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Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

@MumukshuSavitri

Mar 14

Holi is famous as the Hindu festival of joyous revelry with colors, but beneath all that revelry lie ancient Vedic astronomical rituals deeply tied to the motion of the Sun and cosmic renewal.

In this thread I will attempt to explain how the various aspects of the festival of Holi are rooted in very ancient astronomical concepts like the Sun’s oscillation, the Vedic New Year ceremony, and the cyclical nature of time.

Today, we consider January 1st as the start of the New Year, but there was a time in ancient Vedic tradition, when the year once began in Phalguna (Holi’s month). Texts like Tilak’s Orion reference Vedic calendar systems where Phalguna marked both the end and beginning of the year, leading into the vernal equinox. This was a clear astronomical transition, where the Sun shifted northward, bringing longer days and renewed energy. So the festival of Holi, was not just a celebration of spring but a marker of time itself, rooted in the solar cycles of renewal.

Even today in Braj, Bengal and Odisha, Holi is celebrated as Dol-Yatra/Poornima, the Swing Festival, where Krishna is ceremonially rocked back and forth on a swing (hindola). This Vaishnavite festival represents the sun as a form of Vishnu. The celestial swinging motion is not arbitrary though, it symbolizes the pendulum like oscillation of the Sun as it moves across the sky between the two solstices of Dakshinayana (Sun’s southern journey, leading to winter, shorter days, and darkness) and Uttarayana (Sun’s northern journey, leading to summer, longer warmer days, and vitality)

Just as a pendulum pauses before reversing direction, the Sun reaches a turning point where it pauses before moving into its brighter phase. Holi marks that final swing before the Sun fully ascends into its strongest months. The Sun’s journey is cyclic, and Dol-Yatra preserves this cosmic motion in ritual form.

So, amazingly the Dol Utsav symbolizes a profound astronomical observation which marks the occasion where the sun is "rocking" into a new phase of the year in his journey across the sky - symbolized by Krishna in his Hindola!

Fascinatingly, even the central Holi ritual Holika Dahan, where an effigy of Holika is burned in a bonfire is not just from the legend about Prahlada and Bhagwan Narasimha saving him from his demoness aunt Holika - it is also a remnant of the Vedic Yagnas or fire sacrifices that marked the burning of the past year. The ancient Vedic New Year’s first yagna was called Agrahayana (which literally means the first month of the year in Sanskrit) and performed to burn away the impurities of the previous cycle to reset time itself. Agni is a cosmic purifier, ensuring that disease, disorder, and misfortune were consumed before the Sun entered its new phase. In several texts Holika herself is referred to as the sister of Samvat (year) who is cremated to usher in the new year. The word Holika itself likely comes from the combination of “Homa” (burnt offering in Yagna) and “Loka” (mankind), where it refers to humans gaining prosperity and good fortune from the performance of the Yagna itself.

Therefore, beginning the festival with the fire of Holika is not just a ceremonial destruction of all the bad things from the previous year, it is a cosmic reset, a purification of time itself in anticipation of a fresh start for the new year.

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Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

@MumukshuSavitri

Mar 5

Hey @asadowaisi why are you resorting to quoting Richard M. Eaton - when Aurangzeb’s own official Islamic biography Maāsir-I-Ālamgiri itself lists him proudly destroying 300+ Hindu temples in Mewar in just one year alone (1680)! In his hateful quest to forcibly convert India into Dar-al-Islam, nothing was sacred. He desecrated innumerable Hindu gods, destroyed 500+ temples including Hinduism's holiest shrines, and built ugly mosques on top of them. Being a famous lawyer you should at least have looked up documented Islamic sources and respected Indian translators like Jadunath Sarkar who reference Aurangzeb’s destruction in great detail first.

As for the rest of your nonsensical lies about Pushyamitra Śunga and Raja Śaśanka destroying Buddhist sites - I will give you a history lesson on each one of these claims in next couple of days and debunk all your lies on them with meticulous references too. Hope you will read them just like this thread and apologize for falsifying history.

If you have the guts then go through this entire thread detailing all of Aurangzeb’s evil & horrific destruction of 500+ Hindu temples - entirely based on Islamic sources. After that If you have any shame left, apologize or else I challenge you to disprove a single incidence.

Read entire Thread ...🧵

2/10
Aurangzeb hated Hindus so much that he destroyed Mandirs even BEFORE becoming king! At the young age of 27, Aurangzeb destroyed the beautiful Chintaman temple, then forcibly converted it into a mosque & slaughtered a cow there. He then destroyed the temple of Khande Rai in Satara & proudly declared that he had gotten many temples in Gujarat demolished.

3/10
Aurangzeb was practically salivating to destroy the sacred Somnath Mandir, which he did early in his reign & when Hindus tried to rebuild it, the vitriolic monster ordered it to be completely annihilated. In 1661, he ordered all Hindu temples in Cooch Bihar to be destroyed & mosques built on top of them. His general Mir Jumla himself broke Bhagwan Narayan's image with an axe.

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Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

@MumukshuSavitri

Feb 8

Madanamahotsava: Bharat’s Ancient Festival of Love and Spring
Centuries before St. Valentine or even Christ, Hindus celebrated love - not for a single day, but for nine joyous days of devotion, romance, and revelry in spring’s embrace. This grand festival called Madanamahotsava, also known as Vasantotsava, honored Kamadeva (Madana), the god of love, alongside his consort Rati and Vasanta, the spirit of spring. Referenced in Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra (400 BCE) and called Suvasantaka, it was a grand celebration of music, dance, playful festivity, and sacred rites dedicated to the spirit of love, beginning on Vasanta Panchami and culminating in the Vasantanavratras.

Let's explore the history of Bharat's festival of love 🧵

One of the earliest mentions of Madanmahotsava is found in Vatsyayana's Kamasutra (400 BCE). Clad in resplendent attire, men and women gathered in temples and royal courts at the advent of spring, seeking the blessings of divine couples for love and prosperity. Hemadri’s Vratakhanda (13th c.) recounts in detail the legendary tale of Kamadeva awakening Shiva from deep meditation to tempt him into union with Gauri. Furious at his Tapasya being disturbed, Shiva reduced him to ashes with a single fiery glance. Kamadeva's distraught wife, Rati begged and pleaded with Lord Shiva for his revival. Moved by Rati’s unwavering devotion and Gauri's persuasion, Shiva, in his boundless compassion, granted that Kamadeva would once again regain his physical form every year on the 13th day of the bright half of the spring month. Thus, the annual festival of Madanamahotsava was born - enshrining the triumph of love and renewal.

Rituals described by Hemadri included intricate kolam paintings, worship of the Ashoka tree, and offerings of sandalwood, incense, and flowers to Kamadeva, Shiva, Vasanta, and Vighnesvara. The king and his court led grand ceremonies, distributing sweets, delicacies, and paan as dakshina. Couples exchanged fine garments, jewelry, and floral gifts, culminating in the Rasa-mahotsava, a divine dance in honor of Krishna and Radha.

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Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

@MumukshuSavitri

Jan 23

1/10
Indeed, Aurangzeb was not just any ordinary evil king - he epitomized the demonic savagery of Islamic fanaticism powered by hatred against infidel Hindu Kafirs. Aurangzeb was obsessed with such virulent hatred against Hindus that his official biography Maāsir-I-Ālamgiri itself lists him proudly destroying 300+ Hindu temples in Mewar in just one year alone (1680)! In his hateful quest to forcibly convert India into Dar-al-Islam, nothing was sacred. He desecrated innumerable Hindu gods, destroyed 1000s of temples including Hinduism's holiest shrines, and built ugly mosques on top of them. If you have the guts then read this entire thread detailing all his evil - entirely based on Islamic sources, and then do some soul searching for calling such a barbaric monster "Great".

Read entire Thread ...🧵

Read 10 tweets

Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

@MumukshuSavitri

Jan 22

1/7
The insidious agenda and lack of academic integrity of Ruchika Sharma, PhD in history from JNU & self-proclaimed academic expert, stands thoroughly exposed when we analyze her peer-reviewed paper (bit.ly/4h1tcSv) in the Journal of Archaeological Studies in India. Let's deconstruct her paper claim by fallacious claim and scrutinize it against factual evidence. I have created a summary table for easy reference. Please read entire thread for full details.🧵

False Assertion 1: Ruchika's primary claim in her paper is that Malwa Sultan Mahmud Khalji built a grand Islamic general hospital (Dar-us-Shifa) at Mandu, MP in 1443 CE which she identifies with an existing monument called “Gada Shah’s Shop” in Mandu. (Img 2)

Reality: Shockingly, Ruchika deliberately leaves out contradictory evidence from her OWN cited source (Ghulam, Yazdani (1929), Mandu: The City of Joy) which states that the structure Ruchika tries to misappropriate as an Islamic hospital was actually the royal Durbar/audience hall of Hindu Rajput King Medini Rai. (Img 3: Yazdani, p. 28, 79) Gada Shah is none other than Medini Rai. Medini Rai’s Durbar Hall was later called Gada Shah’s Shop by the Muslims. Rajput Medini Rai overthrew Mahmud Khalji’s son Mahmud 2 and ruled Mandu as a vassal of Rana Sangha from 1519 - 1528 CE. Ruchika’s source Yazdani also points out that both Gada Shah’s Shop (which she claims is Khalji’s hospital) and Gada Shah’s House (Palace) were built AFTER Khalji’s death by Medini Rai in the same architectural style. Two huge mural paintings of Medini Rai and his queen are still to be seen in Gada Shah’s House. The world-famous German art historian Dr. Hermann Goetz, an expert on Indo-Persian architecture, also clearly identified Gada Shah’s Shop and Gada Shah’s Palace as Rajput Medini Rai’s Durbar/Audience hall and palace residence in Mandu. (Img 4: Goetz)

Thread Continues....🧵

2/7
False Assertion 2: Ruchika’s entire identification of Medini Rai’s Durbar (Gada Shah’s Shop) with Khalji’s Islamic hospital is based on her personal architectural observations that the building is divided into two chambers which she assumes represent separate male and female patient chambers. She also cites that the “existence of small rooms but also big halls” matches Khalji’s Islamic hospital. (Img 5)

Reality: Ruchika’s own Islamic sources don’t even specify whether the hospital was located in Mandu. Her unsupported conjectural claim again completely ignores her own source Yazdani who points out that Medini Rai’s Durbar (now known as Gada Shah’s Shop) was built for the purpose of serving as a grand audience hall (durbar). In fact her source Yazdani even specifies that it was a Durbar-i-aam built for granting audience to the public while the nearby Hindōl Mahal served the purpose of a Durbar-i-Khas (Audience hall for select assemblies). (Img 7) This explains exactly why the architecture has such grand arches and separate small rooms because they were often built as showpieces of royal prestige. The usage of such grand arches makes no sense for the purpose of a building built as a hospital. Like Yazdani, Dr. Goetz also clearly states that Gada Shah’s Shop (Medini Rai’s Durbar) has “massive sloping buttresses because of the lateral pressure of the huge arches supporting the roof of the Audience Room”. (Img 8) Even the ASI website clearly labels the structure as an audience hall. Yet Ruchika ignores all this insurmountable proof, and makes the bizarre claim that this was Khalji’s Islamic hospital without a shred of objective evidence.

Thread Continues....🧵

3/7
False Assertion # 3: Ruchika’s Islamic source mentions a Hammam (Bath house) adjoining Khalji’s hospital. But since no such structure exists near Medini Rai’s durbar (Gada Shah’s Shop) - Ruchika claims that “scattered remains of a tank exist … which could have been the bath houses (hammam) that Shihab Hakim (1968, p. 64) points to.” She also claims the building is far away from the palace area but in close proximity to Khalji’s other buildings like the Madrasa and the Jama Masjid. (Img 9)

Reality: We can refer directly to Google Maps which clearly demonstrate that the only water tanks/reservoirs near Medini Rai’s durbar (Gada Shah’s Shop) are the Ujala baodi, the Prachin Hindu Baodi and Kapur tank. These were all obviously built as reservoirs for the Durbar halls and palaces and show no evidence of being used as Hammams. (Img 10) Google Maps also busts Ruchika’s false claim that her so-called “hospital” is located near Khalji’s Masjid & Madrasa. As can be clearly seen on the map, Medini Rai’s durbar (Gada Shah’s Shop) is a good distance away from the cluster of Khalji’s buildings which are further South. (Img 11) Clearly there is no evidence of any Hammam near Medini Rai’s durbar, but there are Hindus Baodis (wells) and Water tanks (Kapur tank). Thus Ruchika’s desperate attempt to retrofit her utterly flawed claim by misrepresenting geographical facts falls flat on its face.

Thread Continues....🧵

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Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

@MumukshuSavitri

Nov 15, 2024

Talk about a nasty bag full of distortions and outright lies. That Shree Rama existed centuries before Buddha was even born is attested directly by authentic Buddhist sources themselves. I will methodically dissect and disprove every deceptive claim by fact checking it against authoritative and authentic sources. Please read all parts of the entire thread to the end including the screenshots which provide crucial evidence. 🧵

Claim # 1:
Ram is a mythological character, whereas Buddha was a real historical figure—there’s simply no comparison.

Fact: False. This claim is disproven by the oldest & most authoritative Buddhist biography of Buddha’s life itself - Aśvaghoṣa’s (2nd c.) Buddhacharita. The Buddhacharita documents that Buddha belonged to the same Suryavanshi Ikshvaku dynasty as Rama; it pays homage to Valmiki as the Adikavi and mentions Janaka too. After he renounces his family, Buddha’s father sends a wise advisor to the forest to try & convince him to return back home. The advisor tries to persuade him to return by mentioning Rama as an example - as someone from older times, who returned after penance in forests to protect his kingdom against evil. In response Buddha himself says he cannot do what Rama did & refuses to return. This clearly proves that Rama was already revered as an ancient historical personality to be emulated in Buddha’s times.

Claim # 2: Buddha was not a descendant of Ram because Ram never existed in reality.

Fact: False. Disproved by the very first chapter on Buddha’s Birth in the authoritative biography Buddhacharita which records that Buddha was a descendant of the Suryavanshi Ikshvaku dynasty - from the same lineage to which Rama belonged millennia before him. An even older account of Buddha’s ancestral family tree is found in the Buddhist text Mahāvastu, a composite multi-life hagiography of the Buddha (2nd c. BCE) which details how the sons of Ikshvaku built Kapilavastu and were the forefathers of the Shakyas - the clan of the Buddha.

Claim #3: In fact, Buddha lived long before the Valmiki Ramayana was compiled.

Fact: False. We already know that Rama lived many millennia before Buddha from irrefutable evidence in the Ramayana itself & many other Hindu texts.Authoritative Buddhist texts like Mahavamsa also clearly record the Shakya clan as part of Suryavanshi Ikshvaku dynasty with the line of succession from Rishi Sagara to Dasharatha & Rama who lived many generations before Suddhodana (Buddha’s father). Moreover Princeton historian, Robert Goldman's comprehensive comparative analysis of the Ramayana proves that the descriptions of history & geography of Kosala in the Ramayana clearly reflect an era BEFORE the Buddha thus dating it prior to 5th c. BCE (time of Buddha) even by Western standards. His work is considered the most comprehensive & authoritative Western analysis of Ramayana’s historicity. As mentioned before the Buddhacharita also testifies to Valmiki already being revered as the ancient Adi Kavi during Buddha's era.

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