Maya is a commonly used term in an Indian context, which roughly means illusion. Another place where we can come across the term is in the ancient civilization, the Mayans. The words were strikingly similar and that led us to explore other similarities between the two great civilizations and furthermore, a connection.
An Indo – American Link
We are not the first people to think of this connection. Many great historians and anthropologists have postulated a connection between the Indus race and the Aaryans. Here are some examples -
Miles Poindexter – In his book, “Arya Incas” published in the year 1930, he explains that in pre-glacial times, Asia and America were geographically connected. He further says that the Mayan civilization was “unquestionably Hindu” and its inhabitants came to the Americas through the Island chains of Polynesia.
Baron Alexander Von Humbolt – A European anthropologist, he was the first person to postulate the Asiatic origins of American civilization. He wrote “Mexicans worshipped a figure made of man with the head of an elephant. It presents some remarkable and apparently not accidental resemblance with the Hindu God Ganesh.” Another interesting point to note here is the fact that elephants do not exist in south America for them to envision a similar god. And to describe elephants so accurately, it could only be through influence from another civilization.
Sir Edward Brunett Tylor – A British anthropologist, drew similarities between a tortoise legend of America and the Tortoise legend of India. He says “The striking analogy between the tortoise myth of North America and India is by no means a matter of new observation.“Furthermore, there is archeological evidence of the concept of the tortoise depicting the tectonic plates of the earth found in temples of Java.
Dos Santos – A Brazilian Nuclear Physiscist, the author of the book “Atlantis – The lost continent finally found”, mentioned in it that “the dravidians of South India reach America before Christopher Columbus. To substantiate this, he takes the example of Paraguay’s national language Gourani, which has striking phonetic similarities with Tamil, the South Indian Language.
This is just few of the works that we have highlighted from modern archeology and anthropology which accepts this connection. This connection is further talked about in our ancient scriptures as well.
Now we will see some clues left to us from our ancient texts, suggesting an Indo Mayan Link.
A round earth
The Indian knowledge bank always subscribed to the view that the earth is round and revolves around the sun like 8 other planetary bodies. Proof of this lies in the following instances –
The Aryabhatiyam – An astronomical treatise by the great mathematician and astronomer, Aryabhatta, summarises that the earth is round (Bhugola). It also summarises time zones and predicts the various positions of the sun with respect to four reference points along the equator.
Puranic Texts – The Varaha avatar of Vishnu shows the mythical boar lifting a “round” earth out of the waters that threaten to engulf it. Although the story itself is hard to envision to a scientific mind, what is important to note is that even the story teller here subscribes to the notion of a round earth.
Jagath – Jagath is another name for the earth. In Sanskrit, this means, that which has momentum. This coupled with the proof of the round earth showed that the Indian civilization already knew of the earth’s round and orbital nature.
Why is this relevant? Read on.
China syndrome
There is an American joke which says that, if there is a nuclear attack on the US, the people there could dig a hole and keep digging through till they reach the other side of the world which would be modern day china.
This joke makes sense with the knowledge of the round earth. Now recollect the fact that the ancient Indians knew about a round earth. We compared this knowledge to some stories which are well documented by the Puranas.
Patala Loka
If one were to dig a hole from India, we would end up in the modern day Central America. Indian folklore talks of a place called the Pathala Loka which is directly under the earth. It was known to be the abode of the Asuras and Danavas.
Let’s look at some stories and facts which refer to the Pathala Loka.
King Mahabali
Mahabali, a great Asura king and a descendent of the revered Asura and Vishnu devotee, Prahlad, was known as a great king and had lead a prosperous civilization. Upon an encounter with the Dwarf, Vamana, who was Vishnu in disguise, he was banished to the Pathal Lok due to his arrogance. On the request of his distraught subjects, King Mahabali was allowed to visit his kingdom once a year. The festival Onam is celebrated on this accounts.
Aryabhattiyam
As mentioned earlier, Aryabhattiyam, the mathematical and astronomical treatise even postulated the positions of the sun at various places in relation to four focal points. One of the focal points, right near modern day Mexico, known as Siddhapura, is mentioned to have a twelve hour difference with Bharatvarsha, which is modern day India.
He even goes on to mention that the people of Siddhapura was the land Inhabited by the Asura people.
Not hell and Definitely Not an Underground Kingdom
Over time, the Pathala Loka has been misinterpreted as an underground kingdom of the demon. But with the research from D.K. Hari and Hema Hari from BharatGyan , we have now come to know that this Pathala Loka is the other side of the planet.
We have further proof that these ancient Mayans, as termed by the colonial records were none other than the Asuras mentioned in the Hindu scriptures.
An Indo – American Link
We are not the first people to think of this connection. Many great historians and anthropologists have postulated a connection between the Indus race and the Aaryans. Here are some examples -
Miles Poindexter – In his book, “Arya Incas” published in the year 1930, he explains that in pre-glacial times, Asia and America were geographically connected. He further says that the Mayan civilization was “unquestionably Hindu” and its inhabitants came to the Americas through the Island chains of Polynesia.
Baron Alexander Von Humbolt – A European anthropologist, he was the first person to postulate the Asiatic origins of American civilization. He wrote “Mexicans worshipped a figure made of man with the head of an elephant. It presents some remarkable and apparently not accidental resemblance with the Hindu God Ganesh.” Another interesting point to note here is the fact that elephants do not exist in south America for them to envision a similar god. And to describe elephants so accurately, it could only be through influence from another civilization.
Sir Edward Brunett Tylor – A British anthropologist, drew similarities between a tortoise legend of America and the Tortoise legend of India. He says “The striking analogy between the tortoise myth of North America and India is by no means a matter of new observation.“Furthermore, there is archeological evidence of the concept of the tortoise depicting the tectonic plates of the earth found in temples of Java.
Dos Santos – A Brazilian Nuclear Physiscist, the author of the book “Atlantis – The lost continent finally found”, mentioned in it that “the dravidians of South India reach America before Christopher Columbus. To substantiate this, he takes the example of Paraguay’s national language Gourani, which has striking phonetic similarities with Tamil, the South Indian Language.
This is just few of the works that we have highlighted from modern archeology and anthropology which accepts this connection. This connection is further talked about in our ancient scriptures as well.
Now we will see some clues left to us from our ancient texts, suggesting an Indo Mayan Link.
A round earth
The Indian knowledge bank always subscribed to the view that the earth is round and revolves around the sun like 8 other planetary bodies. Proof of this lies in the following instances –
The Aryabhatiyam – An astronomical treatise by the great mathematician and astronomer, Aryabhatta, summarises that the earth is round (Bhugola). It also summarises time zones and predicts the various positions of the sun with respect to four reference points along the equator.
Puranic Texts – The Varaha avatar of Vishnu shows the mythical boar lifting a “round” earth out of the waters that threaten to engulf it. Although the story itself is hard to envision to a scientific mind, what is important to note is that even the story teller here subscribes to the notion of a round earth.
Jagath – Jagath is another name for the earth. In Sanskrit, this means, that which has momentum. This coupled with the proof of the round earth showed that the Indian civilization already knew of the earth’s round and orbital nature.
Why is this relevant? Read on.
China syndrome
There is an American joke which says that, if there is a nuclear attack on the US, the people there could dig a hole and keep digging through till they reach the other side of the world which would be modern day china.
This joke makes sense with the knowledge of the round earth. Now recollect the fact that the ancient Indians knew about a round earth. We compared this knowledge to some stories which are well documented by the Puranas.
Patala Loka
If one were to dig a hole from India, we would end up in the modern day Central America. Indian folklore talks of a place called the Pathala Loka which is directly under the earth. It was known to be the abode of the Asuras and Danavas.
Let’s look at some stories and facts which refer to the Pathala Loka.
King Mahabali
Mahabali, a great Asura king and a descendent of the revered Asura and Vishnu devotee, Prahlad, was known as a great king and had lead a prosperous civilization. Upon an encounter with the Dwarf, Vamana, who was Vishnu in disguise, he was banished to the Pathal Lok due to his arrogance. On the request of his distraught subjects, King Mahabali was allowed to visit his kingdom once a year. The festival Onam is celebrated on this accounts.
Aryabhattiyam
As mentioned earlier, Aryabhattiyam, the mathematical and astronomical treatise even postulated the positions of the sun at various places in relation to four focal points. One of the focal points, right near modern day Mexico, known as Siddhapura, is mentioned to have a twelve hour difference with Bharatvarsha, which is modern day India.
He even goes on to mention that the people of Siddhapura was the land Inhabited by the Asura people.
Not hell and Definitely Not an Underground Kingdom
Over time, the Pathala Loka has been misinterpreted as an underground kingdom of the demon. But with the research from D.K. Hari and Hema Hari from BharatGyan , we have now come to know that this Pathala Loka is the other side of the planet.
We have further proof that these ancient Mayans, as termed by the colonial records were none other than the Asuras mentioned in the Hindu scriptures.
