The Etruscan City of Volterra is Sanskrit Veladhri, or Mountainous Coastal Town

The actual name of one of Tuscany's most famous tourist destinations was Velathri or Felathri in the Early Iron Age (~750 B.C.), which is the Sanskrit term “Velaadhri”, meaning a mountain situated near the coast. Sanskrit letter ‘V’ is pronounced between the phonetic sounds ‘B’ and ‘V’ in the Roman alphabet, perhaps yielding an ‘F’ or 'V' sound for the Etruscan people. 'Vela' means tide, shore, coastline, or any boundary of land and sea; the second part of the compound 'Adri' means stone, rock, or mountain. The Romans called it Volaterrae by the 3rd century B.C. and later this word came to be shortened as Volterra in English spelling. Conveniently visited on a day trip (1 hour drive, 75 km) from Florence, the center of Europe's renaissance, Velathri overlooks the Era and Cecina river valleys, adding many shorelines to its landscape.

Scenic View of Volterra, Tuscany
Fig. 1, pg. 4 of Sybille Haynes' book - Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History 

Volterra today is a small town located about 1800 feet or 550 meters above sea level, by far the highest elevation among the twelve major cities in the ancient Etruscan League. Also the Tyrrhenian or Ligurian coastline in Cecina is about 40 kilometers or 25 miles away from the city of Volterra, which is not a particularly far distance. According to tourist website http://www.tripsite.com/road-bike/tours/tuscany/: “The city is situated on the back of a mountain right in the middle of the Tuscan landscape. Thanks to its impressive position, according to the weather, you can enjoy a wonderful view from the Apuan Alps to the Tyrrhenian Sea.” Etruscan tribes also once occupied the territory of Campania, including the cities of Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Surrentum (Sorrento), as attested by Aldo Massa (World of the Etruscans, pg. 33-34). Therefore this civilization must have spread across most or all of Italy before it became confined to modern day Tuscany. This demonstrates that the original heritage of Italy is Etruscan, not Roman, and their language must be either partially related to the Indo-European family or at the very least they borrowed liberally from Sanskrit.

Etruscan Cities from National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 173 No. 6, June 1988

The above map indicates that Etruscans were the dominant power in the northern mountainous areas and on the western coastline of Italy by the end of the sixth century. Notice that Felathri (Volterra), Vetluna (Vetulonia), and Velch (Vulci) are all located near the sea. The Sanskrit word 'Vela', as it relates to sea or ocean coasts, is also found in Latin terminology and place names. Vela is a constellation in astronomy, literally meaning "sails of a ship" because of the word's intimate connection with bodies of water in Sanskrit. Not incidentally, the ancient city of Velia in Magna Graecia, Campania lies right on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Because Roman and Greek languages are classified as Indo-European due to their close affinity with Sanskrit, the Tyrrhenians (another name for Etruscans) must have learned some Sanskrit vocabulary words like 'vela' from their neighbors. But modern Italians themselves seem oblivious to any vestiges of Indian influence on their geographical nomenclature.

To illustrate the confusion of Italian scholars regarding the name Velathri, an online travel guide states, "Etruscan names containing the root 'Vel' usually indicated a height, a hill. By extension, the same root as 'Vel' was found in the names of families of 'high' status." This vague definition has problems, most notably the lack of any explanation for the 'athri' suffix in 'Velathri'. Most Etruscan aristocratic family names (Porsenna, Tarquin, Remzna, Vipinana) are totally unrelated to 'Vel', so the guide's deceptive reasoning that 'Vel' was associated with higher classes is almost baseless. Simply because one important king of Caere (i.e. Thefarie Velianas) or some other prominent person had the same prefix in his family name does not automatically make 'Vel' an adjective of nobility! How stupid and gullible are we as readers to digest such facile logic? It goes to show that internet posters can write almost anything with no substantiation whatsoever. Certainly drawing the conclusion that some families derived their names from cities where they started out is reasonable (e.g. the Velcha clan who must have hailed from Vulci), but specious arguments such as those found in travel guides should not be taken seriously. 

Swastika Symbols on Gold Pendant, Bolsena, Italy (700-650 B.C.) at Louvre Museum

Velzna (modern Bolsena or Roman Volsinii) is another subject of controversy, which is unwarranted. A Byzantine historian of the 12th century A.D. (Joannes Zonaras) claims that Etruscan Velzna must have been perched on a steep hill but Bolsena today is situated on level plains. Since Orvieto and Montefiascone are located at elevated sites nearby, there has been debate about which place represents the bygone city of Velzna. None of this speculation will yield any satisfactory result if ancient Velzna contained all of these different areas under its control and administration. For our purposes, we first want to discern why it was called 'Velzna', and the answer is that it straddled Lake Bolsena on both sides. Remember 'Vela' signifies any major boundary of land and water in Sanskrit. Orvieto is 14 km from Bolsena, which was established by the Romans on the northeastern shore of the lake after they destroyed the original Velzna in 264 B.C. Montefiascone is right next to the southern tip of Lake Bolsena, so probably the entire region was governed by the Etruscan leaders of Velzna, but after Roman subjugation it got pigeonholed to one spot on the map - modern Bolsena (Volsinii Novi or New Volsinii). 

Modern Names of Italian Cities in Etruria, including Bolsena & Volterra

Similarly, it could well be that Volterra constituted or encompassed a larger urban region, including nearby Cecina on the coast. Hence, "In the city (Volterra) and in the rural regions surrounding it a particular type of grave stela was developed during the sixth century for the monumental tombs of eminent aristocratic men, showing them in their social aspect of warrior or priest," author Sybille Haynes writes, hinting at this unusual phenomenon of spreading local culture through funeral art (Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History, pg. 248). Around 550-500 B.C. many artifacts point to a growing consciousness of the Ramayana in Etruria, especially those discovered at the city of Caisra (i.e. Caere or Cerveteri). There is a strong possibility that the celebration of Rama's story reached its zenith in Italy during the reign of the Tarquins in Rome, which spanned the entire sixth century (616-509 B.C.) and below is an example from Volterra that appears to match Rama and Lakshman's walking stance in the Campana paintings:

"A bearded man with long, horizontally furrowed hair and dressed in a short tunic, Avile Tite walks in profile to the left, holding a spear in his right and a sword with a curved handle in his left hand. His massive, muscular body betrays East Greek prototypes" (pg. 249, Haynes). Her dating of this stela is exactly the same as that of the Louvre's Campana plaques found in Cerveteri - the third quarter of the sixth century B.C. (550-525). As an investigator, I believe that all these similar findings from a particular time period are linked by some core values and beliefs. Avile Tite is likely representative of the ideal noble warrior, modeled after two of the greatest heroes in Eastern religion, Rama and Lakshman.

Rama, Sita, and Lakshman (right to left): Archeological Museum, Bologna, Italy

Rama and Lakshman were Eastern paragons of the virtuous and courageous kshatriya caste, so naturally Greek and Etruscan artists gravitated to them. Their valiant struggle as forest dwellers to overcome an indomitable force like Ravana must have appealed to the predominantly rural civilization of Etruria. "Of wielders of weapons I am Rama," sings Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita (10.31), justifying how Rama could overcome the powerful demon Ravana. Despite access to all these available details in a global information age, the Louvre feigns ignorance like a stumped schoolboy when discussing the walking scene from Caere (Campana slab) above:

"The exact identification of the subjects represented by these paintings are still causing controversy today. The location in which they were discovered does not allow us to conclude that this is a strictly funerary iconography. Mythological interpretations are hardly more conclusive."
http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/campana-slab-man-altar

Since they never bother to examine Oriental or Eastern mythology, the curators at this eminent French museum, arguably the most important collection in the western world, will continue to fail in their half-hearted attempts to solve this so-called mystery. Inscribed swastikas on a gold pendant from Velzna or Bolsena (7th century B.C.), as shown earlier from the Louvre, should alert them of Vedic culture's potential relationship to the Campana painting.

Orvieto's museum also contains an impressive stone-headed warrior from the second half of the sixth century B.C. that may not be directly associated with Rama, but nonetheless is reflective of the emphasis on martial art in the Orientalizing period. A short, quality youtube video on this sculpture and an unidentified female divinity with possible Vedic origins can be seen here.

Greek vs. Hindu Religion: Satyr 'Pan' is Europe's Version of Krishna in Childhood

“The Homeric Hymn also states that Pan is a god beloved of both the shepherd and his flock and, adding even further to the mysterious and enigmatic nature of this divinity, that he is a fierce and terrifying hunter as well as a gifted musician and nimble dancer.” [On the Death and Rebirth of the Great God Pan, by Richard Stromer]

“Pan is represented in Egypt by the painters and the sculptors, just as he is in Greece, with the face and legs of a goat. They do NOT, however, believe this to be his shape, or consider him in any respect unlike the other gods; but they represent him thus for a reason which I prefer not to relate.” [Histories of Herodotus (440 BC), Book II, Chapter 46]

Lord Krishna's childhood pranks and pastimes are distorted in the Greek religion with Pan, "god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, hunting and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs" (Wikipedia). Krishna is the companion of milkmaids (Gopis) or 'nymphs', whom he delights by playing his bamboo flute, or 'rustic music'. Pan's original home is Arcadia, acclaimed as an "unspoiled, harmonious wilderness" in European Renaissance art. Vrindaban (forest or grove of Vrinda or Tulsi, i.e. Holy Basil) was ancient India's Arcadia. In Braj-bhoomi, a region in northern India which encompasses Mathura and Vrindaban, Krishna is famous for dancing with the Gopis (Rasa-Lila), tending cows, and playing the flute in dense forests surrounded by simple creatures such as peacocks and monkeys. All these personal characteristics of this adorable Hindu God were diluted to help form the features of some of the most obscure and often grotesque beings called satyrs, who were sometimes fully human or partly human with horse or goat-like features (e.g. tails), mainly from the waist downwards. Most examples I am going to display are completely human, because in my opinion they represent the earliest forms of Krishna worship in ancient Greece and Rome.

Each one of these statues is titled, "Young Satyr Playing the Flute", without explaining who this satyr was, including his name, lineage, and role among other gods. Both are Roman copies produced in the 1st-2nd century A.D. of Hellenistic sculptures inspired by artists such as Praxiteles (4th century BC). The left statue was found in Domitian's Villa (A.D. 81-96), and is seen here at the Vatican Museum. The other marble statue on the right is from the Louvre, which you can also view at the Harvard University Library website. The Louvre's example is better preserved, but both demonstrate the Greeks' familiarity with Lord Krishna, including his childhood. His vintage cross-legged, leaning stance next to a tree trunk while delicately sounding beautiful melodies from his flute is synonymous with Krishna's Murali-dhara (flute holder) form in Vedic tradition. These two sculptures may not have even been "satyrs" originally, but later this terminology got ignorantly planted onto them as generic labels.

The satyrs in Greek mythology were salacious companions of Dionysus, another Greek god whose parallels to certain facets of Lord Shiva will be discussed in another post. Much like Krishna's childhood and adulthood, Shiva's sexual and destructive natures were separated to create multiple deities (Dionysus and Poseidon) in ancient Europe's endless desire to have as many pagan gods and goddesses as possible in its pantheon. The warrior and prince Krishna, as opposed to the child Krishna, has frequently been cited by contemporary Greek and Roman scholars before the common era as Heracles, including Megasthenes and Quintus Curtius. Also, "To the Etruscans, Hercle (Heracles) was always considered divine, not a hero who became divine only after his death. This popular figure, worshiped in numerous Etruscan sanctuaries, functioned as an oracular and healing god, qualities less important for the Greek Herakles" (Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, Etruscan Religion and Pantheon exhibit). Therefore, Krishna may have exercised an even more powerful impact on Etruscans than Greeks or Romans. American indologist Edwin Francis Bryant equates Hari-Krishna with Greece's adult hero Herakles, but not many to my knowledge have correlated the flute playing satyr (which devolved into Pan) with Krishna in his youth.

Chief among these curious entertainers, "Pan spends his time among the mountain nymphs of Arcadia, playing the panpipe," because "true to his satyr nature, Pan was lascivious" (pg. 385, Encyclopedia of Greek & Roman Mythology by Luke Roman, 2010). Yet despite his lusty desires, Pan has been described as the 'preeminent pastoral deity' by Yves Bonnefoy, who further adds that this god was already present in Greek religious life by the sixth century B.C. and probably earlier. Although Lord Krishna's pranks and Rasa-Lila dance with the Gopis were misinterpreted as sexual escapades and orgies, still Pan retained the status of a universal pastoral deity like Krishna. The graphics below fittingly illustrate the contrast between Pan holding hands with naked women and Krishna (blue color) expanding himself into multiple, identical males to please each of the milkmaids wearing saris (traditional Indian dress), especially his favorite Gopi and consort Radha in the center of the dance circle.

  "Pan with Wood Nymphs Statue"

Lord Krishna dances with Gopis in Rasa-Lila

Bagore ki Haveli, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

The Homeric Hymn to Pan is more or less an exact description of Rasa-Lila: "Only at evening... he sounds his note, playing sweet and low on his pipes of reed... At that hour the clear-voiced nymphs are with him and move with nimble feet, singing by some spring of dark water." The dark water probably refers to the Yamuna river, which is united with Krishna, who is also known as Shyama-sundara (beautiful dark person), in Vaishnava spiritual beliefs.

Speaking of Radha, she is cherished by the residents of Vrindaban because she is the eternal companion and wife of Lord Krishna. To paraphrase author Sharon Rose Yang, the striking closeness between Pan and the Roman Pales is due to the fact that they complement each other like Chinese yin and yang, or male and female, much as Radha and Krishna are glorified as one divine couple. This divinity Pales is sometimes defined as male and other times as female, exemplifying the confusion resulting from this dual role. Even though Pan is usually equated with Roman Faunus, this correspondence is deceiving because it ignores the similarities between Pan and Pales, which would also account for why the Roman festival Parilia was celebrated with such exuberance on April 21. The ancient Romans probably mixed up or matched Rama with Krishna on the same date. They also held another festival on July 7 for 'the two Pales' (Palibus-duobus), possibly to mark the dedication of a new temple to Pales by Marcus Atilius Regulus. Therefore, "Pales can be either singular or plural in Latin, and refers at least once to a pair of deities," according to Wikipedia. Yang's book clearly describes the basic relationship between Krishna (masculine Pan) and Radha (feminine Pales) in Hindu religious belief:

A revered shepherd goddess who presided over pastoral life, Sharon Yang explains, "Pales is purely an object of worship not a participant in the action... Pan is the main god who brings bounty and content, while Pales is only his assistant... Pan's exploits in love are recounted by the shepherds, while Pales, whose feast seems to link her to fertility, is, ironically, never mentioned in terms of sexuality and requires the purification of those who celebrate her." (Goddesses, Mages, and Wise Women, 2011, pg. 87)

Top: Lord Krishna playing his flute among gathered cows attracted to him

Bottom: Terracotta sculpture of Pan ("Rites of Spring") by Milton Horn

Milton Horn, a Russian immigrant who became a naturalized citizen in America, gives his own interpretation above of Pan sitting with normal human legs and feet next to a ram, or male sheep. This is very close to the familiar imagery of Krishna playing music to enchant his favorite pets, cows. Domesticated animals are essential for the sustenance of any rural society, and while Greece and Rome depended on sheep, India relied on cows. As Pan's activities and functions revolve around protecting shepherds and their livestock, Krishna is the protector of cowherd boys (Gopas) and girls (Gopis). He is known as Gopala ("one who tends cows") because he is one of the cowherd boys himself and also the most prominent one. 

In the ancient Greek language, 'paein' means 'to pasture', but this is not the only meaning associated with Pan, and it may not be its original etymology. In A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, Ernest Klein speculates that Pan could be cognate to Sanskrit Pushan, a Vedic solar deity who is a "guardian and multiplier of cattle and other human possessions." Pushan literally means nourishment or growth. This agreement between Pan-Pushan would be analogous to the Poseidon-Poshayitnu relation previously suggested by me when comparing Shiva to Poseidon. Whether these words are related or not, Klein's guess demonstrates that scholars are often left with no other avenue than recourse to Sanskrit, the mother of European languages, which American historian William Durant has recognized.

The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth & Religion (2003) postulates another popular theory about Pan:
"The ancients quite early associated Pan with the word pan, 'all'. From this word-play leads to the association which made Pan in the Roman period into a universal god, the All. It is in this context that we should see the well-known story in Plutarch, which has sometimes been linked with the rise of Christianity, of a mysterious voice announcing the death of 'great Pan'." (pg. 402)

Like Rama's devotees, Krishna's followers also worship him as the supreme God, and so it is not surprising that Pan became known as a universal god during the Roman period of dominance. When Christianity emerged shortly after that age, Pan was declared dead, and Plutarch cried, "the air immediately became filled with a terrible lamentation" (On the Death and Rebirth of the Great God Pan, by Richard Stromer). This statement reminds one of the Bhagavata Purana's declaration that Kali Yuga (iron age of quarrel) began when Krishna departed from this world after the hunter Jara struck his foot with an arrow (Canto 12.2.29). Pan and Herakles, whom we have mapped to young Krishna and mature Krishna respectively, are both Greek divine heroes whose unexpected death is suddenly announced too. Herakles returns to Olympus after dying in apotheosis and Krishna rises to his divine abode after the completion of his leela (pastimes). Furthermore, the crucifixion of Jesus and his life story may be linked to Krishna's biography, but this is a whole new topic that deserves treatment for another day. 

Heliodorus, a Greek votary of Krishna, hails Vasudeva (another name for Lord Krishna) as "the God of Gods" on his Garuda pillar constructed in 113 B.C. Still present in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh (central India), this stone column also contains the inscription: "Three immortal precepts (footsteps), when practiced lead to heaven: self-restraint, charity, consciousness." These are certainly not the qualities you would attribute to a follower of a sex-crazed maniac like Pan, because even the so-called satyr playing the flute has no obvious sexual connotations attached to it except trivial nudity. Agathocles, an Indo-Greek king of ancient Bactria (present-day northern Afghanistan), coined silver drachmas around 185 B.C. displaying Balarama and Krishna, the two heroic brothers of the Yadava clan. Therefore, the knowledge of Krishna and scriptures like Bhagavad Gita (where he reveals himself as the Supreme Lord) already permeated the consciousness of Greeks centuries before Christ. 

For the incredulous skeptics, I ask them: Were the ancients of Europe randomly erecting statues of Krishna, such as the ones below, in Italy and Greece just for amusement? While most of them are kept hidden in museums spread across Europe, including the "Resting Satyr" in Saint Petersburg, Russia and another "Satyr playing a flute" in Paris, France, there are also some that stand outside in public areas where Greek influence is strong. Campania, colonized by ancient Greeks, and Copenhagen, of all cities, are two examples I have come across:

Satyr Playing Flute at Ørstedsparken in Copenhagen, Denmark

Greek statue of Lord Krishna at public square in Naples, Campania, Italy

Lord Krishna playing his divine flute among peacocks under a tree 
Courtesy of krsna-art.com

Richard Stromer's article, "On the Death and Rebirth of the Great God Pan", is full of interesting tidbits of information collected from numerous sources - novels, poems, dictionaries, essays, and academic research - which should serve as a brief primer on the ubiquitous nature of Pan, or Krishna. In one excerpt, he comments on a children's novel (The Wind in the Willows) by Kenneth Grahame where a rat and mole are irresistibly drawn to Pan's melodious piping: "They instinctively know that when they arrive at the source of that mystical music they will be in the 'holy place' (Vrindaban) where they shall find 'Him' (Krishna)." In James Hillman's essay, Pan is a "sacred manifestation of the psychic energy of the natural world," who "served as a mediator for the ancient Greeks," in Stromer's words. 
 
In James Hillman's own esoteric words, Pan was 'an ether who invisibly enveloped all natural things with personal meaning.' Intriguingly, the apostle Saint Paul made a similar declaration ages ago in his Epistle to the Romans (1:20): “Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people have no excuse for not knowing God.” Indirectly the Christian Saint Paul is claiming that God has a personal form that is invisible to our eyes, but can be analyzed or understood through his creation, especially human beings. Genesis 1:27 therefore declares that God created man in His own image, or after His likeness. Thus, Stromer proposes that Pan's enduring legacy is "reflective perhaps of the personal relationship Hillman advocates between each human soul and this powerful nature archetype." The Bhagavad Gita spoken by Krishna emphasizes the necessity of these same processes - jnana (knowledge of God) and bhakti (personal devotion to God) - so this timeless wisdom likely filtered into pagan and Christian philosophies.

"Pan is also the Greek divinity most associated with the demise of the polytheistic and pagan sacred traditions of the classical world," Stromer writes, and Plutarch's story of Pan's demise was "used as a rallying cry in the ruthless destruction of classical paganism that followed Constantine’s adoption of Christianity as the empire's only lawful religion." This explains why we find very few traces of Vedic gods in Europe's pagan artifacts, and when we do we tend to shrug them off as anomalies. Nonetheless, the significance of Krishna being venerated as the god of all nature's creatures by Greeks should be our main focus. Since Krishna was a universal deity in Rome and Greece, it becomes easier for us to comprehend why Rama was an esteemed personality in Etruscan civilization.

Etruscans, the True Founders of Rome in Honor of the Indian King Rama

“A story that was the subject of every variety of misrepresentation, not only by those who then lived but likewise in succeeding times: so true is it that all transactions of preeminent importance are wrapt in doubt and obscurity; while some hold for certain facts the most precarious hearsays, others turn facts into falsehood; and both are exaggerated by posterity.” 
Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, The Annals, Book III, 19 

This quote by one of Rome's greatest historians is cited by Robert Graves in his biographical novel of Roman emperor Claudius. Major historical events or "transactions of preeminent importance" are usually clouded with faint, contradictory memories that wrap them “in doubt and obscurity.” Perhaps no better example of this phenomenon is the open question: who were the real founders of Roma, the eternal city? Were they immortal like the current Italian metropolis of Rome purports to be? This "exaggeration by posterity" of immortality and invincibility stems from the aura of Rama, the universal deity. 

 

Left: Rama, Sita, and Lakshman walking through the forest wearing simple clothes made up of tree bark and leaves, Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Place of origin: Punjab Plains near modern-day Lahore, Pakistan. Late 19th century

Right: Typical 20th century Indian artist's depiction of the same subject. Compare with the Etruscan drawings shown below from Cerveteri near Rome.

Rome is the only ancient city known to have been founded on a specific date, April 21st, in the 8th century (753-728 B.C.) which is unanimously accepted. What happened during that short time frame is debatable, because virtually everything except the date is open for interpretation. It is quite remarkable that we as inquisitive people do not ask why there is seemingly pinpoint accuracy with Rome's beginning date, but practically no reliable information (other than ridiculous myths) about the details of that day, week, month, or year. First of all, it is not by accident that ancient Rome has this unique distinction of an exact founding date, but western scholars would have us believe it was sort of an accident - a fortuitous collaboration between Romulus and a mysterious guardian of animal flocks and their human caretakers. 
 
Its manifestation was the archaic agricultural festival Parilia, which commemorated Pales, a nondescript deity of uncertain gender who was a patron of shepherds and their livestock. Ovid, a Roman poet of the Imperial period, hinted that this pastoral celebration, which also took place annually on April 21, predates the founding of Rome when people were living off the land as real shepherds. It is reasonable to claim that rural festivals such as Parilia (also known as Palilia) existed before the city of Roma was inaugurated, but this does not prove that Romulus (or whoever was the founder) chose to lay the foundation of the city in honor of Pales. This obscure god, as I discussed in the "Satyr Pan" post, is an indirectly related character (Krishna), who like Rama, is the Hindu god Vishnu directly incarnating himself on earth to redeem mankind.

By connecting a popular spring extravaganza with Rome's birthday, contemporary writers during the height of Roman power could whitewash the true reasons why Rome was founded on April 21st. The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth & Religion (2003, pg. 406) admits that Parilia got identified as the birthday of Rome only by the time of the Late Republic (147-30 BC). Kathleen Daly echoes the same sentiment, when she remarks that Parilia "fell on the same day (April 21) in later years when people celebrated the founding of Rome" (pg. 109, Greek and Roman Mythology, A to Z, 3rd edition, 2009).

Most citizens of Rome probably did not even have enough awareness or courage to question all these made-up stories about their eternal city. As classical scholar Gilbert Highet observes, "The appellation Rome was a mystery to the Romans themselves: they did not know what meanings were concealed within it; perhaps originally it was no more than the name of a noble Etruscan family" (Ancient Rome by Robert Payne, 2005, pg. vii). Here Highet, who once chaired the Department of Greek and Latin at Columbia University, almost knocks on the door of my thesis. That 'noble Etruscan family' or clan is painted in the famous Campana plaques from Caere (modern Cerveteri, 50 km from Rome). They are currently found in their original condition at the Louvre Museum in Paris, and I will concentrate on two of these terracotta slabs (reproduced in full color without blemishes by the Archaeological Museum in Bologna as shown in my first post).

Rama (bow & arrow), Sita (Tulsi plant), Lakshman (spear)

Louvre Museum, Paris, France

This first scene is Rama, Sita, and Lakshman walking single file during their exile in the forest. These three are collectively shown with Bharat and Shatrughna (Rama's two other brothers) in Indian religion as Rama Parivar (Rama’s exalted Vedic family), which is what Gilbert Highet unwittingly describes as Roma's eponymous, noble Etruscan family. In Hindu temples, Rama, Sita, and Lakshman are worshiped together with Rama in the middle, Lakshman on the left, and Sita on the right. Notice that these two Etruscan drawings above and below primitively depict Rama and Lakshman with their right hands upright, much like Vedic deities who recognize the prayers of devotees by raising their right hands with palms facing outward. We saw a similar gesture by Neptune in the same exhibit at Bologna, Italy, a city located in the heart of Tuscany or Etruria (land of the Etruscans).

Rama carries Sita away from Lanka, Louvre Museum, Paris

Book Source: Etruscan Painting by Massimo Pallottino

From my point of view, this second scene is a funny but intelligible version of the ending to the Ramayana. The bearded man on the left is Rama, who once again holds a bow and arrows while wearing regular boots, thus connecting him to the man leading the march in the first painting. The shaven-faced man with wings (and winged boots) on the right is also Rama. He is triumphantly carrying Sita onto Ravana's Pushpaka vimana (airplane), which is metaphorically alluded to by his attached wings. After defeating Ravana, Rama returned with Sita to Ayodhya in the enemy's chariot-shaped plane. Notice the transition from bearded man living as an exile in the wilderness to the clean shaven lord who rescues his wife. While lying in his arms, Sita calmly gazes at her husband in a pleasant mood. Her facial expression indicates she is being saved by Rama.

The Louvre avoids displaying all of these panels on its website, except for the least controversial and enigmatic one, which is easy to dismiss as an inconsequential man at a sacrificial altar. That man, whose picture is displayed on its webpage titled "Campana slab: man before an altar", may be drinking soma juice after offering oblations in the sacred fire (Agnihotra or Yajna) and this kind of ritual activity is certainly mentioned in the Valmiki Ramayana:    

The oblations addressed to Indra are well given as ordained, and the flawless king Dasharatha also crushed the Soma creeper to squeeze Soma juice, and thus the mid-day savana ritual has come to pass according to sequence (1-14-6, Bala Kanda).

Bharata saw a sacrificial altar in the north-east corner having a steep descent, extensive in area and having a sacred fire burned in the hermitage of Rama (2-99-24, Ayodhya Kanda)

The Louvre's article about the Campana plaques is also revealing:
"The painted terracotta slabs from the Campana Collection come from a tomb in Caere, where they seem to have been reused. This type of covering was used to decorate the interior of civic buildings, temples, or tombs."

What this implies is that these particular terracotta slabs of Rama Parivar from Caere could have been used previously in civic buildings and Etruscan temples, in addition to tombs. The fact that they have not been rediscovered in other places around Tuscany speaks mostly to the dearth of tangible documentation on Etruscan culture. This is due "partly to the large quantity of unpublished material kept in museum reserves and thus not yet available for the reconstruction of the Etruscans’ past", as Sybille Haynes explains in her own introduction to her book Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History (2000, pg. xviii). 

The Gregorian Etruscan Museum in Vatican City and the National Etruscan Museum (Villa Giulia) in Rome are the main culprits in this conspiracy to suppress evidence. If Italy had knowledgeable, secular bureaucrats, then this disturbing tale of habitual concealment of the truth would hopefully end soon. I am pessimistic because this is an inveterate practice of lying started by none other than the so-called Romans, or Latin tribes.

In the absence of a complete archaeological record, we can analyze literary clues and still come to a firm conclusion, where the hypothesis is proven beyond a reasonable doubt as required in a court of law. An absolute confirmation that Roma is Rama is practically impossible, but before I present more empirical evidence, let us examine two modern scholars' opinions on the origins of Romulus and Remus.

Robert Payne notes: “The legendary Romulus remains a mysterious figure. He left no dynasty, no body of doctrine, no tables of law. Yet some emanation of dynamic purpose was believed to flow from him after his death. In Romulus, the Romans found the symbol of an all-powerful king.” (pg. 27, Ancient Rome)
  
There was no body of doctrine or law for future generations to read because Etruscan literature was wiped out by the Romans, who wanted to eliminate any trace of Etruscan ancestry from memory. Ironically, although Roman law was the template for our current western judicial system, they never intended us to put their own chroniclers on trial. Take for instance, the interrogator asking Livy why Remus was invented when he is not an essential character in Rome's founding myth. Wikipedia, perhaps speaking on Livy's behalf, confesses that "the basis for Remus' name and role remain subjects of ancient and modern speculation." Romulus was manufactured from the name Roma alias Rama, the all-powerful king. Nobody understands the purpose behind the creation of the Remus character, but readers following this blog should know the explanation. Because Rama and Sita had twin sons Lava and Kush, the storytellers wanted to retain both children while distorting their relationship. The integrity of the Ramayan archetype was not completely violated but successfully changed enough to look like a separate, indigenous tradition of Rome.

Rama Parivar, the Eponymous Ancestors of Roma

From left to right: Lakshman, Rama, Sita, Bharat

Hanuman and Shatrughna kneeling with hands folded

Nigel Spivey's comments regarding this controversy are enlightening:
“It is not doubted, however, that the literary fabrication of Rome’s indigenous origins - the tale of Romulus and Remus - was actively promoted from the third century BC onwards. Specific Roman families had vested interests in encouraging such folklore. But the general partisan motive for this literary fabrication was to erase the memory that the foundations of the city of Rome had been laid not by Romans, but by Etruscans.” (Etruscan Art, pg. 150)

He reaches the same conclusion as me - that Etruscans were the aboriginal Italian founders of Rome - and chides the Latin Romans whose motivated lies have hoodwinked the public for over two thousand years. Before Romulus and Remus appeared in their mythology (circa 4th-3rd century BC), the dynasty of kings who ruled Rome were primarily Sabines (Numa Pompilius) in the 7th century and Etruscans (Lucius Tarquinius Priscus) in the 6th century. How could Latin tribes be the only pioneers of Roman civilization when many of their early monarchs were from different ethnic groups? To counter this obvious discrepancy, Spivey believes that later Roman historians “came up with a comforting non-Etruscan ancestry for these Tarquins (dynasty of Etruscan kings who ruled Roma from 616 to 509 BC). They claimed that the first Tarquinius was the son of an exiled Greek aristocrat called Demaratus." (pg. 59)

Remember that Numa Pompilius introduced the cult of Janus or Ganesh during his reign. Lucius Tarquinius almost certainly promoted Lord Rama because the Campana panels found in Cerveteri (ancient Caere) are dated to the late 6th century (550-525 BC), near the end of the Tarquin period. Once the Latin Romans overthrew the monarchy in 509 BC, Etruscan contributions were minimized and gradually destroyed through conquest of major cities in Etruria like Caere, Tarquinia, and Veii. The mythical Romulus, who supposedly preceded Numa Pompilius as Rome's first ever sovereign, is really just a representative figure for the divine incarnation of God whom the Etruscans knew and loved - Rama. The Orientalizing period, as it is vaguely described, began right around the time of Rome's founding years in the 8th century. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it ranged from 750 to 575 B.C. and the University of Pennsylvania gives a timeline of 730-580 B.C. Thus, the extant literary and physical evidence of Indian Vedic influence on Italian civilization, however sparse, should coincide fairly well with this expected time frame. I will continue presenting such pieces of empirical evidence in future posts. Thanks for reading and feel free to share any of your own relevant insights in the comments section.

Roman & Greek Gods: Neptune/Poseidon is Lord Shiva with his Trident

Former British Prime Minister William E. Gladstone astutely observed that the Trident instrument "appears evidently to point to some tradition of a Trinity, such as may still be found in various forms of Eastern religion, other than the Hebrew. It may have proceeded, among the Phoenicians, from the common source of an older tradition; and this seems more probable than its direct derivation from the Hebrews, with whom, however, we know that the Phoenicians had intercourse" (Juventus Mundi: The Gods and Men of the Heroic Age, pg. 252). 

This author is mistaken when he also remarks how Poseidon's trident has no practical application in seawater, because fishing spears with three prongs are still utilized today. Nonetheless, his intuition correctly tells him that human beings do not just worship ordinary fishermen. Therefore, he argues for a more abstract or metaphysical explanation which traces readers back to the original source of the trident's divine significance. Ultimately that bring us to the Trishul, a celestial weapon of many demigods in Vedic tradition, especially Lord Shiva and his consort Durga (Parvati).

Lord Shiva, seated on tiger skin, with his wife Parvati
Mother Ganga nestles in Shiva's hair above him
Triveni Ghat, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India

Shiva is associated with the Himalayas (Mount Kailash) and the Ganges river, two of the most prominent geographical features of the Indian subcontinent, whereas Poseidon is associated with the Mediterranean Sea, the most salient natural boundary around the Greek Islands. The Latin word “tri-dentes” (English trident) means three teeth, perfectly matching the Sanskrit word “tri-danta” (having three teeth). Trishul or “triple spears” is Lord Shiva’s most recognizable weapon (not a mere fishing instrument). Multifarious trinities are often correlated with the trishul emblem, including the three main energy channels in the human body and the three major functions of Godhead (creation, maintenance, and destruction), which are elaborately described in the Vedas (http://nathas.org/en/dictionary/trishul/). Investing their own distorted version of the trishul (three-pronged fishing spear) with the magical power of divinity, the Greeks could create a demigod of their own liking. 

Paestum, Campania, Italy used to be known as Poseidonia, city of Poseidon, which may be related to Sanskrit Poshayitnu, meaning "nourishing, causing to grow or thrive, and fostering." This manly deity represented virile (Sanskrit veer-ya) strength much like Lord Shiva, and that is why both are sculpted with muscular physiques. The online etymology dictionary relates that Poseidon, "Greek god of the sea and earthquakes", is a word "of uncertain origin". The earthquakes are a subtle reminder of Shiva's function as destroyer of the three worlds in Hinduism. Venomous snakes such as the Indian cobra (Shiva's motif) are uncommon in Italy and Greece, so they were replaced with sea creatures flanking Poseidon. The Diafani Fountain on the Greek island of Karpathos, where a dolphin twirls around Poseidon's trident symbol, is reminiscent of the cobra encircling Lord Shiva's neck (see below).

The top photo is Lord Shiva's giant statue near the international airport in New Delhi, India. Compare it to the bottom two pictures of Poseidon. The left one is part of a portrait by Gordon Dean at Mythweb, depicting the twelve immortals on Mount Olympus. The right one is a sculpture located in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Notice how all three depictions characterize this deity as an austere personality who stands barefooted and shirtless, with only some cloth around the waist. If you look closely at the sculpture of Poseidon in Denmark, you will see a snake-like water creature (eel?) next to his left leg with its mouth open wide. Comparatively, Shiva has a cobra around his neck because he, like Poseidon, is fearless when surrounded by the most dangerous species. The only tangible difference between the two gods is superficial - Shiva is more well-decorated and Poseidon sports a bearded face, but both have large tufts of hair on their heads, with Shiva's being elegantly matted. Neptune and Poseidon are not exactly identical to each other either, especially when we analyze the meaning of their names.

Neptune has a more clear-cut Sanskrit derivation from the noun 'Nabhorenu' (fog, mist) because Latin nebula (cloud, fog, mist) is related to Latin Neptunus and cognate to the Sanskrit adjective 'nabhya' (cloudy, moist, foggy). This identification of demigod Shiva with moisture or rain is connected to the monsoon season in India, when the Ganges swells into a river of great width and nourishing properties. According to Hindu religious belief, without Lord Shiva's intervention, the Ganga's sheer power would have destroyed the earthly planet. He harnessed her raw energy descending from the high heavens by using his tresses as a channel, so that her rush of water would gently form gushing streams that would rejuvenate the earth. Thus, one can see how Poshayitnu and Nabhorenu combined ("nourishing clouds or rainfall") aptly describe the exploits of Lord Shiva, albeit in a rather odd and obscure manner. The Sanskrit word Apam Napat ("Descendant of the Waters") has also been proposed by scholars as the antecedent of Roman Neptune and Etruscan Nethuns, another Italian water deity (Wikipedia entries: Neptune, Nethuns).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York confirms that Poseidon not only dominated the sea, but also created smaller bodies of water:
“Poseidon, the brother of Zeus and Hades, was the god of the sea. He also created fresh water springs; and the great springs at Lerna in the southern Peloponnisos gushed forth as a result of his pursuit of Amymone, the daughter of the king of Argos.” (Greek vase, 440 B.C.) In Indian tradition, Lord Shiva helped create the river flow of Mother Ganges, and this has become the greatest source of fresh water in India. The pursuit of Amymone may refer to Shiva accommodating Ganga, the Ganges river personified, or Lord Shiva's sexual prowess and its manifestation (lingam) after uniting with his wife, Shakti (yoni symbolism). Essentially, Poseidon ruled over the Mediterranean sea because Lord Shiva, whose huge statues can be seen in Rishikesh and Haridwar, India, governs over and meditates on the ice-capped mountains of the Himalayas, the physical source of all North Indian waterways. Shiva temple worship is characteristically performed along river banks, especially the Ganges in Varanasi. Greece (like Italy) has no comparable estuaries to the Ganges, and thus they switched the realm of their god Poseidon from a river to the sea (Mediterranean). Georges Dumezil, a French philologist, has acknowledged that Neptune was probably connected with fresh water springs before the sea (La religion romaine archaïque, Paris, 1966: pg. 381).

The Greeks, Romans, and latter-day historians probably wanted to conceal the fact that their gods were borrowed from India, but they have not succeeded here. It is a common aspect of national psychology to avoid giving credit to foreign countries for achievements perceived to be of critical importance to that country's identity as a great civilization of the world. By openly admitting that Poseidon and Neptune are European versions of Shiva, the contributions of Greek and Roman civilization to religious myth would be diminished in the eyes of academics. It would also be a huge embarrassment for Christian Europe, because practically every major city there (e.g. Florence, Italy; Madrid, Spain; Versailles, France etc.) has a Neptune statue and/or fountain. When we talk of Hellenization in Italy, it can also be reinterpreted as secondary Orientalization. Romans further vulgarized and debased the image of Greek Poseidon by often depicting him naked without any cloth around his waist:

Neptune gesturing with his left hand and subduing an aquatic
Museo Civico Archeologico, Bologna, Italy

Conversely, if you view authentic sculptures from Greece of Poseidon, such as the one from the island of Milos on Wikipedia, then you will always see a covering over the waist that resembles an Indian dhoti (traditional garment wrapped around the waist and legs) worn by meditating ascetics, including Shiva. Neptune's statue in the archeology museum of Bologna does not even have a leaf to cover his genitals, but instead his sexual organ is artfully carved to display his virility. Remember, many people interpret the Shiva lingam to be a phallic object, and I will demonstrate in a later post that the Etruscans actually used this elliptical-shaped black stone in their religious practice. The Vatican is hiding or suppressing much of this evidence, but it still comes to light when we connect the dots between Shiva and Neptune's features.

Lord Shiva, like all Vedic gods, raises his right hand to shower his blessings on devotees, as is customary in Hindu culture. Superiors raise their hands with palms facing forward to acknowledge subservient inferiors, and that is arguably what Neptune is doing in the above illustration. Obviously this is my interpretation, so readers can make their own judgement. Neptune's subjugation of aquatic creatures with his right foot is analogous to Shiva's sitting with his left foot on a tiger's head at Triveni Ghat in Rishikesh, India. It also could be a metaphorical representation of Shiva's ability to conquer illusion or ignorance in the form of maya, or materialism, which another website describes in detail when discussing the same subject matter of parallels between Neptune and Shiva.

Roman & Greek Gods: Vedic Counterparts in Polytheistic Religion, Janus vs. Ganesha

“The Romans never claimed to be original. They borrowed nearly everything from others and amalgamated their borrowings into their system.” (Gilbert Highet, Sword and Spirit, pg. xi of Ancient Rome by Robert Payne)

When it comes to Roman Gods (and Goddesses), many of the primary ones can be traced back to ancient Vedic Gods and Goddesses, including Janus-Ganesha, Neptune-Shiva, Jupiter-Indra, Fortuna-Lakshmi, and many other intriguing deities such as Mithra.

Before Jupiter superseded him, Janus appears to have been their first major God, and he was closely associated with the entrance door of a Roman house (pg. 43, Ancient Rome):

“Doorways were invested with magical or numinous significance; Janus, present in every household, exerted great power over the household’s undertakings... the god was invoked before any other god, even before Jupiter, at the beginning of any important undertaking.” (pg. 44, Ancient Rome)

Two-Faced Janus, Vatican Museum, Rome

Janus, governor of all beginnings and entrances, seems to be related to Ganesha, which is a Sanskrit compound. "Gana" means group or multitude, and "Isha" connotes a lord or master; so Ganesha is the Lord with many faces. Janus is the Roman God with two faces, as depicted in the Vatican Museum, while often times Ganesh is also depicted in two-in-one polar face images in temples (Dwimukha Ganapati) and ancient monuments, even ones that are supposedly Muslim in character (see pictures below):

Dwimukha Ganapati, Thiruvanantapuram, India

Twofold Elephant Trunks, Diwan-i-Khas, Red Fort, Delhi, India

Dual Stone Elephant Faces, Jama Masjid, Old Delhi, India

Elephant Imagery, Marble Exteriors of Palace, Red Fort, Agra, India

Online Etymology Dictionary defines Janus as the guardian deity of "portals, doors, and gates" and derives this definition from Latin Ianus, literally signifying an arched passageway. Since 'I' and 'J' are often interchangeable in English transliteration of Latin words (e.g. the month of Ianuarius or Januarius), Ganesh may be connected to both Janus and Ianus. The same dictionary curiously adds that Sanskrit 'yanah', meaning journey or path, is cognate to Ianus, but these words by themselves are not enlightening. It could indeed be the case that Janus first originated from Sanskrit yanah, and later came to be associated with the demigod Ganesha, which would explain the attached suffix -us corresponding to 'Isha' or God. Then the word must have evolved from 'Yanah' or 'Ianah' to 'Ianus' and finally 'Janus', with 'Ja' cognate to 'Ga' in Sanskrit or Hindi. Another possible explanation is that the prefix sound in Sanskrit "janma" (birth in English) got transmuted with Ganesha to form Janus. This would reconcile the 'Ja' and 'Ga' sounds in Janus and Ganesh and also account for the role of Janus at the beginning or birth of all religious ceremonies.

Multi-Headed Lord Ganesha Standing Beside the Entrance to a Hindu Temple

Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome after the legendary founder Romulus, is "credited with laying out the basic structure of Roman religion by instituting public cults, rituals, priesthoods, and a sacred calendar" (UPenn Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, Philadelphia). The cult of Janus worship and the installation of the last two months (Januarius and Februarius) into the Roman calendar (which began in March, or the spring, much like the Vedic calendar) are among his contributions. Historians are unsure exactly why and when the transition from March to January, a backward shift of two months, was made to celebrate the new year. The likelihood is that it occurred around the time of Julius Caesar, with his introduction of the Julian calendar, the forerunner of the modern western calendar. 

Controversial historian P.N. Oak puts forward a persuasive argument for Lord Ganesha's impact on the Julian, and today's Gregorian, calendar:
“The name Januarius is the original name, of which January is an abbreviation. Here it may be recalled that in Latin the name of God Ganesh came to be spelled as Janus. That God used to be worshipped in Rome on January 9. And since Lord Ganesh is traditionally offered worship at the opening of every ritual or the commencement of any period or task, the Romans ordained that the month of the festival of Lord Ganesh be reckoned as the first. Consequently they amended the traditional start of the year and reckoned it as beginning from January 1st.” (World Vedic Heritage, pg. 349)

Ganesh and Janus perform comparable functions in Hindu and Roman theologies, and each one holds the honor of being the first god in prayers and rituals. Ganesha is arguably the most popular Hindu God, found in the homes of numerous Indian families. Janus was "present in every Roman household," according to Robert Payne. Both deities are associated with entrance doors and gates, which are easily noticeable in Rajasthan, India where palaces in Jaipur and Udaipur are adorned with attractive paintings and figures of Ganesh. Toran Pol, one of the main entry gates to Moti Chowk (large courtyard) in the world-famous City Palace of Udaipur, has a striking Ganesh in a sitting pose at its triangular peak, along with swastikas and an OM symbol below him. Perhaps better known is the Ganesh Pol at Amer Palace in Jaipur where Ganesh is painted in the front-center of the gateway, seated on a platform in yoga style. It is a hoary Vedic custom to present Ganesha and/or a pair of stone elephants at the entrance of all major buildings, including temples and palaces. Thus, it is not surprising that Janus came to be recognized as the guardian of gateways in Italy.

Ganesh Pol, Amer Palace & Fort, Jaipur, Rajasthan

Toran Pol with Ganesh Sitting at Triangular Apex

 City Palace, Udaipur, Rajasthan

In conclusion, there is enough evidence to state unequivocally that Janus is Rome's less-developed version (artistically and literarily) of India's Ganesha. One final observation, courtesy of Wikipedia: "Janus presided over the beginning and ending of conflict, and hence war and peace. The doors of his temple were open in time of war, and closed to mark the peace. As a god of transitions, he had functions pertaining to birth and to journeys and exchange." Since Lord Ganesha is revered as the "remover of obstacles" in Hinduism, his Roman temple was open for worship in times of war or turmoil, and closed during periods of tranquility. In other words, the Romans believed that the temple of Janus only needed to be open when there were serious obstacles, i.e. war or conflict. Wikipedia adds, "Janus had a ubiquitous presence in religious ceremonies throughout the year, and was ritually invoked at the beginning of each one, regardless of the main deity honored on any particular occasion." Compare this quote with Lord Ganesha's Wikipedia entry: "Ganesha is a non-sectarian deity, and Hindus of all denominations invoke him at the beginning of prayers, important undertakings, and religious ceremonies." This summarizes my thesis, that Janus and Ganesha are equivalent gods. European scholars never even consider this connection, because they cannot imagine how Italy and India, two distant countries culturally and geographically, could realistically share so much in common. But truth is stranger than fiction, my friends.

In my next post, I will discuss the parallels between more Roman and Vedic Gods, including Neptune and Shiva.