Documentary on Krishna to be dubbed in eight languages

Bangalore: A documentary that explores the archaeological, astronomical and other evidences to claim the existence of Lord Krishna is set to be dubbed in eight Indian languages besides Spanish and German. `Krishna: History or Myth`, made by UK-based nuclear medicine physician Manish Pandit captures the beliefs of Krishna worshippers on one hand and juxtaposes it with archaeological, historical and astronomical evidences on the other, to make the point that he "existed in reality and not merely in the imagination of devotees and scripture writers."

"The film relies on four premises -- the archaeological evidence, the astronomical evidence, the living traditions and the oral traditions to prove that Krishna existed and the Mahabharat did occur," says Pandit, originally from Pune and now working as a consultant and an honorary senior clinical lecturer in nuclear medicine in United Kingdom. "There are 150 astronomical references in Mahabharata. One wonders if it were a mere exaggerated account of a family feud as some claim, why would there be so many astronomical references. One could have written a fictional story using a few of them", he told PTI during his recent India visit to promote the documentary. A planetary software corroborates the astronomical events as referred to in the book, he claims. "Some of the astronomical references are straight, some are a conjunction of stars and comets," Pandit said. The film based its premise on mapping of skies that show the exact planetary position like those described in the Mahabharata and takes a look at "tithis", "muhurtas", conjuction of planets with different stars and eclipses all corroborated by scientists to determine that the war was fought, says Pandit. "Under archaeology, the film looks at the Hastinapur excavation, the recently found evidences of the existence of Saraswati river, believed mythical, which led to many intellectuals discarding the Mahabharata as a figment of imagination of its author", says Pandit. The film also takes a look at the finding of Greek kings paying homage to Krishna archaeologically (King Heliodorus) and coins bearing Krishna`s likeness and also Balarama`s, issued by Greek Kings. The discovery of underwater Dwarka, the seal of Dwarka, the inscription of Badami by Pulakeshini all figure in the film that takes a scientific look at these evidences, says Pandit, who is the `Sutradhar` in the film. Under the living traditions, it traces the banyan tree at Kuruskshetra, said to be a witness to the battle, people worshipping Ganges and chanting of Krishna in Kurukshetra. The film features views of eminent scholars, academicians and scientists like Dr B B Lal, past Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India, Dr S R Rao, an eminent panelist of the ASI who supervised the Dwarka excavation and Dr Naraharai Achaar, Department of Physics, University of Memphsis, USA, who has done work on dating of the Mahabharata. Pandit, an expert on comparative religions, says that he also had interviewed former Catholic priests and believers and now part of the ISKON movement on their opinion about Krishna. "The film tries to verify Krishna`s existence. It does not attempt to make a statement on his Godhood," said Pandit who says he was struck by the idea of making the film while meditating. Through the film, Pandit attempts to bring together fragmented viewpoints in a semblance or order, treading the narrow path of challenging faiths, whether it is theist faith or atheist faith. Pandit had been working on the film for the past 18 months and has 50-60 hours of footage shot. Shooting was conducted in eight places-- Kolkatta, Pune, Alandi, Chennai, Delhi, Kurukshetra, apart from overseas locations like US, UK and Cambodia, he said. The film has been privately screened and efforts were on to screen it at international film festivals in Canada and US. "Talks were also on with TV channels in UK and India", he said adding plans were also afoot to dub it in eight different languages - Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Oriya, Bengali and in German and Spanish shortly. His future plans include making more films exploring the complex myths, dogmatic traditions through scientific, unbiased and informed view point, under the banner of Saraswati films. Bureau Report