The Iron Pillar

Originally posted by jaggu1432
i have seen that pillar(i am an Indian)

......

Also...do you know about the idol in the somnath templet(Gujarat,India) which hanged in mid-air with no support???

Even I am Indian.
But i don't believe that some stone idol could float around. its just a myth.
A myth that sprung from the writings of a Arab cartographer by the name of Abu Yahya Zakariya' ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini in his book Asaru-l Bilad wa Akhbaru-l’ Ibad or Monuments of Countries and Memoirs of Men.

Excerpt from the book

SOMNAT. A celebrated city of India, situated on the shore of the sea, and washed by its waves. Among the wonders of that place was the temple in which was placed the idol called Somnat. This idol was in the middle of the temple without anything to support it from below, or to suspend it from above. It was held in the highest honour among the Hindus, and whoever beheld it floating in the air was struck with amazement, whether he was a Musulman or an infidel.

Source

from the same webpage

It is generally considered that Zakariya was not a traveller, but relied on the works of others, such as Istakhri, Ibn Haukal and others, whom he regularly cites as his authorities.

Same as with Herodotus. Everything based on Hearsay. and hearsay gentlemen & ladies is always embellished and often never true.


Belief that the stone idol did indeed float is based on faith.
and faith has no place in science.
Observe scientifically and you will know that stone can never float in air.
Prove otherwise.

Originally posted by RedParrotHead
I don't know, I took a long look at some hi-res pictures and it seems like there is a fair amount of rust on it to me.

Exactly.

While everyone else is gaping in awe and wonderment over this "rust free" iron pillar, you had the sense to look at the thing and notice the emporer has no clothes.

Kudos and a star to you for that!

Harte

Iron only surface rusts and that very lightly so yes nothing to see here on that , but why was something like this even made (one of their many gods or something else?)

reply to post by bluemooone2


"that it was erected as a standard (monument) in honour of Lord Vishnu (a popular Hindu god). It also praises the valor and qualities of a king referred to simply as Chandra"

reply to post by coredrill


may be possible if you keep magnets at the base and four pillars symmetrically...just speculating.

anyways what proof do we have except for writings of visitors....none(so it may not be true).

reply to post by RedParrotHead


As Harte has stated. Thank you. Yes, there is rust but what is interesting is that it has been exposed for a very long time and one would expect the rust to be much worse.

If a modern piece of Iron was left out in the open for that amount of time I'd speculate that there wouldn't be much left of it.

It's interesting to note that natural Iron in the form of meteorites also show little or no rusting......

Originally posted by stirling
I have to wonder if this kind of technology, could be applied in some related way to steel.
The process could revolutionise the big steel constructs that face weathering and corrosion from polution etc.
bridges, towers, etc woud be better preserved this way than painting them every so often, for decades....
Some way to make this happen would make the inventor richer than Gates.

It could be used in modern irons , except that irons have very limited uses today, and the levels of phosphorus would have detrimental effects

Phosphorus in steel can have beneficial as well as harmful effects. Phosphorus is one of the most potent solid-solution strengtheners of ferrite. The addition of only 0.17% phosphorus increases both the yield and tensile strength of low-carbon sheet steel by about 62 MPa (9 ksi) while also improving the bake hardening response and deep drawability. Because of these properties, rephosphorized high-strength steels are widely used for cold-forming applications. Phosphorus is also used as an additive in steels to improve machining characteristics and atmospheric corrosion resistance. Detrimental effects of phosphorus in steel include various forms of embrittlement which reduce the toughness and ductility. The most familiar example in this category is the classic phenomenon of temper embrittlement in heat-treated low-alloy steels resulting from segregation of phosphorus and other impurities at prior austenite grain boundaries. This form of embrittlement and the contributing role of certain alloying elemen
ts has been a subject of research for several decades.

The source.
www.keytometals.com...

Originally posted by Harte

Originally posted by RedParrotHead
I don't know, I took a long look at some hi-res pictures and it seems like there is a fair amount of rust on it to me.

Exactly.

While everyone else is gaping in awe and wonderment over this "rust free" iron pillar, you had the sense to look at the thing and notice the emporer has no clothes.

Kudos and a star to you for that!

Harte

Exactly it is rusted, and there are several spots, that show up even on low res pics , that show significant corrosion. But it is in remarkable condition , given its age. I know ill get slammed for this, but there is no advanced technology involved, just a happenstance of chemistry and location. The trees that supplied the wood (and the phosphorus) grew near the producing foundry, and the climate of its final location produced the unique passivated coating.
It is a wonder of iron foundry work for sure and a testament tothe skill of the craftsmen that made it. Yes it is a casting not a forging, fittings of that size were not physically possible until the late 19th century.

Originally posted by punkinworks10

Originally posted by Harte

Originally posted by RedParrotHead
I don't know, I took a long look at some hi-res pictures and it seems like there is a fair amount of rust on it to me.

Exactly.

While everyone else is gaping in awe and wonderment over this "rust free" iron pillar, you had the sense to look at the thing and notice the emporer has no clothes.

Kudos and a star to you for that!

Harte

Exactly it is rusted, and there are several spots, that show up even on low res pics , that show significant corrosion. But it is in remarkable condition , given its age. I know ill get slammed for this, but there is no advanced technology involved, just a happenstance of chemistry and location. The trees that supplied the wood (and the phosphorus) grew near the producing foundry, and the climate of its final location produced the unique passivated coating.
It is a wonder of iron foundry work for sure and a testament tothe skill of the craftsmen that made it. Yes it is a casting not a forging, fittings of that size were not physically possible until the late 19th century.

Here's Erik VonDaniken telling us to forget about this pillar:

Playboy Magazine interview with EVD

Page 7 of the PDF (it's page 64 of the magazine, for you perverted hoarders out there that still have it!)
First column about halfway down.

So, when did we stop doing and thinking everything EVD tells us to?

Harte

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?

edit on 7/8/12 by coredrill because: (no reason given)

I would doubt that it does. However....I have never studied any of the Indian esoteric Mysteries....and could not tell you much about its symbolism.

I CAN, however, tell you that it is entirely likely that if the King (or whoever actually designed the column/inscription) was (and it is likely he was) an initiate into the Mysteries, there is more meaning to the column and its inscription than meets the eye.

Does anyone have any information that would be relevant re: the indian esoterica?

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


As an Indian from India, i have seen the Iron Pillar , have studied about it in school and could read somewhat of the inscription, sorry to break your bubble - there is nothing esoteric in the inscription.

it is simply an inscription that praises the Kings's qualities and victories. it is a statement that such and such king who is know for his so & so qualities, a king who has won so & so battles, whos qualities are so & so, dedicates the iron pillar to Lord vishnu and ..the rest is a praise for lord vishnu.

The King is Chandrapupta Vikramaditya, better known as Chandragupta II, The greatest ruler of the Gupta Dynasty.

Originally posted by reficul
cool post!

never knew about this before. i will have to learn more!
what makes me mad is that most of the people in the west think that the west is so techno. superior to these backward people.
that attitude is the farthest from the truth,and if we can manage to get our head outta our arse by realizing we're not the most advanced civilization,maybe we could all work together as one race,and make OUR planet a better place!

just look at the latest shooting in the Sikh temple. the stupid,hate mongering shooter couldn't tell a Sikh temple from a Muslim mosque!!!
well,getting back to my 'the west is the best' attitude, it probably didn't matter to that maniac anyway.

The west is far superior technologically speaking. It's pure ignorance to claim otherwise. That said, not sure what something happening 1600 years ago has to do with current day technological superiority. There is nothing mystical about this, the process is understood, it could be recreated, not to mention that it was pure luck that it happened to this pillar. How about we marvel at the wonder, instead of talking about todays inventions, as this is truly amazing, thanks.

reply to post by coredrill


The pillar is interesting site, I visited in '94, nice piece of technology, in the early morning light as you moved around it you could almost see the different sections

What I really remember from that day was an astounding bowl of brurtha

And for us uneducated people a translation of the inscription

reply to post by Hanslune


Different sections makes sense, otherwise trying to pour that in one pour would be unthinkable in that era.
It's still a fantastic piece of foundry work