Civilisation of Jammu

Dogri is an appendicised form of Sarada script.

If excavations are made, samples of Sarada script will be found beneath the soll Landail script, which is still used by the Banias (business- men) of Punjab, is a metamorphosed form of Sarada script.

The Vedas were first written in Sarada script and old sanskrit books can still be found in this script. Kashmiri was also written in Sarada script.

A few years after independence Sheikh Ab- dullah, the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir discarded this script arguing that it was the script of Pundits (Brah mans).

Sheikh Abdullah’s arguments were incorrect, since a script belongs to no particular caste, it is public property and the common legacy of everybody.

Nagri script was adjusted to Persian letters, and a new script was evolved in eastern India, known as Kayathi script. In Persian, ’’ and ’’ are not present-the same policy has been adopted in Kayathil as well.

Baba again visited the Tajmahal today, and while walking around the Taj. He made the following observations:

At several places, including the entrance gate, Rajwara style of architecture is very prominent. Rajwara style was prevalent in the Gupta period of India, and was a very popular style in Kota also. It is not found in Europe.

Architects and masons from Rajasthan, Dhaka and Turkistan were employed in the construction of the Tajmahal, and the Architectural style of the walls is distinctly Turkish. Lal Dastura Piir of Dhaka, for example, constructed the design of the Taj. His grave is located at Krishnanagar but no mazhar or mauso- leum was constructed in his memory. What an irony of fate!

In Istanbul: monuments reflect a blending of Turkish and Greek architectural styles while European churches were cons- tructed in Roman, Greek and Gothic styles. Although Christia- nity originated in Palestine and spread to Europe, there is little semitic influence on church architecture in Europe.

The Jall’ (perforated sheet) on the walls of the Tajmahal is similar to the construction at the Hawa Mahal of jaipur, manifesting the Rajwara style.

The Taj is a blending of Indian and Middle Eastern architectural styles, and this synthesis has enhanced its beauty.

Once the Tajmahal contained many pre elous Sulemani gems and jewels, but it seems likely that they were taken by Nadir Shah or the British.

Baba was told of a nearby place called Bateswar where relics of Digambar Jains can be found.

Digambars are the oldest Jains, the Swetambar and Therapanthi sects emerged later.

In Rajasthan and western U.P. (being close to Rajasthan) the influence of Jainism is found, but in eastern U.P. very little Jain influence is evident as Buddhism used to be the dominant religion. During medieval times, however, both Jain and Buddhist influence existed in some places.

British intellectuals helped to save Indian history from obs eurity Sir Jadunath Sarkar, a contemporay Indian historian, is considered an authority on certain periods of Indian history and had collected a lot of materials from the ‘charans’ (folksong singers) of Rajasthan who composed folk songs based on ancient history.

Baba suggested that there should be an independent board to thoroughly research and rewrite Indian history.

Baba left Agra for Delhi at 8:40 AM by road and passed through Mathura and Vrindavan.

Baba said that the places related to Krs’n’a, that is, Mathura1, Gokula2 and Vrindavan Are the same, as they were during the time of Krs’n’a but the temples have been built later. The temples are not older than 300 years.

But if excavations are made, original places lying below the sail can be discovered.

I Mathura is a place near Agra, where Krs’n’a was born in the prison, where his parents were imprisonod by Kamsa the King of Mathura. 2 Gokul is the place where Krs’n’a was brought up in his childhood, Vrindavan is the place where Krs’n’a played with his play- mates and devotees.

Delhi, Feb. 24, 1984

[Delhi is the capital city of India, having a long history of being the capital of several kings and emperors. It possesses the relies of Pandavas, wherein Krsna was the frequent visitor. It also possesses the reminiscences of Pathan and Moghul kings and emperors. It also depicts the characteristics of the Jamuna-valley eivilisation with the peculiarities of Hariyanavi culture ]

Baba visited Purana Kila in New Delhi which is an example of tomb-style architecture and made the following comments: Tomb-style construction started during the early period of the Pathans and was commonly used during the reign of Bahlol Lodi. However few constructions in tomb-style were built during Ibrahim’s reign.

The Pathans belonged to west Afghanistan and east Persia. Due to Pathan influence, Persian was adopted as the official lang- uage of the Delhi emperors until the reign of Shah Jahan, who changed the official language to Urdu.

During the Pathan period mixture of crude molasses and lime was used to cernent bricks together, but this only resulted in a loose adhesive mixture. Later, in the Moghul period, a mixture. of sugar and lime was used. The composition of the cementing material and the fact that the bricks have become loose are evidence that the Purana Kila was built during the first part of the Pathan period. Similar cement was used in the construction of the Lodi gardens.

The antiquity of Purana Kila can be determined by analysing the composition of the cement, the style of construction, and the size of the bricks. In the Hindu period, bricks were thin and long-bricks in this configuration originated in India. In those days and even during the Pathan period, the style of architecture was not as subtle as the styles found in the Tajmahal and the Fatepur Sikri. The inner side of the entrance gate of the Purana Kila exemplifies a blending of Semitic and Rajawara styles while the umbrella-modelled upper portion is definitely an example of Rajawara style.

The remains of Indraprastha still lie beneath the ground and only extensive excavation will uncover this buried city. The Lo li gardens stand on a mound like the Purana Kila, which implies that some remnants of an older city lie underneath. Hastinapur, the capital of the Kaoravas, was a more beautiful city than Indraprastha, the capital of the Pandavas.

The symbol of the five-pointed star, comprising of two equilateral triangles with one triangle pointing up and the other pointing down, is found on the walls of the Purana Kila.

It is also found in ancient Persia and amongst Aryan relics.

Shia Muslims influenced the religious outlook of the Moghul emperors up to the reign of Shah Jahan. The Nawabs of Bengal, Oudh and Lahore were also Shias, while Aurangzeb was a Sunni Muslim. The mother tongue of the Shias is Urdu In India, the Shia population is only 0.1% of all Indian Muslims, while the remaining 99.9% are Sunnis. Shias mostly reside in cities and can be found in the districts of west Uttar Pradesh, Unnao, Lucknow, and Aligarh.

In Bihar Shias can be found in Sheikhpura, a mahalla of Patna. In Punjab there are more or less equal numbers of Shias and Sunnis, while in Kashmir, there are more Shias. In Iran Shias comprise the whole of the population and Persian is the language spoken in the entire area from the west of Kabul to Iran. The Sunnis of Bengal belong to the Va’havi section who keep the palms of their hands down- wards during ’namaz’ or prayers. It is said that the Vahavis were originally Shaevites and kept an idol of Shiva hidden under their clothes or tied around their wrists. When Maulavis came to know of this practice the Vahavis were asked to stretch their hands forward, and this has now become the accepted style of offering ’namaz’ by the Vahavis.

Baba briefly examined a structure called Sher-i-Manjila and said that its architecture is representative of the Rajawara style which is a popular style in Kota.

Architecture undergoes a significant transmutation over an 800-year period since the society’s concept of beauty changes. And after twenty generations which is also approximately 500 years, the physical structure of the human body changes. The chin and nose, for example, change and if the twenty first generation is compared in the first generation, there is very distinctive physi-

Shiva temples in Rajawara and Gauriya styles are found in north and raut india. In Bengal, only one percent of the Shiva temples are in Rajawara style, the rest are in Gauriya style while all Shakta temples are in the Gauriya style.

Pure Utkal style is found in Chriss, while in Bengal a blending of Utkal and Gauri- ya styles is evident in Chattisgarh, a blending of Rajawara and Unsal myle can be found, which Baba names ‘Chatiisgarhi* ale tn the southern side of the Godavari river, Dravida style can be found, as exemplified in the Minakshi Temple while on the northern side of the Godavari river in Telengana and orth Andhra Urkat style of architecture dominates. Brahmt script was used during the time of the Pandavas although Kharou script was also sometimes used. The Panda- lived in tndraprastha, which was frequently visited by Krs’n’a.

Many of the buildings still standing in Delhi are about 700 years old and were constructed during the first Pathan period which began after the death of Raja Dahira. The materials used for the construction of these buildings were taken from earlier constructed buildings unfortunately destroying them.

Decimating old buildings destroys valuable archaeological records which can often result in the distortion of history.h Of all the temples in India, Jain temples are the most neglec- led. Small museums should be established at places where ancient monuments are kept and opened to the public. In addition, ancient monuments should be protected by the archaeological departments of universities.

Chattisgarh is the eastern region of Madhya Pradesh where Chattisgart is the spoken language of the people.

Delhi, Feb. 25, 1984

Baba visited Shantivana today.

While walking on the lawns He commented that the park was well-constructed and well-main. In addition He noted tained and that it was also well-named that the soil was excellent for growing roses.

Baba looked at a mound in the park and said that if the area is excavated the remnants of ancient Delhi will be found here. Delhi has been the capital of India for a long time and the archaelogical record should date back to very early times.

The capital was shifted to Agra during Shah Jahan’s time and Calcutta was made the capital of India by the British between 1757 and 1912. Apart from these two periods, Delhi has always been the capital of India.

Baba visited Rajghat and enjoyed the scenery. He said that the thorny pineapple was brought to India from the East Indies and Malaysia, while the thornless pineapple came from the West Indies and Guatemala. Pineapple was brought to India by the Portugese and banana was brought by the Dutch from the East Indies.

That night Baba walked around His residence and explained that the term ‘culture’ means the collection of many manifesta- Hons and emanations in the different spheres of human life. While local differences and variations exist, fundamentally human culture is one. For example, the Vaedic Sanskrit ‘dha’ma’ means shelter. “This is my home”, in Vedic language is “Etad nas dha’mah” and in Russian, it is “Etad nata dham”.

Baba also explained that spiritual classical dance is very helpful for spiritual development. When Baba was 22 years old tin 1913) He composed 150 songs in Urdu and 100 songs in English. He also composed twelve songs in Sanskrit when He was only 13 or 14 years old.