Zoroastrianism connection to India/Nepal

2011-02-26 14:00:00    

Kathmandu, Feb 26 (IANS) In 2004, two years after he climbed Mt Everest for the seventh time, American mountaineering legend Peter Athans took part in a charitable cataract operation project in northern Nepal that changed the lives of nearly 300 beneficiaries.

Today, the event has led to a stupendous discovery that, once fully understood, could throw light on one of the oldest religions in the world, its link with India and the connection between Tibetan and Zoroastrian death rites.

'I made a lot of friends during the eye camp,' says Athans, better known worldwide as 'Mr Everest' for his ascents as well as efforts to rescue endangered climbers during the black year of 1996, when 15 people died while attempting the world's highest peak.

'Some of them took me to a cluster of (man-made) caves that remain hidden from the human eye due to the height and the difficulty to get inside... There was no knowledge of who created the caves and I thought this was an intriguing mystery, worthy of further research and discussion,' Athans said.

In 2008, the government of Nepal and the Department of Archaeology signed an agreement with Sky Door Foundation, an NGO started in Nepal by Athans, to explore the caves and make an inventory. Two years later, the exploring team came across major finds in the network of caves in Mustang, a remote mountainous district in northernmost Nepal that was once part of an ancient Tibetan kingdom.

The expedition has found caves designed at different levels, much like an apartment block, with the lower levels usually used as granaries and the uppermost being burial sites.

In between, the space contains murals that though now fading and crumbling down are still exquisite, two immense libraries containing almost 10,000 ancient manuscripts in old Tibetan script, some of which are beautifully illuminated, and the remains of 27 people, the oldest of whom dates back to 100 years before the birth of Christ.

The manuscripts, which are being translated, are mostly about the Bon religion, one of the oldest religions in the world that grew in Tibet pre-dating Buddhism and yet showed many similarities with it, especially about the life of its founder Tonpa Shenrab.

Like the Buddha, Shenrab too came from a royal family but renounced the royal life and worldly pleasures when he was 31 to seek enlightenment. The folios also carry illustrations of many Bon leaders whom researchers are struggling to identify due to the paucity of information about the religion.

The cave artefacts show a fusion of Tibetan and Indian religious art. Some of it shows the influence of the art that prevailed in India during the Gupta empire of Hindu kings who ruled from 320-480 AD.

'Some of the murals have images of men and women who were Indian mahasiddhas (yogis with supernatural power),' says Leisl, Athans' wife, who records the expeditions through documentaries. 'Each image has a quatrain as caption, the first line giving the name of the mahasiddha, followed by biographical details.'

The human remains, many of which DNA analysis indicated belonged to people from northwest India, could prove a link between Zoroastrianism, born in Iran before the 6th century BC, and the ancient Tibetan practice of sky burials that still exists in Nepal and China.

'While the earlier skeletal remains are unmarked, the 5th century remains show cut marks,' says archaeologist Mark Aldenderfer.

'Nearly 67 percent of the bodies were de-fleshed, after which the bones were deposited inside the cave tombs. This mortuary practice could be a link between the Zoroastrian way of disposing of a dead body by offering it to the vultures in the Towers of Silence and the more stark way in the Tibetan plateau, where the bodies are chopped up and then left for the vultures and other animals,' he said.

 not sure if its true, but Zoroastrianism started in what is afghanistan today, so it is possible that the connection with india is real, also dont forget that buddhism started in india and flourished in afghanistan, i think around the same period

Edited by balochii - 27-May-2011 at 19:52

This Lake Urumiya is situated in the western part of Iran, or bordering Turkey. It was the reputed birth place of Zoroaster   P. Sykes, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 23,   http://www.jatland.com/home/Lake_Urmia#cite_note-1

Largest and oldest Zoroastrian fire Temple of Kurdistan.

Edited by MediaWarLord - 27-May-2011 at 21:10

Edited by MediaWarLord - 27-May-2011 at 21:34

Edited by MediaWarLord - 27-May-2011 at 23:32

Originally posted by Athena The very old book about Zoroastrianism that I got from the U of O library, made mention of a possible Zoroastrianism and  Indian connection.  If my memory serves me well, there were reasons to believe there is a connection before this latest find, but unfortunately my memory isn't good enough to remember details.  At the time the book was written, there was enough evidence to be sure of the connection, but a strong hunch.   Didn't Zoroaster predate Persia?  If I remember correctly he convinced Cyrus to follow the religion and Persia didn't exist until Cyrus made it exist.  These folks were new to the area.

Yes, the Median Empire predates Persia. I'm an Yezidi Kurd. According the Yezidi Kurdish legends, Zerdest was an Yezidi Kurd who came in conflict with the Yezidi priests and fled to the east. The Yezidi Kurds see him as an apostate figure.  But much later Zoroastrianism became a national religion of the Medes. Then the Persians came and made the Zoroastrianism their national religion, but only after the Medes (Kurdish ancestors)!

Edited by MediaWarLord - 28-May-2011 at 15:30

I would think it's the opposite, because Zoroastrianism is said to have influenced Judaism. I mean, Buddhism is devoid of deities whilst Zoroastians believe in Ahura Mazda. In what way do you see this influence? I think to make the connection we must first lay down the dogmatic and philosophical connections between these two religions and hopefully as we uncover more about the Bon religion we might see a clearer picture.

As far as I know all we have come up with now is the resemblance between the treatment of the deceased by defleshing one way or the other. Both Buddhism and Zoroastrianism focus on the importance of virtue but the former do so to seek enlightenment and wisdom whilst the latter see that there is a continuous struggle between good and evil which can have its effects on this world.

I urge you MediaWarLord to drop the subject about Zoradesht being Kurdish because the Median empire stretched over all of Iran and trying to pin Zoroaster's nationality to a precise location is like to runnign after quicksilver!

You are actually wrong on two accounts. First of all Zoroastrianism was founded in the 6th century, so it is a contempory of Buddhism and secondly, Zoroastrianism incorporates velief in Heaven and Hell.

http://www.religionfacts.com/zoroastrianism/index.htm

'Zoroastrianism is known by religious historians as the first religion to have a concept of heaven and hell. Do you see the obvious connection now? The Bible originally didn't have such a concept until the Jews met with followers of Zoroastrianism, which did have that concept.'   http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/Debunking_Christians/Page28.htm

Wow didn't know that!!! Is it true that the very first ancient Jews didn't believe in heaven or hell?