Krishna Consciousness

Cultural remains of 70,000-year-old civilisation found in Orissa

In a major breakthrough, researchers from Sambalpur University recently discovered the cultural remains of a civilisation that is supposed to be more than 70,000 years old. The discovery was made at Barpadar village in the upper Jira river of Bargarh district in Orissa.

"The site has tremendous potential for further research to unravel the Palaeolithic life in this part of the sub-continent," said the head of the research team P.K.Behera of the university’s History department.

The Palaeolithic period is the second part of the Stone Age, beginning about 750,000 to 500,000 years BC and lasting until the end of the Ice Age around 8,500 years BC.

The archaeological excavations were conducted near Barpadar village by the bank of the Jira river. The work was also assisted by Prakash Sinha of the Department of Archaeology, Allahabad Central University. The team, including history students of the university, found stone tools like axes, cleavers and scrapers at the site. The stone tools, used for food processing -- cutting, chopping and scraping -- were manufactured on par with European and African models. Behera and Sinha are of the opinion that the site was inhabited by the Palaeolithic band for food processing purposes. However, in the absence of evidence of on-site manufacturing of processing tools, the experts observed that these tools were manufactured elsewhere -- where suitable raw materials such as fine-grained quartzite was available. The raw materials were brought to the site in finished forms for use. "Future excavations will reveal the nearby manufacturing sites also," Behera told HT.

Behera said the geomorphological situation of the area indicated that the site must have provided an ideal environment with rich bio-diversity and a perennial water supply to the Palaeolithic settlers for prolonged inhabitation at the site. Plant phytolith samples were collected from the excavated deposit for further study, which will reflect the type of plants exploited by the early Hominids.

Vedic Perspective

Prabhupada: Yes. Find out. First of all He spoke that... If you take history of Bhagavad-gita, then it comes to forty millions of years ago, at least, He spoke Bhagavad-gita. How do you calculate? The calculation is there. Any intelligent man can calculate because Brahma's duration of life is mentioned there. Sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmano viduh. So one yuga means forty-three lakhs of years and multiply by it one thousand. That is Brahma's duration of one day. Now, in one day there are seven Manus. So Vivasvan Manu's age can be calculated--at least forty millions of years ago. So the Bhagavad-gita is not a new thing. It was spoken five thousand years ago to Arjuna. That was not the first speaking. He says, "I first spoke to Vivasvan, the sun-god." Yes, show him. (Bengali) ...I am manufacturing something. Everything is there. "If you simply follow, a great, wonderful thing will be done." She is now in a position. Simply she has to take the instruction of Bhagavad-gita and apply it practically. And that is not very difficult. Just like the Bhagavad-gita says, annad bhavanti... Parjanyad bhavanti bhutani. Make this program, immediately.
Lalita: The reaction will start.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Lalita: And it is a proof. I will tell what Guru Maharaja has done.
Prabhupada: Yes, I am simply... This is our process. We don't manufacture nonsense things. They are afraid of me because they see that in spite of their so many hypnotism and magic, and what is called, miracles, they are..., where they are and where I am. That is their fear.
Lalita: Fear.
Prabhupada: Yes. They understood that "This man does not show any magic, and he is playing wonderful thing." That, every gentleman, every man, can understand. When I was at Kumbha-mela all these Mayavadi sannyasis, they were receiving me like anything because they understand that they could not do anything. How they can do? Krsna sakti vina nahe nama pracara. One must receive strength from the superior; then it is possible. It is not a bogus thing, that anyone can do it. Krsna sakti... It is stated in the Caitanya-caritamrta. Have you got Caitanya-caritamrta?
Gopala Krsna: Krsna sakti vina nahe pravartane.
Prabhupada: Nama pracara.
Gopala Krsna: "Lord Krsna's energies..."
Prabhupada: And krsna bhajanate nahi jati-kuladi vicara. These are all Caitanya Mahaprabhu's... What is that? In the Caitanya-caritamrta. (Bengali) Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja. Just surrender to Krsna and follow Him. Then you are successful.

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Russian priest to investigate bigfoot sighting in Siberia

13:14 | 19/ 02/ 2009

KEMEROVO, February 19 (RIA Novosti) - A group of people led by the Russian Orthodox Bishop of Kemerovo and a regional official set out on Thursday in search of a bigfoot sighted in the Tashtagol area by hunters, a regional spokesman said.

Earlier this week, the Kemerovo regional administration released a report that local hunters had spotted "some hairy humanoid creatures with a height of 1.5-2 meters [5'6"-6']" near the Azass Cave on Mount Shoriya. The report was illustrated with a photograph from inside the cave showing the track of an unidentified creature.

"From the nearest village of Ust-Kabyrz, the bishop, regional head and a group of others will reach the Azass Cave by the only transportation possible: snowmobiles," the spokesman told RIA Novosti.

He added that the priest would also make a private visit to Mount Shoriya, where he will open and bless a small church at a gulag barracks open to tourists. In the Soviet era, there were a large number of gulag camps in the area northeast of Novosibirsk.

According to the head of the department of anthropology at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology in Moscow, anthropologists have never seen or studied the body of a bigfoot or yeti, although there are numerous reports of their sightings throughout the world.

He also noted that yetis for some reason are always spotted singularly, which is "biological nonsense," as a large population must exist in order to create generation after generation. According to the anthropologist, Earth has been studied so thoroughly that if a population of yeti existed it would have been confirmed.

The Kemerovo regional spokesman said a scientific expedition is being organized for the summer to investigate the sighting. The financial details of the expedition are being worked out and there are already many enthusiasts, businessmen and hunters ready to help.