Kolkata filmmaker traces Christ's 'India trail'

[Guest guest]

" It was a great day when Christ came on this earth, and you know

about how he was specially created to come down as a human being,

to work out this salvation of the people. It is said that he came

to India in Kashmir and he met there the king, Shalivahan. "

 

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

Christmas Puja, Ganapatipule, India

24 December, 1995

 

 

Kolkata filmmaker traces Christ's 'India trail'

Monday November 7 2005 13:58 IST

IANS

 

KOLKATA: Where was Jesus Christ between the age of 12 and 30 years?

He supposedly visited India during this period, according to a

theory, and a filmmaker here has tried to follow Christ's yet

unexplored trail in his new movie.

 

Though the Bible does not give credence to such theories, engineer-

turned filmmaker Subhrajit Mitra's " The Unknown Stories of the

Messiah " focuses on the unexplored life of Christ and his unaccounted

years in the Bible.

 

Did Christ visit India after his crucifixion? Is a tomb in the

Kashmir Valley that of Christ? These are some of the controversial

questions Mitra raises in his film.

 

" Christ supposedly visited India, according to an alternative

theory, " Mitra said.

 

" Neither the Bible nor the mainstream gospels give credence to such

theories but the scrolls found in caves near the Dead Sea or at Nag

Hammadi (in Egypt), believed to be the first drafts of the Bible,

corroborate the alternative theory about Christ, " Mitra told IANS.

 

" According to Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic scriptures and beliefs,

Christ visited India during the period of his missing years in the

Bible and stayed in the country for 14 years.

 

" His Christianity was influenced by Hinduism as we find that the New

Testament of the Bible was more akin to Hinduism than Judaism.

 

" In Bhavishya Maha Puran, a text dating back to the second century

AD, there are references of Christ's interaction with King

Shalivahan, the grandson of Vikramaditya, in Kashmir.

 

" Scholars say it happened after Christ's resurrection, " said Mitra.

 

He also noted that there were different isolated pockets that

corroborated the " alternative theory " about Christ.

 

This alternative theory was strengthened after some scrolls (dating

back to between 200 BC and 100 AD) were discovered in 1947 in a group

of caves near Khirbat Qumran in Jordan at the northwestern end of the

Dead Sea.

 

Two years before that, in 1945, some scrolls dating back to 350 AD

were found tucked into a large jar at Nag Hammadi village in upper

Egypt.

 

Mitra's film, produced by Atanu Roy of Sweet Melody, seeks to unearth

the truth through the discourses of an archaeologist (played by

Soumitra Chatterjee) and a novelist (Aparna Sen).

 

" We have shot in Ladakh, Kashmir, the Silk Route, Kerala, Varanasi

and Puri for the film - following the trail of Christ, " said Mitra.

 

" There are many documents in the vault of the Vatican and the church

doesn't publish them because they obviously want to project Christ as

a god and not as a human.

 

" Assimilation of all such stories raises the question why there was

no proper research on the alternative theory about Christ, " said

Mitra.

 

German scholar H.J. Trebst, who has been researching on the subject

of Christ's missing 12 years, invited scholars to a seminar at Puri

in Orissa in November 2003.

 

According to some scholars of the Orient and the West, Christ had

visited Puri where he had studied Veda and yoga before returning home

to preach Christianity.

 

Christ also studied Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent, according to

Trebst, who has done extensive research in Ladakh and Nepal to trace

the evidence of Christ's itinerary in the subcontinent.

 

According to Trebst, Puri was a famous seat of learning some 2,000

years ago and history has revealed that various religious leaders

visited the city over the centuries.

 

There is also a belief that Christ's tomb is in the Kashmir Valley

and foreigners, especially Israelis, visit it in large numbers. The

main attractions in the valley for Israelis are two graves - believed

by some to be those of Christ and Moses.

 

A section of the local population believes that Kashmiris are one of

the lost tribes of Israel. Aziz Kashmiri, author of the book " Christ

in Kashmir " , insists that Kashmiris are descendants of one of the 10

lost tribes of Israel and that Christ died during a visit to the

valley.

 

According to Mitra, it is time serious research begins to verify the

alternative theory about Christ and his Indian connections. About 2.3

percent of India's population of 1.1 billion follows Christianity,

with about 60 percent of them being Catholics.

 

The History Channel has shown interest in his film, Mitra said.

 

www.newindpress.com/