Saturday, April 2, 2016

B for Bhaskaracharya



Welcome to the "Believe it or Not- That's Incredible India!" series. India is home to some of the most astonishing wonders in the world. The rich culture, heritage, food, scriptures, architectural marvels and scores of known and unknown facts come together to create this multicolored melange that is India. Throughout this month, read about the various believe it or not facts about India and know what goes into the making of this incredible country!


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Several hundred years before the astronomer Smart calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit around the sun, an Indian mathematician and astronomer, Bhaskaracharaya had already made that calculation way back in 1150AD!  

Bhaskaracharya was head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain, the leading mathematical centre of ancient India. Born in 1114 AD, Bhaskaracharya wrote his treatise ‘Siddhanta Shiromani’ in 1150 AD when he was just 36 years old. In his book, he accurately calculated the time taken for the earth to orbit the sun to nine decimal places! He wrote that the earth takes 365.258756484 days to orbit the earth!

Modern science tells us that the measurement is 365.2564 days. Isn’t Bhaskaracharaya’s accuracy in that time and age marvelous?


Siddhanta Shiromani written by Bhaskaracharya is a mammoth work containing about 1450 verses dealing in detail with calculations pertaining to everything from Arithmetic to Astronomy. What’s even more astonishing is that his work is written in a fluid poetic language making you wonder how a difficult subject like Mathematics be written thus!

In this ground-breaking book, Bhaskaracharya also wrote about his findings on the decimal system, planetary positions, and about the gravitational force that helps to keep the planets, the sun, and the moon in their respective orbits much before the world could wake up to these deductions. He described the eclipses - lunar and solar, the phases of the moon and many such cosmological and geographical phenomenon with accuracy that baffles the human mind. To think about it, the world was still struggling to accept the fact that the earth was round and not flat, up until the 14th century! 

Bhaskaracharya is deservedly called ‘Ganak-chakra-chudamani’, which means, ‘a gem among all the calculators of astronomical phenomena.’

Believe it or not- That’s Incredible India!



30 comments:

  1. It's always good to read about our ancient Indian discoveries and inventions. It makes us proud! :)


    B - The Eye of the Beholder

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  2. I had read about him long back. Thank you for brushing up my memory with your posts just like last year :)

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  3. Wow that's amazing! I never realized that someone was that far ahead. :-D

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  4. I'd heard of Aryabhatt but Bhaskaracharya was new to me. What a learned man. Thank you for sharing information about him.

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  5. Mera Bharat Mahaan! Thanks for sharing this valuable piece about the great Bhaskaracharya.
    @KalaRavi16 from
    Relax-N-Rave

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  6. Never heard of this man, and can't quite get my tongue around his name, but that is a great little yarn, little princess.

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  7. It is indeed amazing... I read about it few years back and was awed by the accuracy. Didn't know that he wrote in poetic verses... that's sheer brilliance.

    Visiting from A to Z Challenge
    Pam's Unconventional Alliance Team
    A Whimsical Medley
    Twinkle Eyed Traveller

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  8. WOw..!! That was indeed an informative and interesting read.!! He must have been one terrific fellow..
    Thanks for this wonderful information..

    Cheers
    Geets

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  9. Omg! That was awesome. So proud of you to bring those facts in front of us and the whole world. Such precise calculations in those times is so amazingly genious of him.

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  10. Great post ! thanks for enlightening me, loved visiting your page !!

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  11. Have read about him, and was always amazed at how advanced he was for those times!
    - Chicky @ www.mysteriouskaddu.com

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  12. That's quite an informative post! Look forward to reading more of such gems of info this A-Z!

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  13. I think it's awesome - your theme. It'll be filled with fascinating things

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  14. That was a good read. Informative too.

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  15. I never knew that!! Looking for more facts about India!

    Nibha @ Expressions
    Bruises Of the Past

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  16. Great piece of information. You sure have researched it well!!

    http://meotherwise.com/2016/04/02/beaches-and-taste-buds-atozchallenge/

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  17. The name was long forgotten somewhere after I left school. Thanks for reviving those memories.
    - Bhavya
    http://ishithaa.com/2016/04/barbie-dolls-beaches-bollywood/

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  18. Gosh! That's brilliant! Just today our sir in classes told us not to get too reliant on out calculators. Maybe I should start doing some medium-difficulty level calculations in my brain, as a tribute to Bhaskaracharya! It's a small step, though *hides face* *runs away*

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  19. I feel like that title should be an official scientific award somehow... :D Wow! Fascinating! Mathematics and poetry... I wish people still did that today :D

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    The Multicolored Diary
    MopDog

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  20. How learned and advanced he was in that time. Simply amazing!!

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  21. Informative. I'm refreshing my memory! :)
    Thanks for sharing.

    You can read Army Wife Tales at
    Tale Of Two Tomatoes


    Also, visit to take a look at 26 lip-smacking Chicken Recipes at Something's Cooking

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  22. Oh yeah, he was marvelous indeed.

    You know I'm do proud of you for all the research you've done. Believe me, I do not have the patience for that!

    Looking forward to more from our Incredible India!

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  23. Incredible India!!!

    B for Bhaskaracharya..........and your post reminded us about our glorious past .

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  24. Hey.. Lag raha hai ki social studies class me hoon. However, the post was interesting and informative.

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  25. Did not know about this one! Interesting info.

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  26. What a great theme you have chosen and what a wonderful, informative post for today. I will certainly be returning to learn a lot more about Incredible India :)
    Pempi
    A Stormy’s Sidekick
    Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace

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  27. You truly have taken a lot of trouble finding out all these incredible facts of ancient India
    BellyBytes from
    Mumbai On A High

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  28. Incredible India, indeed! :)

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  29. Didn't know much about him. Thanks for sharing!

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  30. Thanks for sharing!! Wonderful knowing about him.

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At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person..deep gratitude for those who have lighted the flame within me!! your comments will be appreciated..

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