Hindu Astronomy

Astronomy, as defined in modern idiom, is the Science of Stars or other heavenly bodies. There are innumerable stars, it is observed, which never undergo any change as regard to their relative situations. They are fixed. It is precisely this characteristic of the stars that provides a foundation to any system of astronomy. Hindu recorded their observations of stars or other heavenly bodies, made more than three thousand years before the Christian Era, in terms of religious idiom. Each heavenly body, therefore, represented a Divinity. Hindu astronomy, as a consequent upon that, had its roots in the Doctrine that it was God who had assigned duties to each of the heavenly bodies. This belief led them to observe the phenomenon of heavenly bodied with awe and perfect their calendar of festivals etc, accordingly. The book, conceived in the said background, apart from other things, elaborately discusses the contribution of early Hindu astronomers viz. Parasara, Garg, Aryabhatta and Varaha Mitira. Attention is also drawn to ancient astronomical works known as Siddhantas, such as, Brahma Siddhanta, Surya siddhanta, Brihaspati Siddhanta, Garga Siddhanta, Parasara Siddhanta, and Vasishtha Siddhanta etc. The text is supplemented with thirteen illustrations and numerous diagrams that made the study of astronomy interesting and understandable.