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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Welcomes you to a lecture on
VEDIC HARAPPANS: AN ENIGMA NO LONGER
Harappan archaeology represents the material side of the civilization that created the Vedic literature. It came at the end of a long maritime phase going back to the end of the Ice Age.
A Lecture by
Dr. N.S. Rajaram
When: 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm, Saturday, April 10, 2010
(Lecture followed by Q&A)
Venue: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 4-237
Ever since archaeologists unearthed the Harappan civilization nearly a century ago, scholars have sought to keep it separate from the Vedic literature and culture. This has resulted in the paradox of a history without literature for the Harappans and a literature without history for the Vedic Aryans. Following the collapse of the ‘Aryan invasion’ version of history, and recent findings in natural history and genetics, it is possible to identify the Harappans as belonging to the late Vedic Age. Harappan civilization was the twilight of the Vedic Age and broke up due to ecological degradation including the drying up of the Sarasvati River.
Natural history further allows us to trace the origins of the Vedic civilization to the maritime world of the end of the last Ice Age. Harappan iconography is full of Vedic symbols. The presentation will highlight the Harappan symbolism and its connections with the Vedic and other ancient literature. The presentation will also indicate important areas for research, which, however, requires dropping old dogmas and a readiness to use multidisciplinary approaches based on science, literature as well as combining ancient and modern metaphysics.
Dr. Navaratna S. Rajaram is a mathematical scientist who after more than twenty years as an academic and industrial researcher turned his attention to history and history of science. He has authored several acclaimed books on ancient history including Sarasvati River and the Vedic Civilization, Vedic Aryans and the Origins of Civilization (w/ David Frawley); and The Deciphered Indus Script (w/ Natwar Jha). He is best known for showing the connections between Vedic Mathematics and Indus archaeology and proposing a decipherment of the 5000 year old Indus script jointly with the late Natwar Jha. He is currently visiting the University of Massachusetts Center for Indic Studies at Dartmouth.
MIT Samskritam: http://web.mit.edu/samskritam/www/
Mythili Vutukuru - mythili@MIT.EDU
Lavanya Marla - lavanya@mit.edu
Krishna Jagannathan - krishnaj@MIT.EDU
Arvind Thyagarajan - arvindt@MIT.EDU
Samskrita Bharati : http://www.samskritabharati.org Email: boston@samskritabharati.org
