It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
An iron pillar dating over 1600 years old, weighing over 6 tonnes, more than 7 metres tall is constructed in a single forge and is erected on top of the Vishnupada hill (central India) engraved with sanskrit inscriptions.
What’s so wonderful about it? Well, one should ask ‘what’s so mysterious about it?’
More than 1600 years back, to build an iron pillar of this huge size in a single forge itself is an indication of the advanced metallurgy of the ancient Indians. Even in today’s modern technological world it is a great achievement to forge such a huge pillar in a single forge!!!
But there’s more, this pillar which contains more than 98% of pure iron, even after 1600 years has not caught rust!!! It is 100% corrosion resistant inspite of the fact that it is 98% iron!! This indicates one of the great technological achievements of the ancient Indians. Even today it is next to impossible to construct such a huge corrossion resistant iron pillar. Corrosion resistant technologists from all over the world have studied this pillar.
Modern day technology uses limestone in the blast furnaces which carries away most of the phosphrous content in the ore in the form of slag. Ancient Indians instead by solid state reduction (used charcoal as a reducing agent) to extract pure iron with low carbon content from the ore.
Mystery of Delhi's Iron Pillar unraveled
Metallurgists at Kanpur IIT have discovered that a thin layer of "misawite", a compound of iron, oxygen and hydrogen, has protected the cast iron pillar from rust.
The protective film took form within three years after erection of the pillar and has been growing ever so slowly since then. After 1,600 years, the film has grown just one-twentieth of a millimeter thick, according to R. Balasubramaniam of the IIT.
www.world-mysteries.com...
In a report published in the journal Current Science Balasubramanian says, the protective film was formed catalytically by the presence of high amounts of phosphorous in the iron—as much as one per cent against less than 0.05 per cent in today's iron.
The high phosphorous content is a result of the unique iron-making process practiced by ancient Indians, who reduced iron ore into steel in one step by mixing it with charcoal.
Modern blast furnaces, on the other hand, use limestone in place of charcoal yielding molten slag and pig iron that is later converted into steel. In the modern process most phosphorous is carried away by the slag.
The pillar—over seven metres high and weighing more than six tonnes—was erected by Kumara Gupta of Gupta dynasty that ruled northern India in AD 320-540.
www.world-mysteries.com...
Originally posted by coredrill
A more interesting metallurgical mystery is The Damascus Steel which originated from India as Wootz Steel which is rumoured to have carbon nano-tubes in it. Now isnt that a mystery??
Originally posted by coredrill
reply to post by EnochWasRight
There is no link to that vanga.
Vanga in the inscription related toVanga Desha
Vanga desha comprises of modern day State of West Bengal in India, the country Bangladesh and parts of the North eastern indian states and the Indian state of Odisha.
Desha means Country.
Originally posted by EnochWasRight
Originally posted by coredrill
reply to post by EnochWasRight
There is no link to that vanga.
Vanga in the inscription related toVanga Desha
Vanga desha comprises of modern day State of West Bengal in India, the country Bangladesh and parts of the North eastern indian states and the Indian state of Odisha.
Desha means Country.
It was humor. I was illustrating absurdity with absurdity on a website that tends to practice this ritual. Sorry if it was missed. I wasn't obvious enough with it.
I did love the reading the quote and the back-story of the pillar.
Maybe the old lady is a reincarnation of "He on whose arm fame was inscribed by the sword?" What do you think?
edit on 7-8-2012 by EnochWasRight because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by coredrill
Originally posted by EnochWasRight
Originally posted by coredrill
reply to post by EnochWasRight
There is no link to that vanga.
Vanga in the inscription related toVanga Desha
Vanga desha comprises of modern day State of West Bengal in India, the country Bangladesh and parts of the North eastern indian states and the Indian state of Odisha.
Desha means Country.
It was humor. I was illustrating absurdity with absurdity on a website that tends to practice this ritual. Sorry if it was missed. I wasn't obvious enough with it.
I did love the reading the quote and the back-story of the pillar.
Maybe the old lady is a reincarnation of "He on whose arm fame was inscribed by the sword?" What do you think?
edit on 7-8-2012 by EnochWasRight because: (no reason given)
The He in the inscription which you have quoted is Chandragupta Vikramaditya of the Gupta dynasty.
Originally posted by coredrill
reply to post by Biliverdin
The text is not in any manner connected with the process .
It is proclamation ofr the majesty of King Chandra gupta Vikramaditya who is dedicating the temple to Lord Vishnu and the adoration to Lord Vishnu of the Hindu Pantheon. Lord Vishnu is one of the Hindu Trinity the other two being Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma.
Delhi was never the original location of the Iron Pillar. It was modern day Udayagiri in the State of Madhya Pradesh in India, which was known as Vishnupada giri in ancient times.
Could you tell me how does the praise to Lord Vishnu correlate with a metallurgical process?