<p>The documentary explores the archaeological, astronomical apart from linguistic and oral evidences to prove the existence of the Mahabharata hero and debunk the myth theory.<br /><br />The 34-minute film directed by Dr Manish Pandit captures the strong beliefs of Krishna worshippers on one hand and juxtaposes it with archaeological, historical and astronomical evidences on the other hand, to drive home the point that he "existed in reality and not merely in the imagination of devotees and scripture writers."<br /><br />"The film relies on four premises -- the archaeological evidence, the astronomical evidence, the living traditions and the oral traditions to prove that Krishna existed and the Mahabharat did occur," says Pandit, originally from Pune and now working as a consultant and an honorary senior clinical lecturer in nuclear medicine in United Kingdom.<br /><br />"There are 150 astronomical references in Mahabharata. One wonders if it were a mere exaggerated account of a family feud as some claim, why would there be so many astronomical references. One could have written a fictional story using a few of them", he said during his recent India visit to promote the documentary.<br /><br />A planetary software corroborates the astronomical events as referred to in the book, he claims.<br /><br />"Some of the astronomical references are straight, some are a conjunction of stars and comets," Pandit said.<br />The film based its premise on mapping of skies that show the exact planetary position like those described in the Mahabharata and takes a look at "tithis", "muhurtas", conjunction of planets with different stars and eclipses all corroborated by scientists to determine that the war was fought, says Pandit.<br />"Under archaeology, the film looks at the Hastinapur excavation, the recently found evidences of the existence of Saraswati river," says Pandit.<br /><br />The film also takes a look at the finding of Greek kings paying homage to Krishna archaeologically (King Heliodorus) and coins bearing Krishna's likeness and also that of Balaram, issued by Greek Kings.<br />The discovery of underwater Dwarka, the seal of Dwarka, the inscription of Badami by Pulakeshini all figure in the film that takes a scientific look at these evidences, says Pandit, who is the `Sutradhar' in the film.<br /><br />Under the living traditions, it traces the banyan tree at Kuruskshetra, said to be a witness to the battle, people worshipping Ganges and chanting of Krishna in Kurukshetra.<br />The film features views of eminent scholars, academicians and scientists like Dr B B Lal, former Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India, Dr S R Rao, an eminent panelist of the ASI who supervised the Dwarka excavation and Dr Naraharai Achaar, Department of Physics, University of Memphsis, USA, who has done work on dating of the Mahabharata.</p>
<p>The documentary explores the archaeological, astronomical apart from linguistic and oral evidences to prove the existence of the Mahabharata hero and debunk the myth theory.<br /><br />The 34-minute film directed by Dr Manish Pandit captures the strong beliefs of Krishna worshippers on one hand and juxtaposes it with archaeological, historical and astronomical evidences on the other hand, to drive home the point that he "existed in reality and not merely in the imagination of devotees and scripture writers."<br /><br />"The film relies on four premises -- the archaeological evidence, the astronomical evidence, the living traditions and the oral traditions to prove that Krishna existed and the Mahabharat did occur," says Pandit, originally from Pune and now working as a consultant and an honorary senior clinical lecturer in nuclear medicine in United Kingdom.<br /><br />"There are 150 astronomical references in Mahabharata. One wonders if it were a mere exaggerated account of a family feud as some claim, why would there be so many astronomical references. One could have written a fictional story using a few of them", he said during his recent India visit to promote the documentary.<br /><br />A planetary software corroborates the astronomical events as referred to in the book, he claims.<br /><br />"Some of the astronomical references are straight, some are a conjunction of stars and comets," Pandit said.<br />The film based its premise on mapping of skies that show the exact planetary position like those described in the Mahabharata and takes a look at "tithis", "muhurtas", conjunction of planets with different stars and eclipses all corroborated by scientists to determine that the war was fought, says Pandit.<br />"Under archaeology, the film looks at the Hastinapur excavation, the recently found evidences of the existence of Saraswati river," says Pandit.<br /><br />The film also takes a look at the finding of Greek kings paying homage to Krishna archaeologically (King Heliodorus) and coins bearing Krishna's likeness and also that of Balaram, issued by Greek Kings.<br />The discovery of underwater Dwarka, the seal of Dwarka, the inscription of Badami by Pulakeshini all figure in the film that takes a scientific look at these evidences, says Pandit, who is the `Sutradhar' in the film.<br /><br />Under the living traditions, it traces the banyan tree at Kuruskshetra, said to be a witness to the battle, people worshipping Ganges and chanting of Krishna in Kurukshetra.<br />The film features views of eminent scholars, academicians and scientists like Dr B B Lal, former Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India, Dr S R Rao, an eminent panelist of the ASI who supervised the Dwarka excavation and Dr Naraharai Achaar, Department of Physics, University of Memphsis, USA, who has done work on dating of the Mahabharata.</p>
