Thread by @india_narrative

#DYK that the world’s ‘oldest’ recorded zero symbol is in India
It's at #Gwalior’s Chaturbhuj Temple
The Hindu temple excavated in a rock face in the Gwalior Fort, in c875 AD, by Alla, the son of Vaillabhatta of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty is a sought after monument

One of the temples inscriptions contains the earliest known inscription of the circular symbol "O", to represent zero, in India, though the Bakhshali manuscript is regarded as the earliest existent use of zero
@RomeshNadir @amritabhinder @MeghBulletin @OsintUpdates @centerofright

The inscription reads among other things that the community planted a garden of 187 hastas by 270 hastas (1 hasta = 1.5 ft), that the garden yielded 50 garlands for the temple every day
The last digits of 270 & 50 are "O" shaped

@bkum2000 @ShefVaidya @mathshistory @MathsStories

Though Indian ancient texts mention Zero much earlier, this temple has the earliest known epigraphical evidence inscribed in stone that already knows & uses the concept of zero

#India's Chaturbhuja Temple is a dream visit for many mathematicians across the globe

#IndiaNarrative

Many believe that the idea of zero was born from the idea of nirvana, the transcendent state of “nothingness” or #Shunya, a state achieved when you are liberated from suffering & desires

#IndiaNarrative

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