The second programme on Underwater Civilisations was specific to the continent of India and the evidence of marine archaeology and flood accounts in Indian literature.
The first flood account referred to was from the town of Dwarka on the tip of the Gujarat peninsular in NW India. This town is sacred to Krishna as he founded it and lived there until he died. When he departed earth the legend says the town was swept away by a great flood. Although there is evidence of a submerged civilisation in the bay it is not dated earlier than the Middle Ages. However, the account of the flooding of Dwarka is a part of the cycle of Indian myths of a flood survivor, Manu, who built an ark and became father of future mankind. This is referred to in the Vedas which were composed about 1500 B.C but based on older oral traditions.
Much time was spent establishing the existence of a pre-Harappan civilisation in the Indus valley with the intention of showing that the account of the flood went back at least 6000 years. Reference was made to the discovery of the ancient city of Dholavira which had an advanced civilisation in 3000 B.C. Another reference was to an image of a man in the yoga position of Mulubandhasana found in the Harappan city of Mohenjo-daro and claimed to be 4,700 years old. I thought the link of this image with the tradition of Manu to be rather tenuous but it did demonstrate the antiquity of yoga itself.
The next reference was to the Tamil myth that a temple in the ancient city of Majari (spelling uncertain) on the coast of southern India was established by survivors of the flood. It was claimed that 10,000 years ago the sea rose and destroyed a civilisation but no evidence was provided for the age of the legend. Nevertheless, the plurality of flood legends was of interest.
By far the most impressive part of this programme was the discovery of two ancient cities at a depth of 120 feet in the Gulf of Cambay, NW India. Man-made objects discovered there yielded carbon dates of 9,500 years ago which were confirmed by both the Birbal Sahni Palaebotany Institute and the Indian National Geophysical Research Institute. These included micro-tools, pottery, jewellery and other ornaments which Dr Badrinarayanan, consultant for India's National Institute of Ocean Technology, identified as prior to the Harappan period. They appear to be twin cities about the size of Manhattan, one being 8 kilometres in length, the other almost nine kilometres. Both appear to be along ancient river courses. Images picked up using sub-bottom profiling, which detects materials beneath the sea-bed, showed massive foundations very regularly spaced which suggested huge walls. Sidescan sonar beamed along the sea-bed showed geometrical structures about 70 x 40 metres. It also showed square, platform-like features about 98 metres in length. Much of this information was provided by Dr B.Sasisekaran, Research Associate of the National Science Academy, and was demonstrated by computer simulation.
I will also report on the third and final episode of this series as soon as I have opportunity to review the videotape.
anewperson...pleased to hear you found this of interest. I have not mentioned any discovery off Cuba as it was not referred to in these programmes. I am simply repeating the programmes I've seen as they provide additional food for thought beyond what the scriptures say and science has determined.
Earnest
"Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!" - Rev. Charles Dodgson.
