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or the pyramid-shaped roof-towers of south India] temple architecture, see Vimanam (tower) A vimāna (. ETYMOLOGY AND USAGE Sanskrit ''vi-māna'' literally means "measuring out, traversing" or "having been measured out". It can refer to (ref Monier-Williams ): #a car or chariot of the gods, any mythical self-moving aerial car (sometimes serving as a seat or throne, sometimes self-moving and carrying its occupant through the air; other descriptions make the Vimana more like a house or palace, and one kind is said to be seven stories high; that of Rāvana was called Pushpaka ) # any car or vehicle (especially a bier) # the palace of an emperor or supreme monarch (especially one with seven stories) # a temple or shrine of a particular form, see Vimanam (tower) # in medicine, the science of (right) measure or proportion (e.g. of the right relation between the humours of the body, of medicines and remedies etc.) IN SANSKRIT LITERATURE Vedas The predecessors of the flying ''vimanas'' of the ) and Indra and several other Vedic deities are transported by flying wheeled Chariot s pulled by animals, usually horses (but the Vedic god Pūsan 's chariot is pulled by goats, as is that of Norse Thor ). The Rigveda does not mention Vimanas, but verses RV 1 .164.47-48 have been taken as evidence for the idea of "mechanical birds": :47. '''' : '''' :48. '''' : '''' :"Dark the descent: the birds are golden-coloured; up to the heaven they fly robed in the waters. : Again descend they from the seat of Order, and all the earth is moistened with their fatness." :"Twelve are the fellies, and the wheel is single; three are the naves. What man hath understood it? : Therein are set together spokes three hundred and sixty, which in nowise can be loosened." (trans. Griffith) In Dayananda Saraswati 's "translation", these verses become: :"jumping into space speedily with a craft using fire and water ... containing twelve stamghas (pillars), one wheel, three machines, 300 pivots, and 60 instruments." cited after 1 p. 5. Ramayana In the Ramayana, the ''pushpaka'' ("flowery") vimana of Ravana is described as follows: :"''The Pushpaka chariot that resembles the Sun and belongs to my brother was brought by the powerful Ravana; that aerial and excellent car going everywhere at will .... that car resembling a bright cloud in the sky ... and the King {Link without Title} got in, and the excellent car at the command of the Raghira, rose up into the higher atmosphere.'''" It is the first flying vimana mentioned in Hindu Mythology (as distinct from the gods' flying horse-drawn Chariot s). Pushpaka was originally made by Maya for Kubera , the God of wealth, but was later stolen, along with Lanka , by his Half-brother , the demon king Ravana . Mahabharata One example is that the Asura Maya had a Vimana measuring twelve Cubit s in circumference, with four strong wheels. Apart from 'blazing Missile s', the poem records the use of other deadly weapons. ' Indra 's Dart' (''Indravajrā'') operated via a circular 'reflector'. When switched on, it produced a 'shaft of light' which, when focused on any target, immediately 'consumed it with its power'. In one exchange, the hero, , which killed by seeking out Sound ''". Many other terrible weapons are described in the Mahabharata, but the most fearsome of all is the one used against the Vrishi s. The narrative records: :"''Gurkha flying in his swift and powerful Vimana hurled against the three cities of the Vrishnis and Andhaka s a single projectile charged with all the power of the Universe. An incandescent column of smoke and fire, as brilliant as ten thousands suns, rose in all its splendour. It was the unknown weapon, the Iron Thunderbolt, a gigantic messenger of death which reduced to ashes the entire race of the Vrishnis and Andhakas.''" IN PSEUDOSCIENCE AND UFOLOGY Mukunda et al. (1974)]] Some modern UFO enthusiasts have pointed to the Vimana as evidence for advanced technological civilizations in the distant past, or as support for the Ancient Astronaut Theory . Others have linked the flying machines to the legend of the Nine Unknown Men . Enthusiasm for "Vedic UFOs" appears to originate with the 1973 publication of '' Vaimanika Shastra '', an alleged ancient text on aeronautics, "channeled" in 1918-1923. A symposium on " Science And Technology In Ancient India " was organised in December 1990 at B.M. Birla Science Center at Hyderabad, A.P., India. Many topics of Ancient India n aeronautics were discussed. The Vaimanika Prakaranam in Vimana Vignana deals with instruments like Guha Garbha Darsha Yantra which can locate objects hidden underground from an aircraft. A semiconductor ferrite named Chumbaka radiates microwave signals and detects hidden objects. Italian ufologist, Roberto Pinotti presented a paper on 'Aeronautics in ancient India' in the World Space Conference conducted at Bangalore. He told the conference delegates that those aircraft were similar to modern jet-propelled aeroplanes. He agreed that they represent the most complex and sophisticated designs. Others such as Dileep Kumar Kanjilal in ''Vimana in Ancient India : Aeroplanes Or Flying Machines in Ancient India'' (1985) prefer Ion Thruster propulsion. David Hatcher Childress has written about 'Ancient Indian Aircraft Technology' and 'Vimana Aircraft of Ancient India and Atlantis', and Stephen Knapp endorses the concept in 'The Secret Teachings of the Vedas'. According to UFOlogist literature, Alexander The Great purportedly gave a description of "two silver disk-like objects" entering and leaving the Jaxartes River . Alexander, so the story goes, then became obsessed with the craft and spent many hours in a primitive diving bell searching for them.so reported on History Channel , ''UFO FILES: Deep Sea UFOs'', Sunday, 16th July, 2006. The earliest source of this tale seems to Frank Edwards , ''Stranger than Science'' (1959): ::He tells of two strange craft that dived repeatedly at his army until the war elephants, the men, and the horses all panicked and refused to cross the river where the incident occurred. What did the things look like? His historian describes them as great shining silvery shields, spitting fire around the rims [... things that came from the skies and returned to the skies. Edwards gives no source for his account, and no ancient account of Alexander's campaign has a comparable description. A similar story, occurring in Tyre rather than Transoxania, is alleged in an Italian article of 1966, also without giving a source.Alberto Fenoglio, "Cronistoria su oggetti volanti del passato - Appunti per una clipeostoria", 'Clypeus' #9, 1st Semester 1966, p. 7. IN POPULAR CULTURE Vimanas have appeared in books, films, internet and games including:
NOTES REFERENCES SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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