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A good explanation…
Mysterious Pumapunko
By Sharon St Joan
One of the strangest ancient sites in the world, Pumapunko, lies near Tiwanaku, the archeological site in Bolivia, south of Lake Titicaca, on the border of Peru and Bolivia. The site is less than a mile from Kalasasaya, a huge paved courtyard surrounded by a wall that is part of Tiwanaku which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000.
Pumapunko is a large earthen mound about 500 feet wide (167 meters) and about 350 feet in length (116 feet). What can be seen today is the remaining giant stones, some of which still lie scattered helter-skelter along the ground, and some of which have been lined up by archeological excavators in long rows.
Radiocarbon dating of the mound-fill underneath the stonework has placed the first construction at the site to around 536 – 600 CE, but some researchers believe that Pumapunko is much, much older. The dating of nearby Tiwanaku is also a matter of considerable controversy.
The most remarkable and strangest feature of Pumapunko is the extremely precise way in which some of the stones were cut, which suggests that they were shaped by a technologically advanced civilization using modern machine tools. Many of the corners, both outer and inner corners, have been broken over time, but the extraordinary perfect flatness of the stones’ surface can be clearly seen.
There are rows of what are called H blocks. Massive stones shaped like the letter H. The surface of the stones is absolutely flat and smooth, cut to a tolerance of three 10,000th of an inch. The corners are precise right angles, with further right-angled rectangles indented inside the outside shapes, and even more rectangles inside those – not something that seems possible to do with a hammer and chisel.
Cut into some of the stones so that they may be joined together are dovetail holes, with the inside of each indentation larger than the outside, so that the stones can be locked into place.
In a YouTube video (the link is given below) Brien Foerster walks along a low wall uncovered during a recent excavation done in 2012. Among many sandstone rocks in the wall which are roughly shaped or natural are placed a few very hard gray andesite rocks, which stand out because of their very precisely cut, sharp lines. These andesite stones appear to have been recycled from earlier structures, perhaps from thousands of years ago. The sandstone rocks are primitively shaped, but the andesite rocks were made by someone else who possessed very advanced technology. Some of the remarkable H stones can also be seen in the video.
The site is vast, with a huge array of amazing structures, at an altitude of 13,000 feet. It resembles nothing else on earth, and it is not easy to imagine who might have built it, or for what purpose.
It has been suggested by some investigators that the stones must have been melted in some way and then formed in a mold; however, Brien Foerster points out that each stone is unique with slightly different measurements so they could not have been shaped in a mold.
The largest foundation stone is not andesite, but red sandstone, which weighs 131 tons. It was moved uphill to the site from a quarry several miles away, but no one knows how. It could not have been rolled on logs because there are no trees here at this altitude.
There are virtually no inscriptions on the precisely-cut stones. This absence of inscriptions is odd. One finds the same lack of inscriptions on the oldest sites in Egypt. Author John Anthony West has pointed out that some of the great monuments of Egypt – the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx and the nearby Sphinx temple, and the Osiris Temple at Abydos – appear to be many thousands of years older than the Egyptian fourth dynasty – and that, remarkably, they also do not bear inscriptions – a stark contrast to the other Egyptian tombs and temples in which every available inch tends to be filled with images and hieroglyphs.
Who built this extraordinary site, Puma Punko? Who built it, when, and for what purpose? No one knows. Ancient alien enthusiasts, predictably, attribute its building to ancient aliens. Others say it was constructed by very technologically advanced ancient humans – more advanced than ourselves, and that human civilization has been devolving, not evolving, since that time. Still others suggest that the ancient aliens and the ancient humans were one and the same, and that our species originally came from the stars. Others assure us that there is certainly no mystery at all, and that it is all easily explainable, though they do not have the exact explanation just yet. And others just laugh.
Whoever the builders were, what does seem indisputable is that there is a piece missing in our view of history. There are some things we cannot account for. Pumapunko is not the only mysterious megalithic site. The entire globe is peppered with them, and for the most part, we have no satisfactory explanation to account for them. Pumapunko is one of the strangest of all, but the more one looks at the others, the more puzzled one becomes.
Archeologists struggle to explain how theses enormous megalithic structures could have been built using the primitive tools and the limited knowledge that we attribute to early peoples.
When the history of our species is missing giant gaps, as it seems to be, we need to acknowledge that there is much that we do not know. The history of our world is filled with mysteries that we have not yet even begun to understand.
© Sharon St Joan, 2014
To see Sharon St Joan’s ebook, Glimpses of Kanchi, click here.
To view Brien Foerster’s video of Pumapunko, click here.
Top photo: Janikorpi / Wikimedia Commons / “This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.” / A view of some of the stone blocks at Pumapunko.
Second photo: Photo: Brattarb / Wikimedia Commons / “This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.” / One of the enigmatic stones at Pumapunko.
Third photo: Mattcorbitt / Wikimedia Commons / “This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Mattcorbitt. This applies worldwide.” / A stone with a precise straight line and machined holes within the line.
Fourth photo: Brattarb / Wikimedia Commons / “This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.” / More precisely cut stones. Weathering has broken some of the corners.
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An Oasis In The Concrete Jungle
Meenakshi’s sacred forest
The sun was warm in early February. The trees were beautiful and tall, having grown up in just a few short years on land that had been completely barren.
Under the expert guidance of Mr. Selvapandian, botanist and Project Manager of the C.P.R. Education and Environmental Centre, fifty acres have been transformed as part of a project of the Meenakshi Amman Temple. Launched in 2006, the project is being carried out by CPREEC on a plot of 300 acres of land owned by the temple, and eventually all these acres will be planted.
Organic vegetables are being grown on the acres near the trees. These are used for the free meals that the Meenakshi Temple provides for people.
Ten acres of trees are part of the Nakshatra Rasi Vanam. By donating 1000 rupees, which goes towards the upkeep of the trees, anyone who wishes may have a tree planted; the species of tree will correspond to their own nakshatra, that is their own star or constellation, based on their horoscope.
Ten more acres are currently in the process of being planted.
Thirty additional acres have already been replanted with beautiful trees of many native species. The trees provided welcome shade, and there were smaller flowering plants and bushes as well. Everything was neat, clean and well cared for.
Among species of trees planted in this grove are the following: Sandanavengai, Eezhilai Pavai, Jack, Padiri, Mango, Magizham, Karungali, Arasu, Thothakathi, Vanni, Banyan, Etti, Perunelli, Naval, Athi, Thippili, Punnai, Vilvam, Vanjikodi, Kadamba, and Illuppai.
Sandanavengai is the red sandalwood tree, used to produce various shades of red dye. The Jackfruit tree produces the largest fruit of any tree. The Padiri tree is the trumpet flower tree, the flower is a violet color. The Mango tree is well-known, and the mango is a symbol of renewal throughout Indian history and tradition. The Magizham tree is called bullet wood; it has glossy, dark, oval-shaped leaves. Karungali is ebony, a large tree that grows to around 90 feet. The Thothakathi is the rosewood tree. The Banyan tree is the gracious fig tree that develops numerous roots that descend from branches down to the ground. Thippili is the long pepper tree. The Vilvam tree is sacred to Lord Shiva. Illuppai are Wild olive trees (bassia longifolia).
The tree is sacred and is worshipped not only in India, but in virtually every ancient culture throughout the world. In India, reverence for the tree is an ever-present theme in the spiritual life of the country. Every temple has a temple tree which is draped with cloths and threads, representing people’s prayers. Stones with the engraved image of nagas, or snakes, surround the tree, placed there by worshippers praying to have children.
In replanted groves such as the Meenakshi Temple’s sacred forest – as well as bestowing their blessings on those for whom they are planted, the trees renew the land. Each tree planted provides a sanctuary for a whole mini-ecosystem—of plants, bushes, flowers, of bees and butterflies, of birds and insects; they preserve water and provide shade; they invite the return of squirrels and rabbits, foxes, and monkeys. They bring life, on all levels, spiritually and physically. They re-establish and heal the land.
This is true, of course, not only in India, but everywhere on earth where trees are planted; provided, that is, that they are the appropriate species native to that land, and that they are cared for, nourished, and maintained.
Planting trees is a way of returning life to the earth.
Sitting in the shade, under the extended branches of the trees, drinking coconut water, which had been kindly offered, while the son of the caretaker of the sacred forest played with his dog, one could only feel a sense of the profound peace that emanated from the souls of the trees.
© text and photos, Sharon St Joan, 2014
Chennai, India: Kindness Kids spread a message of compassion
Looking into how animals, especially elephants, in the temples in Chennai are being treated, B. Akshaya, a student at Grove School, participating in the Kindness Kids program, found that even when the animals are considered sacred, they are not necessarily being well cared for. Her awareness of the needs of the animals enabled her to notice discomfort they were feeling that many of the worshippers simply were not aware of.
Another student in the Kindness Kids program, R. Santhanalakshmi, took photos of conditions in a goshala, where cows are kept, and found that it was clean and very well managed.
Rishab Dasgupta, at the age of nine, after accompanying his father to a chicken stall, declared that he “didn’t want to eat meat anymore.” Though he is so far the only one in his family to become a vegetarian, his father was very proud of his son’s decision and very supportive.
These young people, between ages 9 and 14, were some of the prize-winners among the thousands of students who took part in the Kindness Kids Program. The program, sponsored by the Australian organization, the Winsome Constance Kindness Trust, and run by the C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar Foundation, held a valedictory function on March 22, 2014 to honor the students for their hard work and many acts of compassion towards animals – from giving up eating meat to putting out water bowls for thirsty birds to conducting adoption drives for street animals.
17,000 students took part in the Kindness Kids program in Chennai, Hyderabad, Ooty, and Gudalur.
Dr. Nanditha Krishna, Honorary Director of the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation, said that there’s been a tremendous increase in the numbers of students involved, and they are engaged in more and more meaningful projects. The C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation is looking into expanding the program to cover ecological issues as well. When the students become aware of an issue that has a impact on animals, they take the message home to their families and friends, and they are remarkably focused when it comes to communicating the message of kindness.
At the award ceremony, awards were given to the children as Kindness Ambassadors and Kindness Champs, as well as to the best schools and the best teachers in the program.
Mr. S. Vinod Kumar, Assistant Secretary of the Animal Welfare Board of India, who presented the awards, stressed that it is essential to impart to every child the principle of kindness to animals.
The CEO of the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation, Mr. Prashanth Krishna, said that the message of compassion to animals is one that the children will carry throughout their lives. Part of making the world a kinder place is to encourage vegetarianism, as a habit that can carry forward to future generations.
When children are encouraged to be kind, there is a ripple effect that extends far beyond them.
Information for this story was drawn from the following sources:
News Today, Chennai, NT Bureau, Sunday, March 23, 2014,“Educating Students about human-animal relationship”
The Hindu, MetroPlus, Tuesday, March 25, 2014, “Circle of Kindness,” by Sriya Narayanan
The New Indian Express, City Express, Chennai, Monday, March 2014, Express News Service, “When kids set out to check on stray animals”
Photo: Artwork, part of the Kindness Kids program, from an earlier event at the Grove School
Chennai, India: Book release – Paintings of the Varadaraja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram
