Ahmedabad, India, 9 July 2006: An insight into ‘cosmic cities’ described in the Indian epics including Ramayana and Mahabharata can be obtained by analysing pictures sent by an IRS satellite, said P S Thakker, a senior scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Though these sites are known to people, it is not possible to know the settlement pattern from the surface as they have been destroyed with passage of time and some have been buried. However, by looking at satellite pictures one can see things that are not visible to the naked eye, he says.
Thakker said Remote Sensing can play an important role to correlate archeological findings from ancient sites, which are mentioned in the scriptures of Hindu religion. Thakker has worked on a project called Remote Sensing of Cosmic Cities in Ancient India, studying important historical and ancient cities, which are described in the Hindu scriptures and correlating them with Remote Sensing data obtained from satellite at the altitude of above 800 km in space. Some sites, which he has studied, include Kausambi, Ahichhatra, Lumbini, Shravasti and Nalanda.
He said Remote Sensing data can also successfully be used for building up historical records of changes that might have taken place on the surface of the earth. The data may also be used in updating ancient atlases.
