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Ancient temple guarded by ugly statuettes.
Times of India ^ | 11/10/01 | Amit Mukherjee

Posted on 11/12/2001 9:38:13 AM PST by janus

Man falls into ancient cellar

AMIT MUKHERJEE

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

HMEDABAD: All Praveen Mehta, a retired bank employee of Ahmedabad, can think of these days is a dark underground chamber, guarded by three disfigured statues of dancing girls.

The chamber, with six hidden air ducts, was discovered after the January 26 earthquake of Gujarat. Believed to be a secret cellar of a bygone era, the chamber could have been used for performing secret yagnas. It could even be the outer chamber of a secret treasure trove.

The house, which was purchased by Mehta’s grandfather Giridharilal in 1898, suffered considerable damage in the quake. Portions of the floor developed cracks and the foundation was damaged as well.

Towards the end of August, one night Mehta woke up thirsty. Half asleep, he was fumbling for the switchboard, when he felt the ground sinking under him. Before he realised what happened, he found himself standing waist deep in soil.

Subsequent efforts to repair the living room floor led to the discovery of the small chamber underneath. It is connected to a tunnel, suggesting the existence of a catacomb below.

"It was an interesting co-existence — living with the mysterious history beneath you," remarks Mehta.

The main chamber is about 10 feet high and can be accessed through a staircase, big enough to accommodate a grown person.

The wall opposite has a carved facade in limestone about a foot wide. At its bottom, just above the floor, is the figure of a dancing apsara. At her feet lies the mouth of the tunnel.

The construction has elements of ancient temple architecture with arched cavities on the walls. The design reveals the influence of Hindu culture. "The experts from the Archaeological Survey of India have already made a detailed assessment," says Mehta. Though they have not come to any conclusion, the 14 such slots, which normally have statuettes placed inside them, are empty, suggesting intrusions into the area.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: catastrophism; earthquake; faithandphilosophy; godsgravesglyphs; gujarat; india; secretyagnas
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"The experts from the Archaeological Survey of India have already made a detailed assessment," says Mehta.

Probably the temple of the Snake God...."Reno".

1 posted on 11/12/2001 9:38:13 AM PST by janus
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To: janus
OK I give up. What is a "secret yagna?"
2 posted on 11/12/2001 9:56:06 AM PST by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Pearls Before Swine
secret yagnas
They are fantasy's kind of like dreaming of hot dogs chasing dough nuts thru the Lincoln Tunnel. OK?
3 posted on 11/12/2001 10:01:43 AM PST by duckman
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To: janus
I say we get Geraldo Rivera to open the chamber on prime time TV "Who wants to see a secret yagna?"
4 posted on 11/12/2001 10:22:26 AM PST by Sender
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To: duckman
Yagna is popularly understood as a fire sacrifice involving the offering of grains, clarified butter, sandalwood etc, to a fire . This fire is ignited in a special fireplace called the Kund, which literally means a "Pot". Yagna is normally performed with the objective of ushering in prosperity or to avoid disaster. For performing a Yagna a minimum number of five priests are required although many more priests may participate. A Yagna is normally accompanied by mass feeding of people, the food being distributed as Prasad (i.e food which has been sanctified by offering it to the Gods). Rituals similar to yagna are performed during marriage, thread ceremony, vaastu shanti (opening ceremony for a house), etc. when a homa or sacred fire is ignited in a kund. Yagna is a very old tradition in the Hindu religion and it is looked upon as a Vedic ritual. In Vedic literature there are innumerable descriptions of a Yagnas being performed. The origin of the Yagna is lost in history.
5 posted on 11/12/2001 10:24:22 AM PST by Lee Heggy
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To: Lee Heggy
Oh..! I guess I was wrong. Thanx for the head's up. DUCKMAN
6 posted on 11/12/2001 10:30:55 AM PST by duckman
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To: duckman
Thanks for the info. What type of special ceremonial blessing would "secret" imply?
7 posted on 11/12/2001 10:35:05 AM PST by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Lee Heggy
A very informative post. Welcome to FR.
8 posted on 11/12/2001 10:37:07 AM PST by dighton
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To: dighton
Thank you for the welcome. A 'secret' or private Yagna would be for the need of protection or to deflect a percieved evil away. It may also be that this particular chamber was in use during a period when Islamic and Buddist influences were causing upheavals in that particular place. There were hundreds of years of violent religious movements in that part of the world. Christians have no historical monopoly on being persecuted. Once again, Thank you for the welcome.
9 posted on 11/12/2001 10:50:43 AM PST by Lee Heggy
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To: blam
ping!
10 posted on 11/12/2001 10:55:57 AM PST by Romulus
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To: Lee Heggy
So, no hotdogs or doughnuts?
11 posted on 11/12/2001 11:03:43 AM PST by okie_tech
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To: Lee Heggy
the food being distributed as Prasad (i.e food which has been sanctified by offering it to the Gods).

Hi, everyone. I just finished offering all the food in the world to the Gods, so it is now completely sanctified on a global basis. This will save tons of time for everyone.

When the corn fields produce new ears next year, you'll have to go through the offering process again. Sorry. You can only do what you can do.

I'm working on the procedures right now to provide "future offering" of food to the Gods. When perfected, I'll be able to offer all future food to the Gods, and then this step can be skipped by everyone for all time. Messages of appreciation will be received by my accolytes in the doorway of the temple while I concentrate on the discoveries I'm making. If you include money in your gifts, I can place you on the top of the list of "future food offerings to the Gods" for your added convenience.

Adoring females may present themselves at the "rearward facing" holy doorway and meet with the yodhis who will prepare you to meet me at the appropriate times. If you wish, you may be present at the "future offerings to the Gods" ritual so that you may bask in the glory of the holy future Prasad ceremony.

12 posted on 11/12/2001 11:07:12 AM PST by fordlight
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To: fordlight
Cool, I'll be there! I'm ready for some adoring females! BTW, Hot dogs and dough nuts are perfectly acceptable to the 'gods' as long as the dough nuts have little sprinkles on em.
13 posted on 11/12/2001 11:10:52 AM PST by Lee Heggy
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To: janus
The horror: dancing apsaras performing secret yagnas, RIGHT UNDER YOUR HOUSE.

I may not ever get a good night's sleep again, knowing this sort of thing can happen.

14 posted on 11/12/2001 11:19:54 AM PST by CubicleGuy
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To: CubicleGuy
From http://www.ssdec.nsw.edu.au/Acesasia/cambodia/prekhan.html:


Row of dancing apsaras along the lintel

15 posted on 11/12/2001 11:31:58 AM PST by RonDog
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To: okie_tech
So, no hotdogs or doughnuts?

I hear the gods prefer KrispyKreme Doughnuts. Doesn't everyone?

16 posted on 11/12/2001 11:34:49 AM PST by ICU812
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach ·
· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·

 
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Note: this topic is from Monday, November 12, 2001.

Thanks janus.

Blast from the Past.

It ain't even ten years old yet, so I'm going to give it a ping!

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
 

· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword ·
· Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·


17 posted on 05/31/2011 5:12:43 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
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To: gleeaikin; 75thOVI; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; ...

Thanks janus.
Note: this topic is from Monday, November 12, 2001.



18 posted on 05/31/2011 5:14:32 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
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To: SunkenCiv

What no Helen Thomas photos on this thread yet?


19 posted on 05/31/2011 5:15:15 PM PDT by ColdOne (I miss my poochie... Tasha 2000~3/14/11)
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To: ICU812; camle; Alkhin; Professional Engineer; katana; Mr. Silverback; MadIvan; agrarianlady; ...

HOLLY: Morning, Dave. I’ve finished your translation.
LISTER: Who’s Cloister? Is it me?
HOLLY: Yes, Dave. The Cats have made you their God.
LISTER: Hey! Working class kid makes good!
HOLLY: Your plan to buy a farm on Fiji and open up a hot dog and doughnut diner has become their image of heaven.
LISTER: What?

HOLLY displays a picture from the Holy Book, showing the noble, biblical, sort-of-Lister standing on a mountaintop, reading a scroll to the black cat. HOLLY reads from the book in voice-over.

HOLLY: “And Cloister spake, `Lo, I shall lead you to Fyushal, and there we shall open a temple of food, wherein shall be sausages and doughnuts and all manner of bountiful things.

The picture changes to one showing the pseudo-Lister standing in front of a sausage and doughnut cart on a beach, with palm trees.

HOLLY: “`Yea, even individual sachets of mustard. And those who serve shall have hats of great majesty, yea, though they be made of coloured cardboard and have humorous arrows through the top.’”
LISTER: Does it say what happened to the rest of the Cats?
HOLLY: Holy wars. There were thousands of years of fighting, Dave, between the two factions.
LISTER: What two factions?
HOLLY: Well, the ones who believed the hats should be red, and the ones who believed the hats should be blue.

Another picture, showing the holy wars. It looks like a scene from the Bayeaux Tapestry.

LISTER: Do you mean they had a war over whether the doughnut diner hats were red or blue?
HOLLY: Yeah. Most of them were killed fighting about that. It’s daft really, innit?
LISTER: You’re not kidding. They were supposed to be green.


20 posted on 05/31/2011 5:20:17 PM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 859 of our national holiday from reality. - Obama really isn't one of us)
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