Lanka Vs ShriLanka
Are we naming Shri Lanka as a wrong Lanka from the past?
Rohatak 76.6066° E,
Kurukshetra 76.8783° E,
Ujjain 75.7849° E
while today's Shri Lanka 80.7718° E (quite away from what Surya Siddhant rules out for the location of ‘Lanka’ )
राक्षसालयदेवौकश्शैलर्मध्यसुत्रगा।
रोहिताङ्कमवन्ती च यथा सन्निहितं सरः॥ ६२॥ मध्यमाधिकार SS
In short, the shloka says Rohatak, Avanti, i.e, ancient Ujjain are on same longitudinal line emerging from the mid of Rākṣasālaya, i.e., Lanka, till north pole. Rākṣasālaya word again is interesting since it may assign its consent to - Asur Bhāga i.e, southern hemisphere, but it did touch the equator [Could it be the same latitude-longitude which was shown to Hanuman by Jambvant.] Indeed we are naming Sinhaldweep as Shri Lanka for past 50 years which is a very recent case. Bhāskarācārya doesn’t mention Rohtak but instead Kurukshetra, which are 100 kms apart, and still nearly 0.2 degree shift can be seen on the longitude. Can this 0.2 degree apart on longitudinal line be counted in territorial shift or can be enigma of oscillation/wobbling of earth, but what about the present Lanka? It cannot be counted in land mass shift either from even miocene times.* Bhāskarācārya's non-mentioning of Rohatak suggests two things, either the decline of the city and rise of Kurukshetra, or some unknown visibility pattern of astronomical observation had shifted. Kurukshetra may not be in existence as a flourishing city when Surya Siddhanta was composed, for which I have an evidence within the text, but it may have come into existence later as Kurukshetra name was composed in his verse. It may suggest many other geographical connections via epic which can be investigated.
यल्लोङ्कोज्जयिनीपु रोपरिकुरुक्षेत्रादि देशान् स्पृशत्।
सूत्रं मेरुगतंवुधैर्निगदिता सामध्य रेखाभुवम्॥ ~भस्कराचार्य
Ancient Lanka could be one of the well known nirakṣa deśa ; one of the countries on equator. Then what about the most controversial Rama Sethu which is identified with today? Rakshasalaya could be admixture of Sinhala-Lanka- Laccha etc and may extend more into many Islands more instantly , who knows what story of deluge may have been carried by these lands beneath. How Lacchadeep~ ‘Laksha’dweep name came up, is it recent ? Who were aiming at Lakshadweep? I am ignorant about Lacchadeep; any clue from ancient Tamil texts? "A reference is made in one of the Puram-400 & PathitRuppathu. Chera and later Pallava kings had control over some islands. Mention is made of Dveepa Laksham’ in some Pallava inscription as well."says Shri Ganeshan. I am in wait of Shri Ganeshan @vezhamukham, an eminent scholar on Tamil and sanskrit literature from twitter for more comments and information. *
Ending with the note to self.
