Astronomy in ancient India

We know you are a fan of the astronomy, that is why this time we will talk about the hindu astronomy. Let's start by mentioning that the ancient settlers of India thought that the Universe was a cosmic night sleep of the god Brahma. The first references to Hindu astronomical concepts were made 2 thousand years BC. Can you believe it? Obviously astronomy at that time had a close relationship with religion, and therefore with national mythology. While it is true that Hindu culture was not noted for its great advances in astronomical scientific terms, we can certainly find some characters who made history such as the astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata, who claimed that the Earth rotated on its own axis. It also determined the rotational movements of the Earth. Also another of his discoveries were linked to eclipses. One of his biggest mistakes was to conceive the solar system as geocentric, also highlighting that the sun was another planet in the planetary system as well as the moon.

Another of the great astronomers in Hindu history was varahamihira, who wrote the works Pancha-Siddhantika and Brihat-Samhita.

Now, if you are going to be passing through India, you will be interested to know that we can find a astronomical observatories important. One of them is Jantar Mantar, an observatory dating from the XNUMXth century and which is located in Jaipur. Also in Jaipur we can find the Jai Singh astronomical observatory, which was for its time of construction one of the best observatories not only in the country but also in the continent.