miuuhi

The Antiquity of Time

The only determination of where we are in the journey of life is time. If there was no way to measure time, it would be so very difficult for us to judge the age of the finest wine, the distance to the far away stars, the moments left for the loved ones arrival, the days left before the journey back home..

Prehistoric man, by simple observation of the stars, changes in the seasons, day and night began to come up with very primitive methods of measuring time. This was necessary for planning nomadic activity, farming, sacred feasts, etc.. The earliest time measurement devices before clocks and watches were the sundial, hourglass and water clock.

In Ancient India, time was measured in a hexadecimal system. The saying in Eastern India goes, 8 Prohors make a day. In India, prior to the British occupation and western influence, the Indians did not consider one day to be from midnight to midnight. The day (Din) was just the period when the sun was up and night (Raat or Raatri) was when the sun was down. The saying, 8 Prohors make a day also indicates that another 8 Prohors make the night.

This is not a claim in the air. It is substantiated by the fact that Dupur or more accurately Din Dupur (Duppahar). Now Du means two. So Dupur is the second Prohor. Since the day is 16 Prohors, the 0th or 8th Prohor would be at 9 AM and 9 PM, with 1 Prohor at 10:30 and 2 Prohor at 12.

Ancient Indians devised a detailed terminology for minute intervals of time. Although some experts feel that this terminology had no relevance to everyday life, this indicates the deep inroads the ancient Indians, especially those who devoted to scholarhood, had made in physics and mathematics.

18 Nimesas (Winks) was 1 Kashta (3.2 seconds)
30 Kashtas was 1 Kala (1.6 Minutes)
15 Kalas was 1 Nadika or 1 Nalika
30 Kalas or 2 Nadikas was 1 Muhurta or Kshana (48 Minutes)
30 Muhurtas was 1 Aho-Ratra (1 cycle of day and night or 24 hours)

Anuradha Kabra is the daughter of the world famous Indian classical guitarist, Pandit Brijbhushanlal Kabra of the "Call of the Valley" fame and Kamla Kabra-an artist in her own rights. She grew up with music in her ears and art in her fingertips.

Her passion for handicrafts and recognition of the arts and crafts of India multiplied as she scoured the varied Indian countryside and discovered the hidden wealth in her homeland. She supports many NGO's by promoting their products to her customers.

She has been manufacturing and exporting high quality Handmade Furniture and Antique Reproduction Clocks to various parts of the world, mainly Italy, Middle-East and USA. She also set up units for manufacturing of designer home furnishings and hand-crafted clocks.

Her dream is to take the beautiful art and craft of India to every corner of the world. You can check out some of the designs of her Clocks and Furniture at http://www.aesthetic.bz

posted by gcpdt @ 3:56 AM