MRVW – HISTORY & HIGHLIGHTS, 2006 – 2016
Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom –
history & highlights from the Archives – PART TWO
28 November , 2006
The Origin and Nature of Hindu Decline
This is a four part series exploring the nature and purpose of the split between science and the sacred over the millennia as the glorious Vedic vision declines. Thea focuses on the society which ‘replicates the movements’ of the Earth as they travel through the ecliptic round the Sun in their yearly ‘Sacrifice’. She exclaims:
‘They became THAT’:
‘…the ecliptic is that River of Light where the Earth travels through time and space and together with the other planets, creates the heavenly Harmony which the Seer not only SEES but can also HEAR. It is the visionary quality conveyed in the word Sruti, a ‘heard seeing’, if it may be so called. We encounter this faculty only in the four Vedas… they replicated the movements of their planetary abode within their own consciousness-being. They became THAT.
The ancients never allowed themselves to drift hither and thither in the encompassing vastness. They were as if anchored to the ecliptic through a realisation that was the fulcrum of the Vedic Way… without drifting off course … because of Skambha, the cosmic Pillar, described as the ‘support of the world – this world and not a beyond...’
Thea’s reflections take us beyond the superficial scholarship that has kept hidden the real root-cause of the Vedic decline. The Time-spirit set things in motion – i.e., Hinduism began its slow and steady decline as the ‘new seers’ lost their experience of Skambha and an ‘earth-oriented Swar’. The civilization became rootless and the tropical zodiac with its Equinoxes and Solstices was no longer the map to follow.
To Read the full 4 part article go to this link:
https://www.aeoncentre.com/the-origins-and-nature-of-hindu-decline-2/
***
2007
Sri Aurobindo and the Condition of Vedic Wisdom in India
Thea wrote a second article, Sri Aurobindo and the Condition of Vedic Wisdom in India, the following spring, 2007. She’d found an unpublished chapter of The Life Divine which deeply stirred her, and in Part One she reproduces a large portion of it.
Much of what Sri Aurobindo had written about the recovery of the lost Vedic knowledge she herself had concluded and wanted to bring out in her Forums: it is not by logical reasoning or investigation that ‘Vijnana’ is recovered, but through revelation and experience – through ‘the doors of the spirit’.
That which has been lost can only be recovered by getting back to the ‘original starting point’:
‘If we know of the existence of a buried treasure, but have no proper clue to its exact whereabouts, there are small chances of our enjoying those ancient riches;but if we have a clue, however cryptic, left behind them by the original possessors, the whole problem is then to recover the process of the cryptogram, set ourselves at the proper spot and arrive at their secret cache by repeating the very paces trod out by them in their lost centuries (Sri Aurobindo, Archives and Research, vol.4, no. 2, December 1980)
Thea explains that the cosmic harmonies of our solar system are the ‘cryptogram’ which Sri Aurobindo considers to be the essential discovery for the re-establishment of the Sanatana Dharma. Moreover, she herself, ‘aided by Sri Aurobindo’s earlier work on the Veda’, has discovered the true code in the quest, the code used in the Rig Veda. She states that
… the symbols of the tropical zodiac with its twelve hieroglyphs is the cryptogram ’lodged in each individual soul.’ (underline added)
It was not Sri Aurobindo’s yoga to discover this; she found the ‘cryptogram’ because she is the third in the Solar Line, and at the third level of his yoga, ‘cosmology leads the way’. Dan Brown’s best selling novel –The DaVinci Code – can only go so far, Thea writes. She is the one fully prepared to explain the ‘real cryptogram’ which Leonardo uses as the foundation of the knowledge incorporated in his masterpieces. And she has done this!
To Read the full article – Sri Aurobindo and the Condition of Vedic Wisdom – go to this link:
https://www.aeoncentre.com/sri-aurobindo-and-the-condition-of/
***
Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom - 2007
01 January , 2007
Dear Madam,
Happy New Year 2007. The members of the core group are as follows.
- C. Illango, Joint Commissioner, Thanjavur.
- Dr. Krishnamurthi Ph.D., Annamalai University.
- P. Nandhagopal, E.O. Jupiter Temple.
- S. Gnanasekar, Inspector.
- M. Radhika, Tenali, Andhra Pradesh.
- P. Selvaraj, District Registrar, Madurai.
- Devendran, Assistant commissioner, Chennai.
- S. Navaneethakrishnan, DCTO., Chennai.
- S. Selvam, Mannargudi.
We can finalise the list after consultation with you. I have some more persons.
I have the newspaper with me. I will bring.
Thanking You.
Sai Srinivasan.
***
4 January , 2007
Thea publishes Part 2 – Refutation of Shri Avtar Krishen Kaul’s ‘the Hoax called Vedic Rashichakra and Vedic Astrology. She opens by stating:
‘…I am not surprised that there is some confusion regarding the methods the Rishis used for their discoveries, and that after the split between science and the sacred there should be attempts made to demonstrate that India did possess observational astronomy, contrary to the conclusions reached by historians…’ (To review Part 1, go to Hx and Highlights, Part One, December 2006)
***
February 2007
Patricia Heidt writes to Shri Krishan Kaul and the Hindu Calendar Forum:
The idea that the Rashis are a HOAX is not true.
Ms. Norelli-Bachelet (my mentor/Guru) has provided the proof regarding the verses pertaining to VISHNU in the Rig Veda. Mr. Krishen Kaul has further stated that he has gone through every single Scripture and finds no evidence of these Rashis.
I can only assume that when Mr. Krishen Kaul reads he does not understand what he is reading, – i.e., that he simply does not know astrology well enough to hold himself up as an authority having the last word on anything involving this ancient lore. So how can we believe him when he states emphatically that they are not there? He just cannot understand what is glaringly evident in what he reads.
But not only Mr. Kaul. There have been others reading my mail (and Mr. Wilkinson’s) but no one offers scholarly refutation or support re. these verses to VISHNU. No one to date has said, ‘Yes, I agree, these verses clearly point to the fact that the Vedic Rishis saw the Zodiac as a sacred path, and that the symbols were indeed there as pointers/markers on the yearly journey as well as the larger precessional movement,’ or otherwise – I repeat, in a scholarly fashion. Therefore, we must assume that none of the participants as well knows the subject they are vehemently discussing.
Many questions have been raised by the members regarding the validity of astrology. All are debunked by Krishen Kaul. How can he or anyone else make definitive pronouncements about this system of knowledge without an in-depth understanding (by direct experience – not merely a repetition of Scriptures ad infinitum) of TIME and DESTINY, the heart and soul of astrology? Only one with this Knowledge can have ‘the last word’. Certainly AKK does not, nor, as it seems, do other members of the Forum. One questions even whether Mr Loganath, for example, is spending his time validly as a participant since his avowed path leading to Moksha makes his involvement with this system of knowledge AS PRESENTED IN THE VEDA where astrology/cosmology does figure (despite AKK’s denials) a contradiction in terms. Lamentably, there is no one ALLOWED to bring these important matters to light centred on the very issue in question, the presence of the Rashis in the Veda.
Instead of refuting these important facts in a scholarly way, Mr. Krishen Kaul resorted to misogyny and chauvinism. Again, no protest from the Forum members about this behaviour which goes against all Vedic principles and tradition. It looks like everyone simply accepts meekly what he says and thereby condones this reprehensible behaviour.
I join Robert Wilkinson in exiting. I am not able to remain in the forum under these conditions. In closing, may I suggest that the members turn to one who does have the answers, a proven authority on all question of TIME and DESTINY,- i.e., astrology.
Patricia Heidt, PhD
***
Undated, early 2007
Sai Srinivasan, Executive Officer of the MahaMariamman Temple, announces:
In the temple of Arulmigu MahaMariamman, the festivals are being celebrated on the dates calculated according to Vedic/Sayana/Sangam tradition for the FIRST time throughout India.
Festival Dates
Sri Gokulashtami-6.8.2007
Sri Vinayaka Chaturthi-17.8.2007.
Saraswathi Pooja-21.9.2007.
Vijaya Dasami-22.9.2007.
Deepavali-11.10.2007.
Pongal-22.12.2007.
Mattu Pongal-23.12.2007.
Maha Sivaratri-6.2.2008.
Sri Ramanavami-15.3.2008
The following temples also celebrate the above festivals according to Vedic Sayana system:
Arulmigu Kothandaramar temple,Valangaiman.
Arulmigu Kailasanathar temple,Valangaiman.
Arulmigu Arunachaleswarar temple,Valangaiman.
Arulmigu Swarnapureeswarar temple,Andankoil.
Arulmigu Abathsahayeswarar temple,Alangudi.
Arulmigu Pasupatheeswarar temple,Avoor.
Arulmigu Kalinganarthana Perumal temple,Oothukadu.
Arulmigu Kailasanathar temple,Udayalur.
Arulmigu Varadharaja Perumal temple,Udayalur.
Arulmigu Kailasanathartemple,Saluvanpettai.
Arulmigu Kailasanathar temple,Needamangalam.
The devotees are requested to participate in all these special functions based on Vedic/Sangam tradition and get the blessings of the Divine.
Fit Person/Inspector. Executive Officer.
***
26 March 2007
Thea writes to the MRVW ‘about the total confusion in the ranks’:
‘…In reading the postings regarding the calendar situation, I am struck by the lack of understanding displayed. One has to first of all understand what purpose the calendar serves. Secondly, that we are discussing a calendar of observances for Hindus, whose purpose is to unify the Samaj around the single Circle with a common starting point.
The starting point is the most important feature (underline added). For this reason the Maha Vishuva of March (March Equinox of equal days and nights) were given prime importance in the Vedic texts with instructions on how to calculate those equal days and nights.
The next most important factor is the calculation of the Makar Sankranti/ Uttarayana occurrence, falling on the shortest day of the year, nine months after the March Equinox. The culmination of the Vedic Journey was this point. This tenth sign/month is the month of victory for the Aryan Warrior.
So these two cosmic occurrences were the only calculations provided in the ancient texts. There was nothing at all to do with the Constellations or any Ayanamsha correction required. This was a later addition and has certainly nothing to do with the Veda. It was and is entirely POST VEDIC.’
I find that the arguments put forth by our readers do not take into consideration the role of these two important calculations for Hindu observances. To bring Shankara into the mix with his perception of unity and his experiences is of no use in this matter. He was not a cosmologist. In fact, his perception led to the conclusion that ‘it is all illusion’……
Why a common starting and culmination point? (underline added) It is because we are not simply interested in a timing tha has no other reason for being but to establish a uniform observance system which will unite all Hindus. For the fact is the tropical zodiac with its symbols – the ‘journey’ as it is known in the Veda – is a PATH OF KNOWLEDGE. It you remove those symbols and dislocate them from the progression as stipulated in the Veda itself, you will not gain entry to the Knowledge.
(‘Certain eternal worlds are there, their doors are opened to by the months and the years…’)
***
31 March, 2007
Thea writes to the Hindu Calendar Forum:
‘… rituals are performed by the zillions, and yet they demonstrate no power to arrest the decline. You now have a declaration of Swami Saraswati Dayananda, and although I have great respect for this noble Soul, I must inform you that he has not understood what the real problem is.
THERE IS NOT MUCH TIME LEFT before Hinduism becomes fossilised as just a shadow of itself. To quote Sri Aurobindo, ‘The letter lived on when the spirit was forgotten: the symbol, the body of the doctrine, remained, but the soul of knowledge had fled from its coverings. (Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda).
You praise the fact that the Ashok Chakra is on the coin, and that the Buddhist Lions is the seal adopted for the nation. But you do not realise that that is the point that we can identify as the beginning of the trouble. It all started about 500 BCE…’
***
02 June, 2007
Dear Friends,
Entry of non-Hindus is prohibited only in some important temples in Kerala. In many temples it is not a question. But when the government is trying to make a law allowing entry to non-Hindus the Pundits are crying. If non-Brahmins are appointed to perform pooja in temples there will be less opposition. The Brahmins believe that the posts of Archakas are their birth right. Non-entry to women is their invention. While menstruating women are considered as impure, there is one temple in Kerela where a menstruating Goddess has been enshrined. It is Bhagavathi temple in Kodungallur in Thrissur district of Kerala. In that temple the presiding deity gets periods once in a year and the clothes with the blood strains are treated as a sacred relic. There is also one more temple in Assam also.
In India, girls attaining puberty is celebrated as a ceremony. Likewise, in Neelayadakshi temple in Nagapattinam, there is a festival in which the Goddess attaining puberty is celebrated. In Kerala there is one Ashram where menstruation is not treated as impure. The women in that Ashram are free to go anywhere and perform their duties during menstruation. There are many strange customs in India and only persons like Madam Thea with yogic perception can understand their meaning.
Thanking you.
Sai Srinivasan.
4 July, 2007
The Dawn of a New Era
Thea writes what she calls ‘a definitive statement’ for her students to explain how the Nirayana system came into use; it can be used to silence criticisms, she writes.
‘… I have been reporting my discoveries of the 12th century scholar- traveller Al Biruni’s influence over Hindu Pundits in the question of shifting from the Vedic Tropical Zodiac as backdrop for the yearly Sacrifice to the un-Vedic system of measuring the passage of the year on the backdrop of the distant Constellations…
The Vedic system must be balanced on the unchanging four Cardinal pillars of the Tropical Zodiac, which do not hold any prominence in the Nirayana system advocated by Al Biruni. He wrote his famous document, India, critiquing Varamihira’s Brhad Samhita, ‘The solstice has kept its place, but the constellations have migrated, just the very opposite of what Varaha has fancied’ (India, II, p. 7). In other words, an entirely different distant circle is proposed by the scholar…
FOR THE FULL DOCUMENT GO TO THIS LINK:
***
12 July, 2007
Dear Friends,
I want to say few words about DMK.
DMK originated from DK ie. Dravidar Kazhakam. DK as a social reformist movement was started by Ramaswamy Periyar. He was born in an orthodox Vaishnavite family. First he joined in Congress party and on seeing caste divisions in Congress he came out and started DK. In those days low caste people were not allowed to enter in temples though they were Hindus. Periyar fought against this and he was responsible for bringing Temple entry Act which enabled low caste people to enter in temples. A group of persons headed by Annadurai came out of DK because they wanted to contest in the elections which was not permitted by Periyar and formed DMK. They won in election and Anna became CM in Tamilnadu. After the death of Anna, Karunanidhi became CM.
Again difference of opinion broke out between Karunanidhi and MGRamachandran. MGR started ADMK and he became CM. After the death of MGR came Jeyalalitha as CM. Since,
Brahmins dominated in all fields DK and DMK tried to suppress them. To destroy Brahmanism they took Hinduism and criticized Hinduism. Those who believe in God is a fool according to DK and DMK . Since Jeyalalitha is a Brahmin she supports that community.
Karunanidhi government has started schools and enrolled non-Brahmins as trainees and they are learning Hindu Agamas. After the training is over they will be appointed as Archakas in Temples. Hindu temple is a place by which Brahmin community flourishes. So Karunanidhi wants to give an entry to non-Brahmins in temple affairs.
With best wished.
Sai Srinivasan.
06 August, 2007
Dear Madam,
The following temples have come forward to celebrate Sri Krisna Jayanthi today.
Sri Kalinganarthana Perumal Temple, Oothukadu.
Sri Rajagopalaswami Temple, Mannargudi.
Sri Santhana Ramaswami Temple, Needamangalam.
Sri Kothanda Ramaswami Temple, Valangaiman.
Sri Varatharaja Perumal Temple, Valangaiman.
Sri Madhuvanaramar Temple, Valangaiman.
Sri Lakshminarayana Perumal Temple, Saluvampettai.
Sri Lakshminarayana Perumal Temple, Udayalur.
Some more temples would join the list. I will give you the final list tomorrow. The add in Tamil appeared in Dinamalar in Dindigul district on 5-8-2007. Further developments I will inform you tomorrow.
Thanking you.
Sai Srinivasan.
12 September, 2007
Sai, I will try to contact my lawyer friends from the High Court in Madurai and see what we can accomplish during your stay. Finally I believe we are going to do something very important. We must demand that the ‘other side’ place before the court the reasons why the changes in the temple Navagrahas came about. I will bet that it is when they switched to the Nirayana system and started making all these Bija Corrections. Then they came up with the ‘scientifically accurate’ true Temple Navagrahas.
We need to know who will stand as the accused, who we will file the PIL against. I feel certain that much more will be exposed when we get started. Before the Court matters are different. You have to present EVIDENCE, and convincing evidence. The High Court judges have brilliant minds. They will be able to understand the material. And I usually have a very good contact with judges, given my family background with the Courts! Thea
——Original Message ——
From: “sai Srinivasan”<
Sent: Monday, September , 2007 4:46 PM
Subject: PIL
Dear Madam,
I am also thinking the same idea of filing a PIL in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court.
It is wonderful. From my father’s book I came to know that the Navagraha temples also had been changed. This change came just 25 years back. I will show you the book when I come there on 22nd. Tirupati is for Moon. Thiruchendur for Jupiter and Kalahasti for Rahu and Kethu. Now we have Thingalur for Moon, Alangudi for Jupiter, Thirunageswaram for Rahu and Keela Perumpallam for Kethu. This is incorrect. This proves that many wrong systems had entered Temples. All such things should be changed. We will work out a right strategy.
Sai Srinivasan.
23 December 2007
Dear Madam, How are you? We have celebrated Makara Sankranti in 30 temples on 22.12.07.
- Sri Maha Mariamman temple, Valangaiman, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Kailasanathar temple, Valangaiman, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Gothandaramar temple, Valangaiman, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Arunachaleswarar temple, Valangaiman, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Swarnapureeswarar temple, Valangaiman, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Pasupatheeswarar temple, Avoor, Valangaiman, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Anatheeswarar temple, Saluvanpettai, Valangaiman, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Lakshminarayanaperumal temple, Valangaiman, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Kalinganarthanaperumal temple, Uthukadu, Valangaiman, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Kailasanathar temple, Uthukadu, Valangaiman, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Ayyanar temple, Kiliyur, Valangaiman, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Lakshminarayanaperumal temple, Udayalur, Thanjavur
- Sri Kailasanathar temple, Udayalur, Thanjavur Dt.
- Sri Selvamakaliamman temple, Udayalur, Thanjavur Dt.
- Sri Lakshminarayanaperumal temple, Mathur, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Kamakshiamman temple, Sithanvalur, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Subramanyar temple, Engan, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Adheeswarar temple, Athanoor, Namakkal Dt.
- Sri Athanooramman temple, Athanoor, Namakkal Dt.
- Sri Mariamman temple, Salem town and Dt.
- Sri Moolanathar temple, Poovalur, Trichy Dt.
- Sri Mullaivananathartemple, Thirukarukavur, Thanjavur Dt.
- Sri Abathsahayeswarar temple, Alangudi, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Abayavaradarajaperumal temple, Alangudi, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Rajagopalaswami temple, Mannargudi, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Santahanagopalaswami temple, Needamangalam, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Kasi viswanathar temple, Needamangalam, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Lakshminarayanaperumal temple, Mathur, Thiruvarur Dt.
- Sri Ramaswami temple, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur Dt.
- Sri Saragapani temple, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur Dt.
The Ad was published in Malaimalar TamilDaily. Temple staffs of these temples also celebrated in their homes. Among these 15 are under my control and another 15 are under the control of other various Officers.
With best wishes.
Sai Srinivasan.
***
9 January 2008
Shri Darshaney Lokesh informs Sai that he and an appreciable gathering celebrated Makar Sankranti on 22 December, ‘arranging a Samuhik Yagyan’ – to welcome the truth that the Sun entered the Capricorn (Makar) 11/37 hrs. IST. All people individually offered the water and showed dhoopam deepam to the entering sun.
***
20 February 2008
The ‘new year’
Reflections on the decision
To introduce changes in the Tamil Nadu calendar
Confusion abounds again.
This time it is caused by the Tamil Nadu Government’s decision to celebrate the new year on the first day of the month of Thai, breaking with the current tradition of 14 April – that is, 23 days after the March Equinox. I cannot pretend to understand the reason for this proposal, but I cannot pretend to understand the reason for this proposal, but I can certainly explain how it should be.
In all ancient traditions, including the Vedic, the new year coincided with the beginning of the astrological year – i.e., the first day of the month of Aries, the Ram. In the Rig Veda there are countless references to this ‘ram’ – and particularly to Agni who ‘leads the hosts’, and whose vahana is indeed the Ram. There is no need to spell out what the Veda makes so clear; what needs to be emphasized is that this is the start of the ‘year’ whose twelve months then move according to the 12-part division of the remainder of the year as we experience it even today.
Astronomically Mahavishuva or the March Equinox, occurring each year without change on 21-22 March, presents us with the Earth’s equinoctial balance and the experience of equal days and nights. The 12-month year is an essentially Vedic postulation, even as it was for all ancient civilisations. We find confirmation in some of the names of the months which we continue to use today. In each case they reveal that the ‘year’ begins with Aries the Ram, the first zodiacal sign: September is from ‘seven’ (septem in Latin), which corresponds to the seventh zodiacal sign/month Libra, the start of which is indeed at the equinox in September; then follows October, from the Latin octo, or eight, which would be the eighth zodiacal sign/month, and so on. These designations invoke the most ancient Veda because the month of the Aryan Warrior’s victory is in the 10th month; that is, the month/sign Capricorn, or the Sanskrit Makar. It is India’s astrological ruler, and rightfully so since it is Uttarayana, the highest and most supreme Cardinal Point of the wheel of 12.
What the Government proposes to do is to disregard the Tradition and to introduce its own interpretation, perhaps believing it to be more truly Dravidian. However, the fact is that it is a decision not based on the sacred Knowledge – as it should be in such cases – but on convenience and perhaps a misguided attempt to clear up the confusion that adherence to the Nirayana calendrical system has generated. In the latter the prescription is a ‘new year’ that has absolutely no relation to anything Vedic. Similar to the new proposal, the 23-day alteration was introduced based on a so-called ‘shifting of the constellations’, with the hands of our 12-o’clock calendar pointing to nothing and nowhere. And establishing the beginning of Thai as the new year discarding Nirayana would still be based on this essentially false measure which has been handed down by Pundits who have lost their way in the labyrinth of scientific postulations when science was disconnected from the Sacred and therefore ignorant of the true sense involved.
Ironically the ancient 12-month division still prevails, but the point is to uncover the real and sacred formulas on which texts such as the Rig Veda and the Atharva Veda were based. Then we are in a position to bring about a renewed experience of harmony in society, with a foundation in higher knowledge as in former times.
It is time to discard the Nirayana sidereal system and to return to the seasonal calendar which is in harmony with the Earth’s unchanging equinoctial and solstice balance. The new year must follow that 12-fold formula with the beginning of the year on the first day of Aries or the March Equinox, WITHOUT ANY ‘CORRECTION’ FOR AN IMAGINARY AYANAMSHA.
There is an even deeper sense to the January 1st new year, in use throughout the world, which I shall discuss on another occasion.
21 February 2008
Thea writes to her students:
‘…when temple construction begins the very first thing done is to lay out the basic ground plan, which is really the founding of what is called the Vaastu Purusha, or the Cosmic Person, as the foundation on the ground of the temple. This means that the cosmos is brought to Earth and the temple becomes the link between Heaven and Earth. It is an extremely beautiful perception, and the means to carry this linkage out is simple and exact. Astrology is the basis for the entire process.
I have been reading George Michell’s ‘The Hindu Temple’ on this point. His chapters describing the cosmic linkage are beautifully written, simple and thorough. Moreover, they reveal how important it has always been considered to make the correct link between the determination of the Four Cardinal Directions for the structure’s orientation, and the same ‘orientation’ where the time factor is concerned, to those same Cardinal Points. Indeed, the two go hand-in-hand: the actual purpose of the Vaastu Purusha is precisely to carry out the indestructible linkage between time and space at the navel of the Earth that is being brought into being in the temple. This is an astonishingly sophisticated concept.
The ground plan is thus oriented to the Four Cardinal Points in space, while the Time plan (the most important part of the process) is equally oriented to the Four Cardinal Directions IN TIME via the Tropical Zodiac, the Earth’s journey along the ecliptic. No temple can function properly without this combination. It is truly blasphemy to oblige devotees to worship in structures that do not have this correct alignment of time and space, rooted in the centremost Point of the main axis of the temple to be constructed, the position where the Deity will stand.
Think of it: in the USA and elsewhere abroad temple after temple are being built, costing vast sums, much more than ever spent in India. And yet THESE STRUCTURES ARE WORTHLESS AS FAR AS THE TRUE VEDIC TRADITION IS CONCERNED. There is no connection at all with the Veda. There is no link between Time and Space. Those temples that have been built using the Nirayana system for the timed start of the process are simply worthless. What are the Temple Administrators doing? Sleeping or patting themselves on the back for having attained such an influential position? I know of ONLY ONE who is sincerely concerned; and he is a member of our Group. Only one in a country of over one billion people.
What a tragedy. Thea
***
22 December, 2008
The Solstice and beyond…Thea sends an email to the MRVW:
‘…it is not that everything is done at the exact moment the Sun enters Capricorn (Makar) on the Solstice. That marks the ENTRY. The gestation of the ‘seed’ goes on until 14 degrees Capricorn, usually my birthday (5 January). This is the traditional festival of Light. It was the Saturnalia in ancient Rome, which again, lasted for a certain number of days…
***
Circa 2008 –
Loga sends this email to the Hindu Calendar Forum:
The celebrations of festivals and rituals, the Sariyai and Kriyai are calendar based. What I want to mention but perhaps did not do well is that such religious activities are designed to open up the Third Eye at which point the efforts become Yogic and where further developments lead to transcendence of religions and scriptures. This is the best metaphysical wisdom India has. Loga
Thea responds to Loga, and tries to clarify:
Transcendence was/is not the Vedic Way. It is an EARTH-ORIENTED system that includes all the intermediate planes as valid and integral aspects of the Divine. The quest for the Beyond leads to a denial of the Earth’s purpose in the heavenly harmony – and, more specifically, a denial of the soul. The conflict lies there.
The Vedic Way is set apart and made unique by this soul-based ‘journey’, hence the endless store of myths Vedic Civilisation preserves for the world – because the soul is their birthplace.
The movements of the cosmic harmony, which express this Earth-oriented experience as a means to integrate all aspects of the Supreme without a need to exclude or transcend anything in the manifestation, are never denied validity. The Vedic Realisation does not set the limitations you have constructed in your message below, that once this or that happens, all the rest can be discarded.
The calendar simply provides the orderly itinerary to reach the Vedic Summit (in the 10th month), and to allow all Hindus, indeed, all human beings born on Earth, to participate consciously in this liberation of the Light – today, just as the Vedic Rishis did thousands of years ago:
‘…Certain eternal worlds (states of existence) are these which have come into being, their doors are shut to you (or, opened) by the months and the years; without effort one (world) moves in the other, and it is these Brahmanaspati has made manifest to knowledge…’ (RV, II.24-5, Sri Aurobindo’s translation, ‘The Secret of the Veda’)
All roads do NOT lead to Rome – figuratively speaking. There may be different schools for different temperaments but they either accept the Cosmic/Earth manifestation as the field of the endeavour, to be integrated and not transcended, or they do not. If Transcendence is sought there are other systems to reach that goal. The Vedic Way will not be suitable for that aim. Patrizia
***
Circa 2008 –
Thea writes to Avatar Krishen Kaul-ji, and members of the Forum,
Dear Avatar Krishen Kaul-ji, and members of the Forum,
What I write here is mainly fo the members of the Forum.
The latest posting below reveals once again the lack of UNDERSTANDING of what you read, Krishen Kaul-ji. To state proudly that you have read Sri Aurobindo’s LIFE DIVINE three times, and yet you still have no grasp of the difference between his work and all other systems of Yoga after the Vedic Age, is proof that you may read but without any comprehension; this is natural when the reading of such texts is not accompanied by direct experience.
1) Approximately all 2000 ashramites in Sri Aurobindo’s Ashram in Pondicherry were given darshan of the Guru(s) on their own birthdays every year, myself included. These were according to the Gregorian calendar, each month which is given a sign/symbol, Aries, Taurus, and so on. To claim that they DO NOT EXIST is farcical. All of astrology is based on the division of the ecliptic into these twelve signs/symbols. You may shout across the rooftops that they are not VEDIC, but that is your opinion, not mine; nor have you disproved what I have discovered regarding the Vishnu praises in the RV and those very symbols. Further, Christmas, called the Festival of Light by the Mother as per the ancient tradition, is celebrated on 25th December till today; January 1st is the new year and is marked by a special distribution to all ashramites such as calendars with photos of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.
Is the point proven? Can it be laid to rest in view of your complete lack of any evidence to the contrary, except denials and insults?
2) I do not believe you have the sensitivity required to understand symbols. You claim you have read SAVITRI, which bears the subtitle, a Legend and s SYMBOL. Similarly, the Veda is purely a symbolic language. If you had really read and understood Sri Aurobindo’s own work I would not have to point out this deficiency. But since the Rashis are precisely SYMBOLS, it is clear that you just to do not have the ability to understand this language. Across the globe those versed in astrology have no problem understanding the foundations of this universally accepted system in which the Tropical Zodiac consists of the twelve zodiacal signs/symbols, irrespective of what the system is used for – i.e., character analysis, predictive, horary, etc. These are the very same symbols we find in the Hindu Calendar; they have not changed but the method of measuring in the so-called western system is rooted in the Solstices and Equinoxes, just as it was in Vedic times. Not so in India today.
3) In the Nirayana system the Solstices and Equinoxes do not play this role. Those same symbols are projected onto the distant CONSTELLATIONS, unlike in the Vedic Age and throughout the world today. Only in Hindu India do we experience this aberration of 23 days separating Capricorn from the winter solstice, or the shortest day of the year, a practice that crept in relatively recently.
4) To state that these Zodiacal Symbols DO NOT EXIST, as you now claim, is simply a measure of the desperation which is driving you to deny even the most elementary aspects of astrology that must apply in any calendar reform. Call the sign/months whatever you like but the count begins with Uttarayana and the shortest days of the year. That is the 270th or Zero Degree of Capricorn/Makar. In Sayana it falls on 21/22 December each year and does not shift about. You, and others of your ilk, seek to separate the inseparable. This does the gravest damage to Vedic Wisdom. But to clothe your denial in some sort of Vedic authority by stating that these are not Vedic names changes nothing; it is a contention that is also rejected by me. We have gone over this point innumerable times and I will not repeat myself.
5) I have given sufficient evidence on this Forum of my credentials through what I have posted and need not state the obvious. As far as this Forum goes, your followers will continue to believe whatever you state because they are not familiar with these subjects; and anyone who has the capacity to bring clarity into these matters is either ridiculed and insulted beyond acceptable limits, or finally expelled.
I prefer to utilize my time productively, therefore I request you to UNSUBSCRIBE me from the Forum as soon as this letter reaches you. Or else, once it has been posted, I will unsubscribe myself.
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet
Director, Aeon Centre of Cosmology
***
19 June 2009
Thea writes about the inspiration for her series of articles, titled Culture and Cosmos, which appeared in Volume 6, no. 2 of The Vishaal Newsletter, 1991:
‘…Finally, I need to put Culture and Cosmos into the overall perspective of my contribution to the Solar Line and what it adds to the establishment of Supermind as the guiding light of the new times. This series can be equated with Sri Aurobindo’s ‘Foundations of Indian Culture’ which was written as part of Arya in response to a severe critique of Indian culture by a noted scholar of the day. I doubt that Sri Aurobindo intended it to develop into the book we know now under that title. We could say that this was Sri Aurobindo’s exploration into the culture of India. Similarly, Culture and Cosmos became my journey and discovery of Indian culture. It started in the north, inspired by the shenai of the master Bismillah Khan. One evening a friend and I were listening to a recording of a certain raga played by this great master of what I considered to be the mournful lament of the soul, the shenai. For those who are not familiar with this instrument, its closest western counterpart would be the oboe. It is not a solo instrument in the South where a larger version is known as the nagasvaran and is usually played only at marriages and other ceremonials; the soulful quality, I feel, is not as present in either the oboe or the nagasvaran as we find in the shenai.
Thus, it was listening to Bismillah’s music that brought me to understand something fundamental about Indian music. This was not the raga as such, but rather the shruti¸ the permanent, underlying, unchanging drone that is the background of all Indian classical music. To my knowledge, though far from extensive on this subject, I felt the point was being missed. It is the connection the structure of Indian classical music makes with the Vedic perception of reality. Classical music was, for me, just another way of expressing the core perception of the Vedic Way: Fullness. Music was another repository of the Cosmic Truth, the essence of which is that very fullness, conveyed through the sruti.
More pointedly, the sruti was an exquisite means of ‘filling the void’. In Indian classical music, north or south, there is never a void, a silence. The upholding ‘sound of silence’ (the drone) makes sure that the listener is never carried into the Cosmic Ignorance whose characteristic is a denial of fullness resulting in a void of nothingness. Perhaps every aspect of Indian culture will reveal the same Vedic foundation when perception is not obscured by the veils of a divisive consciousness.
Thus Indian classical music was seen to be another means of preserving the ancient way. Everyone concedes that it is cosmic, and therefore certain rules are to be respected in its execution – namely, that ragas are divided into categories determined by the time of the day and the season in which they must be played. Clearly, being seasonal they reveal once again a respect for the Cardinal Poles of equinoxes and solstices, which divide our year into the four seasons.
On the basis of this ‘seed experience’, thanks to Bismillah’s shenai, I began my own voyage into India’s culture, starting in the north and ending in the deep south. Culture and Cosmos carried readers along with me on this voyage of discovery as chapter after chapter was written and simultaneously published in Vishaal. By the time I reached the southern V of the Capricorn symbol-map in my ‘journey’, the shenai was replaced by the veena, Saraswati’s own treasured instrument; and Hindustani was replaced by Carnatic.
To this day the music of the north in comparison seems effete. That of the south, land of preservation, is as it were the purer, more robust and stronger foundation.
I will start by presenting the June 1991, Volume 6, Number 2, of The Vishaal Newsletter:
Go to this link:
https://archive.aeoncentre.com/vishaal/culture-and-cosmos-2-2/
***
Circa 2009 – Hindu Calendar Forum:
> Dear Thea,>
> Its important that you stay, and throw your weight
> despite barbs, is
> my request to you.>
> Suresh
Thea responds to Suresh:
Let me clearly state that unlike a number of people who have subscribed to this Forum for whatever reasons, I, for one, consider the calendar to be of immense importance, particularly for a civilisation with roots in the ancient Veda and that considers itself to have a special connection to the cosmos manifestation.
Look at this way, if it was meaningless why did this sidereal system displace the tropical, seasonal system?
The best way to keep the Hindu Samaj weak and ineffective is by divide and rule – in this case through ‘many calendars’, or many ayanamshas, or many zero points from where measuring must start.
***
22 August 2009
‘I would like to provide a somewhat different perspective to the campaign we are presently engaged in to counteract the propaganda machine of the agents of the Status Quo. The problem of the preponderance of the Ignorance has to be understood through the very ‘formula’ Supermind requires for its deployment. There are four integers in the formula. Three are given in Sri Aurobindo’s symbol itself. So, in a sense this is not my revelation but his and the Mother’s since we know that she designed their symbols…/
***
24 – 26 December 2010
Thea is invited to present a paper at the First National Conference on Hindu Calendar Reform, Tirumala. It is a three part paper titled The Importance of Makar Sankranti in Hindu Calendar Reform.
FOR THE THREE PART ARTICLE, GO TO THIS LINK
The Importance of Makar Sankranti in Hindu Calendar Reform -Paper delivered at Tirumala, First National Panchanga Ganitam Conference, Part 1, 24-26 December, 2010, Puranic Cosmology Updated
http://puraniccosmologyupdated.blogspot.com/2010/12/importance-of-makar-sankranti-in-hindu.html
The Importance of Makar Sankranti in Hindu Calendar Reform – Part 2.
http://puraniccosmologyupdated.blogspot.com/2010/12/importance-of-makar-sankranti-in-hindu_30
The Importance of Makar Sankranti in Hindu Calendar Reform – Part 3
http://puraniccosmologyupdated.blogspot.com/2010/12/treatment-in-three-parts-presented-at.html
***
31 December, 2010
Thea publishes a Delegates Report on the Conference in Tirumala, which details the difficulties she had in presenting her paper, as well as her comments.
FOR A DELEGATES REPORT GO TO THIS LINK
A Delegate’s REPORT on the First National Panchanga Ganitam Conference, 30 December, 2010,
http://puraniccosmologyupdated.blogspot.com/2011/01/delegates-report-on-first-national.html
***
Circa - 2010
Thea writes to the Members of the Hindu calendar Forum:
DearMembers of the Hindu calendar Forum:
What I write here is mainly fo the members of the Forum, so please bear with its length. The reason why is not because of the slander from the owner of the Forum, but simply because I cannot read any more postings on your ideas on formulating a ‘Vedic Calendar’.
Do any of you honestly believe that this in the way the Vedic Rishis went about their cosmological formulations, out of which arose the right reckoning of what was the most important element for their society? Was the right formulation and resultant calendar the work of a ‘committee? Just imagine that! A group of ‘Rishis’ sit together and ‘devise’ the right calendar – based on nothing but their deductions of what this or that meant; or just each one’s individual notion of how it should be, or each one’s ‘interpretation’ of Scripture? Do any of you truly believe this is the way to go about devising a calendar which you will insist that all Hindus must follow because, according to you, it and it alone, is ‘Vedic’?
If you believe this then you are tuly misled, and you are set upon misleading others. That is the most pathetic part.
India, Indian society, or what is left of the civilisation after 1000 years of foreign occupation, is a far cry from the Vedic Age. If it celebrates the Makar Sankranti 23 days after the shrotest day of the year, contrary to Vedic practices, the only reason lies in the fact that the KNOWLEDGE has been lost that could indicate exactly when the Sankranti must be honoured. You cannot find that knowledge by combing through the ancient texts day in and day out. Like your moderator, you will simply never find the right keys because that Knowledge come sonly thorugh Yoga – and not just any Yoga. It has to be the very same Yoga that gave the Knowledge orginally to the Rishi of ancient times. This means that the realisation of the Vedic Skambha has to exist in anyone who is going pretend to ‘devise a calendar’; or who will pretend it should be followed by the whole of Hindu society. That Skambha is the HUB of the wheel of Time. It alone grants the authority to claim, ‘This is the true Veda’.
It is the height of arrogance to contend that you alone, this misguided grouping of people – all of whom admit that they know nothing of the Veda and of astrology, much less of cosmology – must be the ones to lay the law down for the whole of Hindu society. You are as lost as everyone else. And the messy business spills over to every aspect of life in contemporary India. I repeat, the 23-day late Sankranti, which should fall on the December Solstice each year, cannot now be rectified by any of you because none, much less the moderator leading the group, have any idea WHY this 23-day gap came into being to begin with. You have no understanding of the significance in Vedic terms of that most important of all Sankrantis. No one in India does. Yet Hindu society goes on adding to the confusion each year; and this Forum will now top the confusion by propagating a calendar devised by a committee! Do you know what the definiton of a camel is? A horse designed by a committee! (no offence meant to the dear camel, please note!) please note!) Take that as a lesson, as an indication to halt on the path you are now set upon simply because your leader has a new target for his frustrations: the Rashis. Do any of you KNOW – and I mean Knowledge by the lived experience of Yoga – just what those Rashi are and why they have endured on this planet for so many thousands of years that no one can tell you where they originated? And certainly it was not Mesopotamia, as your leader contends, following the lead of orthodox historians and archaeologists who themselves admit to not being able to throw conclusive light on the matter? Come to the realisation, all of you, that the war being waged against these sacred hieroglyphs is not an honourable one. It is born of the frustration of one individual. Because of HIS frustration you are going to drag the whole of Hindu Society further into the pit of darkness, away from the true Vedic moorings.
But I repeat, Indian society today is a pale reflection of the civilisation of the Vedic Rishis. They had the Knowledge, full and complete. They travelled the Path, they carried out the Journey through the 12 months of the Year, the sacred Sacrifice which can be repeated each year by everyone, even today – provided one is guided to seek what must be sought.
Since that is no longer done in contemporary India, you have a bad, an infamous ‘Hindu’ calendar – but ‘good’ only because it provides us with the mesure of the extent of he falsehood by the exact amount of days between the Makar Sankranti/December Solstice and the ‘rectified sankranti’.
That 23-day ‘measure’ indicates that now you have a society not known for its spiritual luminescence as of old, but rather for its large-scale corruption. You have a closed society, isolated, insulated even more than China which is not at all the ‘largest democracy’ but completely and admittedly totalitaraian. Yet it beats India in almost every field, starting with the Olympics, and not withstanding India’s jump-start with the universally-used English language. India is closed in every way, open to no one except to those of the same colour of skin. I put it to you for you to judge: Would a phenomenon like the Tamil Nadu-born Nooyi every take place in India, a woman – bear that in mind – native of India and now appointed the CEO of Pepsico, one the most important multi-national companies in the world? Can any of you imagine such a thing: a white-skinned woman being appointed CEO of one of the top Indian companies? Moreover, she was just vogted the most influential women in business by Fortune Magazine. Could such a situation ever arise in India? Of course not. And like CEO Nooyi there are thousands of other Indians who have excelled abroad because no one berated them for daring to do what no national of their newly-adopted country could do, as one finds propagatged by this Forum. Rather, they were welcomed there and given limitless opportunitites to enhance their potential. What they could contribute was welcomed warmly. But, I put it to you, what has happened to the vision of the whole world as ONE FAMILY, for so it is described in the Veda? My latest critic, Shri Raja Bandaru, a case in point, writes his critique of me from the comfort of his USA abode! Let him stay in India and deal with the demands of he transformation RIGHT HERE where it must be done as I have done for the past 35 years, I put this challenge to you, Raja Bandaru.
And as if to show the nation how deteriorated the situation has gotten over the centuries, how it has fallen from this greatest visionar peak of universalisation and unity, you were almost saddled with a white-skinned prime minister, and a woman to boot, as a lesson of what might befall you next if the lesson is not learned soon! Added to this, daily thosands are leaving the Hindu fold and joining other religions. Granted, we see this as unfair conversion practices. But I have another explanations as well: I contend that they leave in droves because the Vedic Light has not been re-kindled, the Vedic Way has not been re-established in the contemporary setting, as indeed it must if the deterioration is to stop.
This society lives in a cocoon. This is the cause of India’s colonisation, invasions, and so much more. It is not even a pale reflection of Vedic Culture. Perhaps for this reason Sri Aurobindo wrote that no Indian for the past two thousand years has understood the Veda. These are words to ponder and not to be dismissed arrogantly, especially when you sit together and ‘devise a calendar’ for Hindus which is purported to be the real Vedic thing! AKK can read the Scriptures in amny languages till the proverbia cows come home, as he claims. But having not been initiated, having not done the very demanding, long sadhana required, he has NO UNDERSTANDING of what he reads. He has admitted this. He himself has written to this Forum that he has not realised EVEN ONE of the stanzas of the Veda. He even quoted what is undeniably the most important verse, the kernel of all Vedic culture, that …of fullness from Fullness born…
It is Forums like this one that foster this totally UN-VEDIC consciousness which besieges India, trying to pass it off as ‘vedic’. To add further offence to the ancient Rishis, it now propose to devise a ‘Vedic’ Calendar – and it will hold that up as the ONLY true Vedic caledar, with its leader Avatar Krishen Kaul as its only ‘authoritative’ spokesperson.
This is arrogance and ignorance in extreme measure.
Wake up to what is happening and how you are being misused due to one man’s frustrations. Use your powers of discrimination, if they exist. Do not follow like sheep.
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet
Director, Aeon Centre of Cosmology
Convenor, Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom
***
7 March, 2011
Thea receives an email request from Sai Srinivasan, titled H.R. & C.E. Act. He tells her that the Tamilnadu Government is going to amend the section on Calendar Reform in Hindu Temples. He requests her to send a proposal and include the following points:
- Hindu festivals are celebrated on wrong dates because of wrong calculation of Uttarayana.
- The Sangam period was correct because they followed the tropical zodiac like other ancient civilisations.
- The month Thai was calculated correctly based on December solstice.
- There is evidence in Kalithogai, Paripadal and Aingurunuru which are Sangam literary works. In these literary works there is mention of Thai Neeradal. This is celebrated now as Margazhi Neeradal. This is due to the observance of Nirayana system on later periods.
- The Hindu Calendar should be based on solstices and equinoxes.
- Calendar reform is pending from the days of the late Prime Minister Nehru.
- Because of Nirayana system different almanacs follow different calculations. Hence no uniformity in the fixing of Hindu Festival dates.
- This leads to the dissipation of Hindu energy.
- So, it is essential to add a new section in the Act to follow uniform dates to celebrate festivals which is possible only if Tropical Zodiac is adopted.
I request you to prepare a letter based on similar grounds, With regards,
Note: Sai Srinivasan passes shortly thereafter due to a massive heart attack, and there is no record of any action taken on this matter.
***
17 May 2013
Robert Wilkinson publishes VEDA – The Supreme Science of Creation
***
26 May, 2015
FACTS NOT THE FICTION OF DENIAL
In this important article, Thea responds to a ‘DENY-ER’, a member of the Hindu Calendar Forum who keeps denying what she reveals but offers nothing in return. She writes:
‘It is time to instruct D and others about FACTS as per the Supramental Manifestation. When I present these FACTS I request our friends to come up with answers, not was has been recently posted by D when faced with the Capricorn Symbol-Map: to him this is ‘emotion’: I am caught up in a way of emotion – as men usually claim patronisingly when faced with mysteries their science cannot explain BUT WOMEN UNDERSTAND.
But the New Way does explain these mysteries. And that is what this website is about: we are lifting the veils on matters held inscrutable for centuries. They were known to the Rishis and were used to create an unparalleled civilisation. Nothing of that exists in India today except in Temple architecture and iconography and in some scriptures such as the Vedas, none of which can now be understood. Why they are not understood is the issue at hand; this is demonstrated in the above symbol-map: it is the zodiacal system that is ignored because the latter-day pundits themselves are ignorant of these mysteries. They therefore insist on boxing in the collective consciousness of this nation to suit a particular agenda, an agenda that was cemented in the destiny of India all during the age of Pisces. It is not the fault of the British, or the earlier Moguls, and all the rest that we conveniently foist the blame on for regression and the loss of the light: the fault line lies within…
I have laboured for a change to the true Vedic calendar that will re-align Hindus of this 21st century to the harmony of that 9th Manifestation. But the pundits who rule over the masses of Hindus prefer to keep them ignorant of these self-evident truths… nonetheless, we are here, I have taken birth for this very purpose: to leave a record of the Supramental Manifestation – for future Ages, for a future that is opening up right now, before our very eyes. Its first FACTUAL presence is known through the Indocentric cosmology of the New Way…
…If Sri Aurobindo knew India to be a special nation, destined to introduce the Supramental Manifestation, these ‘facts’ are part of his avataric mission. And they can only be revealed by the Avatar himself and the Solar Line he set on its way in 1872, the year of his birth. My task as part of the Line is to do just what I am doing in these pages: to re-establish the long lost zodiacal lore, because without it we have only the Nirayana system that drives Hindus farther and farther away from the Sanatana Dharma. The current Nirayana system of astrology has no knowledge content…’
***
1 January 2016
Thea opens an online forum on the importance of Makar Sankranti.
To enter this forum go to this link:
***
1 January 2016
Thea publishes a three part article on the importance of Makar Sankranti.
Part l: Why us the Makar Sakranti important for the unity and integrity of India?
1 January 2016
Part 2::Why us the Makar Sakranti important for the unity and integrity of India?
22 May, 2016
Part 3: Why us the Makar Sakranti important for the unity and integrity of India?
15 June, 2016
***
9 October 2016
Thea passes on 9 October and is cremated at Skambha
2 days later on the celebration of the
festival of Vijaya Dashami.
***
21 December, 2020
A reorganization of The Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom.
Thea is honored as ‘Gangadevi’ in a ceremony at the Gangavar River
which runs along the border of Skambha.
***
23 SEPTEMBER 2022 - AUTUMN EQUINOX (MAHA VISHUVA)
Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji,
Sub.: One India, One Calendar
One way to fulfil the resolve (Pran) of taking pride in our glorious heritage and unity, mentioned in your speech on 15 August 2022, would be to adopt the ancient Vedic Calendar as the National Calendar (tentatively named the Bharat Calendar).
The concept of Vedic Calendar is based on the vedic knowledge – our true glorious heritage – rediscovered by Sri Aurobindo; and elaborated in recent times by Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (Thea, 1938 – 2016) in her Manifesto for the Movement for Restoration of Vedic Wisdom (MRVW), referenced throughout this letter. [1]
Why not adopt an Existing Regional Calendar as the National Calendar
The Calendar Reform Committee (CRC) set up by the then PM Mr. Nehru had the following to say about the existing Regional/Lunar Calendars –
The motion of the moon is very irregular and complex and therefore the moon is very inconvenient as a time-marker. Tithi is calculated for each locality. There are in every State different schools of panchang calculations for tithi etc. So the same tithi does not occur on the same day at all places. Hence, the dates for religious festivals differ in each region from place to place. Due to such rival regional calendars, Janmashtami in 1954 was celebrated on 21st August in North India and on the 20th, 21st and 22nd in other parts of India; Durga Puja was celebrated on two successive days in Calcutta in 1952. (1955, Report p.3 & 4)
Clearly, no existing regional lunar calendar can be adopted as the national calendar.
Why not continue with National Calendar prescribed in 1955
The CRC set up to propose a uniform calendar for the whole of India did not exactly achieve its purpose. The task before the Committee was to devise a satisfactory solar calendar first and peg on to it a lunar calendar (1955, Report p. 11). In the end the Committee agreed that its report was a compromise and hoped that further reforms for locating the lunar and solar festivals in the seasons in which they were originally observed will be adopted in future (1955, Report p. 8).
Completing the Incomplete Calendar Reforms of Nehru Era
The present Government, with its focus on unity and the determination to push through difficult but necessary unifying reforms, such as the revolutionary GST (One Nation, One Tax) [2] and the re-integration of Kashmir, [3] is the most qualified to complete this unfinished business of calendar reform pending since the Nehru era.
Proposed Reforms
The Year
To be uniform all over India, the National Calendar (Bharat Calendar) should be based on the Tropical Zodiac, with the new year beginning on the March Equinox.
Properly speaking, the year begins when day and night are equal – the Equinox in March. The year will begin at the Tropical Zodiac zero point (March Equinox), Aries, which remains fixed each year for the Earth, and from this measurement the opposite September Equinox and the Solstices will be derived. The upward journey of the twelve months starts from that Zero Point; it is that very same Zero point, or ayanamsha, that initiates the yearly journey as recorded in the Veda. [1] Year in the Veda means the twelve months of the sacrificial year (the Samvatsara Satra), the twelve periods of the upward journey. [2]
Four Pillars of the Year – the Solar Festivals
The Tropical Zodiac divides the circle/ecliptic of earth’s journey round the sun into twelve equal portions of 30 degrees each (the 12 solar months).This circle/ecliptic is further divided into four parts marked by the Equinoxes and Solstices, the days and nights of equal and unequal measure, respectively. These four pillars were, and remain, the balancing points of the planet in its journey along the pathway of the year. In the Rig Veda this fourfold division is known as Twashtri’s Bowl. [1]
The Bharata Calendar should highlight the four pillars; especially the March Equinox and the December Solstice. The zodiacal year begins with the March Equinox and the first sign of the zodiac, Aries, and reaches Capricorn ten months later. Today, as in the Vedic Age, Capricorn (Makar) was not some nebulous region far out in the Constellations; it was, and remains, for India and the world, the December Solstice – the Makar Sankranti, when the Earth begins to experience an increase of the Light. [1,4]
The CRC also concurred with thse arrangements which ensure that the festivals determined by the sun such as Mahavishuva Sankranti (Equinoxes), Uttarayana Sankranti and Dakshinayana Sankranti would follow astronomically correct seasons. (Report p. 7).
In fact, all festivals (lunar and religious) should follow, like the solar festivals, correct seasons. This takes us to the next measure of reform.
Fixing the Dates of Festival in the Correct Season
The CRC stated – The dates of festival have shifted by 23 days from the seasons in which they were being observed till about 1400 year ago as a result of our almanac-makers (lunar calendars) having ignored the precession of the equinoxes. After agreeing that it is desirable to wipe out the entire amount of shift of 23 days at a time, CRC did not actually do so to avoid a break with the established custom (Report p. 7).
Originally, days of festivals were fixed with reference to seasons. Each Season covered two solar months. Bharat Calendar should fix the dates of festival, in the season and solar month in which it was originally observed, derived from the zero point of the March Equinox. This will lead to uniform dates of festivals for all the places in India for all the years to come.
Why it is important to correctly fix the Dates of Festival
As Sri Aurobindo explains in his “Secret of the Veda” – The vedic year-long sacrifice leads to successive dawns of wider truth. [5] He further says – Certain eternal worlds (states of existence) are these which have to come into being, their doors are opened by the months and the years. [6] Each of the four points in the year (two Equinoxes and two Solstices) is the Maha-Dwara, the main portal; and other festivals are the seasonal doors to the future worlds to be opened on the correct day of the month every year. A door opened on the wrong day of the month will deprive us of the light of a wider truth. That is why, we should celebrate the new year on the March Equinox to open the door to welcome the Dawn of the Year; the Vedic Uttara-Sankranti or modern Makar Sakranti on the day of the winter solstice to open the door to the increasing light after the end of the longest night; and each festival on the correct date to welcome the dawn of wider truth bringing in the future worlds.
Once India re-orients its calendar to the solar year and re-aligns the festivals with the tropical seasons, all Indians will observe all the solar and lunar festivals at the same time throughout India; the mass celebrations will no doubt generate powerful waves of collective energy (like the Thaali-Naad during the lock-down or the Maha-Kumbha). It’s only then that the heart of every Indian will beat to the eternal rhythm of the Mother Earth going around the Sun in her annual pilgrimage, coursing through the seasons in her Samvatsara Satra. And every Indian will be “united in heart, with one and common aspiration, with common mind and companionship” (the concluding hymn – the “Bharat Vakya” of the Rig Veda as translated by Sri Aurobindo). [7]
With best regards
Mukund Ainapure
Convenor – Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom
Refer also to the letter and three books sent to you separately by the Aeon Centre of Cosmology.
[1] The Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom (MRVW) was founded by Thea in 2006, see her Manifesto (The Zero, the Veda, and the Divine Measure of the Year): https://www.aeoncentre.com/movement-for-the-restoration-of-vedic-wisdom/
[2] As a Chartered Accountant, I have written a Text Book on GST for students of Mumbai University. Details at http://www.mananprakashan.com/
[3] Kashmir and the Convergence of Time, Space and Destiny, 2004 by Thea
[4] https://www.aeoncentre.com/calendar/
[5] The victory in the battle against the dark powers is won in twelve periods of the upward journey, represented by the revolution of the twelve months of the sacrificial year, the periods corresponding to the successive dawns of a wider and wider truth, until the tenth secures the victory. Sri Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 15 p. 182. As explained by Thea in the Manifesto, the course of the year carries us to the apex of the journey, the Makar Sankranti, that sacredmost tenth month as measured from the March Equinox when the victory is finally accomplished and the Earth begins to experience an increase of the Light.
[6] Certain eternal worlds (states of existence) are these which have to come into being, their doors are opened by the months and the years. Rig Veda 2.24.5; Sri Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 15 p.179
[7] समानी व आकूतिः समाना हृदयानि वः । समानमस्तु वो मनो यथा वः सुसहासति ॥ 10.191.4; Sri Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 16 p. 182. I have published several e-books on the Rig Veda as interpreted by Sri Aurobindo, available for free download to the public, at https://www.auro-ebooks.com.
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Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji,
Sub.: Vedic Calendar – the Earth Calendar
Greetings of Navaratri! Our founder – Thea (Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet 1938 – 2016) – would have been so happy to write this as an ardent Mother-worshipper herself. She called her spiritual autobiography detailing her work for the Earth in the light of Sri Aurobindo – ‘The Tenth Day of Victory‘ – Dussehra, in honour of her vision of the Goddess on the day she landed in Mumbai on her way to Pondicherry.
In fact, Thea would have been very happy to write to you about the actions you have taken over the years which have brought Bharat Mata more deeply into her role as ‘soul/centre’ of our Earth. These were the very concerns she held dear to her heart.
In an early newsletter to her students, in 1991, she explained that Ayodhya was a rallying point to awaken dormant energies in the nation. [1] We think she must be have been very happy when you laid the foundation stone a few years ago for the Ram Mandir!
Thea was concerned that the Vedic Way was being attacked from all sides, and in particular she was concerned for the Kashmiri Pundits. In 2003, at the invitation of His Holiness, Jagat Guru Sri Bhagavan Gopinath Ji, she wrote a series of essays for the community review, ‘Prakash’. She published them later in a book, Kashmir and the Convergence of Time, Space and Destiny. In 2019, when you had the courage to lead your government to abrogate Article 370, we at the Aeon Centre of Cosmology (ACC) also joined those in the nation who thanked you.
And your focus and attention to the purification of the Ganga was deeply appreciated by Thea. Just before her passing in October 2016, she wrote a small book, Ganga, soul of Indian Culture, her descent to Earth. She wrote that this sacred river holds the secrets to the cosmic connections that are the foundation for the Sanatana Dharma.
Another of Thea’s concerns was the adoption of Vedic Calendar.
Given her credentials as a well known cosmologist, Thea was invited to deliver a paper at the first National Conference on Hindu Calendar Reform [2] in Tirumala, December 2010. She reminded the conference that the Vedic Calendar is based on the natural cosmic harmonies of the Year, on the ‘Vedic journey’ of the Year. It honors the revolution of the Earth around the Sun through the pathway of the ecliptic; it honors the four Cardinal markers of the Equinoxes and Solstices.
With the rise of science and the loss of the ‘Vedic journey’, the ancient Vedic Calendar was discarded. The sacred duty of time reckoning for the Hindu Samaj was handed over not to astrologers, but to astronomers who are not versed in the Veda; they made the fatal mistake of eliminating the natural year of the Earth’s revolution around the Sun through the pathway of the ecliptic, Thea explained.
Pundits shifted from the Tropical Zodiac with its Equinoxes and Solstices to the Zodiac out in the Constellations. This confusion is still at the heart of the problem: the Constellations cannot be used to measure timings for Temple functions or to draw up a horoscope; they are used to measure the large cycles of time, the precession of the Ages.
Even more important, there are no Solstices or Equinoxes out in the Constellations. There is only one correct day to celebrate India’s national holiday, the entry into Makar/Capricorn – that is on the December Solstice, shortest day of the year. But because Pundits use the wrong zodiac, out in the Constellations, India now celebrates Makar Sankranti 23 days late, on 14 or 15 January.
At the time of Independence, the Saka commission was convened by Prime Minister Nehru to devise a calendar acceptable to all communities and sects. The Government did adopt in 1956 an official calendar, it was based on the Gregorian (universal) model to bring the nation in tune with the rest of the world; but even after all these years, it has not attained full acceptance and popularity. The different communities and religions continue to use their own regional calendars and almanacs, out of a sense of wanting a separate identity or to honor their own founders and saints.
The Earth Calendar honors the Vedic journey of the year with its Solstices and Equinoxes. Regional and community holidays are honoured as well, but the focus is wider: it connects the cosmic journey in the heavens to the inner journey each of us makes, as citizens of Bharat Mata, as we evolve toward what Sri Aurobindo calls the ‘Supramental truth-consciousness’ now unfolding on our earth. They are one and the same journey.
India needs to adopt the Earth Calendar as its National Calendar. [3] We are sending you a link to our Earth Calendar (https://www.aeoncentre.com/calendar/). We hope you will see it as a valuable tool not only to retrieve the ‘lost knowledge’ of the Veda, but also as a way to further your third goal for the nation mentioned in your recent speech: to enhance National Identity. Please see the specific details in a letter Shri Mukund Ainapure is sending to you, as Convenor of the Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom (a special division of our Aeon Center of Cosmology).
And healing the divisions of Partition was a matter of utmost importance to Thea. Aeon Centre of Cosmology is preparing now to republish a book which Thea wrote on the cause and purpose of The Partition of India (2009). Our Prayer – in this year of Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth Anniversary – is that you and this glorious nation will continue to receive blessings from Sri Aurobindo, the Mother and Thea for a reunited India, Akhand Bharat.
Patricia Heidt, PhD, Director, Aeon Centre of Cosmology
[1] (https://archive.aeoncentre.com/vishaal/culture-and-cosmos-2-part-3-contintued
[2] (http://puraniccosmologyupdated.blogspot.com/2010/12/importance-of-makar-sankranti-in-hindu.html).
[3] (https://www.aeoncentre.com/the-earth-calendar-introduction-terms-definitions/).
Aeon Centre of Cosmology (ACC), at Skambha, is located in the Palani Hills of South India. Our Centre was founded by Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (Thea) on 5 January, 1986. It is supported by Aeon Trust, registered with the Government of India having 80 G status. Thea passed on 9 October 2016. Her students remain active at ACC and continue to promote her Indo-centric cosmology (www.aeoncentre.com).
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To her first Board of Directors Thea wrote:
“This is a centre of cosmological/yogic studies, by an applied cosmology, and a practice of Sri Aurobindo’s revolutionary Supramental Yoga… We are discovering and disclosing a completely new path, ‘a new way’.
‘This work can be a beacon, a stable point in the midst of a dying civilisation. For this reason I have named the new land Skambha, that Support of the world, sung of in the Arthavaveda, that cosmic pillar, that ‘axis mundi’.” (1987)
Books Enclosed – 1 copy of each:
Kashmir and the Convergence of Time, space and Destiny, 2004
Ganga, Soul of Indian Culture – her Descent to Earth, 2015
Partition of India, its cause, its purpose – 2009
Letter to Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji,
Copy of Letter fo Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji from Mukund Ainapure, convenor of the Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom