Alien City under Kailāsanātha Temple ?

The Kailāsanātha temple (Cave 16) is one of the 32 cave temples and monasteries known collectively as the Ellora Caves. Its construction is generally attributed to the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I (r. 756-773 CE). The temple architecture shows traces of Pallava and Chalukya styles.

Mysteries that surround the Monolith..

The Kailash Temple is a standalone, multi-storeyed temple complex, made to look like Mount Kailash - the puranic home of Lord Shiva.

The Kailāsanātha Temple is the largest rock-cut ancient Hindu temple in the world. A megalith carved out of one single rock, it is considered one of the most remarkable cave temples on the planet because of its sheer size, architecture and sculptural treatment. 

The Kailāśa Temple is notable for its vertical excavation—carvers started at the top of the original rock and excavated downward. It is the only structure in the world to be built that way. 

The rock temple was cut in 'U' shape about 50 metres in the back, and tonnes of rock was removed to give shape to it. The scientists had calculated that it would have taken more than a hundred years to finish the temple construction. However, in reality it took only 18 years to complete it. Interestingly, modern age engineers find it impossible to finish the same temple using the modern technology in 18 years!

An estimated 2 million cubic feet of rock was cut from the mountain, but was never found anywhere. Where did all that stone go?

Mughal ruler Aurangzeb had made a strong attempt to vandalise the Kailash Temple, but he was unable to get much success in his plans. All he could do was a minor damage here and there, but not to the main structure.

In her book, "The Secret Doctrine"; Helena Balavatsky claimed that many advanced civilizations existed Millions of Years Ago. Their remnants can still be found beneath the secret passages and chambers of the Indian cave temples. And even in statues that adorn the walls of the Kailāshnāth !

Lost Treasures of Nalanda

Nalanda Mahavihara

Nalanda was an acclaimed Mahavihara, a large Buddhist monastery in the ancient kingdom of Magadha (modern day Bihar) in India. Considered by historians to be the world's very first residential university, and among the greatest centers of learning in the ancient world, it was located near the city of Rajagriha (now Rajgir) and about 90 kilometres (56 mi) southeast of Pataliputra (now Patna), and was a centre of learning from the 427 CE to 1197 CE.

Nalanda was established during the Gupta Empire era, and was supported by numerous Indian and Javanese patrons – both Buddhists and Hindus. Over some 750 years, its faculty included some of the most revered scholars of Mahayana Buddhism. Nalanda Mahavihara taught six major Buddhist schools and philosophies such as Yogacara and Sarvastivada as well as subjects such as grammar, medicine, logic and mathematics. The university was also a major source of the 657 Sanskrit texts carried by pilgrim Xuanzang and the 400 Sanskrit texts carried by Yijing to China in the 7th-century, which influenced East Asian Buddhism. Many of the texts composed at Nalanda played an important role in the development of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism including the Mahavairocana Tantra and the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra of Shantideva.

It was sacked and destroyed by the troops of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji, partly restored thereafter, and continued to exist till about 1400 CE. Today, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Nalanda Heritage Site

Nalanda Heritage Site

While its excavated ruins today only occupy an area of around 1,600 feet (488 m) by 800 feet (244 m) or roughly 12 hectares, Nalanda Mahavihara occupied a far greater area in medieval times.

The subjects taught at Nalanda covered every field of learning, and it attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey. These included Vedas, Logic, Grammar, Philosophy, Theology, Literature, Astronomy, Medicine, Law, City-Planning, Tantra, Yoga, Mahayana, Hinyana etc.

Xuanzang left detailed accounts of the school in the 7th century. He described how the regularly laid-out towers, forest of pavilions, harmikas and temples seemed to "soar above the mists in the sky" so that from their cells the monks "might witness the birth of the winds and clouds". The pilgrim states: "An azure pool winds around the monasteries, adorned with the full-blown cups of the blue lotus; the dazzling red flowers of the lovely kanaka hang here and there, and outside groves of mango trees offer the inhabitants their dense and protective shade."

In the detailed account of his stay at Nalanda, the pilgrim also describes the view out of the window of his quarters thus, " Moreover, the whole establishment is surrounded by a brick wall, which encloses the entire convent from without. One gate opens into the great college, from which are separated eight other halls standing in the middle (of the Sangharama). The richly adorned towers, and the fairy-like turrets, like pointed hill-tops are congregated together. The observatories seem to be lost in the vapours (of the morning), and the upper rooms tower above the clouds."

History

Nalanda's datable history begins in the 5th-century. A seal discovered at the site identifies a monarch named Shakraditya (Śakrāditya) as its founder and attributes the foundation of a sangharama (monastery) at the site to him. This is corroborated by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang travelogue. The tradition of formalized Vedic learning "helped to inspire the formation of large teachings centres," such as Nalanda, Taxila, and Vikramashila.

In the Indian tradition and texts, kings were called by many epithets and names. Scholars such as Andrea Pinkney and Hartmut Scharfe conclude that Shakraditya is same as Kumaragupta I. He was one of the kings in the Hindu dynasty of the Guptas. Further, numismatic evidence discovered at Nalanda corroborate that Kumaragupta I was the founder patron of the Nalanda monastery-university.

His successors, Budhagupta, Tathagatagupta, Baladitya, and Vajra, later extended and expanded the institution by building additional monasteries and temples. Nalanda, thus flourished through the 5th and 6th-centuries under the Guptas. These Gupta-era contributions to Nalanda are corroborated by the numerous Buddhist and Hindu seals, artwork, iconography and inscriptions discovered at Nalanda, which are in the Gupta-style and Gupta-era scripts. During this period, the Gupta kings were not the only patrons of Nalanda. They reflect a broad and religiously-diverse community of supporters. It is remarkable, states Scharfe, that "many donors were not Buddhists; the emblems on their seals show Lakshmi, Ganesha, Shivalinga and Durga".

After the decline of the Guptas, the most notable patron of the Nalanda Mahavihara was Harsha (known as Śīlāditya in some Buddhist records). He was the 7th-century emperor with capital at Kannauj (Kanyakubja). According to Xuanzang, Harsha was a third generation Hindu king from the Vaishya caste, who built majestic Buddhist viharas, as well as three majestic temples – Buddha, Surya and Shiva, all of the same size. He states (637 CE), "a long succession of kings" had built up Nalanda till "the whole is truly marvellous to behold".

In accordance with the ancient Indian traditions of supporting temples and monasteries, inscriptions found at Nalanda suggest that it received gifts, including grants of villages by kings to support the operation of Nalanda. Harsha himself granted 100 villages. He also directed 200 households from each these villages to supply the institution's monks with requisite daily supplies such as of rice, butter, and milk. This supported over 1,500 faculty and 10,000 student monks at Nalanda.

Bakhtiyar Khalji's massacre of buddhists and brahmin monks in Bihar

Destruction by Bakhtiyar Khalji

The destruction of Nalanda was not an accident or misunderstanding but a part of the widespread destruction of Buddhist monasteries and monuments including a destruction of Bodhgaya. The vast manuscript libraries of Magadha had been mostly lost. Other Tibetan monks had shifted to Nepal, as the place to study, copy and move manuscripts to Tibet. According to Dharmasvamin account, the Turushka-Qarluq (Turk) conquest extended from about 1193 to 1205, the destruction was systematic with "Turushka soldiers razing a monastery to the ground and throwing the stones into Ganges river", states Roerich. The fear of persecution was strong in the 1230s, and his colleagues dissuaded him from going to Magadha.

Another evidence is the discovery of thick layer of ashes and charcoal discovered during the archaeological excavations on the uppermost strata, inscribed artwork and soil, and this layer was found over many buildings separated by some distance. This suggests that Nalanda's destruction was accompanied with a widespread fire after mid-12th-century. This corroborates Dharmasvamin account of the destruction.

Tracking the Manuscripts

Xuanzang returned to China with 657 Sanskrit texts and 150 relics carried by 20 horses in 520 cases. He translated 74 of the texts himself.

Yizing arrived in 673 CE, and stayed in India for fourteen years, ten of which he spent at the Nalanda Mahavihara. When he returned to China in 695, he had with him 400 Sanskrit texts and 300 grains of Buddha relics which were subsequently translated in China.

The last throne-holder of Nalanda, Shakyashri Bhadra of Kashmir, fled to Tibet in 1204 at the invitation of the Tibetan translator Tropu Lotsawa (Khro-phu Lo-tsa-ba Byams-pa dpal). Some of the surviving Nalanda books were taken by fleeing monks to Tibet. He took with him several Indian masters: Sugataśrī, (an expert in Madhyamaka and Prajñāpāramitā); Jayadatta (Vinaya); Vibhūticandra (grammar and Abhidharma), Dānaśīla (logic), Saṅghaśrī (Candavyākaraṇa), Jīvagupta (books of Maitreya), Mahābodhi,(Bodhicaryāvatāra); and Kālacandra (Kālacakra).

Tibetan Buddhist tradition is regarded to be a continuation of the Nalanda tradition. The Dalai Lama states: "Tibetan Buddhism is not an invention of the Tibetans. Rather, it is quite clear that it derives from the pure lineage of the tradition of the Nalanda Monastery. The master Nagarjuna hailed from this institution, as did many other important philosophers and logicians..."

The Dalai Lama refers to himself as a follower of the lineage of the seventeen Nalanda masters.

Storm God Vs the Chaos Serpent

 

इन्द्रस्य नु वीर्याणि प्र वोचं यानि चकार प्रथमानि वज्री ।

अहन्नहिमन्वपस्ततर्द प्र वक्षणा अभिनत्पर्वतानाम् ॥ 

अहन्नहिं पर्वते शिश्रियाणं त्वष्टास्मै वज्रं स्वर्यं ततक्ष ।

वाश्रा इव धेनवः स्यन्दमाना अञ्जः समुद्रमव जग्मुरापः ॥

— Rigveda, 1.32

Now I shall proclaim the heroic deeds of Indra, those foremost deeds that the mace-wielder performed:

He smashed the serpent. He bored out the waters. He split the bellies of the mountains.

He smashed the serpent resting on the mountain—for him Tvaṣṭar had fashioned the resounding [sun like] mace.

Like bellowing cows, streaming out, the waters went straight down to the sea.

As He tore down the heavens and struck a devastating thunderbolt at the mighty dragon Vritra through his Vajra, destroying his 99 fortresses in the wake. All the trapped waters of the world ravaged from the serpent's hold and through rivers went back to the seas. This is the Rig Vedic story of their hero Indra and how through his bravery and courage he became the king of the gods. Over a quarter of the 1,028 hymns of the Rig-Veda mention Indra, making him the most referred to deity than any other. 

Not only in the Vedas but the legend of the Chaos Serpent and the Storm God is found in most of the other prominent world mythologies. In Egyptian mythology we have Apep vs Ra, Tiamat vs Marduk in Babylonian mythology, Zeus vs Typhon in Greek mythology, Jormungdar vs Thor in Norse mythology and Yamata no Orochi vs Susanoo in Japanese mythology. The metaphor actually reflects that how a person just through his staunch resilience can overcome any obstacle and revive the uninterrupted flow of goodness back into this world, no matter the odds.

Indra in his battle armour

Indra is the king of the gods (Devas). He is one of the main gods of the Rigveda and is the Vedic cousin of the German Wotan, Norse Odin, Greek Zeus, and Roman Jupiter. In early religious texts, Indra plays a variety of roles. As king, he leads cattle raids against the dasyus. He brings rain as god of the thunderbolt, and he is the great warrior who conquers the anti-gods (asuras). He also defeats innumerable human and superhuman enemies, most famously the dragon Vritra, a leader of the dasyus and a demon of drought. Vritra is accused of hoarding the waters and the rains, of stealing cows, and as an anti-god for hiding the Sun. Indra is strengthened for those feats by drinks of the elixir of immortality, the soma, which priests offer to him in the sacrifice. Among his allies are the Maruts, who ride the clouds and direct storms. Indra is sometimes referred to as “the thousand-eyed.” In painting and sculpture, Indra is often depicted riding his white elephant, Airavata. Indra is also the father of Arjuna. In the Mahabharata War, Arjuna was a key warrior from the Pandava side and slew many warriors including Karna and Bhisma. 

So who was this mysterious Indra who has left his mark on most of the ancient civilizations ? Was he just a pagan god of thunderstorm or was he a king of the Indus Saraswati civilization ? Or maybe the chief of a certain race called the Devas.. An extensive research of the Vedas by the scholars of various disciplines may yield further answers ! Maybe in the future we will come to realise who was this great god of our ancestors..