Ramayana ‘sky view’ now on exhibition

How about glimpsing the sky as it used to be at the time of Lord Ram’s birth?

Scientists and researchers have used sky observations of important events in the life of Lord Ram and historical narrations of Mahabharata, including determining his date and time of birth.

The exhibition—Cultural Continuity from Rigveda to Robotics—blends science, history and heritage through sky viewing and astronomical charts. Each exhibit has a ‘shlok’ (hymn) from the Rig Veda, Ramayana and Mahabharata, followed by its meaning and a corresponding sky view. “The astronomical dates of references in the Rig Veda, Ramayana and Mahabharata are corroborated by oceanographic, archaeological and other fields of science. The sky views were generated using the Planetarium software. We found these had a perfect chronological matching,” said Saroj Bala, director of the Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas, organiser of the exhibition. Using sky view, there is a mention of the date and time of birth of Lord Rama — January 10, 5114 BC, 12:00 hours.

Supported by the culture ministry, the exhibition is on at the Lalit Kala Akademi till September 23.

“We wanted to verify whether Ramayana and Mahabharat were mythological or they recorded historical events. So we used 10 categories of science, including astronomy, archaeology, paleo-botany and oceanography. We have corroborated they were actually a part of history,” Bala said.

The ministry has been supporting research in the fields of Ramayana and Mahabharat. As per sources, more such exhibitions on the Ramayana are planned in the coming months.