Astronomy in Ancient India

Astronomy is a science that deals with the study of stars, planets and other heavenly objects. In ancient India, astronomy was considered one of the most important sciences to study.

The earliest mention of astronomy in the world comes from the Vedas, which are among the oldest texts known to man. They are written in Sanskrit, which is the most common Indian language and has a long history.

Throughout the Vedic period, many references are made to the Sun and other celestial bodies such as stars and planets. These references can be found in the Rig Veda, the Mahabharata and the Atharva Veda.

There is a lot of evidence that the Indian people have been studying the sky since time immemorial and this knowledge has helped them to control many of their rituals. It is not surprising then that they have been following astronomical calendars for over six millennia!

They have figured out that the Sun is actually a star, they have counted all of the planets in our solar system and they understand something about the force of gravity.

This knowledge is credited to the renowned Hindu astrologer, astronomer and polymath Varahamihira. His extraordinary encyclopedic work Brihat Samhita, is an eloquent testimony of his immense knowledge and skill in the field of astrology, astronomy and mathematics.

He was an excellent astronomer, mathematician and sage who was greatly respected in the Indian society. He was the first in the world to describe the position of the Sun as being exactly spherical and also the exact topographical shape of the Earth. He had a deep understanding of the planetary motions and also the theory of eclipses.

The Earth is a sphere

In his treatise Surya Siddhanta, Varahamihira described the shape of the Earth as being exactly spherical and stated that it is the ‘center of the universe’ or ‘the sun’. He also gave a detailed description of the shape of the moon.

It is a matter of fact that the astronomy knowledge in India reached a pinnacle during the 6th century when the ‘Aryabhatiya’ was composed by Aryabhata. This book was a major landmark in the field of astronomy, and it had a significant influence on astrology and other fields.

The ‘Aryabhatiya’ is divided into four sections and covers topics such as units of time, methods of determining the positions of planets, the cause of day and night and other cosmological concepts. It was followed by other astronomical and astrological texts which were developed in the classical era.

There was a gap of about 300 BCE between the time when the first mathematical astronomy texts in India were written and the ‘Aryabhatiya’. The astronomy in India continued to develop during the centuries that followed, with some of the earliest works being produced by scholars such as Madhava, Nilakantha Somayaji and Jyeshtadeva.

The ‘Aryabhatiya’ represents the culmination of astronomical science in India and was a crucial turning point for astronomy in Asia. The astronomy of India influenced the astronomy of other Asian countries including China, Arabia and Europe.