The 2015 Indian Science Congress ancient aircraft controversy refers to protests that occurred during the 102nd Indian Science Congress in Mumbai, on 4 January 2015 when a paper claiming to prove that aircraft were invented in the Vedic age was allowed to be presented. [1]
In December 2014, it was announced that Anand J. Bodas and his copresenter Ameya Jadhav, who claim that aircraft more advanced than today's versions existed in ancient India, would be allowed to speak at the Indian Science Congress and present a paper on aviation in the Vedic age. During an interview, scientists claimed that such aircraft were huge and could fly to other planets. Scientists also claimed that those planes could fly backwards, left, or right, contrary to modern aircraft that can fly only forward. [2] [3]
Bodas, who was a principal at a pilot training school in Kerala and Jadhav, currently a lecturer at the Swami Vivekanand International School and Junior College in Mumbai, [4] cited a text called Vaimanika Prakaranam (also called Vaimānika Shāstra) as evidence. Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science studied the text in 1974, concluding that "craft is a decided impossibility” and that the Vaimānika Shāstra was written no earlier than 1904. [5] Bodas stated that modern science rejects anything that it cannot explain. He claimed that of the 500 guidelines described in the text, only 100 to 120 survive today. He attributed this loss to the passage of time, foreign rulers of India and artefacts which had been stolen from India, during that time. [3]
The five-day conference was held at the Kalina Campus of the Mumbai University starting on 3 January 2015. The paper was presented on 4 January, as a part of the larger symposium on "Ancient Sciences Through Sanskrit". [3] Other papers presented in the symposium were "Engineering applications of Ancient Indian botany", "Neuro-science of yoga: understanding the process", "Advances in surgery in Ancient India" and "Scientific principles of Ancient Indian architecture and civil engineering". [4]
In late December 2014, Ram Prasad Gandhiraman, a scientist at the NASA's Ames Research Center, started a petition to prevent the paper from being presented at the conference. By 31 December, 220 scientists and academicians had signed the petition. Gandhiraman criticized the paper as pseudo-science and said that mythology should not be mixed with science. [6]
S. M. Deshpande, a professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, who has written a paper with four others on aircraft in Sanskrit texts, said that we should not reject such claims as pseudo-science outright but examine them with intellectual curiosity. His paper, however, states that the aircraft described in the Vaimānika Shāstra text would not be capable of flying and the text itself cannot be traced to any date before 1904. [6]
H.S. Mukunda, another professor at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, who was a co-author of the paper, criticized the organizers and said that both sides of the debate should be presented. He asked why had there been no working models made if the persons who presented the paper were convinced that they were right. [7]
Roddam Narasimha, director of National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), said that there is no credible evidence that aviation existed in ancient India. He added that the Vaimānika Shāstra text has been studied scientifically and the consensus is that descriptions in the text are unscientific. [3]
Noted Indian astrophysicist and founding director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Pune, India, Jayant Narlikar reacted to the controversy saying that it was good to be proud of ancient Indian science but scientists should not make claims about things they did not have proof of. He commented, "We can boast of things but it should be restricted to what we have proof of. But we shouldn't claim things of which there is no evidence or proof as it reduces the credibility of what our scientists have achieved in the past." He further asserted, "Even the West recognizes the knowledge of mathematics held by Indians. If we start making outlandish claims, the scientific community of world will not look up to us as it does now". [8]
Economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen commented that some evidence is required in the controversial claims made in the Indian Science Congress regarding the achievements of ancient Indians. He said, "The idea that human beings can fly is known to human beings from birth. The idea that human beings might be able to be on the air has been talked about a lot. If that was true, then we would like to find some evidence." Further, he elaborated, "As our epics show, Indians have thought about flying for a long time. But it would be fanciful to say that India invented the aeroplane. If ancient India had airfare technology, we would like to see some evidence. I agree there are a lot of claims that have nothing to do with achievements." [9]
Gauri Mahulikar, the head of the department of Sanskrit at Mumbai University, said that the paper would have been easily dismissed if it had been presented by Sanskrit professors. But, since Bodas was a pilot and Ameya Jadhav had a Master of Technology and Master of Arts in Sanskrit, it cannot be rejected easily. [6]
Sanskrit is an Indo-Aryan language of the ancient Indian subcontinent with a 3,500-year history. It is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism and the predominant language of most works of Hindu philosophy as well as some of the principal texts of Buddhism and Jainism. Sanskrit, in its variants and numerous dialects, was the lingua franca of ancient and medieval India. In the early 1st millennium AD, along with Buddhism and Hinduism, Sanskrit migrated to Southeast Asia, parts of East Asia and Central Asia, emerging as a language of high culture and of local ruling elites in these regions.
Jyotisha or Jyotishya is the traditional Hindu system of astrology, also known as Hindu astrology, Indian astrology and more recently Vedic astrology. The term Hindu astrology has been in use as the English equivalent of Jyotiṣa since the early 19th century, whereas Vedic astrology is a relatively recent term, entering common usage in the 1970s with self-help publications on Āyurveda or yoga. Vedanga Jyotishya is one of the earliest texts about astronomy within the Vedas. However, some authors have claimed that the horoscopic astrology practiced in the Indian subcontinent came from Hellenistic influences, post-dating the Vedic period. Some authors argue that in the mythologies Ramayana and Mahabharata, only electional astrology, omens, dreams and physiognomy are used but there have been several articles and blogs published which cites multiple references in those books about rashi based astrology.
Vimāna are mythological flying palaces or chariots described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics. The Pushpaka Vimana of the king Ravana is the most quoted example of a vimana. Vimanas are also mentioned in Jain texts.
Vastu shastra is a traditional Indian system of architecture originating in India which literally translates to "science of architecture." These are texts found on the Indian subcontinent that describe principles of design, layout, measurements, ground preparation, space arrangement, and spatial geometry. Vastu Shastras incorporate traditional Hindu and in some cases Buddhist beliefs. The designs are intended to integrate architecture with nature, the relative functions of various parts of the structure, and ancient beliefs utilising geometric patterns (yantra), symmetry, and directional alignments.
Shastra is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense. The word is generally used as a suffix in the Indian literature context, for technical or specialized knowledge in a defined area of practice.
Hindu texts are manuscripts and historical literature related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few texts are shared resources across these traditions and broadly considered as Hindu scriptures. These include the Vedas and the Upanishads. Scholars hesitate in defining the term "Hindu scripture" given the diverse nature of Hinduism, many include Bhagavad Gita and Agamas as Hindu scriptures, while Dominic Goodall includes Bhagavata Purana and Yajnavalkya Smriti to the list of Hindu scriptures.
The Nāṭya Śāstra is a Sanskrit text on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata Muni, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 800 BCE and 500 BCE.
'Indian classical Dance' or 'Shastriya Devesh', is an umbrella term for Various performance arts rooted in religious Hindu musical theatre styles, whose theory and practice can be traced to the Sanskrit text Natya Shastra.
The Vedanga are six auxiliary disciplines of Hinduism that developed in ancient times, and have been connected with the study of the Vedas. These are:
The Aitareya Brahmana is the Brahmana of the Shakala Shakha of the Rigveda, an ancient Indian collection of sacred hymns. This work, according to the tradition, is ascribed to Mahidasa Aitareya.
Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Kolkata and it meets annually in the first week of January. It has a membership of more than 30,000 scientists.
Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Bharatikrishna Tirtha was the Shankaracharya of Govardhana matha in Puri, Odisha, from 1925 through 1960. He is particularly known for (1) his connection in nationalist aspiration, (2) his book Vedic Mathematics, and (3) his being the first Jagadguru Shankaracharya in history to visit the West.
Pravachan, or Pravacana, is a Sanskrit term for any exposition of a doctrine or treatise, or to the recitation of a scripture or text in Jainism and Hinduism traditions. It particularly refers to the tradition of Pravacanakara presenting their teachings or explanations of spiritual ideas before a gathering of householders or general public in the Indian traditions. Pravacana is an ancient tradition, whose earliest mentions are found in the Vedic texts but one that is also found in post-Vedic Shastra and Sutra texts of Hindus and Jains.
Mamuni Mayan is a culture hero character from Tamil Sangam literature, identified with the asura Maya Dānava (Mayasura) of the Mahabharata, the mythical founder of Vastu Shastra. Romakapura (Sanskrit) [from romaka hairy + pura city, fortified town] City of hairy ones; in the Surya-Siddhanta, is given as the birthplace of Asura maya.
The Vaimānika Śāstra is an early 20th-century text in Sanskrit. It makes the claim that the vimānas mentioned in ancient Sanskrit epics were advanced aerodynamic flying vehicles.
Shivkar Bāpuji Talpade was an Indian scholar who is said to have constructed the first unmanned airplane in 1895. Talpade lived in Mumbai and studied Sanskrit literature and the Vedas.
Vishnampet R. Ramachandra Dikshitar was a historian, Indologist and Dravidologist from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was a professor of history and archaeology in the University of Madras and is the author of standard text books on Indian history.
Sangita, also spelled Samgita or Sangeeta, refers to "music and associated performance arts" in the Indian traditions. According to Guy Beck, the root "saṃ-" implies "combining, coming together, convergent wholesome blending, unison" in the context of musical arts. Sangita connotes any form of singing with music, harmonious recitation or chorus singing in particular. In some medieval era literary genre such as the Puranas and poetic texts such as Kathasaritsagar, a related term Sangita-shastra and Sangita-vidya mean the "art, science or knowledge of singing and dancing with music". According to Alison Arnold and Bruno Nettl, the modern term music fails to capture the historic sense of "Sanskrit sangita and Greek mousike". In the Indian tradition, the term sangita includes melodious singing, rhythmic dancing, instrumental music, classical, provincial, ritual chanting and incidental forms of music-related performance arts.
Vadya, also called Vadyaka or Atodya, is one of the three components of sangita, and refers to "instrumental music" in the Indian traditions. The other two components of sangita are gita and nrtya. In the general sense, Vadya means an instrument and the characteristic music they produce, sound or play out.