India is a unique state, an ancient and an unbroken civilisation, in the modern world. Our past gives us an insight in to the accomplishments (in architecture, astronomy, science, execution of huge projects, even by modern standards, human physiology, etc) of our ancestors.
Sun Temple located on Tropic of Cancer, at Modhera, Mehasana, Gujarat.
Built between 1000 to 1200 AD.
The first ray of the sun fell on the idol of the Sun God located in the Garba Grih, on the Equinoxes and the sun was directly overhead at noon, casing no shadows on the summer Solstice.
A View of the Sabha Mandapa
Qutub Complex; In addition to the Qutub Minar, the iron pillar located in the complex is one of the world's foremost metallurgical curiosities.
In the mistaken belief of hurting secularism, we negated each of these wonders from our past, and instead of celebrating these as our civilisational accomplishments, irrespective of our present beliefs, we made them religion based. This has created problems in every Indian feeling proud of our collective heritage. Yoga is an ancient gift to us from our ancestors, but we have been denied this gift, as a nation, as it considered to be linked to a belief now. How can human physiology change with belief? Instead of teaching this at school level, we are happy to teach & conduct PT. As an example: A person who converts even yesterday to another belief system, instantly starts to disown this part of our ancient heritage. Our political parties, in and out of power, have done nothing to educate people on the subject, but have used these superficial divides to further their own political agendas.
There are many ancient structures, mostly in the Southern parts of India, as the North was ravaged by the invaders and conquerors. The South has been relatively safe from the violent invaders, and thus a large number of our ancient structures still exist there.
These structures are built by our ancestors and are a link to our common civilisational existance, rather than to our present beliefs. Ancestry cannot be changed or wished away, beliefs can and are open to change. Structures are not beliefs, the mind is!
Our national narrative needs a change. Our civilisationally inclusive & 'each to his own' culture needs to be celebrated and what better way than the amazing structures built by our ancestors that have with stood the elements of weather, plunderings by the invaders/ conquerors.
Probably we are the only country whose education system taught us more about our conquerors & invaders than our own illustrious ancestors, who culturally spread the message across large swathes of Asia, which are visible even today. Why are we so apologetic, unsure, not proud of who we are, in the macro sense.
Micro issues, by vested interests, are taking away richness of our glorious past, which is common to each one of us; a reasonably comfortable present, considering our diversity/population, as also a very bright future of this great land and its citizens.
I have visited the Taj Mahal a number of times, not to pay a visit to the graves of an inhuman Muslim King and his beloved Queen, but to marvel at the beauty, symmetry and workmanship of this grand wonder, Wah Taj! I feel proud to witness the structure today, as it is part of what has been built by our ancestors.
Wah Taj!
Visited the Golden Temple at Amritsar on three occasions; Lotus Temple in Delhi recently, a Baha'i House of Worship. Grand structures, each one of them. Proud to have this as our heritage, and happy to pass it on as a heritage to our future generations.
Lotus Temple, Baha'i House of Worship
Proud - is just a state of mind. Everything changes when one is proud of who he/she is. Be a proud Indian in your public life; rest of your identifications are very personal to you, the way they should be, be they religion, name, caste, region, family name, etc.
The Golden Temple, Amritsar
Comments