few of the scientific roots of the traditions and customs that are followed in Indian culture are presented in this ppt !

1. Science Paper Presentation
By
Akshay Kale

2. Introduction
 India is my country. I am proud of its rich varied heritage
and culture.
 Indian culture is most ancient and prosperous !
 Culture is the art of living
 It refers to the intellectual development evolved out of
the physical and mental training acquired in the course of
ages in our country.
 Such a wonderful culture as we all know !

3. Introduction
 But who made it?
 Why made it?
 What was that for?
 To whom all was it made?
 There also occurs one question …
 WHAT ARE THE SCIENTIFIC ROOTS OF INDIAN CULTURE
THAT ARE MANDATORY FOR US TO FOLLOW ??

4. SCIENTIFIC ROOTS
OF
INDIAN CULTURE

5. Introduction
 From where to begin...?
 Take Indian lengths and breadths
 Or
 Take body from head to toe
 Or
 Take our food habits
 Or
 Take seasonal festivals
 EVERY WHERE THERE IS FULL FLEDGED AND RICH CULTURE
!!

6. Introduction Indian culture
What it says?
It gives everything about life, leading life with good health and
Peace of mind..
By eliminating „restlessness‟
Which is ultimate eternal goal of spiritual life !
..
One should have physical and mental fitness to achieve
peace of mind and a sound body
..
Our culture is the best way to gain them

7. Indian culture
Ayurveda Yoga Meditation
These 3 are the basic foundations for Indian culture

8.  Ayurveda is knowledge of health and science or wisdom of
life.
 This is not recent one, the oldest ever medical branch. It
is an ancient philosophy based on deep understanding of
eternal truths about the human body, mind and spirit.
 This gives us enormous knowledge on what must be our
intake during what time and what season.
Ayurveda

9. Ayurveda
 It includes major things as
 Food and diet
 Routines (daily habits)
 Medicine
 Seasons and festivals

10. Food and diet
 Attitudes to food vary from culture to culture ,
traditionally Indians have always recognized both
nutritional value and the health aspects of different foods
 Appetite and digestive functions vary according to
seasons, temperature, climate and Ayurveda recommends
which foods to eat and which to avoid and there are even
recommendations about which food combinations are
potentially harmful.

11. Food and diet
 Shloka

12. Food and diet
 Consumption of the food must be after every 5 hours i.e.
after the previous meal digests.
 Breakfast and lunch must be done properly at proper
intervals and at proper time daily without change in its
time-table.
 This helps in proper secretion of enzymes and proper
functioning of digestive system.
 Not to consume any snacks between heavy meals.

13. Seasons
 Spring :
 As digestive function is reduced, food with high acidic content must be
reduced as it can cause stomach ulcers.
 Sweet foods should be avoided as body finds it difficult to burn up the
calories.

14. Seasons
 Summer :
 Cold, sweet, soft foods cool the body. Acid and bitter food and heat producing
food should be avoided otherwise it increase acidity and heat.

15. Seasons
 Rainy and Winter:
 Digestive function increases therefore heavier foods are digested more easily.
 Light foods are not suitable because digestive system is more active
 Milk, oily, etc., can be consumed.

16. Festivals
 Food habits during different festivals:
 Ramanavami falls in chaitra-maas and hence our culture
recommends us to have sharabat and other liquids.
 Naga-panchami falls in shravana-maas(during rainy
season). Here we consume heat producing items like
varieties of laddus.
 Deepavali and sankranti fall during winter season. We
intake oily foods that increase fat(adipose) content to
protect us from cold.
 And many more..

17. Festivals

18. Routine (daily habits)
 One should get up before sun rise to maintain good blood circulations,
in turn this activates the brain and mind power with concentration
and increases intellectuality
 Exercise and yoga helps in good blood circulation and oxygen intake of
body.
 Meditation after bathing increases concentration and peace of mind
that enables a person to be fresh and active throughout the day.
 Early to rise and early to bed makes man healthy-wealthy

19. Medicine
 Indian medicine basically consists of ayurvedic and herbal medications
that doesn‟t give side effects.
 Tulsi, turmeric, eucalyptus, neem, and many many more are examples
of this.
 Kashaya prepared out of different varieties of medicinal plants
improves immunity and if consumed as beverage, it acts as an agent
in eliminating dreadful diseases.

20. Yoga and meditation
 Yogasana is method to keep ourselves healthy through various aasanas
(exercises).
 No need to tell more about this since this is flourishing world wide as
a cult now-a-days. Yoga has become a must for people abroad. They
go to classes for the peace of mind, to relax and chill, to remove
tensions and set the mind free and active. Also, this helps in apt
functioning of each and every organ of our body by supplying good
amount of oxygen and blood to all parts of body.
 And proper care must be taken to do yogasana properly in a correct
manner.
 But what are we doing !? We are following western exercise which
gives us just EXERCISE !! (Gym, jogging, etc)

21. Yoga and meditation
 Pranayama is the best solution for almost all the
tensions and body-aches.
 Because by doing correct pranayama we get proper
supply of oxygen to the lungs and thereby we gain
energy.
 In present life cycle, no one here does the actual
breathing. It seems like the air we inhale doesn’t even
reach lungs !!
 Addition to that we have all pollutants in the air.
 So its recommended to do pranayama daily in the early
morning to gain most use of it.

24. Meditation is nothing but clearing off the mind, relax and sit and just breathe
in and out with thinking about nothing.
Sit calm and blank in a place and just breathe in and out thoroughly ! It
relaxes all muscles and blood veins and neural system !
…….
But there is also deep meditation where-in we want nothing out of this hectic
world and only think about almighty !
At times after long meditation, body starts itching, mind stops thinking and
everything seems to have stopped but our mind at summit in a place where
there’s no one but just our views on almighty.
A stage where it seems as though we have stopped breathing !
Where we attain a very small bit of spiritual mind.
Where yogis keep on moving further and further for ultimate goal of
enlightenment.
Where knowledge flows through all our veins !!
That is deep meditation !!

25. Rituals and others
 Women in our country wake-up early in the morning
and worship tulsi and visit banayan tree, peepal
tree.
 Why was that made ?
 Tulsi is most valued medicinal plant and to worship it
and preserve it with its importance, a ritual was laid
down by our ancestors .
 Banayan and peepal tree give out huge amount of
oxygen during dawn. Those trees are worshiped in
order to preserve its importance.
 Also due to Sun in the dawn, vitamin D is produced
in the body which increases calcium content in body
and strengthens bones.
 So it was mandatory for the women to perform this
ritual.

26. Rituals and others
 The age and life cycle was divided into :
 BALYA
 BRAHMACHARYA
 GRAHASTASHRAMA
 VANAPRASHTASHRAMA
 Which we study in our history now.
 From vedic ages itself , this division was made and
followed depending on the physical age and mental level
of the men.

27. Rituals and others
 Why Hindus pierce ears of a baby?
 Answer: After a baby is born, it is a general practice in Hindus to pierce
his/her ears. Actually, it is a part of acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture and
acupressure is not new to Hindus. Even it is said that these techniques
originated in India and later they were conserved and modified by Chinese.
Outer part of ears carry a lot of important acupuncture and acupressure
points. The point where the ears of a baby are pierced is known for curing
asthma. That is why even ancient Hindus used to wear earrings but now a
days most Hindus do not wear earrings. They do not even pierce the ears
after first piercing. The holes in their ears become invisible after as they grow
up. Only Hindu female wear earrings as a tradition.
 But there are males of some castes in Hinduism who wear earrings as a
tradition till now.

28.  We get the human body after our soul passes through 84,00,000 species.
 Hindus believe we get a human body after our soul passes through 84,00,000 species.
Initially, critics of Hinduism used to say that this is just a myth, so many species do not
exist. But with the advent of science, it is revealed that there are about 84,00,000
species on the earth. So, the above statement is symbolic for the fact that human being
is born through evolution and we human beings are the most advanced stage of
evolution.
 Why only some castes are allowed to eat non-vegetarian food and others are not?
 Answer: Basically, who should eat and who should not depends on the occupation of a
person. If you ask a modern doctor, he will simply tell you that if you have need for
more calories and you do a lot of physical labor, then only you should eat nonvegetarian
food. If your occupation is of sedentary type and you eat a lot of high-calorie food, you
are bound to gain more weight and invite many sorts of diseases related to obesity.
 The medieval caste system of India was based upon the occupation of a person.
Therefore the people from a particular caste doing more physical labor were allowed to
eat meat. For example, job of a Kshatriya was to fight with enemy and protect the
people. So, they required a lot of energy. Hence, Kshatriyas were allowed to eat meat.
In the same way, a farmer who requires a lot of physical work was allowed to eat meat.
On the other hand, other castes like Brahmins who do Prayer and intelligent work
requiring less hard labor were restricted from eating meat. In the same way, weavers,
businessmen were not allowed to eat meat.

29.  Superconductivity is a phenomenon in which the electrical resistance of certain materials
becomes exactly zero, below a characteristic temperature, usually well below 0 degrees
Celcius. For example, some cuprate-perovskite ceramic materials become superconductors
at -183 degrees Celcius.
 When the material becomes superconductor, magnetic lines do not pass through them and
they float in the air. This can be easily demonstrated in the lab using liquid nitrogen and
the superconductor material. The same principle applies to the body of the Yogi.
 In Dnyaneshwari, written by Saint Dnyaneshwar, he has described his experience of what
happens when Kundalini Shakti arises in the body. He has mentioned that it feels like
Kundalini power drinks all the blood and eats up all the flesh in your body and your body
becomes very, very cold. After some time, it again regenerates everything and your body
becomes as fresh as a newborn.
 It is quite possible that when the temperature of Yogi‟s body decreases, it reaches to a
point where Yogi‟s body becomes a superconductor and hence, the gravitational lines do
not pass through his body and he floats in the air. Though, there is no proof for this but it is
quite possible.
 Hence, it is not a superstition that Yogis float in the air. The ad makers who mock the
Hindus in the ads by making fun out of the Yogis floating in the air should consider this fact.
 Today India is the world‟s largest democratic country. With people from varied backgrounds
living in the same country, India customs and traditions are infinite to describe.

30.  “Throwing Currency Coins into a River” Many of us would have noticed our co-
passengers throwing coins into rivers especially when traveling over river bridges.
 Possible Reason: The general reasoning given for this act is that, it brings Good Luck
back to us. It is also believed that it will bring back Goddess of Wealth, Lakshmi to
our households.
 Scientific Reason: In the ancient times, most of the currency used was made of
copper unlike the stainless steel coins of today. Most of us even know of the ANNAs
(made of copper) which were used in the pre-independent times. Copper is a vital
metal very useful to the human body. The intake of copper with water is very good
for health. Throwing coins in the river was one way our fore-fathers ensured we
intake sufficient copper as part of the water. Rivers were the only source of drinking
water. Making it a custom by saying it will bring good fortune to us has ensured that
all of us follow the good practice.

31.  “Joining both palms together to greet others”
 In Hindu culture, I have seen people greeting others by joining their palms together.
This is termed as “Namaskar” as per Hindu traditions. This is the most common way of
greeting others.
 Possible Reason: The general reason that would be given is that greeting elders and
others by joining both the palms is the way of respect given to them.
 Scientific Reason: While greeting others, we join both the hands together. Joining
both hands ensures joining the tips of all the fingers together; which are denoted to
the pressure points of eyes, ears, and mind. Pressing them together is said to activate
the pressure points. This helps us to remember the person for a long time.

32.  “Applying Tilak on the forehead”
 Tilak is a ritual mark on the forehead. It can be put in many forms as a sign of
blessing, greeting or auspiciousness. Applying Tilak on the forehead is a very
important and mandatory ritual custom followed by the Hindus. Women should
always put this tilak at the center of the forehead, the place in between the two
eyebrows. Many of the males belonging to the orthodox communities would also put
tilak on their foreheads.
 Possible Reason: Hinduism is very much concerned about this custom and I myself
faced a great opposition from my family members if I have not put tilak by mistake.
This is considered as a evil practice if women do not put tilak.
 Scientific Reason: The tilak is applied on the spot between the brows which is
considered the seat of latent wisdom and mental concentration.
 This spot present in between the eyebrows is said to have the
nerve connection to the brain.
 And putting tilak in this spot regularly would stimulate this spot and helps
us to have good concentration and mental concentration.

33.  Mango and Neem Leaves to the doors on auspicious days”
 Possible Reason: The general reason given for this act is that tying mango and neem
leaves would not allow the evil powers to enter the house.
 Scientific Reason: On auspicious days and on special occasions, all of us gather at one
place along with our relatives and friends. Photosynthesis is a process where in plants
take in carbon-di-oxide and give out oxygen. This process helps in circulation of
oxygen and in turn keeps the room temperature at an optimum level. Mango leaves
and neem leaves are very effective in the photosynthesis process comparative to other
plants. Neem leaves purify the bacteria too. In order to keep the temperature cool
and to circulate air, we tie mango leaves and neem leaves to all the doors.

34.  “Why do women apply turmeric paste to their foot and legs.”
 Possible Reason: The general reason that is given for turmeric application is that it is a
to be done act by women.
 Scientific Reason: Women traditionally used to perform many household duties which
involved bringing water from the river, cleaning the house with water, washing clothes,
and cooking. Most of the houses were made of mud and clay which were soaked in
water at regular intervals for cleaning purposes. All these activities required women
step into/on water. In order to prevent their feet and legs from the bacterial and
fungus infections; they were advised to apply turmeric paste to their legs. In today‟s
medicine we all know that turmeric is an very good antiseptic agent. Our forefathers
knew this too and therefore they used turmeric extensively in their day to day lives.

35.  “Madi while cooking”
 “Madi” is a process in which an individual cleans himself and
dresses himself into a traditional costume to perform an activity
like cooking or any other religious activities. This custom is still
prevalent in many orthodox families. This custom is commonly
followed by Brahmin community in India.
 Scientific Reason: Madi is a process of purifying the physical body
before undergoing any sort of actions like cooking, religious rituals.
It is always good to be clean before cooking to avoid any sort of
bacteria and germs entering the food. So our ancestors have
introduced a custom, called Madi. But in the recent times, it has
been noticed that this custom has misinterpreted by treating
people who are not in Madi as un-touchables.

36.  “Raangoli in the month of December.”
 It is one of the common custom followed by everyone with full of enthusiasm and
interest. The home makers and the kids would involve putting rangoli in the month of
Deccember, with the mix of rice powder.
 Scientific Reason: In India, the month of December, it is a bit cold month comparative
to the whole year. And the small insects and ants that live in the soil would not have
food for the winter. Indian tradition of India tells us to help others and not to harm,
even knowingly or unknowingly. Inorder to help the small insecticides, we would put
rangoli on the floor, with rice powder. This would help them in providing food for the
winter.

37.  “Women Staying away from rituals during menstrual cycle.”
 Women under menstruation are asked to remain indoors and restricted from
performing most of their daily activities as a custom in many Indian traditional
families.
 Scientific Reason: This is probably one of the most misinterpreted customs that
prevails in many traditional families. During menstruation women undergo both
physical and emotional changes and may not be ready for rituals that required
concentration and strength for execution. Women in the ancient times used to do a
lot work that required a ritual to be completed. This custom was to ensure that
women under menstruation are given rest during rituals. Over time this has been
misinterpreted by many that women under menstruation are to stay away from
rituals since it brings ill effects to the ritual.

38.  “Why do elders rotate crystal salt, lemon around head?”
 Most of the time, I see my maternal grand mother taking crystal salt or lemon and
revolve around us, her grand children saying“Drishti”, evil eye. She always does this
when I visit her.
 Possible Reason: “Dristhi” is stated as an evil eye on the person who feels jealous
about others. It is believed that if a person gets “Dristi”, he would be ruined or
would fell sick due to the evil eye. As a cure and remedy to this evil eye, elders take
dristhi by revolving salt or lemon around the person.
 Scientific Reason: Salt can be considered as the first antibiotic. Not only that, the
salty and acidic substances would less affect the magnetic field. Keeping these
properties if lemon and salt in mind, we revolve salt and lemon around the person.
 The salt and lemon when revolved around, it would kill all the bacteria around the
person. It forms an aura layer of antibiotics around the person. Not only has this,
revolving around the person balance the magnetic field too. This would make the
person affected with dristi feel better
 “The theme of joint family and nuclear dint exist until we were westernized !”
 Always we lived in joint family, where feelings shared and broadmindedness
increased and lived happily.
 Now-a-days some part of family stays somewhere and other elsewhere.

39. Note:
 Not only these but also, Vastu-Shastra, Homa-Havana, etc.,. Are a
part of great culture, Indian-culture !.
 But,
 Because of our busy and hectic schedule now-a-days, we forget
what is important for us and keep ourselves involved in our
professions or enjoyments.
 In the present situation, people are just worried about the money
and sensuousness.
 We forget that the only thing that also helps in a such a busy and
tension life is our culture and tradition and mind-set.
 Better late than never
 So start giving a try, try thinking and start doing what our own
scientific methods tell us.

40. Conclusion
 Although we have a such flourishing and wealthy tradition and culture, we
stay unaware of its importance in our life.
 And we fall captivated and attracted towards western culture and tradition
which gives only upper texture and a good amount of pleasure in showing
off.
 Its not that, western culture is wrong ! But the way we follow it, is wrong
and always wrongly done !
 Remember my dear friends,
 Every single thing done by ancestors had a meaning. We try to question it and
probably get few answers and sometimes not.
 One truth forever lies, that is, every single culture also has its own significance and
SCIENTIFIC ROOT
 JAI HIND 