Archaeoastronomy in India

Subhash Kak
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater
Our understanding of archaeoastronomical sites in India is based not
only on a rich archaeological record and texts that go back thousands
of years, but also on a living tradition that is connected to the past.
Conversely, India has much cultural diversity and a tangled history
of interactions with neighboring regions that make the story complex.
The texts reveal to us the cosmological ideas that lay behind
astronomical sites in the historical period and it is generally accepted
that the same idea also apply to the Harappan era of the third
millennium BCE (Kenoyer, 1998: 52-53).
In the historical period, astronomical observatories were part
of temple complexes where the king was consecrated. Such
consecration served to confirm the king as foremost devotee of the
chosen deity, who was taken to be the embodiment of time and the
universe (Kak, 2002a: 58). For example, Udayagiri is an astronomical
site connected with the Classical age of the Gupta dynasty (320-500
CE), which is located a few kilometers from Vidisha in central India
(Willis, 2001; Dass and Willis, 2002). The imperial Guptas enlarged
the site, an ancient hilly observatory going back at least to the 2nd
century BCE at which observations were facilitated by the
geographical features of the hill, into a sacred landscape to draw
royal authority.
Indian astronomy is characterized by the concept of ages of
successive larger durations, which is an example of the pervasive idea
of recursion, or repetition of patterns across space, scale and time. An
example of this is the division of the ecliptic into 27 star segments
(nakatras), with which the moon is conjoined in its monthly circuit,
each of which is further sub-divided into 27 sub-segments (upanakatras), and the successive divisions of the day into smaller
measures of 30 units. The idea of recursion underlies the concept of
the sacred landscape and it is embodied in Indian art, providing an
archaeoastronomical window on sacred and monumental
architecture. It appears that this was an old idea because intricate
spiral patterns, indicating recursion, are also found in the paintings of
the Mesolithic period. Tyagi (1992) has claimed that they are unique
to Indian rock art.

Subhash Kak

According to the Vstu stra, the structure of the building

mirrors the emergence of cosmic order out of primordial chaos
through the act of measurement. The universe is symbolically
mapped into a square that emphasizes the four cardinal directions. It
is represented by the square vstu-maala, which in its various forms
is the basic plan for the house and the city. There exist further
elaborations of this plan, some of which are rectangular.
It is significant that yantric buildings in the form of mandalas
have been discovered in North Afghanistan that belong to a period
that corresponds to the late stage of the Harappan tradition (Kak,
2000a; Kak, 2005b) providing architectural evidence in support of the
idea of recursion at this time. Although these building are a part of
the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), their affinity
with ideas that are also present in the Harappan system shows that
these ideas were widely spread.

Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Chronology and Overview

Pre-historical and Harappan Period
Neolithic and Megalithic Sites
The Plan of the Temple
Observatory in Udayagiri
Pilgrimage Complexes
Sacred Cities
Conclusions

1. Chronology and Overview

Indias archaeological record in the northwest has unbroken
continuity going back to about 7500 BCE at Mehrgarh (Kenoyer, 1998;
Lal, 2002), and it has an rock art tradition, next only to that of
Australia and Africa in abundance, that is much older (Pandey, 1993;
Bednarik, 2000). Some rock art has been assigned to the Upper
Paleolithic period. There is surprising uniformity, both in style and
content, in the rock art paintings of the Mesolithic period (10,000
2500 BCE) (Tyagi, 1992; Wakankar, 1992).
The archaeological phases of the Indus (or Sindhu-Sarasvati)
tradition have been divided into four eras: early food-producing era (c.
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Archaeoastronomy in India

6500- 5000 BCE), regionalization era (5000 2600 BCE), integration era
(2600 1900 BCE), and localization era (1900 1300 BCE) (Shaffer,
1992). The early food-producing era lacked elaborate ceramic
technology. The regionalization era was characterized by styles in
ceramics, lapidary arts, glazed faience and seal making that varied
across regions. In the integration era, there is significant homogeneity
in material culture over a large geographical area and the use of the
so-called Indus script, which is not yet deciphered. In the localization
era, patterns of the integration era are blended with regional ceramic
styles, indicating decentralization and restructuring of the interaction
networks. The localization era of the Sindhu-Sarasvati tradition is the
regionalization era of the Ganga-Yamuna tradition which transforms
into the integration era of the Magadha and the Mauryan dynasties.
There is also continuity in the system of weights and lengths between
the Harappan period and the later historic period (Mainkar, 1984).
The cultural mosaic in the third millennium BCE is
characterized by the integration phase of the Harappan civilization of
northwest India, copper and copper/bronze age cultures or central
and north India, and Neolithic cultures of south and east India (Lal,
1997). Five large cities of the integration phase are Mohenjo-Daro,
Harappa, Ganweriwala, Rakhigarhi, and Dholavira. Other important
sites of this period are Kalibangan, Rehman Dheri, Nausharo, Kot
Diji, and Lothal.
A majority of the towns and settlements of the Harappan
period were in the Sarasvati valley region. Hydrological changes,
extended period of drought, and the drying up of the Sarasvati River
due to its major tributaries being captured by the Sindh and Ganga
Rivers after an earthquake in 1900 BCE led to the abandonment of
large areas of the Sarasvati valley (Kak, 1992). The Harappan phase
went through various stages of decline during the second millennium
BCE. A second urbanization began in the Ganga and Yamuna valleys
around 900 BCE. The earliest surviving records of this culture are in
Brahmi script. This second urbanization is generally seen at the end of
the Painted Gray Ware (PGW) phase (1200- 800 BCE) and with the
use of the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBP) pottery. Late
Harappan was partially contemporary with the PGW phase. In other
words, a continuous series of cultural developments link the two
early urbanizations of India.
The setting for the hymns of the gveda, which is Indias
most ancient literary text, is the area of Sapta Saindhava, the region of
north India bounded by the Sindh and the Ganga rivers although

Subhash Kak

regions around this heartland are also mentioned. The gveda

describes the Sarasvati River to be the greatest of the rivers and going
from the mountains to the sea. The archaeological record, suggesting
that this river had turned dry by1900 BCE, indicates that the gveda is
prior to this epoch. The gveda and other early Vedic literature have
astronomical references related to the shifting astronomical frame that
indicate epochs of the fourth and third millennium BCE which is
consistent with the hydrological evidence. The nakshatra lists are
found in the Vedas, either directly or listed under their presiding
deities, and it one may conclude that their names have not changed.
Vedic astronomy used a luni-solar year in which an intercalary month
was employed as adjustment with solar year.
The shifting of seasons through the year and the shifting of
the northern axis allow us to date several statements in the Vedic
books (Sastry, 1985). Thus the atapatha Brhmaa (2.1.2.3) has a
statement that points to an earlier epoch where it is stated that the
Kttik (Pleiades) never swerve from the east. This corresponds to
2950 BCE. The Maitryaya Brhmaa Upaniad (6.14) refers to the
winter solstice being at the mid-point of the ravih segment and
the summer solstice at the beginning of Magh. This indicates 1660
BCE. The Vedga Jyotia mentions that winter solstice was at the
beginning of ravih and the summer solstice at the mid-point of
le. This corresponds to about 1300 BCE.
The nakatras in the Vedga Jyotia are defined to be 27
equal parts of the ecliptic. The nakshatra list of the late Vedic period
begin with Kttik (Pleiades) whereas that of the astronomy texts after
200 CE begin with Ashvini ( and Arietis), indicating a transition
through 2 nakatras, or a time span of about 2,000 years.
The foundation of Vedic cosmology is the notions of bandhu
(homologies or binding between the outer and the inner). In the
yurveda, medical system associated with the Vedas, the 360 days of
the year were taken to be mapped to the 360 bones of the developing
fetus, which later fuse into the 206 bones of the person. It was
estimated correctly that the sun and the moon were approximately
108 times their respective diameters from the earth (perhaps from the
discovery that the angular size of a pole removed 108 times its height
is the same as that of the sun and the moon), and this number was
used in sacred architecture. The distance to the sanctum sanctorum of
the temple from the gate and the perimeter of the temple were taken
to be 54 and 180 units, which are one-half each of 108 and 360 (Kak,
2005a). Homologies at many levels are at the basis of the idea of
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recursion, or repetition in scale and time. The astronomical basis of the

Vedic ritual was the reconciliation of the lunar and solar years (Kak,
2000a; Kak, 2000b).
Texts of the Vedic and succeeding periods provide us crucial
understanding of the astronomy and the archaeoastronomy of the
historical period throughout India. The medieval period was
characterized by pilgrimage centers that created sacred space
mirroring conceptions of the cosmos. Sacred temple architecture
served religious and political ends.
The instruments that were used in Indian astronomy include the
water clock (ghai yantra), gnomon (aku), cross-staff (yai yantra),
armillary sphere (gola-yantra), board for suns altitude (phalaka yantra),
sundial (kapla yantra), and astrolabe (Gangooly, 1880). In early 18th
century, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur (r. 1699-1743) built five
masonry observatories called Jantar Mantar in Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain,
Mathura, and Varanasi. The Jantar Mantar consists of the Rma
Yantra (a cylindrical structure with an open top and a pillar in its
center to measure the altitude of the sun), the Rivalaya Yantra (a
group of twelve instruments to determine celestial latitude and
longitude), the Jaya Praka (a concave hemisphere), the Laghu
Samr Yantra (small sundial), the Samr Yantra (a huge equinoctial
dial), the Cakra Yantra (upright metal circles to find the right
ascension and declination of a planet), the Digaa Yantra (a pillar
surrounded by two circular walls), the Kapla Yantra (two sunken
hemispheres to determine the position of the sun relative to the
planets and the zodiac), the aa Yantra (to display a pinhole
image of the Sun over a sixty-degree meridian scale), and the
Nvalaya Yantra (a cylindrical dial).

2. Pre-historical and Harappan Period

The city of Mohenjo-Daro (2500 BCE), like most other Harappan cities
(with the exception of Dholavira as far as we know at this time) was
divided into two parts: the acropolis and the lower city. The MohenjoDaro acropolis, a cultural and administrative centre, had as its
foundation a 12 meter high platform of 400 m 200 m. The lower city
had streets oriented according to the cardinal directions and provided
with a network of covered drains. Its houses had bathrooms. The
citys wells were so well constructed with tapering bricks that they

Subhash Kak

have not collapsed in 5000 years. The Great Bath (12 m 7 m) was
built using finely fitted bricks laid on with gypsum plaster and made
watertight with bitumen. A high corbelled outlet allowed it to be
emptied easily. Massive walls protected the city against flood water.
The absence of monumental buildings such as palaces and
temples makes the Harappan city strikingly different from its
counterparts of Mesopotamia and Egypt, suggesting that the polity of
the Harappan state was de-centralized and based on a balance
between the political, the mercantile, and the religious elites. The
presence of civic amenities such as wells and drains attests to
considerable social equality. The power of the mercantile guilds is
clear in the standardization of weights of carefully cut and polished
chart cubes that form a combined binary and decimal system.
Mohenjo-Daro and other sites show slight divergence of 1 to
2 clockwise of the axes from the cardinal directions (Wanzke, 1984). It
is thought that this might have been due to the orientation of
Aldebaran (Rohii in Sanskrit) and the Pleiades (Kttik in Sanskrit)
that rose in the east during 3000 BCE to 2000 BCE at the spring
equinox; the word rohii literally means rising. Furthermore, the
slight difference in the orientations amongst the buildings in
Mohenjo-Daro indicates different construction periods using the same
traditional sighting points that had shifted in this interval (Kenoyer,
1998).
Mohenjo-Daros astronomy used both the motions of the
moon and the sun (Maula, 1984). This is attested by the use of great
calendar stones, in the shape of ring, which served to mark the
beginning and end of the solar year.
Dholavira
Dholavira is located on an island just north of the large island of
Kutch in Gujarat. Its strategic importance lay in its control of shipping
between Gujarat and the delta of the Sindh and Sarasvati rivers.
The layout of Dholavira is unique in that it comprises of
three towns, which is in accord with Vedic ideas (Bisht, 1997; Bisht,
1999a; Bisht, 1999b). The feature of recursion in the three towns, or
repeating ratios at different scales, is significant. Specifically, the
design is characterized by the nesting proportion of 9:4 across the
lower and the middle towns and the castle. The proportions of 5/4,
7/6, and 5/4 for the lower town, the middle town, and the castle may
reflect the measures related to the royal city, the commanders

Archaeoastronomy in India

quarter, and the kings quarter, respectively, which was also true of
Classical India (Bhat, 1995).
A Dholavira length, D, has been determined by finding the
largest measure which leads to integer dimensions for the various
parts of the city. This measure turns out be the same as the Arthastra
(300 BCE) measure of dhanus (bow) that equals 108 agulas (fingers).
This scale is confirmed by a terracotta scale from Kalibangan and the
ivory scale found in Lothal. The Kalibangan scale (Joshi, 2007;
Balasubramaniam and Joshi, 2008) corresponds to units of 17.5 cm,
which is substantially the same as the Lothal scale and the small
discrepancy may be a consequence of shrinkage upon firing.
The analysis of the unit of length at Dholavira is in accord
with the unit from the historical period (Danino, 2005; Danino, 2008).
The unit that best fits the Dholavira dimensions is 190.4 cm, which
when divided by 108 gives the Dholavira agula of 1.763 cm. The
subunit of agula is confirmed when one considers that the bricks in
Harappa follow ratios of 1:2:4 with the dominating size being 7 14
28 cm (Kenoyer, 1998). These dimensions can be elegantly
expressed as 4 8 16 agulas, with the unit of agula taken as 1.763
cm. It is significant that the ivory scale at Lothal has 27 graduations in
46 mm, or each graduation is 1.76 mm.

Figure 1. Map of Dholavira (Bisht, 1997)

With the new Dholavira unit of D, the dimensions of
Mohenjo-Daros acropolis turn out to be 210 105 D; Kalibangans
acropolis turn out to be 126 63 D. The dimensions of the lower
town of Dholavira are 405 324 D; the width of the middle town is
180 D; and the inner dimensions of the castle are 60 48 D. The sum
of the width and length of the lower town comes to 729 which is

Subhash Kak

astronomically significant since it is 27 27, and the width 324 equals

the nakshatra year 27 12.
Continuity has been found between the grid and modular
measures in the town planning of Harappa and historical India,
including that of Kathmandu Valley (Pant and Funo, 2005). The
measure of 19.2 meters is the unit in quarter-blocks of Kathmandu;
this is nearly the same as the unit characteristic of the dimensions of
Dholavira. It shows that the traditional architects and town planners
have continued the use of the same units over this long time span.
Rehman Dheri
A 3rd millennium seal from Rehman Dheri, showing a pair of
scorpions on one side and two antelopes on the other, that suggests
knowledge of Vedic themes. It has been suggested that this seal
represents the opposition of the Orion (Mgairas, or antelope head)
and the Scorpio (Rohii of the southern hemisphere which is 14
nakatras from the Rohii of the northern hemisphere) nakatras. The
arrow near the head of one of the antelopes could represent the
decapitation of Orion. It is generally accepted that the myth of
Prajpati being killed by Rudra represents the shifting of the
beginning of the year away from Orion and it places the astronomical
event in the fourth millennium BCE (Kak, 2000a).

Figure 2. Astronomical seal from Rehman Dheri

Archaeoastronomy in India

3. Neolithic and Megalithic Sites

Interesting sites of archaeoastronomical interest include the Neolithic
site of Burzahom from Kashmir in North India, and megalithic sites
from Brahmagiri and Hanamsagar from Karnataka in South India.
Burzahom, Kashmir
This Neolithic site is located about 10 km northeast of Srinagar in the
Kashmir Valley on a terrace of Late Pleistocene-Holocene deposits.
Dated to around 3000 - 1500 BCE, its deep pit dwellings are associated
with ground stone axes, bone tools, and gray burnished pottery. A
stone slab of 48 cm 27 cm, obtained from a phase dated to 2125 BCE
shows two bright objects in the sky with a hunting scene in the
foreground. These have been assumed to be a depiction of a double
star system (Kameshwar Rao, 2005).

Figure 3. Burzahom sky scene

Brahmagiri, Karnataka
The megalithic stone circles of Brahmagiri in the Chitradurga district
of Karnataka in South India, which have been dated to 900 BCE, show
astronomical orientations. This site is close to Siddapur where two
minor Aokan rock edicts were found in 1891. Kameswara Rao (1993)
has argued that site lines from the centre of a circle to an outer
tangent of another circle point to the directions of the sunrise and full
moon rise at the time of the solar and lunar solstices and equinox.

Subhash Kak

Figure 4. Megalithic stone circles of Brahmagiri

Hanamsagar, Karnataka.
Hanamsagar is a megalithic site with stone alignments pointing to
cardinal directions. It is located on a flat area between hills about 6
km north of the K river at latitude 16o 19 18 and longitude 76o 27
10. The stones, which are smooth granite, are arranged in a square of
side that is about 600 meters with 50 rows and 50 column (for a total
of 2,500 stones), with a separation between stones of about 12 m. The
stones are between 1 to 2.5 m in height with a maximum diameter of 2
to 3 m. The lines are oriented in cardinal directions. There is a
squarish central structure known as cakri kai.
It has been argued that the directions of summer and winter
solstice can be fixed in relation to the outer and the inner squares.
Kameswara Rao (2005) suggests that it could have been used for
several other kind of astronomical observations such as use of
shadows to tell the time of the day, the prediction of months, seasons
and passage of the year.

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Archaeoastronomy in India

Figure 5. Alignments at Hanamsagar

4. The Plan of the Temple

The sacred ground for Vedic ritual is the precursor to the temple. The
Vedic observances were connected with the circuits of the sun and the
moon (Kak, 1993; Kak, 1995; Kak, 1996). The altar ritual was
associated with the east-west axis and we can trace its origins to
priests who maintained different day counts with respect to the
solstices and the equinoxes. Specific days were marked with ritual
observances that were done at different times of the day.
In the ritual at home, the householder employed three altars
that are circular (earth), half-moon (atmosphere), and square (sky),
which are like the head, the heart, and the body of the Cosmic Man
(Purua). In the Agnicayana, the great ritual of the Vedic times that
forms a major portion of the narrative of the Yajurveda, the
atmosphere and the sky altars are built afresh in a great ceremony to
the east. This ritual is based upon the Vedic division of the universe
into three parts of earth, atmosphere, and sky that are assigned
numbers 21, 78, and 261, respectively. The numerical mapping is
maintained by placement of 21 pebbles around the earth altar, sets of
13 pebbles around each of 6 intermediate (136=78) altars, and 261
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Subhash Kak

pebbles around the great new sky altar called the Uttara-vedi, which
is built in the shape of a falcon; these numbers add up to 360, which is
symbolic representation of the year. The proportions related to these
three numbers, and others related to the motions of the planets, and
angles related to the sightings of specific stars are reflected in the
plans of the temples of the historical period (Kak, 2002b; Kak, 2006a;
Kak, 2009; Kaulcara, 1966).

Figure 6. The three altars of the Vedic house: circular (earth, body),
half-moon (atmosphere, pra), square (sky, consciousness)

Figure 7. The falcon altar of the Agnichayana altar

The Agnicayana altar is the prototype of the temple and of
the tradition of architecture (Vstu). The altar is first built of 1,000
bricks in five layers (that symbolically represent the five divisions of
the year, the five physical elements, as well as five senses) to specific
designs. The altar is constructed in a sequence of 95 years, whose

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details are matched to the reconciliation of the lunar and solar years
by means of intercalary months.
In the ritual ground related to the Agnicayana ceremony, the
Uttara-vedi is 54 units from the entrance in the west and the
perimeter of the ritual ground is 180 units (Kak, 2005a). These
proportions characterize many later temples.
The Temple Complex at Khajuraho
The town of Khajuraho extends between 79 54 30 to 79 56 30 East
and 24 50 20 to 24 51 40 North, in Chhatarpur district, in
Madhya Pradesh. The temples of Khajuraho were built in 9th -12th
century CE by the Chandela kings. Originally there were 84 temples,
of which 23 have survived. Of the surviving temples, 6 are associated
with iva, 8 with Viu, and 5 with the goddess (Singh, 2009b).

Figure 8. Mapping of the nakatras to the solar months

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Subhash Kak

At the eastern edge of the temple complex are the Dantla

hills, with a peak of 390 m at which is located a shrine to iva, which
is a reference point for the temple entrances. All the temples
excepting the Caturbhuja face the east. The southeastern edge has the
Lvanya hill that is separated from the Dantla hills by the eastward
flowing river Khudar. At the foothills of the Lvanya hill at a height
of 244m is the shrine of goddess Durg as Mahisurmardini.
The shrines to iva and Durg on the Dantla and Lvanya
hills span the polarities of spirit (Purua) and matter (Prakti), which
are bridged by the river between the hills. The temples of Khajuraho
are popular pilgrimage centers during two spring festivals: ivartri
that falls on the new moon of Phlguna (February/March), and Holi,
which falls on the full moon of Caitra (March/April).
The Lakmaa temple, one of the oldest of the complex, is
considered the axis mundi of the site. It was built by the king
Yaovarman (925-950) as symbol of the Chandela victory over the
Pratihras and a record of supremacy of their power. This temple is
oriented to the sunrise on Holi.
The groups of temples form three overlapping mandalas,
with centers at the Lakmaa (Viu), the Javeri (iva), and the
Duldeva (iva) temples. Their deviation from true cardinality is
believed to be due to the direction of sunrise on the day of
consecration (Singh, 2009).
The temple, as a representation of the cosmos and its order,
balances the asuras (demons) and the devas (gods), as well as inheres
in itself other polarities of existence. In the Lakmaa Temple, Viu is
depicted in a composite form with the usual calm face bracketed by
the faces of lion and boar. The conception of the sanctum is as a
mandala (Desai, 2004).
The planetary deities, the grahas, encircle the temple in the
following arrangement:
Surya (Sun)
Soma (Moon)
Bhaspati (Jupiter)
ani (Saturn)
Gaea

Magala (Mars)
Budha (Mercury)
ukra (Venus)
Durg

Gaea and Durg are the deities of the ascending and the
descending nodes of the moon, respectively. The temple is envisioned

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like Mount Meru, the axis of the universe, and the planets move
around it.

5. The Udayagiri Observatory

Udayagiri (hill of [sun]-rise] is one of the principal ancient
astronomical observatories of India. It is located at 23o31 N latitude
on the Tropic of Cancer in Madhya Pradesh, about 50 kilometers from
Bhopal, near Vidisha, Besnagar and Snchi. An ancient site that goes
back to at least the second century BCE, it was substantially enlarged
during the reign of the Gupta Emperor Candragupta II Vikramditya
(r. 375-414). This site is associated with 20 cave temples that have
been cut into rock; nineteen of these temples are from the period of
Candraguptas reign (Dass and Willis, 2002).

Figure 9. Udayagiri layout (Balasubramaniam , 2008)

It appears that the ancient name of Udayagiri was
Viupdagiri, or the hill of the footprint of Viu, and the name
Udayagiri is after the Paramra ruler Udayditya (c. 1070-93). The hill
is shaped like a foot. A saddle connects the northern and southern
hills, and a passageway is located at the place where the northern hill
meets the saddle. The Gupta period additions and embellishments at
Udayagiri were concentrated around this passage. Most of the cave
temples are located around the passageway.
On the summer solstice day, there was an alignment of the
suns movement with the passageway. The day mentioned in the
dated Chandragupta II Vikramditya period inscription in cave 6 has

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been calculated to be very close to the summer solstice of the year 402
CE. On this day, the shadow of the Iron Pillar of Delhi, which was
originally located at the entrance of the passageway, fell in the
direction of the reclining Viu panel (Balasubramaniam, 2008).
On the northern hilltop, there exists a flat platform commanding
a majestic view of the sky. Several astronomical marks have been
identified at this platform, indicating that this was the site of the
ancient astronomical observatory.

6. Medieval Pilgrimage Complexes

Medieval pilgrimage centers fulfilled many functions including that
of trade and business. They were important to the jyotii (astrologer)
who would make and read the pilgrims horoscope. The better
astrologers were also interested in astronomy and this knowledge
was essential for the alignment of temples and palaces.
Every region of India has important pilgrimage centers,
some of which are regional and others pan-Indic. The most famous of
the pan-Indic centers are associated with iva (Varanasi), Ka
(Mathura, Dwarka), Rma (Ayodhya), Viu (Tirupati), and the 12yearly rotation of the Kumbha Mela at Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain, and
Nashik. For pilgrimage centers such as Chitrakut, Gaya, Madurai,
Varanasi, Vindhychal, and Khajuraho, the question of alignments of
temples to cardinal directions or to direction of the sun on major
festivals has been studied by scholars (Singh, 2009b). Here we will
consider the sun temples of Varanasi (Malville, 1985; Singh, 2009a and
2009b).
The Sun Temples of Varanasi
Varanasi is an ancient city dating from the beginning of the first
millennium BCE, whose Vedic name is Ki (Sanskrit for radiance),
a name that continues to be used together with Banaras. Of its many
temples, the most important is Ki Vivantha Temple, or Golden
Temple, dedicated to Lord iva, the presiding deity of the city.
Because of repeated destruction by the sultans and later by
Aurangzeb, the current Vivantha is a relatively modern building. It
was built in 1777 by Maharani Ahilyabai of Indore, and its ikhara
(spire) and ceilings were plated with of gold in 1839, which was a gift
from Maharaja Ranjit Singh (Singh, 2009a and 2009b).

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Figure 10. Khajuraho: Landscape geometry and topography (Singh, 2009b)

iva represents both the axis of the universe as well as that

of ones inner being. One of the great festivals celebrated in Varanasi
is ivartri which is celebrated on the 13th day of the dark fortnight of
the Phalguna month (February-March). On that day you can see the
sun rise in the east with the new moon just above it, which is
represented iconographically by iva (as the sun) wearing the moon
on his head.
There are several pilgrimage circuits in Varanasi for
circumambulating the city. The Paakroi circuit has 108 shrines on it,
and the four inner circuits have a total of 324 shrines. It is also known
for the circuit of the ditya shrines. The dityas are the 7 or 8
celestial gods, although their number is counted to 12 in later books.
In Puranic India, they are taken to be the deities of the twelve solar
months. The ditya temples were also razed during the centuries of
Muslim rule, but have been re-established at the same sites and are
now part of the active ritualscapes (Singh, 2009a).
Several ditya shrines have been located with the aid of
descriptions in the Ki Khaa and pilgrimage guides (Singh and
Malville, 1995; Singh, 2009a and 2009b). Six of these lie along one
sides of an isosceles triangle with a base of 2.5km. The triangle
surrounds the former temple of Madhyamevara, which was the
17

Subhash Kak

original center of Kashi. Pilgrims walking along the triangle are

symbolically circumambulating the cosmos.

Figure 11. Sun Shrines: Cosmic order and cyclic orientation of time (Singh, 2009a)

18

Archaeoastronomy in India

7. Sacred Cities
There are numerous sacred cities in the Indian sub-continent that
were either built to an archetypal master plan or grew organically by
virtue of being connected to a specific celestial deity. Some of the
important sacred cities are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Varanasi
Vijayanagara
Ayodhya
Mathura
Bhaktapur
Tirupati
Kanchipuram
Dwarka
Ujjain

Robert Levy viewed the Indian sacred city as a structured

mesocosm, situated between the microcosm of the individual and
the macrocosm of the culturally conceived larger universe (Levy,
1991). Such a city is constructed of spatial connected mandalas, each of
which is sustained by its own culture and performance. The
movements of the festival year and rites of passage constitute a civic
dance, which defines the experience of its citizens.
The life-cycle passages and festivals dedicated to the gods affirm
the householders moral compass, identities and relationships. But
there also exist other deities, represented generally by goddesses,
who point to the forces of nature outside of moral order. These are
brought into the larger order through tantric invocations and amoral
propitiatory offerings. Performances invoking the goddess are the
responsibility of the king and the merchants.
Sacrality and Royal Power at Vijayanagara
The city of Vijayanagara (also known as Hampi) was founded in the
14th century and sacked in 1565. The best known kings associated
with Vijayanagara are Harihara I and II and Bukka Raya I (ca. 13361404), and Kadevarya and his half-brother Acyutadevarya (150942). From the mid-14th century to 1565, the city was the capital of the
Vijayanagara Empire. According to the Persian ambassador Abdur
Razaaq (1442 CE): The City of Vijayanagara is such that the pupil of
the eye has never seen such a place like it, and the ear of intelligence

19

Subhash Kak

has never been informed that there existed anything to equal it in the
world.

Figure 12. Vijayanagara City

20

Archaeoastronomy in India

Hampi had for centuries been an important pilgrimage city

due to its mythic association with river Goddess Pamp and her
consort Virupaka, or Pamppati. An inscription dated 1163 CE
records a mahdna, a religious offering in the presence of Lord
Virupaka of Hampi by the Kalacuri King Bijjala. The region was part
of the kingdom of Kampiladeva until 1326 when the armies of
Mohammed Bin Tughlaq defeated the king and imprisoned the two
sons of Sangama, Hukka and Bukka. Some years later the Sultan sent
the two as governors of the province. In 1336 they broke free from
Tughlaq allegiance and established the Sangama dynasty with its
capital at Vijayanagara.
The destruction of Vijayanagara in 1565 was captured
vividly in the account of Robert Sewell (1900): They slaughtered the
people without mercy; broke down the temples and palaces; and
wreaked such savage vengeance on the abode of the kings that, with
the exception of a few great stone built temples and walls, nothing
now remains but a heap of ruins to mark the spot where once the
stately buildings stood They lit huge fires in the magnificently
decorated buildings forming the temple of Vihalaswami near the
river, and smashed its exquisite stone sculptures. With fire and
sword, crowbars and axes they carried on day after day their work of
destruction. Never perhaps in the history of the world has such havoc
been wrought so suddenly on so splendid a city; teeming with a
wealthy and industrious population in the full plenitude of
prosperity one day and on the next seized, pillaged and reduced to
ruins amid scenes of savage massacre and horrors beggaring
description.
Hampi has a strong association with the Ramayana and the
names of many sites in the area bear names mentioned in the epic.
These include Rishimukha, Malyavanta hill and Mtanga hill along
with a cave where Sugrva is said to have kept the jewels of St. The
site of Anegundi is associated with the kingdom of Angad, son of
Vali. The Anjaneya Parvata, a hill to the west of Anegundi, is the
fabled birthplace of Hanumn.
Hampi is also linked with the river goddess Pamp and the
legend of her marriage to Lord Virupaka or iva. Each year, in the
month of Caitra (March-April), this marriage is re-enacted, with the
priests of Virupaka temple devoutly performing every ritual from
Phalapj (betrothal) to Kalynotsava (marriage) in the temple.
The Sacred Center of the city lies south of the Tungabhadra
River, and it is dominated by four large complexes of the Virupaksha,

21

Subhash Kak

Ka, Tiruvengalantha (Acyutarya) and Vihala temples. The

major temples are either close to cardinality, departing by an average
of 10, or are oriented to major features of the sacred landscape.
Further south of the Sacred Center is the Royal Center,
which is divided into the public and private realms. The division is
achieved by a north-south axis, which passes almost precisely
between the king's 100-column audience hall in the east and the
queen's large palace in the west. The Rmacandra temple pierces the
axis by connecting the private and the public domains. In the
homology of the king and the deity, the king is able to inhere in him
the royalty and divinity of Rama.
The Vrabhadra temple is on the summit of Matanga hill,
which is the center of the vstu-mandala and the symbolic source of
protection that extended outward from it along radial lines. As
viewed from a point midway between the audience hall and the
queens palace, the shikhara of the Vrabhadra lies only 4 minutes of
arc (4) from true north. The ceremonial gateway in the corridor west
of Rmacandra temple joined with the summit of Matanga hill
departs from true north by 0.6 minutes of arc (0.6) (Malville, 2000).
The orientations of the major axes of the small temples,
shrines, and palaces of the urban core are in marked contrast to those.
The smaller structures are rotated away from cardinality for the four
o

directions by 17 , suggesting that they were influenced by the

position of the rising sun on the morning when it crosses the zenith.
The bazaar streets of the Virupaka, Vihala and Ka
temples are set between 13 and 15 degrees south of east. Malville
(2000) speculates that there may be some link between these
orientations and the rising point of the star Sirius.

8. Conclusions
Interest in archaeoastronomy and art, as connected to temples and
ancient monuments, has increased in India as the countrys prosperity
has increased. This increase is also owing to the major archaeological
discoveries that have been made in the past few decades and the
importance of temple tourism.
The principal authority over significant sites is the Indian
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and its sister institutions that
function at the state level as Departments of Archaeology and
Museums. In 1976, the Indian Government initiated projects to
22

Archaeoastronomy in India

excavate three great medieval cities: Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh,

Champaner in Gujarat, and Vijayanagara in Karnataka, which are
UNESCO World Heritage sites. The wealth of discoveries made in
these cities is strengthening the movement to expose and preserve
other sites in the country. The efforts at excavation, conservation, and
research can only be expected to increase. In particular, greater
attention will be given to the archaeoastronomical aspects of the
monuments.
Acknowledgements. I am thankful to R. Balasubramaniam, Michel
Danino, McKim Malville, and Rana P.B. Singh for their advice. The
essay is dedicated to the memory of R. Balasubramaniam who passed
away in December 2009.
This article is the unabridged version of an essay written for
the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). An
abridged version appeared as a chapter titled India on pages 101110 in the book Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy
in the context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention: A
Thematic Study edited by Clive Ruggles and Michel Cotte that was
published jointly by the International Council on Monuments and
Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Astronomical Union (IAU),
Paris, in 2010.

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