Learn how ancient astronomers predicted celestial events

If you think that celestial calculations require access to expensive equipment and state-of-the-art labs? Well, think again. Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium in a bid to promote ancient Indian astronomy will be conducting a workshop this weekend that will not only provide a rare glimpse into how ancient Indian ascetics predicted celestial events, well before the advent of modern astronomy, but will also teach the participants on how to conduct these experiments on their own.

“The Indian method as evolved in ancient times was a method used to predict events such as Solar eclipse, Lunar eclipse and even the transit of Venus. With the advent of Western astronomy, these methods have been forgotten, but what’s incredulous is that these very same methods were extremely accurate,” said Dr BS Shylaja, director, planetarium.

According to Shylaja, the methodologies, such as the Surya Siddhanta method (9th Century) were developed even before the concept of astronomy existed. “There were highly accurate methods that were used even in the 16th century. To be honest, the European method and the ancient Indian method do not differ too much in basics. But the numeric systems is completely different, which tends to confuse people. Right now very few people even know the existence of such methods. But the truth is anyone with a basic knowledge of trigonometry will be able to easily master it,” she added.

The two-day workshop will be conducted by Shylaja and Prof Balachandra Rao from Bharthi Vidya Bhavan, who is an expert in ancient astronomy. “One of the problems people in the ancient times faced is the fact they had to graphically visualise the night sky while doing calculations, but that’s not a problem now because we will help workshop participants use the sky theatre right here,” she added.

And if you want to learn how and when the next celestial phenomenon will take place, you just need to consult the elders of the yore.

"Last year when we conducted this workshop, the people who attended were able to successfully chart out the course of the transit of Venus that took place this year. And this session, we will be getting the participants to figure out when the next Solar eclipse will take place. Anyone can figure it out using the position of the Sun and the Earth,” Shylaja said.