Introductory Panel

The cosmological map of the world according to different cultures helps us to understand how the
universe and civilization was understood by different cultures sharing certain commonalities and a
recognition of a shared landscape but also bound by their own philosophy and specifications of
geographical understanding.

Introduction
Time is an important concept to measure the longevity and eternity of a civilization, and Sanatana
Parampara boasts of a tradition that has been in perpetual existence for eons. Sanatana Parampara
envisages time as linear as well as cyclical, temporal as well as ethical, finite as well as infinite. The
present exhibit analyses the concept of Kāla and yuga as a macrocosm of time with multiple microcosmic
components, including Horā, tithi, paksha, nimisha, etc., and understands it in relation to the
contemporary notions of time.

किसी सभ्यता की अवधि और उसकी शाश्वतता को मापने के लिए 'समय' एक महत्वपर्ण ू अवधारणा है । सनातन
संस्कृति की परं परा यग
ु ों-यग
ु ों से चली आ रही है सनातन परं परा समय को क्षणिक और नैतिक, तथा सीमित और
असीमित—इन सभी रूपों में दे खती है । यह प्रदर्शनी 'काल' और 'यग ु ' की अवधारणा का विश्लेषण करती है , जो समय
का एक व्यापक स्वरूप है और जिसमें होरा, तिथि, पक्ष, निमिष आदि जैसे कई सक्ष् ू म घटक शामिल हैं। साथ ही, यह
प्रदर्शनी दनि
ु या भर में समय और यग ु से जड़
ु ी समकालीन धारणाओं के संदर्भ में भी इसे समझने का प्रयास करती
है ।

Information Panel

Time is understood throughout the world in Microcosmic as well as Macrocosmic way wherein
Microcosmic time represents the minute aspects of time used in day to day life of people and society,
whereas the Macrocosmic Idea of Time is used to understand the larger cosmology of the world inhabited
by people.

The Microcosmic time around the world

The microcosmic idea of Time understands the minute aspects of time in which the solar and lunar
calendar is used to chart out tithis, nakshatras, and samvatsar which are the basis for the Indian
Panchānga, which are based on both solar and lunar calculations.

Day - dina,vāra, ahorātra, vāsara

Month- māsa, ahargaṇa
Year- varṣa, ṛtuvṛtti, saṁvatsara, abda, śarada
The Viṣṇu Purāṇa (1.3.8–15) describes the hierarchy:
15 nimeṣa = 1 kāṣṭhā
30 kāṣṭhā = 1 kalā
30 kalā = 1 muhūrta
30 muhūrta = 1 day and night
The Sūrya Siddhānta, one of India's most important astronomical texts, provides even finer divisions:
1.​ Truṭi
2.​ Tatpara
3.​ Nimeṣa
4.​ Kāṣṭhā
5.​ Kalā
6.​ Muhūrta

The precision of these calculations reflects advanced observational astronomy.

Daily and Monthly Cycles
Indian calendars were fundamentally lunar-solar.
Important units included:
1.​ Tithi- Lunar day
2.​ Pakṣa- Fortnight
3.​ Māsa- Month
4.​ Ṛtu- Season
5.​ Ayana- Half-year
6.​ Varṣa- Year
The innermost circle is the solar months.
Middle circle are lunar months and the outermost circle represents the Nakshatras

The Dance of Time by Freedom Cole

[Link]

Ancient Chinese Calender

Three types of calendar have coexisted in China since antiquity: the solar, the lunar and the lunar-solar.
The lunar calendar is divided into 12 months which start with the New Moon and correspond to the
agrarian cycle of the region. The Solar calendar is divided into 24 parts which determine years and are
divided into 60 year cycles. The lunar calendar is 11 days shorter than the solar calendar. In order to
"catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years
out of a 19-year cycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year

Chinese Calender

Source- Zhonghua minzu banshu (Taibei: China National Museum of History, 1977), p.18.
[Link]

Ancient Greece particularly in Athens used five different types of calendar to mark Microcosmic time.
Athenians, especially from the 3rd Century BCE forward, could consult any one of five separate
“calendars:” Olympiad, Seasonal, Civil, Conciliar, and finally Metonic. All Athenian calendars, however,
used lunar cycles and/or solar events (typically solstices and equinoxes but also certain stars or
constellations) to affix dates. These calendars also ran roughly from midsummer to midsummer, while
days ran from sunrise to sunrise. Lunar (synodic) months each contain 29.53 days (one lunar cycle). A
twelve-month lunar year thus contains 354.36 days. A solar astronomical year, however, counts 365.24
days. A lunar year fell 11 days short of a solar year. Any strict lunar calendar would therefore gain just
over one synodic month in 3 years and drift through the seasons in 33-year cycles. Unlike in India or
China, Greeks had calendars with both 10 months of 35 days and 12 months of 30 days. The 10 months
calendar was followed generally for administrative purposes in Greece otherwise a 12 months year was

counted.
Ancient Greek Calender
[Link]

Mayans of Central America used a solar year of 365 days, with 18 months of 20 days each and a further
five special days. In fact, they also had another calendar of 260 days, a cycle reserved for days of worship.
Using this – combined with the 365-day calendar – they calculated what they termed Calendar Rounds.
Separately they measured Long Cycles of 360-day units called tuns, which multi­plied by 400 then 13 to
create their Great Cycles of 5130 years which marked the end of one life and the start of another.

[Link]

The ancient Egyptians had several calendrical systems in place to mark the passing of time: (1) a lunar
calendar, (2) a civil calendar, and possibly (3) a solar calendar. Like us, the Egyptian civil calendar
divided the solar year (renpet) into twelve months, but each month (abed) consisted of a standard thirty
days (heru), equaling 360 days in a year. Each of the twelve months contained three weeks – the
workweek was nine days long, followed by one day of rest. Originally, the Egyptians did not have names
for each of their months as we do but organised the twelve months into three seasons of four months each.
Later the names of months were added. Also initially the years were counted as regnal years of the ruler
and the counting started with 1 again once the king died or was replaced.
Egyptian calender [Link]

Macrocosmic Idea of Time

The larger units of time could be understood in terms of Yuga, Mahayuga, Manvantar and Kalpa.
Manvantara- 71 Mahāyugas = 1 Manvantara
Kalpa
1000 Mahāyugas = 1 Kalpa
The Bhagavata Purāṇa describes:
sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ
“A thousand yugas constitute one day of Brahmā.” This corresponds to approximately:
4.32 billion years

The Yuga Clock divides the cyclical time in the Indian civilization into 4 parts- Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga,
Dwapara Yuga and Kaliyuga. Each time period is proportionately smaller than the previous period and it
depicts the eroding moral values of the culture. The duration of the Yugas are represented in two ways-
one, in terms of years of Lord Brahma (divine years) and in terms of Human Years

Kruta Yuga- 4800 Divine Years, 17,28,000 human years

Tretā Yuga- 3600 Divine Years, 12,96,000 human years
Dwāpara Yuga- 2400 Divine Years, 8,64,000 human years
Kali Yuga- 1200 Divine Years, 4,32,000 human years
[Link]

In Greek culture, we find a comparable concept called Hesiod's Ages of Man. In Hesiod’s Poem “Works
and Days,” he describes a lineage of the creation of mankind by the gods through five “ages.” Ovid
similarly presents the concept of four ages and omits Heroic age. They are as follows:
Clement Marot Ovid Metamorphoses
[Link]

The Golden Age: The gods created the first race of mankind who …”lived like gods without sorrow of
heart, remote and free from toil and grief.”

The Silver Age: The next age is much less noble, where the mortals are simpletons and are subject to
suffering from sin. They wrong one another and neglect their duties to honor the gods with proper
sacrifices.

The Bronze Age: This warlike race is created by Zeus. Their weapons and homes were of bronze, and the
race eventually falls to their own murderous bloodlust.

The Age of Heroes: Next, Zeus creates a race which is… “nobler and more righteous, a god-like race of
hero-men who are called demi-gods.” Some of this heroic race are killed in epic wars of Thebes or Troy,
while others live…”untouched by sorrow in the islands of the blessed along the shore of deep swirling
Ocean.” Cronus, released from his bonds by Zeus, watches over these.

The Iron Age: Here Hesiod laments being a member of the fifth, (and current) age of men who… “never
rest from labour and sorrow by day, and from perishing by night; and the gods shall lay sore trouble upon
them.” He describes this age as morally corrupt: neglectful of parents, violent, oath-breaking, and
wretched.

The Wheel of Life (Bhavachakra): A multi-tiered visual wheel projecting the cycles of existence, cosmic
realms, and the passage of time. In Baudha Parampara, we have the wheel of Time or Bhavachakra as the
idea of cosmic time. The reference to the same is found from Aggana Sutra. When the cosmos comes to
an end and contracts, and before a new cosmos begins, beings are mostly born in the Abhassara Brahmā
world. These luminous beings live for a long time, feeding on nothing but delight. And while the cosmos
has contracted, there are no suns or stars, planets or moons. In the last contraction, in time an earth
formed, beautiful and fragrant and sweet to taste. Beings who tasted the earth began to crave it. They sat
gorging themselves on the sweet earth, and their luminescence disappeared. The light that left their bodies
became the moon and sun, and in this way, night and day were distinguished, and months, and years, and
seasons.

KALKI-CHAKRIN and THE GOLDEN AGE of MAITREYA BUDDHA

Tibetan Buddhism has much to say about the end of the dark age and the dawning of a new golden age.
This is most notably described in the Kalacakra texts, containing the prophecy of the Kalki kings of
Shambhala, and the rule of Maitreya Buddha in a new Golden Age.

The Tibetan Baudha teachings describe the Kalachakra (Wheel of Time), which revolves in cycles like the
Hindu yugas. According to the Maitreyavyankarna, Buddha will incarnate as Lord Maitreya (“The
Buddha Who Returns”) at the end of the present cycle after major geological catastrophes have so
changed the face of the planet that he can walk from continent to continent. During his reign, humanity
will attain salvation, and even the gods will be liberated from their desires.
The Apocalypse of Raudra-Kalki, with Maitreya Buddha in the centre of the Kalacakra Wheel of Time

[Link]

Content for the Yuga Clock- Dashāvatar

The Dashāvatar of Lord Vishnu is used to understand the evolution and decline of the Yuga System
corresponding to the descent of Lord Vishnu to eradicate sin and establish the cosmic order and Dharma
of the universe. The four Yugas are visually represented by the Avatārs of Lord Vishnu which vary in
some texts but are generally considered to be 10 (4 in Krita or Sata Yuga, 3 in Treta, 1 in Dwapara and 2
in Kalki).

1. Matysa (fish)
Matsya Sculpture 9th-10th century CE, originally from Prayag, Now in British Museum
[Link]
This has Vivasvan Manu as the protagonist of the story. Manu is the son of Vivasvan, son of Kashyapa
and Aditi, daughter of Daksha Prajapati - who is the son of Brahma. Manu is saved by the fish during the
deluge / flood and then the world is re-populated.

2. Kurma (tortoise)

[Link]
[Link]
Samudra Manthan at Angkor Wat, Cambodia
When the Devas (Adityas - or sons of Aditi like Indra, Savitr, Varuna, etc.) were at war with Daityas and
Danavas (sons of Diti and Danu) and were facing a hard time at that, Vishnu suggested to Devas to churn
the ocean of milk. This is the famous story of Samudra manthan. He also agreed to take the form of a
giant tortoise to support the stirring staff (mount Mandara). Since Vivasvan and Adityas are supposedly
brothers, the timing of this avatara must be immediately after the events of the earlier avatara.

3. Varaha (wild boar)

Vishnu as Varaha, 10th century, Central, Madhya Pradesh, India, Asia, sandstone, Dallas Museum of Art
[Link]
ya-pradesh-india-asia-sandstone-dallas-museum-of-art-gift-of-david-t-owsley-via-the/
The antagonist of this story is Hiranyaksha - one of the Daityas - son of Diti (sister of Aditi). The story
talks about a deluge that Hiranyaksha created by pushing the Earth under water. I am not sure if this flood
is the same as what Manu encountered and survived, but maybe it is a different one. In any case, the
mythical time for this story is close to the earlier stories in Krita yuga.

4. Narasimha (man lion)

Narsimha imagery from Tamilnadu, now in Met Museum New York, 12th century CE
Hiranyaksha's twin brother Hiranyakashipu sought revenge for his brother's death, but in the end met his
own end at the hands (nails) of Vishnu's Narasimha (half-man half-lion) avatara. So again, this must be
close at heels to the story of Varaha. This is said to be the last avatara of Satya / Krita yuga.

5. Vamana (young student)

Vishnu's first full human avatara - albeit that of a young boy - is that of Vamana. Now this avatara was to
get rid of the Daitya King Bali, under whose able leadership the Daityas and Danavas had forged a very
formidable war front and army against the Devas. See here for more about Bali.

Bali was the grandson of Hiranyakashipu of the earlier story (Hiranyakashipu -- Prahlada -- Veerochana --
Bali). So there must be a gap of at least two generations (100-150 years?) between the fourth and the fifth
avatara as against the earlier stories, which seem to have happened one after the other. In some puranas,
this is also given as the first avatara of Vishnu in Treta yuga. So the gap may be much wider - by a couple
of hundred thousand years.

6. Parashurama (brahmin king)

Bhargava rama or Parashurama - the first sovereign king of the new world - is the only avatara in which
Vishnu is still supposed to be lingering around due to his unfinished business with Kalki that is yet to
come. In any case, Parashurama is famous for killing Haihaya Kshatriyas 21 times over and over again.
The events of this story must have happened somewhere halfway through Treta yuga.

7. Ramachandra (purushottama - 'great man')

The historical accuracy of the two epics of Hindu Mythology is a topic that requires more studied opinion
than mine, but for the purpose of this write-up, it suffices to consider that Ramachandra's avatara and his
war with the Lankan overlord Ravana is considered to have happened during the final eons of Treta yuga.

8. Krishna / Balarama (the poorna-purusha - the 'complete man')

Krishna and Balarama are the avatara that happened in the end of Dwapar yuga. So it seems there was a
gap of two into 432,000 years (i.e 864,000 years - mythical years that is - don't get me into a discussion
on the historical perspectives of these) between the seventh and the eighth avatara.

Some say Krishna was Vishnu's avatara, and Balarama was Adi Sesha's avatara. Some say Balarama was
born out of a white hair of Vishnu's body while Krishna was born out of a dark hair. In any case, it seems
these two were brothers and walked the Earth together before the beginning of the Kali Yuga.

9. Buddha (the wise)

This is the first avatara in Kali yuga, and also seems to be the only one where some actual historical
personage can be traced to the incarnation. However the inclusion of Buddha in the list itself is quite
controversial. In some lists Balarama is considered the 8th one, and Krishna the 9th one.

In Maharashtra where I come from, Vithoba is considered the 9th avatar. In any case, if we include
Buddha, then most scholars peg Buddha's historical time around 486 and 483 BCE i.e. about 2,500 years
ago from your and my time.

10. Kalki (time / destroyer)

Kalki is supposed to be the final avatara, and this is one avatara that is yet to come.

Kalki Bhagwan is expected to appear at the end of Kali Yuga i.e. about 430,000 years from now. So Kalki
will come in the age of darkness, destroy the barbarians and thieves, and will re-establish righteousness
on the Earth - which will eventually mark the beginning of Satya yuga again and the next cycle of Maha
Yugas.