When the clock struck noon on 17 April, the sun kissed the forehead of the newly consecrated Ram Lalla idol at the Ayodhya temple—and rationalists wept.
Resources from top scientific institutes in the country were used to make this happen.
The brightest scientific minds in India had captured beams of sunlight from the roof of the temple, routed it through brass pipes, reflected it using optical lenses and mirrors, and finally got the rays to converge to form a ’tilak’ on the deity. But were India’s top researchers needed to make this happen? Most scientists will say no.
It’s class six science. We’ve all learnt in middle school that mirrors and lenses can converge light to a point. Some of us have also put this knowledge to practical use by adjusting handheld magnifying glasses to get a spot of sunlight on a paper or a leaf until it burns a hole through it. The same principle was used on Ram Navami, the birthday of the Hindu god Ram.
Using the best minds for what?
When the Surya Tilak project was first announced by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), around 300 scientists from various government and private institutes in the country wrote an open letter, calling out the institutes involved for over-complicating a fairly simple process. It’s like “bringing out a cannon to kill an ant”, they wrote.
The letter raised some pertinent issues. This project could have been undertaken by any undergraduate student as a good learning exercise. Aren’t premier science institutes meant to focus on more meaningful work, which would lead to some scientific discovery or technology advancement? Isn’t this a waste of skilled resources and public money? All of these are fair arguments.
The best scientific minds of India were roped in for this project. A team of scientists from the CSIR-Central Building Research Institute in Roorkee and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bengaluru spent two years designing the Surya Tilak instrument.
Experts from CBRI included SK Panigrahi, RS Bisht, Kanti Solanki, and V Chakradhar. Most of them are qualified mechanical engineers specialised in complex areas like machine design, robotics and solid mechanics. From IIA, director Annapurni Subramaniam and astrophysicists S Sriram and Tushar Prabhu led the project. Just earlier this year, the institute was in the news for partnering with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and designing India’s first solar observatory Aditya-L1, which will observe various aspects of the Sun from a vantage point for the next five years. The mission tested the true capabilities of our scientists and added India’s name to the list of global space programmes.
Many scientists also criticised the Surya Tilak project for “unnecessarily complicating” the process. Since the festival of Ram Navami is determined by a luni-solar Hindu calendar, it does not always fall on the same date on the solar or the English calendar. This means that the alignment of the Sun would not always be the same on the day of Ram Navami. The instrument would require adjustment to align with the Sun’s position to capture and position it exactly on the deity’s forehead.
The earlier plan was to adjust the instrument electronically. But after strong pushback from the scientific community, it was decided to simply adjust the mirror placement manually every year.
These concerns are worrisome given that many scientific institutes are already struggling with lack of resources and funds. Diverting public funds, which could have been utilised for improving the state of scientific institutions, seems like an unfair move.
Just how spectacular is it?
Now that the instrument is designed and fitted at its permanent home in Ayodhya, and people have witnessed the marriage of divinity and science, another question pops up. Is this phenomenon unique only to Ayodhya? Is this a never-seen-before moment for us?
The answer would also be a no.
Temples across the country have used elements of design and architecture to light up its deities at certain days or times. At Karnataka’s Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple, every Makar Sankranti, sunlight passes into the cave temple to light up Nandi–the bull companion of Shiva–and then progressively completely illuminating the Shiva Linga and the inner sanctum.
The famous Konark temple in Odisha is also designed in a way that every morning, the first rays of the Sun directly hit the main entrance and then gradually filter into the temple area. It finally falls on the inner sanctum as the day progresses.
The construction of most of these temples date back several years and none of them use any complicated science or technology to achieve this play of light.
The six minutes of Surya Tilak on Ram Lalla’s forehead was a spectacular vision but the puffery around the “science behind it” was not. That’s not to say that we should undermine scientific achievements.
We need to give credit to our otherwise attention-starved scientists for their true achievements. And maybe a good way to start would be to not mix science with religion.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)
I call this reporting jack ass
Soumya Pillai, your Hinduphobia is glaring.
People like you who are entrapped with colonial enslavement mentality are a true curse for Bharat.
You guys don’t have guts to write about billions of dollars spend on other colonial religions instead you guys are working for the invasions of colonial religions.
If you traitors hated so much the true religion and culture of Bharat than why not just move out to your beloved colonial nations.
I don’t know about science or school projects. I just know that Ram lalla’s praanapratista happened there. Is it right to focus a sharp beam of light ( which can burn paper) on the forehead of the Lord, who is sitting there to bless us, for more than 3 minutes.
Why is a question we all think we have an answer for, why is rooted in purpose, why is different for all, to the author, why is scientists required, to a reader, why this author is required, to somebody else why not, to me why bother in things important to others
Surya Tilak was something that brought out a child’s wonder in all of us.. agreed it is not great scientific achievement. But this science made us revisit our childhood, where we burnt paper and leaves.
If you think that scientists achievement is only when you send rockets and astronauts to moon and mars, you are wrong.
President Kalam said his greatest achievement and joy is finding a lightweight and strong prosthetic legs he developed for kids.
Don’t criticize everything and just see the bright side
The writer at the end suggested that it would be better not to mix science and religion. I think she is unaware that many of the religious practices have some science behind them. There is something called ethno-medical practices that serve some specific purposes and are mostly in tandem with a particular geography, season, etc. I am unable to understand how and who mixed science here. It seems the author penned this article with the bias of the so called secular, progressive, and leftist mindset that generally prevails in the geography where she comes from, as her name suggests. I completely agree with the comments of Globetrotter and Sunil Kumar. The Print needs to recheck its author’s cognition and neutrality.
Madam Pillai, from your own words you say it’s worthy of a under grad project so what makes you think the scientists spent entire life on the Surya Tilak project. The scientists don’t have to learn from you on how to manage their time. On the contrary, somebody else needs to learn how much time got wasted writing this senseless article!
Attention starved scientists statement is in bad taste. How does the writer justify that scientists are attention starved. What’s bad in engaging the best scientific organisation for the best national level monument. When the writer says it’s a sixth standard issue to reflect sunlight, does he mean it should have been done by an ordinary 6th standard student. Why do the teams across nations use best talents for basic coaching. What you have written herer could have been written by a 4th standard student, but the print engages you for the job…. why….! Does it bother you. If Indian team is ment
Misprint
Rightly said