the Indian pre-history from the Mohenjo-daro period of 3000 BC to the time of Gautam Buddha of 500 BC. Recent books by three Indian scholars are throwing new light on this dark corner of the Indian pre-history. According to their research, they claim that the dates assigned to Gautam Buddhs (560 BC to 440 BC) and to Chandragupta Maurya (344 BC - 297 BC) by the western historians were considerably demoted in order to fit them in line with the 'Aryan Invasion of 1500 BC'. These authors claim that Sandra Cottus of the greek historians (contemporary of Alexander of Macedonia and Selucus Nicator) was not Chandra Gupta of Andhra Britya Gupta dynasty, the father of Samudra Gupta. They assign new years to Gautam Buddha (1887 BC - 1907 BC), Chandragupta Mourya (around 1534 BC), and Ashoka (1260 BC). I review of this new research is presented in this paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.