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Lone Wolf Ratnakar

@sadaashree

Oct 8

Today is Jayanti of G. N. Ramachandran, or GNR as he was known, one of the great Indian scientists of modern era, an equally good Vedic scholar, studied the Upanishads in depth.

One of the biggest advances in the field of molecular biophysics, has been the discovery of the triple hellical structure of collagen, that enabled a better understanding of the peptide structure.

The Ramachandran plot has become a standard description of protein structures in the text books.

And the man behind this discovery, G.N. Ramachandran or GNR as he was known. His contributions in molecular biophysics, especially protein structure, were worthy of a Noble, which like most other Indian scientists was denied.

He set up two centers for molecular biophysics at IISc, and University of Madras, both of which are among the best in the world today. He was also deeply interested in Indian classical music and philosophy.

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Lone Wolf Ratnakar

@sadaashree

Sep 29

India is a land of rivers, each having it's own history, legends and significance. But how many know of the origin behind the names of these rivers?

Ganga, the holiest of the rivers, is derived from the Sanskrit word गङ्गा, that literally means "one which moves swiftly" from the root गम्( Gam) which means to move. She is also worshipped as a Devi, riding a crocodile like creature called Makara.

In Ramayana, Ganga is described as the first born of Himavat, and a sister to Parvati, while in the Mahabharat she is the mother of Bhishma, through King Shantanu. The Ramayana also has story of her descent to earth through Bhagiratha.

Yamuna in the Puranas is the daughter of Surya, and sister of Yama. Also called Yami and Kalindi, she is also one of Krishna's 8 principal wives. Dark in complexion, her mount is a tortoise, carrying a water pot in hand.

Yamuna's other brothers include Vaivasvata Manu, the first ever man as per Puranas, the Ashwini twins and Shani. As per Puranas, Surya's spouse Sanjana was unable to bear the heat and light radiating from him, and so she shut her eyes.

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Lone Wolf Ratnakar

@sadaashree

Sep 27

Jogulamba at Alampur, is one of the fiercest forms of Devi. One of the 18 Mahashakti Peethams, where Sati's upper teeth are believed to have fallen here, this is also called Navabrahma Theertha, Shiva is worshipped here as Brahmeswara.

Alampur Navabrahma Temples are a cluster of 9 temples dedicated to Shiva, located at the Sangama of the Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers, making this a very holy spot. Built by the Badami Chalukyas, these temples are known for their architectural excellence.

Sangameshwara Temple at Alampur is the most well known at Alampur, constructed by Pulakesin I, in typical Chalukyan style. Built at Kudaveli, where the Sangama of Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers takes place, somewhere in the 7th century, must visit.

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Lone Wolf Ratnakar

@sadaashree

Sep 23

You would have heard of A.S.Rao Nagar in Hyderabad, one of the faster growing suburbs, where the ECIL HQ is located.

But how many know about the man behind the name, Ayyagari Sambasiva Rao, the founder of ECIL, and one of the great Indian scientists of modern era, who had worked with the likes of Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai.

He was born in a small village Mogallu in West Godavari district on September 20, 1914, which also happens to be the ancestral village of the great revolutionary Alluri Sitarama Raju.

Coming from a rather humble family, where his mother had to pawn her ornaments to pay for his education, he studied on scholarships, and joined BHU, where he did his masters in Physics, and worked as a faculty for sometime, doing research work. In 1946, he was selected by Tata Scholarship to pursue his MS in Electrical Engg from Stanford.

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Lone Wolf Ratnakar

@sadaashree

Sep 21

As per the Puranas, when Sati died, a grief stricken Shiva, carried her body, performing the Tandava in anger. When the gods implored Vishnu to save the world from Shiva's wrath, he cut Sati's corpse into pieces with his Sudarshana Chakra.

The places where parts of Sati's corpse fell on earth are considered as Shakti Peethas, sanctified by the holy presence of Devi Maa. There are around 51 Shakti Peetha of which 38 are in India, while Bangladesh has 5, Nepal 3, Pakistan 2, and Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Tibet 1 each.

Again of these Shakti Peethas, you have 4 Adi Shakti Peethas, considered the major ones, and all are in the Eastern region. The Kamakhya temple at Gauhati, Kalighata at Kolkata, Tara Tarini at Berhampur and Bimala Pada at Puri, which is part of the Puri Jagannatha complex.

Apart from the Adi Shakti Peethas, you have 18 Maha Shakti Peethas, which are mentioned in the Ashta Dasha Shakti Peetha Stothram by Adi Shankara, of which two are not in India, Shankari Devi at Trincomalee( Sri Lanka) and Sharada Peetha at Muzaffarabad( POK).

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Lone Wolf Ratnakar

@sadaashree

Sep 14

There has been an attempt to whitewash the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan as an essentially benign ruler, who was misled by Qasim Rizvi on the Razakars.

That has been perpetuated by an entire cabal of Indian English writers, praising the Nizam, and downplaying the Razakars, even claiming it was not a Hindu Muslim issue.

Osman Ali Khan, became the Nizam in 1911 and the first thing he did was getting the Hindu dewan Kishan Prasad resign. Urdu was the primary medium of education when hardly 10% of the state spoke it, the majority languages Telugu, Kannada and Marathi were completely suppressed.

And this led most Hindus to drop out of schools, leaving Hyderabad State with one of the lowest literacy rates compared to Presidencies like Madras, Bombay or other princely states like Travancore, Mysore.

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