Aryabhatt was from Bihar, not Kerala: Anand M Saran

December 13, 2007

Bihartimes quote Anand M. Saran

Aryabhatt was from Bihar, not Kerala: Expert

Patna, (Bihar Times): Aryabhatt was a citizen of Kusumpura (modern day Patna) and not of Kerala as being claimed by K Chandra Hari in a recent article in Current Science, a prestigious science journal from Bangalore. According to Mr Hari this world renowned astronomer- cum-mathematician wrote his famous Aryabhatia in Kerala.

But according to Anand M Sharan, Faculty of Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, Canada Aryabhatt's experiments were similar to those done by Eratosthenes in Egypt around 200 BC. Comparing the results and statements of Aryabhatt with those of other scientists in Ancient India it can be said that Aryabhatt lived in Kusumpura and not Kerala, he claimed.

(?) (?) (?) (?).......(?)

December 13, 2007

Dear All,

Many 'Aryabhata related' articles are available at in the file

section of the group. Check the following links:

1)

Chandra%

20Hari/

2)

Ancient%

20Indian%20Astronomy%20and%20Science/

Or in other words, Please check inside the folders " Chandra Hari "

and " Ancient Indian Astronomy and Science " in the files section. You

will find many files related to Aryabhata and his contributions.

Love and regards,

Sreenadh

, " chandra_hari18 "

<chandra_hari18 wrote:

>

> Bihartimes quote Anand M. Saran

>

> Aryabhatt was from Bihar, not Kerala: Expert

>

> Patna, (Bihar Times): Aryabhatt was a citizen of Kusumpura (modern

day

> Patna) and not of Kerala as being claimed by K Chandra Hari in a

recent

> article in Current Science

> <http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/oct252007/1177.pdf> , a prestigious

> science journal from Bangalore. According to Mr Hari this world

renowned

> astronomer- cum-mathematician wrote his famous Aryabhatia in Kerala.

>

> But according to Anand M Sharan, Faculty of Engineering at Memorial

> University of Newfoundland, St John's, Canada Aryabhatt's

> experiments were similar to those done by Eratosthenes in Egypt

around

> 200 BC. Comparing the results and statements of Aryabhatt with

those of

> other scientists in Ancient India it can be said that Aryabhatt

lived in

> Kusumpura <http://www.engr.mun.ca/%

7Easharan/KUSUMPUR/ARYABHATTV6.htm>

> and not Kerala, he claimed.

>

> (?) (?) (?) (?).......(?)

>

December 14, 2007

ON THE NATIVE PLACE OF ARYABHATA

[REPLY TO PROF ANAND M SARAN]

Reference: 1. Famous Astronomer and Mathematician Aryabhatt I of Kusumpura &

2. On the Astronomical Remains of Aryabhatt's Time at Eran, Madhya Pradesh

Anand M. Sharan, Professor Faculty of Engineering,

Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada: e-mail: asharan,

November 23, 2007

A series of papers have been published by meon the native place of Aryabhata and Prof. Anand M. Saran has written his so called rebuttal without even caring to make a serious study of the papers that have already appeared in Current Science. Above papers of Prof AM Saran received through www. Bihartimes.com is replete with serious omissions and mistakes as shown below:

1. The right spelling is Aryabhata and not Aryabhatt as Saran brings out. The name Bhata is typical of Jains and Bhatt of Brahmins and based on the immense ancient resources in Sanskrit since Bhaskara-I's times (629CE), Dr. KV Sarma has expressed this fact.

2. Saran writes that `In this paper the place of Aryabhatt is determined' but the paper has an introduction presenting the same conflict which I brought out in my paper with standard references. My effort was to answer the conflict based on astronomical thinking and not to air and establish any parochial notion. But Prof. Saran's account is misleading quotes poor references like those of Avtar Krishen Kaul's imaginative account.

(a) References like Joseph has no value in the light of the reference I have given of Prof. Kripashankar Shukla and Dr. KV Sarma, doyens of the field. Joseph or anyone else has no information beyond what Shukla and Sarma had. Kaye is quoted with a 1981 reference that is misleading as he wrote in the early decades of 20th century (1920 or earlier). Also by such reference he establishes nothing more than the prevailing conflict between Bihar and Kerala in respect of Aryabhata's nativity.

(b) Prof Saran claims[1] that it was Brahmagupta (628 CE) who determined the latitude of Ujjayini to be 240 which is baseless. Dates provided by Saran alone indicate that Varahamihira (550CE) lived a 100 years before Brahmagupta and in Pancasiddhantika Mihira has given the latitude of Ujjayini as 240. .

2. Secondly, does the place of observation mean that the scientist was born and raised there?

3. Thirdly, does the place of observation mean automatically that a school of astronomy existed there?

Obviously, these questions are intended to create a background to conclude that Aryabhata had been to Kerala but he was not a native.

3. Prof. Saran says that Chandra Hari did not explain as to how the circumference of Earth was determined. When I could refer to Eratosthenes and explain his 2 values I could have copied the materials from internet and explained as Saran has done as to Indian astronomers repeated the same. In the 2nd part what Saran gives is an irrelevant account of the Eratosthenes measurement with wrong assumptions that Alexandria and Seyne were on the same meridian – simply a copy of the details available at innumerable websites.

4. In fact Prof Saran has no knowledge of astronomy and he is beating around the bush as he has no idea of the role played by the relative values of diameters and distances of sun, earth and moon in Indian astronomy.

5. Regarding Aryabhata's statement of Kusumapura – same has been quoted in my paper and also I have explained the same in the light of the Jain tradition and Asmaka country.

6. Saran says wrongly that Kusumapura and Nalanda got established during the time of Kumara Gupta (415-455)– a reflection of his poor knowledge about Bihar itself about which he is trying to exhibit his parochial notions. In fact Kusumapura got established in 300 BC during the time or before Candra Gupa-I (Maurya) and the Jain scholar Bhadrabahu was a mathematician at Nalanda. In 3rd century BC Chandragupta Maurya had migrated to Sravana Belgola (Asmaka) along with his Guru Bhadrabahu.

7. Camravattam near Ponnani still has a temple of Bahubali and is only 2 degree south of Sravanabelgola (12N51) the place which inspired Jains to divide the Zodiac into 28 Nakshatras of 12051' each. Aryabhata at (Ponnani = Tondi = Tirunavaya =Camravattam) had Cera Capital and Arab trade centre had access to Alexandrian and Babylonian materials and so he could refine the Jain works and create the Siddhantic astronomy.

8. I have given extensive details and computational evidence to suggest earlier epochs for Kerala astronomy based on alpha-numeric statements known in the tradition and astronomical aspects of certain socio-cultural factors of Kerala. Tamil classics of the Sangham period also suggest the existence of developed astronomical tradition in south before the time of Aryabhata.

9. Mutual connection between the places Kerala and the nearby Sravanabelgola and of Ujjayini and Kusumapura is through the Jain tradition. And for both the great traditions of Jain and Buddha India is indebted to Bihar.

10. Prof Saran's statement of linking Aryabhata with Udayagiri has no basis. Udayagiri was a Vaishanava settlement and it is possible that under Gupta patronage the work of Aryabhata reached the astronomers of Ujjayini through Jain siddhas who roamed the country. Even Aryabhata himself may have been a Jain siddha who traveled from Kerala to Kusumapura and became Kulapa at Kusumapura. I have quoted the related verse in my subsequent papers.

11. The fact that Aryabhata is a native of Kerala only adds to the grandeur of Bihar – openness of Bihar and the grandeur of the academic excellence of Kusumapura and its fame all over India and may be even abroad in places like Alexandria.

Prof. Saran's parochial comments in no way conform to the great intellectual tradition of Kusumapura and Bihar. His comments reflect the degeneration as we see in the politics of the region and it is my request that the genuine intellectuals must come foreword to appreciate the truths.

I have already forwarded my subsequent papers also to Bihartimes.com so that they may take the opinion of some reputed scholars before highlighting the erroneous and unsubstantiated views of Prof. Anand M. Saran.

K. Chandra Hari

09426612711

chandra_hari18

[1] This is kind of claims that he makes through out the paper. , "chandra_hari18" <chandra_hari18 wrote:>> > Bihartimes quote Anand M. Saran> > Aryabhatt was from Bihar, not Kerala: Expert> > Patna, (Bihar Times): Aryabhatt was a citizen of Kusumpura (modern day> Patna) and not of Kerala as being claimed by K Chandra Hari in a recent> article in Current Science> <http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/oct252007/1177.pdf> , a prestigious> science journal from Bangalore. According to Mr Hari this world renowned> astronomer- cum-mathematician wrote his famous Aryabhatia in Kerala.> > But according to Anand M Sharan, Faculty of Engineering at Memorial> University of Newfoundland, St John's, Canada Aryabhatt's> experiments were similar to those done by Eratosthenes in Egypt around> 200 BC. Comparing the results and statements of Aryabhatt with those of> other scientists in Ancient India it can be said that Aryabhatt lived in> Kusumpura <http://www.engr.mun.ca/%7Easharan/KUSUMPUR/ARYABHATTV6.htm>> and not Kerala, he claimed.> > (?) (?) (?) (?).......(?)>