Autobiography of India Indo Russia Connect
Autobiography of India
INDIA CONNECTS
INDO - RUSSIA A Connect Over Millennia
D.K.HARI D.K.HEMA HARI
BHARATH GYAN SERIES
Bridging Worlds Thru Knowledge Experience The Knowledge Of India
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Dedication This book is a part of our series, Autobiography of India, dedicated to our twin nephews, Aditya and Varun, who along with millions of other children world over, represent for us, the future of India and the world.
It is our way of transmitting to them what we have learnt from our ancestors, about our ancestors and their way of sustaining themselves and the ecosystem around them for their sustained prosperity.
Also, with their names, Aditya, the name for the divine Sun and Varun, the name of the divinity for Rain, they are for us, constant reminders of how blessed this land Bharatavarsha is, to receive bountiful rain and shine consistently.
Rain and Shine are what our ancestors had leveraged ingeniously which made them last across generations, as a long-lasting, prosperous civilization and a role model for millennia.
Aditya and Varun seem to be telling us all,
Of what use is it to complain and whine? If you do not leverage your rain and shine!
It is time we also start harnessing the Rain and Shine wisely and with responsibility, for the future of this civilization as well as mankind.
We get a Rainbow, Indradhanush, only when there is Rain and Shine together!
It is called Indra’s Dhanush, bow, as the spectrum of colours they produce, arc the sky like a bow. Indra has a connotation of the senses of an individual and the collective consciousness of a group of people.
Indradhanush has always denoted in the Indian thought, a sense of achievement and joy, as well as seen a harbinger of hope and harmony. Harmony as denoted by the diverse 7 colours merging together to form the unified, colourless light, the sign of enlightenment.
On 15th August 1947, when the new country of India was born, there was so much excitement as well as turmoil that, while the transfer of power happened at the stroke of midnight of 14th / 15th August, the official flag hoisting took place only on the evening of 15th August. This was jointly attended by Jawaharlal Nehru and Lord Mountbatten, the last British Governor General of India.
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At this moment, miraculously, a rainbow was seen arcing across the sky, as a sign of hope of a nation just born.
Aditya and Varun are divinities representing the Sun and Rain, that shower this land with bounties and create rainbows of joy and harmony.
Aditya and Varun, our nephews, are representative of the children of India and the world, the future generation, to whom we want to leave behind, this legacy of knowledge, from our forefathers and from our generation.
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Contents
DEDICATION ...... 3 CONTENTS ...... 5 PREFACE ...... 8 GEOGRAPHICALLY APART, BUT CONNECTED...... 9
APART BUT STILL CONNECTED ...... 9 CONFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATIONS ...... 9 MELTING POT ...... 10 TRADE CONNECT ...... 12 OTHER EXCHANGES THROUGH TRADERS ...... 15 TWO TRIBES THAT INFLUENCED INDIA ...... 16
WHO WERE THE HUNA? ...... 16 WHITE HUNS OF BYELORUSSIA ...... 16 SVETA HUNA...... 17 HUNA TIMELINE ...... 17 PANCHA GANAHA ...... 17 5800 YEARS CONNECT ...... 24 THE MONGOLS ...... 25 MONGOL TO MUGHAL...... 26 RIVER AMU DARYA AND SYR DARYA-PIVOT OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS ...... 28
NOURISHED BY THE 2 DARYA ...... 28 NATURAL GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARY ...... 30 MENTIONED IN MAJOR SACRED TEXTS ...... 30 WHY THIS IMPORTANCE? ...... 33 THE BLACK CONNECT ...... 34 SIBERIA – A NAME CONNECT ...... 35
THE REGION ...... 35 THE NAME SIBERIA ...... 36 FROM ARCHAEOLOGY ...... 38
IDOL WORSHIP ...... 38 THE DYNASTY LINK ...... 42
THE RA CONNECT ...... 42 LINEAGE FROM SUN ...... 42 RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL CONNECT ...... 45
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BAKU...... 45 THE ROUTE ...... 47 BUDDHISM IN RUSSIA ...... 52
BUDDHISM TRAVELS TO RUSSIA ...... 52 FIRST RUSSIAN TO VISIT INDIA ...... 55
AFANASYA NIKITIN ...... 55 INDIAN MYSTICISM, A RUSSIAN THINKER AND A THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY ...... 64
HELENA BLAVATSKY...... 64 INDOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ...... 68
RUSSIAN INDOLOGISTS ...... 68 INDIAN HISTORIANS...... 69 A RUSSIAN GENERAL CORROBORATES THE REAL VIEW ON ALEXANDER’S BATTLE WITH PORUS ...... 71
ALEXANDER WAS DEFEATED BY PORUS ...... 71 RUSSIAN MARSHAL GREGORY ZHUKOV ...... 72 ZHUKOV’S FURTHER ANALYSES ...... 73 LANGUAGE SIMILARITY ...... 74
TWO BRANCHES OF LANGUAGES ...... 74 ART AND THEATRE ...... 92
RUSSIAN PAINTER WHO PAINTED INDIA ...... 92 THEATRE ...... 95 MATRYOSHKA DOLLS ...... 97 MAHATMA GANDHI AND LEO TOLSTOY ...... 98
LEO TOLSTOY’S INFLUENCE ON GANDHI ...... 98 ANOTHER GANDHIAN INFLUENCED BY RUSSIA ...... 101 MASLOW’S THEORY AND PANCHA KOSHA ...... 103
HIERARCHIAL KOSHA ...... 103 RUSSIAN INFLUENCE ON INDIAN CONSTITUTION...... 107
FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES ...... 107 SWARAN SINGH COMMITTEE ...... 108 BORROWED FROM RUSSIA ...... 108 WORD SOCIALIST INTRODUCED ...... 109 SOVIET UNION BROKERED PEACE BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN ...... 111 WEDDING IN RUSSIA ...... 113
EVERY CIVILIZATION HAS ITS WAY ...... 113 AN INTERESTING OBSERVATION ...... 113
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RUSSIA CAME THE HARD WAY ...... 113 MANDATORY CONSCRIPTION ...... 115 PITRU RN IN INDIA ...... 115 THE INNATE QUALITY IN BOTH CIVILIZATIONS ...... 116 SPORTS CONNECT ...... 117
CHESS ...... 117 CIRCUS ...... 119 EDUCATIONAL CONNECT ...... 121
KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA ...... 126 INDUSTRY, TECHNOLOGICAL AND DEFENCE CONNECT ...... 129
STEEL PLANTS ...... 132 DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY ...... 133 DEFENCE PLANES ...... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. BAIKONUR COSOMODROME ...... 144 INS VIKRAMADITYA ...... 139 KOODAMKULAM NUCLEAR POWER PROJECT ...... 140 SPACE CONNECT ...... 142
OFFER TO TAKE INDIAN TO SPACE ...... 142 HELPING INDIA’S SPACE PROGRAM ...... 144 CONNECT IN SKIES ...... 150
MIGRATORY BIRDS ...... 150 RUSSIAN PRESENCE IN INDIA ...... 153
IN GOA ...... 153 AN OPPORTUNITY THRU BRICS ...... 156
BUILDING FURTHER CONNECT ...... 156 SALUTATIONS ...... 157
AARTHI ...... 157 A PRAYER ...... 157 KUBERA AND VISHRAVA ...... 158 NORTH POLE - MERU ...... 158 MILLENNIA CONNECT ...... 159
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Preface The lands and civilizations of India and Russia are quite apart. The sub continent of India is in the tropics, hot and humid.
The landmass of Russia straddles along the Arctic zone. It is cold and harsh. Climatewise, there is a large contrast.
The nature of people living in the tropics, by nature, is quite different from the nature of people, living closer to the Arctics.
The climate does effect, not just the skin colour, lifestyle, clothing, food habits, but also thinking, response to situations and other such faculties.
Inspite of these vast differences, there are interesting similarities and many points of connect between these two people, these two lands and these two civilizations.
Here is an opportunity to relish, to celebrate the connect, the similarities, the commonalities, between these two, to create a bond, a bandhan at a people to people level.
For civilizational connects form and have been, at a people to people level.
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GEOGRAPHICALLY APART, BUT CONNECTED
India is an ancient civilization that lies in the tropics. It is a sub-continent by itself. Russia is an old land that stradles two continents, Europe and Asia. In comparison to the tropical, hot and humid land of India, Russia is a cold country that borders the Arctic Circle.
While they are geographically apart, there are many factors that connect these two lands, these two peoples, from ancient times to modern times.
The connect is in language, art, theatre, technology, culture and many other facets.
When the people can see these connects, laid out one after another, the bond can grow stronger.
A civilizational connect appears!
APART BUT STILL CONNECTED India and Russia are geographically apart. Many thousand kilometres apart. The land route traverses through many a topographical terrain and many a seas. Consequently, the people to people contact were neither that frequent, nor regular. The connect has more been through a connecting civilization – the Central Asian civilization.
CONFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATIONS This Central Asia civilization were developed in the banks of Rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya, and on the banks of Caspian Sea. It was not only a connect between Indo Russian civilization, but was actually a connecting point between all the major civilizations that flanked this region.
The Chinese civilization in the East
Indian civilization in South East
Persian civilization in the South
Turkic civilization in South West
Greek civilization in the West
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Confluence Point of Civilizations
This Central Asian civilization was verily a melting pot of these civilizations.
MELTING POT This term Melting Pot was coined in USA early 1900s, for the immigrations from Europe and Africa, in the early 1900s and was popularized through this book.
The Melting Pot, Courtesy Israel Zangwill America as a Melting Pot
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Melting Pot of Citizens, a painting
Mishran This melting pot had a specific name in Indian thought. It was expressed as a Mishran. The Samskrt word Mishran means Mixture. The English word Mixture itself comes from Mishran.
Mishran, Mixture of civilizations
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These ideas about melting pot was about the coming together of the immigrants of a few decades into America to create a composite civilization of a variety of ethnic groups bringing in their cultures, their ideas, their foods habits, their music, and so on.
Central Asia-Melting Pot of 5 civilizations In the case of Central Asia, it was a melting pot of not just a few decades or centuries, but a melting pot of civilizations, from a few millennia. It was through this melting pot, that a connect, a people to people connect between the Indian and Russian civilization took place over millennia.
This connect happened at multiple levels.
TRADE CONNECT One was at the trade level. Trade is the first connect to take place between any two civilizations and that leads to further civilizational connect.
Silk Route The famed silk route traversed through the Central Asian civilization.
Tin Route Parallely there was another trade route to the south that was equally important, the Tin route that connected Indian civilization, Persian civilization and South East Asian Civilization.
Silk Route and Tin Route
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Copper Age to Bronze Age The civilizations were then evolving from Copper Age to Bronze Age. Copper Age was succeeded by Bronze Age.
Copper Age Art Bronze Age Art
What is the need to evolve from Copper Age to Bronze Age?
Making Bronze out of Copper While Copper is malleable, bronze is a tough alloy that has a wide range of uses.
How does one make bronze out of copper? When tin is mixed with copper, it gives bronze.
Copper Mines of Persia
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Tin Mines of South East Asia
Availability of Copper and Tin Copper is abundantly available in mines starting from Khetri mines of Rajasthan in North West India to Afghanistan, to Persia.
Tin is available in South East Asia from Malaysia to Vietnam.
Technology from Indian Civilization The civilization that connects these two is the Indian civilization.
The technology to mix copper and tin in different ratios, to get a range of bronze alloys for a range of needs was perfected in the Indian civilization.
Importance of Tin Route As much as Silk Road was important in Central Asia, the Tin Route was important for mining, making products of copper and bronze, from which evolved the progress of civilization, from Copper Age to Bronze Age, not only in Indian and Persian civilizations. It had its big influence in the Central Asian Civilization and its connected civilizations, along the silk route as well.
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Export from India Iron and steel known as Wootz Steel from India, bronze, cotton, indigo, spices, sugar, and all such big products were exported from India along the trade routes through the Central Asian civilization to these adjoining civilizations, including the Russian civilization.
OTHER EXCHANGES THROUGH TRADERS With these well established trade routes going back a couple of millennia, along with these traders and products, also travelled thoughts, ethos, the idea of Buddhism, artifacts and so on. These exchanges happened through traders and their caravan serai.
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TWO TRIBES THAT INFLUENCED INDIA
Two tribes from Central Asia have had a long and a lasting impression on India, through the millennia. Not just in control of political power, but through language, vocabulary, ideas, food habits, dress style and so on.
The two big influences were from
1. From the Huna Tribe - The Hunnic Empire
2. From Ghengis Khan - the Mongol Empire, which continued through the Mughals till the 1700s.
WHO WERE THE HUNA? Huna were a powerful tribal force who lived over a vast region covering Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Southern Russia, reaching all the way south to North West India. They lived way past many millennia back, down to 700 CE.
Huns Empire – Reaching India
WHITE HUNS OF BYELORUSSIA In Russia, people are very fair by nature. Among them, there are some who are even more fair, especially in region of Belurus, Byelorussia, Byelo meaning white. While all the Huna were very fair in complexion, some of the Huna were even fairer in complexion - White Huns.
The name Belarus corresponds literally with the term ‘White Rus’.
White Huns swept through Byelorussia from 400 CE to 600 CE.
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SVETA HUNA The White Hunas were known as Sveta Huna in India, Sveta meaning white in Samskrt. The word Svet has already been seen in the name Svetlana, where Svet means white.
HUNA TIMELINE Engagement of Huna with India has had a very long history. It is something that is not known outside the realm of a few historians who are versed in Puranic lore as well. Let us see this stretch of engagement that Huna and India have had over a timeline period.
PANCHA GANAHA Ganaha is multitudes of people, groups of people now referred to as hordes. These tribes we called by different names such as Pahhlava, Kamboja, Saka, Yavana, Parada / Varada. They were collectively called Pancha Ganaha. These were the name given to them in Puranic times, the BCE era.
Since the time span is not just a few decades or even a few hundred years, but stretches for nearly six millennia, Central Asian tribes across the time span have been known by these names and few other names as well.
The Parada have also been referred to as Varada, in some Samskrt texts. There have been other groups like Rishika and Uttarakuru.
The Yavana are referred to the Greeks.
Here we collectively refer to the Pancha Ganaha of Central Asia as Huna.
In Purana Purana is a collection of Indian legends dating across millennia. There are multiple mentions of the Huna tribes, in many a Purana, about they being a powerful race, which ruled beyond the north western regions of Bharata Desa, by which name India was then known.
Rama Rama, while is a divinity of millions of Hindus all over the world, has also been held through the ages as a historic King of India who ruled from Ayodhya.
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Historicity of Rama We at Bharath Gyan in our work ‘Historical Rama’, “have been able to establish the historicity of Rama and have scientifically, chronologically placed him to have been born on 10th January, 5114 BCE.
Historical Rama
Raja Raghu Raja Raghu is Rama’s predecessor by 3 generations. Which is why, Rama is referred to as belonging to Raghukula, Raghuvamsa, the lineage of Raghu, where kula refers to lineage and vamsa genealogy. As a grandson takes on the grandfather’s name symbolically in the Indian custom, Rama is also reverentially referred to as Raghu.
Raghu was one of the illustrious predecessors of Rama. He was an illustrious king in India. The valour and exploits of Raghu became so well known that his dynasty, the Ikshvaku soon came to be known as Raghuvamsa, Raghu’s dynasty.
In Bala Kanda In Bala Kanda, a section of Ramayana, the names of Pancha Ganaha appear, in the mention of various tribes who lived beyond Prince Bharata’s maternal grandfather’s kingdom. Bharata is younger sibling, brother of Rama. Bharata’s mother is Keykeyi, who comes from Keykeya Kingdom. The Keykeya region is around Caucasian mountains.
In Bala Kanda, these five tribes-Pahhalva, Saka, Kamboja, Yava, Mleecha and Kirata pay their respects to Rishi Vasishta, the Guru of Rama and His dynasty. This goes to show the antiquity of these tribes as being arund 7100 years old atleast.
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Kalidasa Kalidasa is one of the widely regarded poets of India who lived around 500 CE. He was a dramatist par excellence in the Samskrt language and is known for his many works, like the Raghuvamsa.
Kalidasa
Raghuvamsa The Huna were so powerful that the medieval great Samskrt poet, Kalidasa mentions about them in his epic work Raghuvamsa. Kalidasa in his Raghuvamsa, poetically describes a military clash between Raghu and the Huna tribes.
Raghuvamsa
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As Rama dates back to 5100 BCE, Raghu should date back to around 5200 BCE. This could be one of the earliest interactions between Indian people and the Huna gon way back upto 5200 BCe or 7200 years ago.
Arjuna
Arjuna was a warrior prince from the Mahabharatha times, the third of the Pandava brothers, the friend of Krishna, to whom Krishna revealed the Bhagavad Gita. The Mahabharata records Arjuna to have defeated the Hunas. After having been defeated by Arjuna, the Huna joined the Pandava side against Kaurava, during the Kurukshetra battle.
Arjuna Huna in Pandava army in Kurushetra battle
Bharath Gyan has in its work ‘Historical Krishna’, “been able to establish the historicity of Krishna and have scientifically, chronologically placed him to have been born on 27th July, 3112 BCE.
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Historical Krishna
Which means that the Huna existed in 3100 BCE or 5100 years ago too.
King Kanishka of Kushan Empire King Kanishka was an emperor who ruled over the Kushan Empire located in Central Asia. He was well known for his political and military prowess. He was a follower of Buddhism. One of his major achievements was the development of the Silk Road, across the Karakoram Range, to China.
King Kanishka Kushan Empire
This King Kanishka’s reign came to an end, when he and his army were defeated around 130 CE. This shows that the Huna were a dominant force even in 130 CE.
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Takshashila Destroyed The Huna, when they attacked India, overran the first university of the world, the Takshasila University, in 455 CE. This Takshashila University was stated by King Takhsa, the great grandson of of Arjuna, from Mahabharata times. The university now lies as ruins near Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.
Takshashila University
Students of all over the world then converged at Takshashila University
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Vikramaditya Vikramaditya was one of the most powerful rulers of India around 500 BCE. He ruled from Ujjain on the banks of Shipra River.
Vikramaditya had defeated Sveta Huna.
King Vikramaditya
Mihirakula Mihirakula was the greatest king among Hunas to rule over India in 600 CE. His empire lay in the present day Central Asia and covered Afghanistan, Pakistan and North West to Central India.
Mihirakula in coin
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The word Mihira itself is a corruption of the word Mitra, which both in Vedic and Persian language is referred to for the Sun. Mitra also means friend, for Sun is our friend.
Kula means lineage. Mihirakula is one who comes from the Solar lineage.
Mihirakula Empire
5800 YEARS CONNECT
So, right from period of Raghu of 5200 BCE, upto Mihirakula, an outstanding king of Huna clan who ruled around 600 CE, for an astounding period of 5800 years., i.e nearly a mind boggling 6 millennia, there have been regular / intermittent interactions between the Huna
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tribes and North West Indian civilization. Such a long standing connect ofcourse has had multiple points of contact
The Huna tribes of Central Asia have had a blow hot, blow cold relationship with the North West portions of India, from the times of predecessors of Rama, all the way to the first millennia in the common era.
THE MONGOLS The other tribe to influence India was the Mongolian Tribe of Gengis Khan.
Mongol Empire, 1227 CE
Gengis Khan was not a Muslim war lord as his name seems to suggest. He was a Buddhist. He personally did not rule over the vast empire. It happened over few generations after him, but he had sown the seed for this vast empire that covered from Mongolia to Eastern Europe, from Southern Russia to North West India. That was the extent of the kingdom.
Gengis Khan
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MONGOL TO MUGHAL Gengis Khan was a Mongol. It was his later descendants who came to India from Fargana in Central Asia as the Mughals. The very word Mughal is a derivative from the word Mongol. Even today in dress, food habits, music, painting and so on, we have a strong Mughlai influence on India.
Mughalai Food Mughalai Dress
Mughalai Painting
The influence of these two tribes, Huna and Mongols, which connected Russia to India, through their empires, is still felt in India after many centuries. Though may not be
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apparent, the influence is certainly there, not only just in the genes of the descendants, but in practices as well.
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RIVER AMU DARYA AND SYR DARYA-PIVOT OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
NOURISHED BY THE 2 DARYA Amu Darya, also known as Amu River, is one of the major rivers in Central Asia. The river was known as Oxus in ancient Greek from its ancient name in the Puranic literatic of India as Vakshu.
This region was also known as Paradha in the Indian literature. Ptolemy refers to this region as Paradane. In some modern research work, it is reffered to as Transoxion region, because it covered the areas watered by Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, Amu Darya being called Oxus and Syr Darya as Jaxartes, from its ancient name Yaksha Arta meaning “White Pearl”.
This area was the melthing pot of five different cultures. It is in this Transoxion region, that the connect between the Indo Russian culture would have taken place and matured nourished by the 2 Darya.
Amu Darya River
Darya, meaning The word Darya in Persian means ‘to flow’. The word Darya is etymologically similar to the Samskrt word, Dhara, which also means ‘to flow’.
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Vaksha to Oxus Etymologists are of view that it is Samskrt word Vakshu and Chakshu which is found in Persian literature as Yaksha or Vaksha and was pronounced as Oxus in Greek. In other words, the Greek name Oxus is a derivative of its ancient name Vaksha.
Geographical location Amu Darya River starts at Pamir Knot, which is also called ‘The Roof of the World,’ and is the highest plateau of the world.
Pamir Knot Pamir Knot is called so, because it is geologically a structural knot of the mountain ranges of Tian Shan, Kara Korum, Kunlun Shan, The great Himalayan range and Paariyatra Parvata, which is now expressed by the name Hindukush mountains. All these mountain ranges radiate in different directions from the Pamir Knot.
Pamir Knot
Aral Sea The river flows northwest in Central Asia and drains into the Aral Sea, which a few centuries ago was called Syr Tengiz meaning the “Sea of Syr” like the Sindhu Sagar, the Sea of Sindhu River, the Indian name for the Arabian Sea.
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Aral Sea Amu Darya and Syr Darya draining into Aral Sea
The river and its twin Today, this river and its twin river, Syr Darya, which flows parallel to Amu Darya, to the north, water much of Central Asia.
NATURAL GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARY These two parallel rivers, which flow North West from the Pamir Knot Plateau to Aral Sea, form the natural geographical boundary between the southern civilizations of the Indo- Persian civilization and the early Russia civilizations from a couple of millennia ago.
MENTIONED IN MAJOR SACRED TEXTS This river has the honour of being mentioned in all the ancient sacred texts of the world.
Mahabharata The River Chakshu, Amu Darya finds a mention in Mahabharata, Matsya Purana and Brahmanda Purana.
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The Mahabharata and The Brahmanda Purana
Hadith In the Hadith, which consist of the teachings of Prophet Mohammed and Islamic tradition, the River Amu Darya is called Jayhan, which is derived from the ancient Arabic name Gozan, and Syr Darya is called Sayhan.
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As per Ahadith,
“Four rivers gush forth from Paradise: the Euphrates, the Nile, the Sayhan, and the Jayhan.”
-Hanbal’s version of Hadith.
Hanbal’s Version of Hadith
Bible In the Bible, Amu Darya goes by the name Gihon, and is considered one of the four rivers of the Garden of Eden.
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Garden of Eden
WHY THIS IMPORTANCE? It was because these rivers were at the confluence of the Russian, Greek, Persian and Indian civilizations, we find importance given to these river systems in all ancient texts, in this part of the world- Bible, Quran, Vedic and Greek texts.
A civilizational confluence These rivers were not just a geographical connect, but also a civilizational confluence where the Indian, Persian, Russian, Greek civilizations met, merged and shared.
In the Ambit of Indian civilization This also tell us that this region and beyond was well in the ambit of the Indian Vedic civilization of 5100 years ago.
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The Black Connect Aral Sea is a Mongolian name, which means the sea with islands in it.
The earlier name for Aral Sea, a couple hundred years back was Karakalpha. Here the word Kara in Samskrt stands for black.
The nearby mountain range is called Karakoram Range. The mountain is full of black coloured gravel - Kara. Further west of the Aral Sea, the larger sea is called the Black Sea. The land immediately south of Aral Sea is Karakalpaksthan, an independence province.
Karakalpakstan location, marked in red (Mark others)
Thus we see that Aral Sea – Karakalpha, Karakoram Range, Black Sea, Karakapasthan, all have a connect with Black.
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Siberia – A Name Connect
THE REGION Siberia is a region forming a bulk of North Asia, stretching from Ural Mountains in the West to Pacific Ocean in the East. Siberia is a part of Russia which is covered with ice almost through the year, as this place borders the Arctic Circle.
Siberia
Siberia’s ice covered landscape
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Ural Mountains
How the name Siberia came about is bit of a blur.
THE NAME SIBERIA
Si Ber One school of etymologists say that it is conjoin of 2 Turk words, Si meaning water and Ber, wild. This land is unpopulated and is covered in snow. This could be the probable reason as to why this land was called Siberia.
Ibis-Sibir Some geographers point out that in the 16th century, there existed a fortress, town Ibis- Sibir, which may have morphed itself into becoming Siberia. Not only the name, but the place is also mysterious.
Siber, Shivir, Camp In the Indian Samskrt language, the word Shivir, Shibir means camp, camp site with tents. Since the type of dwelling in the Siberian snowscapes is Igloo tents, probably there is something new, different to connect with – Shivir, Shiber, Siber, Siberia, Camps, to large Camp Sites.
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An Igloo Camp
Shibir, a Camp Site
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FROM ARCHAEOLOGY
IDOL WORSHIP
Close Connect from Pagan Days In the Pre-Christian Pagan days of Russia, probably there was a much closer connect between the two peoples.
Russia, Pre-Christian times
Russian Divinity - Balvan A Slavic, East European and Russian Divinity, was a wooden God named Balvan, the strong one, all mighty.
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Balvan Idols, Russia
Balvan, Bal, Strong In Samskrt language too, the term Balvan is for the strong, Bal meaning strong.
Old Vishnu statue excavated By the Volga River, one of the main rivers of Russia, in Staraya Maina village of Ulyanovsk region, recent archaeological excavation, by Dr. Alexander Kozhevin of Archaeology Department of Ulyanovsk State University unearthed a Vishnu statue from 7th century CE.
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Vishnu Statue
Older than Kiev Ulyanovsk region was a highly populated city, 1700 years ago. This region is archaeologically older than Kiev.
2000 years old connect An obvious connect seems to have existed between the Indian civilization and the civilization that had then thrived on the then banks of Volga river, close to 2000 years ago.
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THE DYNASTY LINK
THE RA CONNECT
Ra-Sun In the word Rama, the syllable Ra stands for Sun, Sun Rays, Sun Light. One of the Indian words for Sun is Ravi, which has the root Ra in it. It comes from that which draws your attention by emitting, radiating a glow.
Radium - Ra In Central Europe, when Madame Curie discovered a new element which had a glowing nature to it, she called it Radium and gave it the chemical symbol, Ra in the periodic table of elements.
So it is not only in history, civilization and religion that we have Ra for Sun and its glow, we also have Ra meaning glow or radiation, in modern science.
Ra in English In the English language, the very word Sun Rays also has the syllable Ra in the word Ray.
Sun
LINEAGE FROM SUN In many civilizations and lands, the royalties try to claim their lineage from Sun / Solar Dynasty.
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Egyptian Pharaohs The Egyption Pharaohs claim their lineage from the sun. Which is why, their names are Ramses I, Ramses II, Ramses III and so on.
Thailand Kings The Kings of Thailand too claim their solar lineage to this day.
In India In India, Rama’s dynasty, Suryavamsha and similar other Indian dynasties, claim their lineage to sun.
Maya, Inca Azetc The ancient American civilizations - Maya, Inca Azetc, also claim a solar lineage.
In Europe Similarly in Europe too, in the pre-medieval period, many kings claimed their lineage from the solar dynasty.
Romanov dynasty of Russia In this line, the Romonovs of Russia also claim their lineage from the sun. This is expressed through their name starting with Ra – Ravi, the other name for sun. Ravi, “that which comes from the sun”.
Russia, ruled by the Czars
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Romanov Family
In the name Ramanov, the word Ra and other records as well, indicate that this Russian dynasty claim their lineage from the Sun.
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RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL CONNECT
BAKU By the Caspian Sea, is the very ancient city of Baku. Baku is today the capital of Azerbaijan.
Atishgah, Fire Temple Near Baku, is Atishgah, which is a Fire temple. Atish in Samskrt and Hindi means spark or fire.
This Fire temple was frequented by Rishi and Muni, from the present day regions of Afghanistan, till a few hundred years back.
A continuously burning fire From then to now, a fire has been continuously burning in this Atishgah, Fire Temple.
Authors at the Fire Temple
Museum Within the temple complex is a Museum now, which showcases as to how the Rishi and Muni lived there and shared their knowledge and experiences.
Transit Point This Baku was the transit point for travellers from Indian civilization to the Russian civilization.
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Baku, The Transit Point between India and Russia Photograph from Atishgah Museum, Baku
Temple The Russian civilization had other temples as well. This is an early 18th century engraving depicting a Temple in Astrakhan, Russia.
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THE ROUTE For these many aspects of a connect to have occurred, what was the route that was traversed from ancient India to Russia?
We should recognize that till a few hundred years ago, the Indian civilization extended upto Afghanistan in North West.
From Northern Afghanistan, across the Karakoram Range is the southern edge of the Caspian Sea.
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Indo-Russia Route - Connect from Ancient to Medieval times
The descriptions of this route can only be found in Medieval Travalogues, but these routes existed from ancient times.
Fascination for Valmiki Ramayana
Russia is the only European country where the Valmiki Ramayana, written by the Hindu sage Valmiki, has been translated into the local language several times in tens of thousands of copies.
Ramayana plays are also popular in Russia.
Ramayana Play in St Petersburg, Russia
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Auroville
Founded by Mirra Alfassa Auroville is a spiritual township founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa, popularly known as ‘The Mother’, the spiritual collaborator of Spiritual Leader, Sri Aurbindo.
Mirra Alfassa, ‘The Mother’ Sri Aurbindo
This spiritual township is located in Puducherry, coastal Tamil Nadu. It forms a part of Sri Aurbindo foundation.
Auroville
Aim of Auroville The aim of Auroville is,
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“Auroville is meant to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity."
Russian Pavilion in Auroville Russia’s connection with Auroville started in 1996, when it was decided by the Auroville establishment, to initiate a Russian Pavilion, for in the words of ‘The Mother’ and Auroville,
“Russians by nature are mytics”.
Dimitri von Mohrenschildt Dimitri von Mohrenschildt a Russian professor at Stanford University was a very good friend of Auroville and its residents from the former USSR. It was Dimitri who gave the first impetus and funding towards the Russian Pavilion project.
Dimitri von Mohrenschildt
Aims of the Russian Pavilion The Russian Pavilion aims at
Establishing the contact of the soul of Russia with Auroville. In this sense it could be seen as an embassy of the true soul of Russia in Auroville
Coordinating research done in the field of understanding of the true soul of Russia
Being a centre of educational and cultural activities in Auroville related to the Russian Motherland.
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At Russian Pavilion The Russian Pavilion now is a residence for 65 Russians. The Russian Pavilion consists of a White Peacock ceramic studio, a library and a guest house for Russians. The Russian Pavilion conducts various activities, among them being, Russian Language classes and Sessions with Russian singing bells.
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BUDDHISM IN RUSSIA
BUDDHISM TRAVELS TO RUSSIA
Lamas Set Foot Buddhism had its influence on the Russian civilization too. In the 17th century, many Tibetan Lamas set foot in Russia to propagate the teachings of Buddha. In the same period, many Buddhist monastries started flourishing in this region, particularly close to the Mongolian Border.
Buddha
Today, the impact of Buddhism can still be seen in Russia.
Areas of Buddhism in Russia
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Image of 3 main Buddhist Vihara, even now functional
Mongolian Buddhism
The Russian states of Buryatia and Tannu Tuva in the eastern part, marked in yellow, are immediately above Mongolia, north of Mongolia. This area has a sizeable population of Gelugpa Buddhism, a form of Tibetan Buddhism.
Central Asian Buddhism
The area marked in the south west, Kalmykia, has a different flavour of Buddhism, even though it traces its root to pre-medieval, Central Asian Buddhism, from about 1500 years ago. They are basically Tibetan Buddhists and regard H H Dalai Lama as their spiritual leader.
Dalai Lama
Central Asian Buddhism influence
We see that places like Kashgar in Western China, Bamiyan in Afghanistan and other nearby regions, were under a heavy influence of Central Asian Buddhism. The influence of Central Asian Buddhism spilled over into Kalmykia, which borders these regions of Asia, with its own distinct flavour.
Same ideology, Different practice
While the ideology may be Buddhism in these two regions of Russia, there is a distinct difference in practice, between that of Buryatia and Tannu Tuva in the east, and Kalmykia in south west.
Buddhists Festivals In keeping with tradition, six major festivals, khurals, are celebrated annually and are attended by a large number of people.
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Tsagaalgan is a festival celebrated on the eve of the Lunar New Year, which usually falls in February. This khural is devoted to the twelve miracles of Buddha.
The khural Duyn-khor, a second major festival, lasts three days in April. It is dedicated to the preaching of the sacred teaching of Kalachakra.
The third major festival is Gandun-Shunserme, devoted to the birth and enlightenment of Buddha and his attainment of Nirvana. It is celebrated in early summer.
The fourth holiday Maidari is dedicated to Maidari, the Buddha of the future, and is observed for two days in mid summer.
The fifth festival Lkhabab Duysen is marked in Autumn and is devoted to the Buddha’s return from the thirty-third heaven.
The sixth festival Zula is dedicated to the passing away of the father of Lamaism, Bogdo Tsongkhapa. A thousand candles are lit during the service.
These festivals keep up the Indo-Russian Buddhist connect every season.
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FIRST RUSSIAN TO VISIT INDIA
AFANASYA NIKITIN
Afanasya Nikitin
For the Indo-European Connect, it was Marco Polo’s travels to Indian in early 1300s and the book, “Travels of Marco Polo”, which re-opened the eyes of Europe after the Dark Ages, to the glory, culture and civilization of India.
Marco Polo Travels of Marco Polo
Similarly, Nikitin’s visit to India in 1400s and his book re-opened the eyes of the Russian people to the civilization of India, which was in a totally different climatic zone.
Afanasya Nikitin was a Russian Merchant who visited India and documented his visit in his travelogues, “The Journey Beyond the Three Seas”. The Three Seas are Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Arabian Sea.
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“The Journey Beyond the Three Seas”-Original and Recent Editions
He was born in Tver.
Tver State in Russia
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Tver town in Tver State
Nikitin’s journey to India In 1466, Nikitin left his hometown in Tver, by the Volga River, on a trip to India. He travelled across the Black Sea, Caspian Sea and then the Arabian Sea, to reach India.
Route taken by Nikitin
Nikitin’s study of India During his stay in India, Nikitin studied various aspects of India, such as social system, culture, lifestyle, economy, military and religion.
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Commemorative Coin In the year 1997, a commemorative coin was issued by the Bank of Russia, on Nikitin’s Indian visit.
The two sides of the Commemorative Coin in honour of Nikitin
In the background is the Russian spire. In the foreground are the ships that Nikitin took on his journey to India. On the other side of the coin are shown a peacock and an elephant, which symbolize India.
An Obelisk in Nikitin’s honour In the year 2000, a Black Obelisk was erected in honour of Nikitin at Ravdanda fort on Konkan coast, 120 kilometres south of Mumbai, where Nikitin had first landed on his trip to India.
Revdanda Fort which was built by the early Maratha chieftans
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Portuguese inscription: When Portuguese took over the fort in 1577, they added their inscription
Black Obelisk erected in the year 2000, to commemorate the arrival of Afanasya Nikitin, the first Russian traveler who landed at this fort
A Film on Nikitin A film jointly directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Vasily Pronin, a Russian Statesman, based on the travelogues of Nikitin, was released in 1957.
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Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
The film was called “Pardesi” in Hindi and “Khozhdenie Za Tri Morya” in Russian.
Pardesi Khozhdenie Za Tri Morya Journey Beyond The Three Seas-
English Version
The film was so popular that it was also made in Romanian.
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Journey Beyond Three Seas in Romanian
The story is about Nikitin who falls in love with Champa, an Indian girl. Both Indians and Russians acted in this film. Nikitin’s role was played by Oleg Strizhenov, a Russian film actor and Nargis Dutt played the role of Champa.
Nargis Dutt Oleg Strizhenov
The film was nominated for a Golden Palm award, in the Cannes Film Festival of 1958.
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Golden Palm Award
Stamp Stamps have been issued in honour of Nikitin by the Russian Government, in 1965 and 2005.
1965 Stamp 2005 stamp
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Bronze Statue On the visit of Nikita Khrushchev to India, Jawahar Lal Nehru, the Indian Prime Minister asked Khrushchev whether Russia had honoured the first Russian to have visited India – Afanasya Nikitin. Khrushchev phoned back Russia and asked for a statue of Nikitin to be built before the next state visit of Nehru to Russia. Thus came about the Bronze statue of Afanasya Nikitin, in his home town Tver, in 1955.
Nikita Khrushchev Jawahar Lal Nehru
Bronze statue of Afanasya Nikitin
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INDIAN MYSTICISM, A RUSSIAN THINKER AND A THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
HELENA BLAVATSKY Madame Helena Blavatsky was a Russian thinker and author, born on 12th August, 1831, in Yekaterinoslav, Russia. She is known for her study and research on mysticism.
Helena Blavatsky was greatly influenced by the spiritual philosophy of India.
Founder –Theosophical Society As a fallout of her interests in Indian mysticism, Helena Blavatsky, along with Colonel Henry Steel Olcott and others, co founded the Theosophical Society at Chennai, in 1875.
Helena Blavatsky Theosophical Society, Chennai
The Theosophical Society was formed with the aim of promoting Theosophy, a subject concerned with unravelling the mysteries of Nature and Divinity.
Theosophical Society, Logo
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Objectives The Society is based on 3 objectives.
1. To investigate the unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man.
2. To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste and colour.
3. To encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy and Science
Accepting Reincarnation In 1880, she moved to India. After living in India, she soon began to accept the concept of reincarnation.
Blavatsky in Bombay, 1881, back row, middle
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Reincarnation as visualized by Blavatsky shown in Indian art
Aligning with Arya Samaj The Theosophical Society was from them on aligned to and inspired by Arya Samaj, a religious reform movement founded by Swami Dayanand Sarasvati.
Swami Dayanand Sarasvati
Madame Annie Baesant One of the well known disciples of Helena Blavatsky was Annie Besant who was looked up to by Mahatma Gandhi.
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Mahatma Gandhi with Annie Besant
Presenting Book to Tolstoy Blavatsky presented her book ‘The Voice of the Silence” to Leo Tolstoy, the well known Russian novelist. Speaking about the book, Tolstoy wrote in 1903,
“I am reading a beautiful theosophical journal and find many common with my understanding.”
Voice of Silence
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INDOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
RUSSIAN INDOLOGISTS There have been many Russian Indologists who have studied the Indo-Russian Connect, prominent among them being,
Alexander Baranikov who translated the Ramayana into Russian in 1948
Eugene Chelyshev who specialized in Indian literature and culture and was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Indian Government in 2002
Grigory Bongard Levin who specialized on Ancient India and was awarded the Padma Bhushan by Indian Government in 2006
Irina Glushkova who specialized in Jnaneshwar and Varkari tradition of Maharashtra.
Viktoria Lyssenko
Viktoria Lyssenko
In an interview on Indology, Russian Indologist Viktoria Lyssenko said, “As a girl I read an extract from the Upanishads. It left a deep impression on me that when I, as a student of philosophy in Moscow State University, had to choose a language from among Spanish, Arabic and Sanskrit, I chose Sanskrit. For years I engaged in the study of the Vaisheshika school of thought. Buddhism came later when I was asked to write an article on the study of Buddhism in Russia, and I gradually immersed myself in Buddhism.”
Viktoria Lyssenko
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INDIAN HISTORIANS
Likewise, there have been many Indian Historians who have researched on Indo Russian Connect.
Rahul Sankrityayan
Rahul Sankrityayan was one of the most well known travelling Indian Indologists of his times, from Bengal. He spent 45 years of his 70 years life which spanned from 1893 to 1963, in travelling. During his travels, he also visited Russia.
Rahul Sankrityayan
Father of Hindi Travel Literature
He is the Father of Hindi Travel Literature.
Volga Se Ganga
He wrote a book called Volga Se Ganga which is a collection of 20 historical fiction stories by the scholar and has been translated into Russian as well. This book is woven around ancient Indo- European people, going back to 8000 years, and also highlights the Indo-Russian Connect.
Volga Se Ganga
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Nisha
The first story called ‘Nisha’ in the book, is about cavemen at Caucasia, in Southern Russia, around 6000 BCE.
Swaraj Prakash Gupta
Swaraj Prakash Gupta was a well known Indian archaeologist and historian who lived from 1931 to 2007.
Swaraj Prakash Gupta
He was the Chairman of Indian Archaeological society, and the Director of Allahabad Museum. One of his works is “Archaeology of Soviet Central Asia and Indian borderland”, written in 2 volumes in 1978. In this book, he brings about the many connects between these, two lands, people and civilization.
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A Russian General Corroborates the Real View on Alexander’s Battle with Porus
ALEXANDER WAS DEFEATED BY PORUS The Indian history books state that Alexander, the Macedonian king defeated Porus, the border chieftain of India in a battle now known as ‘The Battle of Hydaspes’. Alexander then pardoned Porus and returned to Babylonia with his army. Evidences however show that Alexander must have been defeated by Porus and not other way around. Pururava had defeated Sikander.
Alexander and Porus
Alexander on right beside his horse and Porus on left beside his elephant We discuss about these evidences in detail in our book, Breaking The Myths – About Society.
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RUSSIAN MARSHAL GREGORY ZHUKOV The fact that Porus defeated Alexander is corroborated by none other than Russian Marshal Gregory Zhukov who had driven back the German army across 2000 km from Stalingrad to Berlin. He expressed his view on Alexander’s campaign of India in no uncertain words while addressing the team of cadets at the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun in India, in 1957.
Marshal Gregory Zukhov, Russian Commander in WW II
Advantage of Porus Army Zhukov lists how the elephants and the terrible 2 metre long bow which could launch long arrows to pin down more than one enemy soldier at the same time, gave Porus’ army an advantage over the Macedonian army.
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ZHUKOV’S FURTHER ANALYSES Zhukov further analyses how Alexander’s actions post the battle reflect that of a loser than a victor.
Alexander had to keep on fighting every king, republic or tribe on his way back from India and he did so with his weary and weak forces.
Alexander’s cavalry was totally decimated while fighting in Sangala in Punjab on his way back home. It was so badly destroyed that he had to fight further on foot. In the next battle that he fought, which was with the Mallis or Mulavs of Multan, he sustained severe injuries, including one to his lung.
A victor would not have had to march back in this fashion. A victor would have been escorted back and seen off by the locally subordinated army.
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LANGUAGE SIMILARITY
TWO BRANCHES OF LANGUAGES Among the Indo-European languages, there are 2 branches.
One is called Satem.
The other is Centum, pronounced as Kentum. This comes from how one pronounces the word, “hundred”, Centum.
Satem in Samskrt In Samskrt, it is pronounced as Satem. When we bless someone, we bless as, “Satemanam bhavati. The other blessing is Jeve ma Sharadah Satem”, meaning “May you live a hundred winters”.
Satem is phoneticlly written as….
Belong to same family Both the Indian languages and the Russian languages belong to this Satem branch of language. From this flow a lot of close similarities between the languages. Not only do both Samskrt and Russian belong to the family of Indo-European languages, but they belong to the subset of Satem branch of language. So, their affinity is a lot closer.
Samskrt and Russian, Same Family Branch
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Let us look at some examples to understand it even better.
Svet Svet stands for white, both in Russian and in Samskrt. In Russian, we have the popular name Svetlana.
Svetlana Stalin Joseph Stalin’s daughter was named Svetlana Stalin.
Svetlana Stalin’s third husband was an Indian. Svetlana met Brajesh Singh, in 1963, in Moscow. They both went to the picturesque town by the Black Sea – Sochi, to live there for sometime. In 1966, Brajesh Singh died.
Brajesh Singh
Stalin’s Villa, Datcha
She took the ashes of Brajesh Singh to his family home in India, Kalakankar on the banks of Ganga River, to immerse his ashes. She stayed there by Ganaga River for 3 months. She
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started observing the local practices and was influenced so much, that she officially abandoned athesim.
Atheism to Divinity Atheism was the state policy of communist Soviet Union then. During a short stay in India, she was probably taken in by the whiff of religious freedom that wafted from the waters of the gently flowing Ganga River. It is in this atmosphere that she gave up atheism and embraced her faith in divinity.
Later in 1967, in an interview to BBC on April 26, she referred to Brijesh Singh as her late husband. She also stated that they were never allowed to marry officially.
Interestingly, after her stay by the Ganga River, she came back to Delhi and on March 6th 1967, drove straight to the US embassy in New Delhi, seeking political asylum, which created a huge political furore between India, Soviet Union and the USA.
Joseph Stalin and Svetlana Stalin
Popular name in Russia Tennis players, actors and actresses are also named Svetlana. It is a popular name in Russian.
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Svetlana s Galore
Svetoslav The famous Russian painter, Svetoslav Roerich, son of the legendary Russian painter Nicholas Roerich also has in his name Svet, white.
Svetaketu In the Upanishad, we have the famous episode of Svetaketu, questioning his father, a great Rishi by name Rishi Uddalaka.
Discussion between Svetketu and Uddalaka
The discussion was on similarity of origin, of a Banyan tree from a small seed and that of the universe also from a small seed. The seed of such a mighty tree like Banyan is so small and when you break open that small seed, what you see inside is a hollow space. Indeed it is hollow and empty!
Similarly, the vast Universe that we see around us too has come from such nothingness, Shunya. Shunya is not literally nothing. It is referred to as nothing as there is no point of reference to this tattva, concept in Creation. In reality, this nothing is everything, the source of whole Creation. This nothingness is also referred to as Chit, the sublime conciousness.
The Shunya Vada discussion, takes us there. This timeless truth was revealed to Svetaketu by his father Rishi Uddalaka. This incident is recorded in the Chandogya Upanishad.
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Svetaketu and Rishi Uddalaka
Thus we see that name Svet and Svetaketu have a very lofty and philosophical association in Indian culture.
Svetasvatara Upanishad One of the section of the Yajur Veda is called Svetasvatara Upanushad after Svetasva meaning White Horse or White Science as Asva also denotes science. This work probes into the universal soul, the Oneness in all souls and the concept of a personal God.
Medvedev Dmitry The former Russian President’s name is Medvedev Dmitry.
Medvedev Dmitry
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The word Medvedev is derived from Medved in Russian, meaning someone having knowledge of honey. The word similar to Medved in Samskrt is Madhu Vedi, Madhu meaning Honey and Vedi, Knowledge.
The name Medvedev means, ‘Knowledge as sweet as honey’.
The word Dmitry comes from Deva Mitra. Deva means divine, Mitra means friend. Deva Mitra refers to ‘Friend of the Divine’.
Common Root Words Samskrt English
Madhu Honey
Vedi Knowledge
Dev Divine
Mitra Friend
Svet White
Bal Strong
Studies on Cognate Words
What is a Cognate word? A word having the same linguistic derivation as another is called Cognate.
For example, in English father, German Vater, Latin pater. These three words have similar roots and hence are cognate.
Both Indians and Russians have done their research on the cognate words between Russian and Samskrt.
While there are many who have done indepth research on this comparison,we shall look at a sample of couple from either side
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Constantine Leo Borissoff One among the many from the Russian side is Constantine Leo Borissoff, whose work ‘Russian – Sanskrit Dictionary of Common and Cognate words’, brings out the similarity of Russian and Samskrt.
Constantine Leo Borissoff and the cover of his Book - Russian – Sanskrit Dictionary of Common and Cognate words
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Cognate Words, Russian and Samskrt, courtesy Constantine Leo Borissoff
Ramanan Similarly, there has been a study on the Samskrt and Russian languages, the Cognate words from the Indian side as well. One of them is by Ramanan, who has done great research on Indian knowledge ranging from Language, Philosophy, Psychology to Veda.
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The list of Cognate words – Samskrt and Russian, Courtesy Ramani’s Blog
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This shows the language similarity / affinity going back by millennia.
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ART AND THEATRE
RUSSIAN PAINTER WHO PAINTED INDIA
Nicholas Roerich The legendary Russian painter Nicholas Roerich, painted about Himalayas, Tibet, Himachal Pradesh as part of his paintings which are an intrinsic part of the Russian heritage.
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Roerich Paintings
Svetoslav Roerich Nicholas Roerich’s son, Svetoslav Roerich not only fell in love with the Indian landscape for his paintings, but also he fell in in love with, Devika Rani, then then prima dona actress of the silent movie era. Devika Rani was the 1st lady of Indian Cinema, a sublimely beautiful woman, in 1945 and was incidently also the grand –niece of Rabindranath Tagore.
Svetoslav Roerich and Devika Rani
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Settled Down in Bangalore After marriage, the Roerichs settled down, creating their own farm house in the outskirts of Bangalore, in Tataguni village.
Svetoslav Roerich with Father Nicholas Roerich and wife Devika
Roerich Estate, Tataguni
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Roerich Paintings displayed at Roerich Estate
THEATRE
Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor through his famous films, “Shri 420” and “Awaara”, not only captured the Indian audiences, but as well the Russian hearts.
Raj Kapoor with the students of The Moscow College of Circus and Variety Arts, Moscow, 1967
Raj Kapoor during the Awaara and Shree 420 tour at a puppet show at Leningrad, in which the puppets play Raj Kapoor’s characters
He was as much a hero in Russia, as in India.
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Raj Kapoor at a reception in Moscow in 1954 and a Soviet film promotion poster featuring Raj Kapoor for Shree 420
Sar Pe Lal Topi Rusi The bond shared by India and Russia, comes to fore through a song that has been popular across the Indian landscape, and also in Russia. This Hindi song, Mere Jhoota Hai Japani composed post-independence, in 1955, became a favourite among the masses, for its patriotic feelings. It was composed by Shailendra, the Indian lyricist, and put to music by Shankar Jaikishan, an Indian composer of those times. This song was performed by Raj Kapoor, and really sung by playback singer Mukesh, for the film Shree 420.
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In this song, the narrator, sings that inspite of his attire being from other countries, his heart hails from India.
This song became popular in other countries, especially in Soviet Union, specially due to the reference to the red cap being from Russia. The Bollywood actor Raj Kapoor also thereby became a household name in Russia. Many Russian to this day relish this song and other songs from India.
MATRYOSHKA DOLLS Russian handicrafts are popular in India. Among them are the Matryoshka dolls, These are a set of dolls placed inside each other, in decreasing order of their size. Thus they are also known as Nesting dolls, meaning dolls within dolls.
Matryoshka means mother, as the smaller doll is placed inside the larger doll. Indians have learnt from this and adapted it to make similar ones with Indian themes.
Matryoshka dolls
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MAHATMA GANDHI AND LEO TOLSTOY
LEO TOLSTOY’S INFLUENCE ON GANDHI Leo Tolstoy was a famous Russian novelist.
Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy Farm Leo Tolstoy had such an impression on the Indian lawyer Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi, that when Gandhi started a farm in South Africa, he called it the Tolstoy farm.
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Mahatma Gandhi and Tolstoy Farm
Gandhi and Tolstoy There have been many correspondences between Gandhi and Tolstoy.
Collection of correspondences There was so much correspondece between the 2 of them, that the letters, have been collected and brought out as a book, from philosophical to spiritual, to struggle, to a whole host of subjects.
The experiments of Gandhi, his Satyagraha were fine tuned in this Tolstoy farm.
Correspondence of Leo Tolstoy to Mohandas Gandhi – “A Letter to a Hindu”
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A Poignant statement These experiments of Satyagraha that Gandhi carried out from this Tolstoy farm led the South Africans to say,
“You gave us a lawyer. We gave you back a Mahatma.”
A Poignant statement indeed of the South Africans.
Lawyer Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi on his arrival to South Africa,
Satyagrahi Gandhi returning to India from South Africa
Transition at Tolstoy Farm Tolstoy farm is where the transition took place from Lawyer Gandhi to Satyagrahi Gandhi.
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ANOTHER GANDHIAN INFLUENCED BY RUSSIA
J C Kumarappa J C Kumarappa was a Boston educated economist. When he returned to India, he was influenced by Gandhi’s Satyagraha movement and devoted himself to revive the village economies.
J C Kumarappa J C Kumarappa talking to Gandhi He was instrumental in starting the KVIC, Khadi Village Industries Commission.
KVIC logo
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Kumarappa the Planner On India getting its Independence, he was drafted into the Planning commision.
Planning Commission
The 5 years plans of India and the Planning commision was fashioned on the Soviet model of developement in the 1950s.
Kumarappa’s Russian lessons J C Kumarappa travelled to Soviet Russia to study their model. He came up with a paper on, Points to be learnt from the Soviet model. He also wrote a paper on aspects that India should not follow from the Russian model.
J C Kumarappa wrote a book on Indian economy, “Economy of Permanence”.
Economy of Performance
His evaluations formed an important part of planning in the early days of independant India from Russian examples.
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MASLOW’S THEORY AND PANCHA KOSHA
HIERARCHIAL KOSHA
Needs of Mankind In the Indian ancient texts, Upanishad, are explanatory texts of the Veda, with interactions between teacher and student. In Taittiriya Upanishad, which is a part of the Taittiriya Samhita of the Krishna Yajur Veda, in the chapter Brahmanandavalli, there is a mention of the hierarchical needs of mankind, which have been expressed as five layers, five sheaths, Pancha Kosha.
In the Samskrt language, they are called Panchakosha. The 5 layers being
1. Anna Maya Kosha
2. Prana Maya Kosha
3. Mano Maya Kosha
4. Vignana Maya Kosha
5. Ananda Maya Kosha
Anna Maya Kosha Anna means food. The gross body, which has its origin and sustenance in food has been termed Anna Maya Kosha. Apart from food, water, clothing and shelter are the essentials that come under Anna Maya Kosha.
Prana Maya Kosha Prana Maya Kosha consisting of Prana or life force, constitutes the vital energies that are derived from breath. The air that we breathe in is the essential that come under Prana Maya Kosha.
Mano Maya Kosha Man, manas refers to mind. That, which is soothing to the mind, the finer pleasures of life such as finearts, painting, dance, music, sculptures.
Vignana Maya Kosha Gnana is knowlegde. Vignana Maya Kosa constitutes a whole range of knowledge that helps us to perform our daily work.
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Ananda Maya Kosha When all the above four are in good balance, then one has steady mind, leading to Ananda, bliss.
Pancha Kosha
This knowledge is around 5000 years old in India.
Why is this being discussed in an Indo Russia connect book?
Maslow’s Hierarchy Abraham Harold Maslow was born on April 1st 1908 to Jewish emigrant couple from Russia, Samuel Maslow and Rose Schilofsky.
Abraham Maslow postulated the Maslow’s Theory of man’s hierarchical needs.
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Maslow’s Hierarchy
Abraham Maslow
Basis for Psychology and Management This theory of a Russian origin person, formed a substantial basis, both in the field of psychology and modern management.
His Major works The major works of Maslow include, “Maslow on Management” “Toward a Psychology of Being”.
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Maslow on Management Toward a Psychology of Being
Ancient and Modern This fundamental postulate of the hierarchial needs is as old as 5000 years. It is also as young as a hundred years.
But it is relevant today and is the eternal need of mankind.
Isn’t it interesting that the same thought which has been expressed by ancient Indian rishis, has been expressed by a modern thinker of Russian origin?
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RUSSIAN INFLUENCE ON INDIAN CONSTITUTION
FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES The Fundamantal Duties, of a Citizen, enshrined in the Indian constitution, was brought in through the 42nd Amendment in 1976.
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SWARAN SINGH COMMITTEE The above fundamental duties are based on the recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee.
Swaran Singh Committee
BORROWED FROM RUSSIA These ideas of fundamental duties were primarily taken from USSR – Russia.
USSR constitution
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WORD SOCIALIST INTRODUCED India’s close relation with Soviet Union, brought some of the influences of socialism on its constitution and policies.
This idea of “Socialism” became permeated the Indian thought so much, that the constitution of India too was amended in 1976, when in the preamble of the constitution, the word “socialism” was introduced and India declared herself a “Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic”.
India decided to go the Russian way of setting up 5 year plans for herself, to clearly delineate areas of focus and extent of focus. Slowly however, industrialization was introduced into the realm of these plans and Indian economy grew into a mixed economy – a mix of Socialistic and Capitalistic approach.
The 1976 amendment also saw the word socialist being introduced in Indian constitution.
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Indian Constitution before and after 1976 amendment
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Soviet Union brokered peace between India and Pakistan Soviet Union brokered peace accord between India and Pakistan, during the 1965 War. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri went to Tashkent in Soviet Union, to sign this accord.
A war broke out between India and Pakistan, between April 1965 and September 1965, initiated by Pakistan, to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir. India in retaliation launched a full scale military attack on West Pakistan, leading to heavy casualties on the enemy side.
Indian soldiers in action during the 1965 War
The Tashkent accord, which sought to diffuse the war, was brought about through the efforts of Soviet Union and United States.
Tashkent Conference between India and Pakistan
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As per the declaration, Indian and Pakistan soldiers shall pull back to their earlier positions, before the war. The diplomatic channels between the two nations shall be reopened and both the nations shall no longer interfere in each other’s internal affairs. The prisoners of war shall be released, and the two leaders of the two countries’ will work towards furthering relations.
Soviet Union, was on the forefront in making this accord possible.
After signing the peace accord, Prime Minister Shastri died on that night under mysterious circumstances.
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WEDDING IN RUSSIA
EVERY CIVILIZATION HAS ITS WAY Every civilization has its own way of conducting weddings. Some perform their weddings in front of the Divine, Family, Friends and well wishers. There is a feast, post the wedding and in the modern world, a mandatory honeymoon.
AN INTERESTING OBSERVATION While we were in Russia for the Civil BRICS Forum in the summer of 2015, we observed something very interesting.
After marriage, the Russian couples in their bridal finery, visit one of the War Memorials. For a curious onlooker, it looks as a photo opportunity for the young couple. But for the young couple and immediate friends and family, it is a homage. It is a homage to their predecessors, who have given them this land, this nation, this civilization.
RUSSIA CAME THE HARD WAY The nation of Russia has come about in a hard fought way. Some of the major wars that gave shape to the present Russia being
The Battle between Peter The Great and Swedish forces in 1709
Peter The Great Peter The Great in action during the battle of 1709
A Painting
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The Battle between Czar Alexander and Napoleon Bonaparte of France by Ravines, by the village Borodino, in 1812, called The Battle of Borodino
The Battle of Borodino, painting by Louis Lejeune
The war against Hitler, in the World War-2
Russian Army during World War-2
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MANDATORY CONSCRIPTION As per Russian state policy, it is a mandatory conscription that every male, healthy and capable, must join the army for 2 years. This means every able male member, who is a groom on this marriage occassion has been through their tenure of armed services, where he recalls the sacrifices of his colleagues, predecessors, for in their hearts they carry this gratitude for those,
“Who gave their, ‘today’, ‘yesterday’, for ‘our today’, which is a ‘tomorrow’, they will not live to see.”
A supreme sacrifice indeed!
PITRU RN IN INDIA In India we have a similar concept called Pitru Rn.
Rn today, can be expressed in English as Debt, for want of a better word. This debt to our ancestors can be repaid by recognizing their sacrifices, effort and knowledge, because of which we are what we are today. By creating noble progeny through marriage, to carry on the lineage, the good work, through parampara, continuing tradition, is the way a young couple offers to pay their Rn, debt to their forefathers and benefactors. This is called Pitru Rn.
Pitru Rn is something that we offer to not just our biological father, but to all our predecessors, who have given their sweat and blood to prepare the earth, the society, the civilization and its Dharma for our today and our well being.
This is part of the various homa that we do in front of the Agni, where we offer our Pihru Rn as part of the marriage ceremonies.
Married Couples offering Pitru Rn
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Unfortunate scenario today Today unfortunately in India, as we go through the marriage ceremonies, not many properly hear, understand and apply themselves when this very important and significant ritual is carried out.
Whereas in Russia, by visiting the memorial, this ritual is heard, felt and carried through, in all its solemnity.
THE INNATE QUALITY IN BOTH CIVILIZATIONS It is bonding to see how the people of both these civilization, Indian and Russia, have it innately in them to offer their homage to their predecessors at one of the most important junctures in their marriage. For, it is our predecessors who have given this beautiful society, this beautiful bond, bandhan.
Youth need to respect Youth should respect those who have sacrificed for this land. It is their sacrifice of yesterday that is making our today. This appreciation and awareness is sadly and sorely lacking amongst the Indian youth. It is a leaf that is well worth taking from this Russian practice.
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SPORTS CONNECT
CHESS
Origin In India Chess, Chaturanga had its origin in India, and has an ancient antiquity. It has been played in India from time immemorial. It is also known by different names such as Ashthapada, 8 steps, Budhibal, use of mental strength.
Mandodari and Ravana playing Chess – An Artist Impression
To Persia, Then To Russia Chaturanga was taken to Persia during the reign of King Khosrau I Anushirawan Adel of the Sasanian Dyansty who ruled between the years 531 and 579 CE.
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A Painting from Bayasanghori Shahnameh showing Buzurgmihr playing chess with Indians
Source - Housed in Golestan Palace, Tehran, Iran, Photo - Unesco Photo Gallery
From there, it entered the Russian land.
Russia-Power House of Chess In the last 100 years, Russia has been the power house of Chess.
Ingrained in Russian Culture Chess is now ingrained in the culture of Russia.
Used as a tool After the Russian revolution in 1917, Chess was used as a tool by the Government of Russia to demonstrate its intellectual might.
Russian Chess stars The recent well known Chess stars from Russia are Garry Kasprov, Anatoly Karpov and Vladimir Kramnik.
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Russian Chess Stars
CIRCUS
Circus in India India has had its traditional form of village and street performers, who do rope walking, trapeze and other stunts.
This includes magic, playing with bears, monkeys, dogs and other animals, balancing feats.
Russian Circus Formal circus in India, over the last century and more has meant Russian circus. In every town of India, the popular form of circus is called Russian circus. Even if feats are performed by Indians, it is still called Russian circus.
Raj Kapoor Film The famous Raj Kapoor Film, “Mera Naam Joker” was themed around the Russian circus.
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Mera Nam Joker
Nikulin Circus Many a child in most of the towns of India, have been thrilled to go to a circus in their growing years. In Russia itself, in Moscow, the most famous circus is the Nikulin Circus.
Circus means Russian Circus For generations of Indians, circus means Russian circus.
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Bollywood Connect Indian films became a favourite among the Russian masses in the 1950s. While Hollywood movies were banned in the country, due to its rivalry with United States, Indian movies of Bollywood became a part of the popular Russian culture. In 1965, Moscow International Film Festival was held in the Russian capital.
INDIAN MOVIES POPULAR IN RUSSIA Some of the films that made it big in USSR include,
1. Awara
2. Bobby
3. Disco Dancer
4. Sita Aur Gita
5. Mamta
Awara Awara was the biggest hit in Soviet Union, selling over 63 million tickets. The movie which was produced in 1951, was directed by Raj Kapoor, the popular Bollywood star, who also played a leading role in the movie. The story has many twists and turns, involving kidnap, deceit and family betrayal, which turns our into a love story, was greatly relished by the Russian audience, as the movie became a long term classic.
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Mamta Mamta is a film that describes the sacrifices and hardships that come with motherhood, and deals with inter-caste conflict. This film, produced in 1966, featuring Actor Dharamendra was well-received in Russia. Actress Suchitra Sen, who played the roles of Deviyani and Suparna in the movie, had won the best actress award at the 1963 Moscow International Film Festival, for her role in the film Saptapadi.
Sita Aur Gita Sita Aur Gita is a popular Bollywood film produced in 1972, which features the story of two identical twins, a double role played by Indian star Hema Malini. This story revolves around the case of a mistaken identity, which mesmerized the audience. 55 millions Russians watched this film in the cinema halls.
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Bobby Bobby is another Bollywood hit, produced in 1973, that made an indelible impression on the Russian masses. The movie has two couples from different castes falling in love with each other. This film, also directed by Raj Kapoor, featured his son Rishi Kapoor, who in his role as Raj is the son of a successful businessman, while Bobby, played by Dimple Kapadia, is the daughter of a fisherman. Russians thronged the cinema halls in thousands, and were charmed by the presence of Rishi Kapoor, and while his father was already a star in Russia, this film capitulated Rishi Kapoor to one of the favourite cinema icons in Russia.
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Disco Dancer Disco Dance is a story of a man, the role that was played by Actor Mithun Chakrborty, who battles the great difficulties of childhood, which includes his legs being lost. He goes on to win the first place in an international disco dance competition. A rags to riches story, this film produced in 1981, and was received with much interest in the Soviet Union. It surpassed Awara in gross income.
So, why were the Russians attracted to Indian films?
For many Russians, many of the Indian films demonstrated the cultural values similar to its own cultural background, which gives a central place to a family.
Not only were the movies were well received, but even the Indian film actors and actresses who visited Russia, were given a warm welcome with a display of great Hospitality by the Russians.
Raj Kapoor’s Visit to Russia Among all actors, it was Raj Kapoor who was the most favourite among the Russians. When this star once visited Russia, he realized that he had come without a visa. The Soviet officials however allowed him into Moscow. He was waiting for his taxi alone, and he had arrived unannounced. The people however soon came to know that their icon Raj Kapoor was in the city. While in the taxi, Raj Kapoor suddenly saw that his car had stopped, but was then amazed to see that vehicle had had been lifted on their shoulders by Russian fans, giving us a glimpse of the fan following that he had in Russia. This happened in the mid 60s when Raj Kapoor had visited Russia for his film Mera Naam Joker.
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Raj Kapoor amidst his fans in Russia, in 1967
Mithun Chakraborty Another actor who enjoyed great popularity was Mithun Chakraborty. The fandom that he enjoyed in Soviet Union was legendary, mainly due to the popularity of his film Disco Dancer, that saw over 60 million viewers in that country. From then on many of his films were played in Russia with sub titles. The songs from the movie Disco Dancer have been performed by Russian artists on reality shows in night clubs.
Mithun Chakraborty was received with much fanfare at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1987, as his popularity had by then seeped across Russia.
Mithun Chakraborty at the Moscow International Film Festival
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EDUCATIONAL CONNECT
KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA Kendriya Vidyalaya are a system of schools instituted by the Government of India, that consist of 1083 schools in India and 3 abroad. Its main objective is to educate children of the Indian Defence Services and government employees.
In Moscow Of the three schools outside India, one is located in Moscow, Russia, established in 1987.
The very fact that there was a neeed for a Kendriya Vidyalaya School in Moscow, speaks of the existence of a large contingent of Indians in Moscow. This was because there were so many defence collaboration projects, going on between the Indian and Soviet / Russian establishments, that it neccesiated in the opening of a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Moscow.
Kendriya Vidyalaya, Moscow
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People to People Contact needed While all these contacts were at the government to government level, what it needs to develop into is a people to people contact.
IIT Post independence, the young nation of India was keen to train its youth in the field of engineering technology. Towards this purpose, the government of India started Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) in different parts of India.
IIT Bombay One such IIT was established in Bombay, Mumbai by the Powai Lake. The Russians came forward to help set up this IIT and help India in its march in the field by Engineering Technology.
IIT Bombay
Equipment and Expert Services from USSR IIT Bombay was established with the cooperation and participation of the UNESCO, utilising the contribution of the government of the then USSR. The institute received substantial assistance in the form of equipment and expert services from the USSR through the UNESCO from 1956 to 1973. It received 59 experts and 14 technicians from several reputed institutions in the USSR.
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Bilateral Agreement of 1965 Under the bilateral agreement of 1965, the Government of USSR provided additional assistance to supplement the Aid Programme already received by the institute through UNESCO.
Technical Education
Emerging Economies Requirement Both the Indian economy and Russian are emerging economies. For feeding the need of this growing economy, there is a voracious appetite for technically qualified, skilled youth.
Russian Institutions for higher education Russians during the Soviet era and later have built a large number of higher education institutions.
While the Indian education sector has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last few decades, the youth in large numbers here, have looked to the Russian higher education institutions for their degrees.
For engineering and medical degrees The burgeoning youth power of India, who have been looking for different avenues in different parts of the world, have in the last couple of decades, trained their eyes on Russian institutions for engineering and medical degrees.
Youth to Youth Connect There are a few tens of thousands of students from all across India, studying in the Russian institutions. This has on one side also created a youth to youth connect, spanning over the last few decades.
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Festival of India
A FESTIVAL TO SHOWCASE INDIA’S CULTURAL HERITAGE Festival of India, a cultural festival showcasing India’s rich cultural heritage was held in the 1980s across the world in different countries like Britain, France, USA and USSR. The aim of this festival was to raise international awareness on the ancient heritage of India, along with its contemporary progress.
A yearlong Festival Festival of India, a yearlong festival, was held in USSR in 1987-88, which included exhibitions, sports, cultural performances, seminars, ancient dance forms. Along with these, programs on India’s scientific and technological advances, were also a part of this festival.
The Festival was inaugurated by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on July 4th, 1987.
A Stamp issued by USSR on the Festival Of India, on 21st November, 1987
Chandralekha – the chief choreographer Among the Indians who played a key role in this festival, Chandralekha was the chief choreographer for the opening events of the Festival of India. She has been chief
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conceptualizer and curator of two major exhibitions - 'The World is my Family', for the Gandhi Centenary Year, Delhi, in 1969 and 'Stree - Women of India', in, 1988, at Moscow, for The Festival of India.
Vibhuti Patel Vibhuti Patel was part of the team of researchers of "Women of India" and conducted 3 workshops on Feminist songs, folk songs capturing women's lives from different parts of India and classical songs for Russians, in March, 1988. There were 8 workshops held on Block Orinting, Mehendi. Feminist Music, Classical Dance, Carnatic Music, Folk Painting, Terracotta and Puppetry.
Events of the Festival All in all, there were 20 exhibitions, including 1700 performing artists, from folk and classical backgrounds. 17 seminars were held across USSR, on subjects relating to India. 80 Indian films were showcased in different parts of USSR, making it also one of the largest film festival held in that country. These activities covered over 50 cities of USSR, giving its citizens a wide view of the cultural expressions of India.
Events at the Festival of India
In return, the USSR also held the “Festival of USSR”, in India, in November 1987, which also went on for a year.
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CREATION OF INDIAN CULTURAL CENTRE The phenomenal success of the Festival of India in 1987-88, led to the creation of an Indian Cultural Centre in Moscow, known as the Jawahar Lal Nehru Cultural Centre, which came up in 1989. This Centre has been playing a key role in creating awareness about Indian culture among the Russians. This Centre facilitates those who wish to learn about the Indian ethos, and it multi-dimensional culture. The Centre conducts classes on Indian Music, Dance, Yoga, through its Indian and local teachers. The Jawahar Lal Nehru Centre, received about 800 students every month, and holds around 150 classes every week. It also helps in implementing Cultural Exchange programs between the two countries.
A Joint Stamp of Russian Folk Dance – Beryozka and Indian Folk Dance Bhavai issued by both the countries in 2017
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INDUSTRY, TECHNOLOGICAL AND DEFENCE CONNECT
COOPERATION BETWEEN INDIA AND RUSSIA Russia played a key role in assisting India to industrialize, post-independence, supporting its industries like mining, metallurgy, oil and gas. Apart from this, it also helped India to realize its scientific potential.
On the economic front, USSR was India’s largest trading partner, until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
India helped Russia Post the fall of the Soviet Union, India helped the crippled Russian economy by purchasing military hardware, through advance payment. India also repaid its debt to Soviet Union, with 1 billion dollar every year, over a decade, which also helped Russia to rebuild its economy.
STEEL PLANTS Post Independence, Russia assisted India in setting up some of India’s largest Steel plants such as the ones at Bhilai, Bokarao, Rourkela and Durgapur.
Bhilai Steel Plant
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The agreement for building the Bhilai plant was signed with Russia in 1955 when Indian Prime Minster Jawaharlal Nehru visited Magnitka, the main centre of Russian iron and steel works.
The singning of Agreement for constructing Bhilai Steel Plant
Image Source:Press Photo
DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY The military cooperation between the two nations attained the strategic depths over the years. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, it was the USSR who provided the entire military productions to India, from tanks to aircrafts. The developed of Indian navy, and its submarines were strengthened to great extent through cooperation and financial assistance provided by USSR.
The USSR, also backed India on Kashmir.
Aircrafts Indian skies have been guarded for decades now using Russia supplied aircrafts, the most popular aming them being the MiG series.
MiG Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG is an Aircraft Manufacturer in Russia, known earlier as Mikoyan. MiG stand for Mikoyna Gurevich. This name is derived from its two founders, Artem Mikoyan and Mikhali Gurevich. Its headquarters is located in Moscow.
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MiG is popular across the world for its fighter planes, which are known by the name MiG. Some of the MiG planes include, MiG-1, MiG-3, Mig-9, Mig-15, Mig-17, MiG-19, MiG-21, MiG- 23, MiG-25, MiG-27, Mig-29, Mig-31, and Mig-35.
MiG -21 In 1961, India became the first customer of MiG-21. Under a deal between the two countries, Soviet Union offered India full transfer of technology, and rights of local assembly. Today, India is the third largest operator of MiG-21, after Russia and China.
Mig-21
MiG -29 India was also the first to purchase MiG-29, when the Indian Airforce ordered for more than 50 aircrafts of this type. These MiG planes were used extensively during the Kargil War.
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MiG-21
In 2010, India and Russia further signed a deal, whereby, the Indian Navy acquired an additional 29 MiG 29s.
Gajraj India also bought many military cargo planes - IL-76 from Russia. The Indian name given to them is Gajraj, because of their huge size.
Indian Air Force - Gajraj
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Helicopters India has also been purchasing helicopters from Russia, such as the MI-17 helicopters and the Kamov-226T helicopters, among others.
MI-17 helicopters
Brahmos Missile In Technology, Brahmos missile is an outstanding example of collaboration in advanced technology, between India and Russia. It is a 5th generation supersonic missile, one of the best in the world. It is a pride for both India and Russia.
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Brahmos Missile
Author D K Hari with Dr Shivthanu Pillai, the Direcotor of Brahmos Programme
Brahmos-From Brahmaputra and Moscow The very name Brahmos, for the missile comes form the starting letter of the name of the two rivers of India and Russia, BRAHmaputra and MOScow - BRAHMOS.
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Brahmaputra and Moscow Rivers – BRAHMOS
ILTP Integrated Long Term Programme (ILTP) of Cooperation in Science & Technology was jointly initiated by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the then Soviet Primer Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987.
Rajiv Gandhi and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987
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After Soviet Disintegration Even after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the programme continued between India and Russia as most of the participating scientific institutes and scientists belong to Russia.
Areas of Cooperation ILTP’s areas of cooperation between the two countries revolves around Science and Technology, Hydrology, Computer and Electronics, Oceanology, Astrophysics, among various other sciences.
THE NEED FOR KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA The inumerable defense pacts between India and Russia, made India post many officers in Russia, for carrying out the defence activities. This necessitated the starting of the Kendriya Vidyalaya School in Moscow, for facilitating the children of these officers in education.
AIRCRAFT CARRIERS AND SUBMARINES
INS Vikramaditya India today has two aircraft carriers INS Vikramaditya and INS Viraat.
INS Vikramaditya is named after the great Indian King Vikramaditya. He ruled from the capital of Ujjain, about 2500 years ago. Vikram means Brave and Aditya refers to the Sun. Vikramaditya means, “Brave like the Sun”.
INS Vikramaditya is a modified form of Kiev-class aircraft carrier. Kiev-Class Aircraft carriers are fixed wing aircraft carriers built in Soviet Union. INS Vikramaditya was originally known as Baku and later as Admiral Gorshkov and built in 1987. It served Soviet Union Army and later the Russia Navy, until it was decommissioned in 1996.
India purchased this aircraft carrier in 2004, with a price of 2.35$. This ship was commissioned on 16th November 2013, at a ceremony held at Severodvinsk, Russia, and was formally inducted into Indian Navy on 14th June, 2014.
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INS Vikramaditya
INS Chakra In the 1987, the Soviet Union had even leased a nuclear submarine, INS Chakra to India, marking a high on the defence cooperation between the two countries.
INS Chakra
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KOODAMKULAM NUCLEAR POWER PROJECT Koodamkulam Nuclear Power Project is the largest nuclear power station in India, located at Koodamkulam, in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. This power project is a collaboration between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, NPCIL and Atomstroyexport Company of Russia. This plant has an installed capacity of 6000 Mega Watts of electricity. It has two unit that generate electricity. Russia has given a credit of 6416 crore for both these units.
Koodamkulam Nuclear Power Project, has been one of those projects that represents the long standing partnership that exists between the two countries in several areas.
Koodamkulam Nuclear Power Project
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SPACE CONNECT
OFFER TO TAKE INDIAN TO SPACE In the 1980s, Soviet / Russia was in the forefront of space exploration. The government to government bond between the two countries was strong then. As part of the partnership programs, Russia offered to take India into space, in their space mission, Soyuz.
Soyuz Space Mission
Ravish Malhotra and Rakesh Sharma The Indian fighter pilots who were shortlisted for this program were Ravish Malhotra and Rakesh Sharma.
Ravish Malhotra and Rakesh Sharma
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First Indian in space
After years of intense training, it was an honour for Rakesh Sharma to be the first Indian to travel into space.
India Today, April 1984 edition featuring Rakesh Sharma
India Soviet Space Crew in 1984, which included Rakesh Sharma
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“Sara Jahan Se Acha” From space, Rakesh Sharma had an interview with the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. When asked by her,
“How does India look from space?”
Rakesh Sharma famously replied from Russian spaceship,
“Sara Jahan Se Acha”, meaning “Looks Better Than All”.
This space partnership program and this reply of Rakesh Sharma is etched in the memories of the friendship between India and Russia of 1980s.
Rakesh Sharma with Indira Gandhi
HELPING INDIA’S SPACE PROGRAM Russia, both as part of the USSR and later as the Russian Federation has been cooperating with India in many Space programs.
The early, developmental years of Indian Space exploration and technology received a lot of support from the then USSR. India’s first satellite Aryabhata was launched by USSR.
Baikonur cosomodrome Soviet Union helped India in launching rockets and satellites- Aryabhata and Bhaskar, from Baikonur cosomodrome, in Kazakh Steppe, a vast region of open grasslands in Kazakhstan
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Aryabhata Bhaskar
Kazakh Steppe
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Baikonur cosomodrome
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Stamp released by Russia on the Saellites it helped Indian launch
This vein of collaboration continues even while India has gained a fair degree of competence and competitive edge in this space.
YURI ALEKSEYEVICH GAGARIN’S VISIT TO INDIA Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, the cosmonaut from Russia was the first man to step into space, when his aircraft Vostok completed orbiting the earth, on 12th April, 1961. After his accomplishment, Seven and a half months later, Gagarin landed on Indian soil on November 29, 1961. He was received by Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru at his residence.
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin with Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru
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Thousands come to take a glimpse Thousands in India flocked to have a glimpse of the man in those pre-television days. He was presented with bouquets in Russia style and garlanded as per Indian ethos. The adulation received from the crowd was overwhelming, which made Nikolai Kamanin, a Russian aviator to remark,
“I was reminded of my naïve childhood impression of Christ meeting his people. He needed a miracle with five thousand loaves and fishes, but our Gagarin satisfied the people’s hunger with his appearance alone.”
Yuri Gagarin’s visit to India
Such was the warmth received by Gagarin in India.
During his 8 day visit, Gagarin attended several functions and programs, and visited many Indian cities.
VALENTINA VLADIMIROVNA TERESHKOVA – THE FIRST WOMAN IN SPACE VISITS INDIA Similarly, the first woman cosmonaut to visit Space, was Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova, also from Russia. She flew to Space in her spacecraft Vostok 6 on 16th June, 1963. She too visited India, where she received much warmth from the Indian crowd.
These visits by these two cosmonauts are reminiscent of the close relations shared between India and Russia, post India’s independence.
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Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin and Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova
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CONNECT IN SKIES
MIGRATORY BIRDS With Russia near the Artic Zone and India in the Tropic zone, one of Nature’s natural phenomenon is that of migration. It is the migration of birds that can be seen every year.
Central Asian-Indian flyway The Central Asian-Indian flyway comprises of the migratory routes that birds take from Arctic Ocean and Siberia in North Russia to India and Indian Ocean.
Migratory Birds Atleast 279 migratory bird populations of 182 species, which mainly consists of waterbirds fly to India and further south, every year to spend the non-breeding winter season in this region.
To name a few Some of the migratory birds to India being, Siberian Crane, Domoiselle Crane, Hoopoe, Pale Harrier, Eastern Steppe Eagle and Bar Headed Goose.
Siberian Crane Bar Headed Goose
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Siberian Crane Flyways
Popular Indian Bird Sanctuaries Some of the popular bird sanctuaries of India where the Russian birds come to avoid the biting Siberian cold and enjoy the tropical winters are
Point Calimere, Vedanthangal in Tamil Nadu
Ranganathittu near Mysore
Bharatpur near Agra
Lake Chilka in Orissa among many other such places.
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Birds Sanctuary
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Russian Presence in India There are many Russians who love India, and some have settled down in this country, because of the friendly relations that have existed over the years between India and Russia. A majority of these immigrants were youngsters who were disillusioned with urban life and came seeking for spiritual solace.
A small population of them live in Goa, and Tamil Nadu.
IN GOA Goa has been a fascination for the Russian community. In the tourism season, an estimated 4000 Russians arrive at the shores of Goa, every ten days. They swarm Goa in thousands, in chartered flights, through the year, and throng the places famous for its beaches. There are many Russians who have started their own business in Goa, and it is not unlikely to find restaurants with signboards in Russian, inorder to attract Russian customers.
A restaurant with Russian sign board in Goa
Little Russia Morjim is a town in Goa that is popularly known as “Little Russia’, for its sizeable Russian presence.
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Morjim Beach in Goa
In Tamil Nadu and other places In Tamil Nadu, there are many Russians who work as Engineers, Scientists and entrepreneurs and students.
Among these, many scientists work for the Koddankulam Nuclear Power Plant.
A sizeable student population also exists who come here to pursue their education. Dr. M G R Educational and Research Institute has many medical students form Russia, who have come here as a part of its exchange program with Stavropol State Medical Academy in Russia.
A Russian Cultural Centre and Science Centre has been opened in Chennai, apart from the Russian embassy.
There are other Russian scientists who work at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), in Bengaluru.
In Kerala too, space scientists from Russia work at the Vikram Sarabhi Space Centre, in Trivandrum.
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Vikram Sarabhi Space Centre
Like this, we can find Russians in specialized fields, all across India, as well as tourists who come here to enjoy the diverse landscape of the sub-continent.
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AN OPPORTUNITY THRU BRICS
BUILDING FURTHER CONNECT
Inspite of being apart There has been a timeless connect between these two lands, these two peoples and these two civilizations, even though they are geographically apart, even though they are climatically apart and even though are culturally apart.
One Trade Block - BRICS With the dawning of the modern era and forming of the different trade blocks, India and Russia as emerging economies, find themselves in one trade block- BRICS.
Closer Bond This forum, among other forums as well, should help in bring a close bond between land, its people and the two civilizations.
A Unique Group, A Pan continental Group, A New World Order!
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SALUTATIONS
AARTHI In the Indian method of prayers and rituals, the concluding ritual is Aarthi. Aarthi is done with a lighted camphor, shown around the divinity.
Aarthi being performed
A PRAYER All across the land of India, one common verse that is recited during this Aarthi is,
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KUBERA AND VISHRAVA Here in this prayer, the final salutations is to the lord of the north – Kubera the son of Rishi Vishrava, also the father of Ravana. These two personages, the Lord of the North are the fore bearers of wealth.
Kubera
NORTH POLE - MERU For the Indian civilization, north was not just limited to Himalayan range, but was right upto the North Pole. The North Pole was referred to as Meru, the highest point of the earth.
North Pole
North Pole – Repository of Wealth For the Indian civilization, the North was the repository of wealth. While the people of yore of the Indian civilization were well aware of the sustainable practices of the land, as one of
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the most prosperous of the world, they still looked upto the North, the land around the North Pole, Meru as the dwelling of the Lord of Wealth. This could be in the form of
Geological Wealth – Mineral Wealth
Geographical Wealth – Sustainable Wealth
People’s Wealth – Calmness and Peace
Russia with its proximity to the North Pole and its land based access to most of the world, is almost the defacto guardian of this wealth for the entire earth.
Russia bordering North Pole
Portraying northern lands thru this prayer Here is an ancient ritual practised to this day in which this Indian civilization portrays far flunged northern lands, as being the beholders of wealth.
MILLENNIA CONNECT This relationship appreciation, understanding is not decades old or even centuries old. This connect has been passed down by many millennia.
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Keeping a sense of connectedness Let us through this prayer and an overall understanding of the civilizational connect relish this connection that Russia and India have shared, to move forward into the modern age, with a sense of togetherness.
Can we advance as truly mature peoples.
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