• No clash in India between science and spirituality'
• India should not sever links with its heritage: Amjad

• 4,000-year-old site found in UP

In India there has been no clash between science and spirituality down the ages as Indian spirituality always insisted on experiencing something before developing faith on that phenomenon, founder of the Art of Living movement and spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravishankar has said. He was speaking on 'India's Role in a Global Millennium' at the Bharateeya Institute for Advanced Study and Research (BIAR), here on Thursday.

Scientific temper
In contrast, other spiritual traditions insisted on faith preceding experience. India's spiritual philosophy is thus both time-tested and scientific. A scientific temper is essential for any educated society; but spirituality has to move hand in hand with the scientific temper. Technology has today shrunk the world so much that it has become one village, one family. Only spirituality can give that village the flavour of a family. Only spirituality can bond people together, he said.

Indian studies
Ancient Indian spiritual texts have to be reinterpreted with a scientific temper. In the U.S. there are more than 150 universities that offer Indian studies as a subject, but only very few Indians are there to teach these topics; the rest are Americans. "We are not encouraging our children to study our own knowledge. Yoga, Vedanta, Ayurveda… they have a universal appeal. We should be proud of this and spread it… When people in the west started accepting Panchakarma, we woke up to the merits of Ayurveda and Panchakarma. The beauty of Sanatana Dharma is that it is very practical. The symbolic language of the ancient texts should be subject to a scientific reappraisal. Our youth should be encouraged to take up Indian studies," he said.

'Be smart'
India should be smarter and start claiming patents due to us. Now, the nation reacts only after somebody else takes away, say, a tulsi or a turmeric patent. India should shake off its docility, get out of a slavish mentality and start taking a more proactive role in the affairs of neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia or Indonesia. Spirituality, Ayurveda, food, tourism, and IT are areas where the nation can excel. India should also solve its problems such as violence, narrow-mindedness, terrorism, consumerism, stress, violence, corruption, and environmental pollution. All these problems are caused due to lack of education, he added. Director of the Bharateeya Vicharam Kendram P. Parameswaran was also present on the occasion. The spiritual leader later participated in an 'Anandotsavom' held at the Chandrasekahran Nair stadium.

Courtesy: www.hindu.com, September 07, 2007

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It is said that discoveries just happen, you don't plan them. So is the case here with the State Archaeology Department. It is now planning to dig up a 4,000-year-old civilisation buried in Udaipurwa village in Auraiya district. It was literally by chance that a rural acrobat while walking in the fields stumbled upon some metallic objects lying on the ground. Curiosity prompted him to dig the spot that revealed a hoard of copper artefacts. Realising the value of the stuff, he quickly collected them and left the spot in a hush without informing anyone. But luck did not favour him as some villagers noticed his activities and informed the local police. Police immediately swung into action and raided his hideout. Police seized the articles and kept it in the store of the Bidhuna police station.

Additional District Magistrate of Auraiya realised that the articles seized by the police was of historical importance and he informed that Rakesh Tiwari, Director, Directorate of Archaeology about the ancient treasure. Assistant Archaeological Officer Nar Singh Tyagi visited Budhina to inspect the findings. Tyagi submitted his report to the Director and a senior officer RK Srivastava was dispatched to explore the area. Talking to Hindustan Times, Tiwari said the exploration of the site showed that the spot from where the copper hoard was found is a part of an ancient site located near River Arind, a tributary of River Yamuna. Local farmers carry out cultivation over the land. The exposed section in which the copper hoard had been found indicates that the site may contain two metres thick cultural deposit. The cultural material scattered on the surface is mainly represented by red ware dominated by well-baked thick-sectioned potsherd. The only item that could be identified was a vase. It appears to be representing a single cultural site. Detailed investigation might reveal other aspects of the cultural assemblage of the site. The hoard weighs about 25 kg and consists of various kinds of artefacts including a barbed spearhead (harpoon) an anthropomorphic figure, flat shouldered axes, chisels and rings. Except some rings and axes, most of them are broken. Tiwari said that since 1822, copper artefacts were found in Bithur, about one hundred copper hoards have been found from different places - mainly from western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. Red ware potsherds have been also found on the surface of most of the discovered sights. Some of them such as Bahadarabad (Saharanpur), Bisauli (Badaun), Rajpur Parsu (Bijnuar), Baharia (Shahjahanpur), Saipai (Etawah) have been subjected to archaeological soundings. "However, we do not know much about their associated culture and chronology. The discovery of Udaipurwa copper hoard from an ancient site containing thick cultural deposit is of immense significance," he said. Directorate of Archaeology had dispatched a proposal to the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) for carrying out excavation at the spot. "We are hopeful of getting enough charcoal and other organic material during the excavation for radiocarbon dating," Tiwari said.

Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com, September 20, 2007

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India should not lose touch with its rich heritage and culture of harmony while marching towards economic progress, Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan said today. Lauding the fast-paced growth of India, Khan, who will give a special performance here on Sunday as a part of the India@60 celebrations, said economic and technological progress is important, but more than that it is necessary to ensure that the nations do not lose their identity. The identity, which is the soul of the nation, comes from maintaining and understanding age-old traditions and culture which in case of India teaches respect for others and elders and stresses on peace and harmony, he said. Talking to PTI, Khan said there are countries which are better placed than India economically but its greatness lies in its rich heritage which "we should not forget". He flayed the trend to ape western culture while ignoring one's own. Khan, who will perform along with his sons Amman and Ayaan, said he had specially composed music for the occasion to highlight the achievements of India.

But, he said, the 60th anniversary of independence is not only a time to project achievements but also take stock of failures. He was of the view that a major failure has been in the field of education -- not succeeding in the important task of acquainting students with all that India has to offer. "Each school needs to have teachers who teach only the country's rich heritage and timeless values which no book can teach," he said. The maestro had some harsh words for Indian television channels which he said were aping the western culture. There is not a single channel which gives encouragement to classic music, he said. "How long can you ape without working for originality? How long can you take inspiration foreign cultures and ignore your own?" Replying to a question, he said there are many young persons who are keenly interested in classic music and keeping the tradition alive despite all that television networks show. In this context, he said shows like 'Indian idol' are not geared towards finding a real talent but entertainment and one should find out how the idols do in their later lives. He also lamented that India has no world-class concert hall like the Carnegie Hall in New York. "That shows the low priority given to the cultural activities." One reason, he said, is that unlike in sports, music has no winners or losers. "Each performer is great in his or her own way and therefore, it does not interest the policymakers." Appreciating declaration of birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi - Oct 2 - as International Day of Non-violence by the UN, Khan said what is more important is to spread the message of peace and brotherhood of the Mahatma and regretted that not much attention has been paid to this aspect. "What we have learnt from Hiroshima? Its victims are still suffering. Still the world has, and is improving, nuclear weapons," he said, urging India to work aggressively towards nuclear disarmament.

Courtesy: www.hindu.com, September 20, 2007

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