finding a past

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Finding a

pasthttp://www.newindpress.com/sunday/sundayitems.asp?id=SEC20030329055837&eTitle=Columns&rLink=0Nanditha

KrishnaLast week, at the C P Art Centre in Chennai, T K V Rajan, archaeologist

turned television producer,presented an exhibition titled ‘In Search of

Krishna’, a well-documented collection of materialabout the excavations

conducted at the various sites connected with the life of Krishna and theevents

of the Mahabharata. In view of the ongoing excavations at Ayodhya, it is

worthwhile to seewhat the Mahabharata excavations revealed.Over 35 sites of the

Mahabharata have been identified in the North, all of which have yieldedmaterial

culture — painted grey ware (PGW) pottery painted over with designs in black

pigment, andantiquities in uniform and identical levels. This pottery is made

of a superior quality of pasteformed of well levigated clay and fine,

well-burnt fabric achieved by distributing heat in the kilnevenly. This

civilisation is also characterised by the use of iron, unknown to the

earlierHarappans.Hastinapur, between Meerut and Mawana in Uttar Pradesh, is now

a forgotten village, but excavationsin 1952 revealed the existence of

Vidur-ka-tilla (Vidura’s palace), Draupadi-ki-rasoi (Draupadi’skitchen) and

Draupadi Ghat (for bathing), besides copper utensils, iron seals, ornaments

made ofgold and silver, terracotta discs and several oblong-shaped ivory dice

used in the game of chauper.Iron objects numbering 135, and which included

arrow and spearheads, shafts, tongs, hooks, axes andknives indicate the

existence of a vigorous industry. There are indications of brick-lined roads

anddrainage systems, and an agro-livestock based economy. The PGW of

Hastinapura has been assigned to1100-800 BC. The events of the Mahabharata

probably occurred around 1000-900 BC.Later, according to the Matsya and Vayu

Puranas, a heavy flood on the River Ganga destroyedHastinapura, and Nichakshu,

the fifth king after Parikshit (Arjuna’s grandson) who ascended thethrone after

the Kurukshetra war, shifted his capital to Kausambi, 50 kilometres from

Allahabad.There is definite archaeological evidence of a massive flood level.

The devastation by the Ganga isstill visible in the thick clay soil.After their

exile, the Pandavas asked for three villages: Paniprastha, Sonaprastha

andIndiraprastha, generally identified with modern Panipat, Sonepat and

Puranaqila in New Delhi. Thesesites have also yielded the same pottery and

antiquities. Building structures with drainage systemsand PGW were excavated at

Purana Qila.Kurukshetra, now in Haryana, was the site of the Kuru war.

Excavations here have yielded iron arrowand spearheads, dated by

Thermoluminence to 2800 BC. Today it is a town of bathing pools. Atthe

Brahma Sarovar, a large lake 3,600 feet by 1,500 feet, Krishna, Balarama and

Subhadra are saidto have bathed after a solar eclipse. Bhishma lay on his bed

of arrows at Bhishma Kund. Arjuna shotan arrow into the earth and a cool

fountain of water flowed out directly into Bhishma’s mouth,creating the Ban

Ganga pond. Eight kilometres away is the village of Thanesar, the capital of

HarshaVardhana in the sixth century.Yet, the excavations were stopped soon

after these finds were revealed, and were never resumed. Why?The submergence of

Dwaraka is described vividly in the epic. Arjuna asked the residents to

vacatethe city immediately as it was going to be submerged by the sea.

Dvaravati, accordsing to theSabhaparva of the Mahabharata, was heavily

fortified. Dr S R Rao started excavating the Dwarkadishtemple till he hit the

remains of 15th, 12th and 9th century AD temples. He dug on, passing twoearlier

temples, until, at a depth of 9.5 metres, they came to the remains of two towns

destroyed bythe sea. From the earlier of the two they recovered the

characteristic lustrous red pottery of theperiod and region. Encouraged by his

findings, he decided to search for Dwaraka.Underwater exploration yielded two

gateways, fort walls, bastions and a jetty at a depth of 10metres off Dwaraka,

in the Arabian Sea. Apart from corresponding to the Mahabharata’s description

ofthe architectural features of the city and the mode of its submergence, it

has directly fixed a dateby TM for the pottery of Dwaraka at 3520 years BP

(Before Present).Other finds include pottery, bronze and iron implements,

three-holed triangular stone anchors atDwaraka, a late Harappan type of seal

made of conch of a composite animal — a bull, unicorn and goat— and lustrous

red ware pottery at Bet Dwaraka, linking the site to the Harappan culture,

andthereby establishing its continuity.Bet Dwaraka was an island frequented by

Krishna who is said to have visited its Shankhodara Temple.It also contains the

only ancient temple for Matsya, the epic saviour of the world at the time ofthe

Great Flood. The materials discovered at Dwaraka corroborate history and myth,

and fix a datefor the inundation of the city — between 1500 and 1300 BC.The

most remarkable aspect of both epics is their geography. The Mahabharata

mentions many smallvillages, tanks and hills, which are still identifiable.What

is the historicity of the Mahabharata? Our doubting historians will never accept

any of thesefinds unless they are supported by inscriptions, which will never be

forthcoming as the earliestIndian inscriptions belong to 300 BC. So, do we treat

the epic as myth till they are satisfied?Western scholars tried to establish a

connection between Krishna and Christ, claiming that theformer was derived from

St Thomas’ teachings about the latter, but literature and archaeology haveproved

otherwise. The Chandogya Upanishad mentions that Krishna Devakiputra was a

student of GhoraAngirasa and the author of the Upanishad, which repeats the

teachings of the Bhagavat Gita word byword.In the 4th century BC, Chanakya

refers to the story of Krishna’s birth, while Megasthenes mentionsthat the

Sourasenoi (Surasenas or Yadavas) worshipped Herakles (Krishna). Their two

great citieswere Methora (Mathura) and Kleisobora (Krishnapura?) on the

navigable river Yobares (Yamuna). Healso mentions that Herakles (Krishna) sent

his daughter Pandaia to rule over the kingdom of Mathura(Madura) on the

southern sea. Was she a descendant of the Pandavas, and did the latter

re-emerge asthe Pandyas, whose southern capital was named after Krishna’s

capital, Mathura?Panini, Patanjali and the Buddhist and Jain works also mention

Krishna and the events of theKurukshetra war, while the Chinese traveller Yuan

Chang records that a great war was fought atKurukshetra and the bones of dead

warriors lay buried under the soil.In 180-165 BC, the Greek ruler Agathocles

issued coins with images of Vasudeva holding a chakra.Several inscriptions are

available in the first century BC: the Greek ambassador BhagavataHeliodorus

erected a Garuda column to Vasudeva at Besnagar; the Mora Well inscription near

Mathuramentions the worship of the five Vrishni heroes, including Vasudeva;

stone enclosures (Narayanavatika) were built for Vasudeva and his brother

Shankarshana (Balarama) at Ghosundi and Hathivada.The most controversial site

is, of course, the temple at Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna. I amnot aware

if any excavation has been done here, but tradition and even eminent historians

associatethe site with the birth of Krishna, which is why Aurangazeb consciously

chose to build a mosque overit.Apart from knowing that vyuhas were army

formations, I never really understood their formation orpenetration. Rajan has

computerised them to work out how the various Kaurava warriors were placedand

how the Pandavas entered and destroyed these vyuhas, increasing the

sophistication of what wasalways believed to be a primitive tribal

war.Krishna’s divinity is a matter of faith, established by his identification

with Lord Vishnu. Butarchaeology has conclusively established the veracity of

the Mahabharata and the existence of thecult of Vasudeva-Krishna at a very

early period. The epics form the soul of India, and Rajan hasdone well to

document and bring alive ancient history.Nanditha Krishna is Director, C P

Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation and can be reached atnankrishna (AT) vsnl (DOT) com

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