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Pathani Samanta
Pathani Samanta better known as Mahamahopadhyaya Chandrasekhara Singha Harichandana Mahapatra Samanta,(13 December 1835 – 11 June 1904) was an Indian astronomer, mathematician and scholar who measured the distance from the Earth to the Sun with a bamboo pipe and traditional instruments. He was born in Purnimanta Pousha Krishna Ashtami, and died in Purnimanta Adhika Jyeshtha Krishna Trayodashi.
His research and observations were compiled into a book called Siddhanta Darpana, which was written in both Sanskrit and the Odia script. He earned the Mahamahopadhyaya Award in 1893, for his usage of traditional instruments for astronomical observations.
Samanta was born in the princely state of Khandpara, in the Nayagarh district of the Indian state of Odisha. He was the son of Samanta Syamabandhu Singha and Bishnumali Devi. He was born into a royal family.
The legend depicted on the walls of the Pathani Samanta Planetarium in Bhubaneswar states that he was born to a royal couple the loss of many children, leaving them yearning for a healthy child. Hence, soon after his birth, he was given away in adoption to a Muslim fakir to ward off the evil eye, a belief that was strongly prevalent at the time. In remembrance of the fakir and to ward off bad omens, the couple nicknamed their son 'Pathani'.
He went on to study Sanskrit, and later researched traditional Indian astronomy.
During his youth time, Samanta measured the length of the shadows throughout the day by using bamboo and wood to create measuring instruments, which he called mana yantra. He also measured time by using his version of a sundial.
He was the only Indian astronomer who discovered all three irregularities of the moon independently of European astronomers, which were unknown to ancient Indian astronomers. He continued to teach and attracted pupils worldwide despite his persistent health problems and insomnia. On June 11, 1904, he died suddenly from fever and infection.
He was home-schooled by his father, who introduced him to the joys of night star-gazing, and later by a Brahmin teacher, who gave him a basic education in both Odia and Sanskrit. By the age of 15, he had become a self-learner, referring to the books available in the royal library. Samanta was a voracious reader and devoured classical treatises like Lilavati, Bijaganita, Jyotisha, Siddhanta, Vyakarana, and Kavya. It was during this time that he pursued mathematics and traditional astronomy, and started matching predictions made by ancient Indian mathematician-astronomers such as Aryabhatta - 1(476 CE), Varahamihira (503 CE), Brahmagupta (598 CE) and Bhaskara – II (1114 CE) and others, with real observations of celestial objects in the night sky. Although traditional Indian astronomy had veered more toward astrology, focusing more on future predictions based on planetary positions and the preparation of auspicious almanacs for rituals, Samanta focused minutely on the mathematical calculations and observational facts that went into these predictions. When he found discrepancies, he designed his own instruments to measure the phenomena, using everyday materials such as wood and bamboo!
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Pathani Samanta
Pathani Samanta better known as Mahamahopadhyaya Chandrasekhara Singha Harichandana Mahapatra Samanta,(13 December 1835 – 11 June 1904) was an Indian astronomer, mathematician and scholar who measured the distance from the Earth to the Sun with a bamboo pipe and traditional instruments. He was born in Purnimanta Pousha Krishna Ashtami, and died in Purnimanta Adhika Jyeshtha Krishna Trayodashi.
His research and observations were compiled into a book called Siddhanta Darpana, which was written in both Sanskrit and the Odia script. He earned the Mahamahopadhyaya Award in 1893, for his usage of traditional instruments for astronomical observations.
Samanta was born in the princely state of Khandpara, in the Nayagarh district of the Indian state of Odisha. He was the son of Samanta Syamabandhu Singha and Bishnumali Devi. He was born into a royal family.
The legend depicted on the walls of the Pathani Samanta Planetarium in Bhubaneswar states that he was born to a royal couple the loss of many children, leaving them yearning for a healthy child. Hence, soon after his birth, he was given away in adoption to a Muslim fakir to ward off the evil eye, a belief that was strongly prevalent at the time. In remembrance of the fakir and to ward off bad omens, the couple nicknamed their son 'Pathani'.
He went on to study Sanskrit, and later researched traditional Indian astronomy.
During his youth time, Samanta measured the length of the shadows throughout the day by using bamboo and wood to create measuring instruments, which he called mana yantra. He also measured time by using his version of a sundial.
He was the only Indian astronomer who discovered all three irregularities of the moon independently of European astronomers, which were unknown to ancient Indian astronomers. He continued to teach and attracted pupils worldwide despite his persistent health problems and insomnia. On June 11, 1904, he died suddenly from fever and infection.
He was home-schooled by his father, who introduced him to the joys of night star-gazing, and later by a Brahmin teacher, who gave him a basic education in both Odia and Sanskrit. By the age of 15, he had become a self-learner, referring to the books available in the royal library. Samanta was a voracious reader and devoured classical treatises like Lilavati, Bijaganita, Jyotisha, Siddhanta, Vyakarana, and Kavya. It was during this time that he pursued mathematics and traditional astronomy, and started matching predictions made by ancient Indian mathematician-astronomers such as Aryabhatta - 1(476 CE), Varahamihira (503 CE), Brahmagupta (598 CE) and Bhaskara – II (1114 CE) and others, with real observations of celestial objects in the night sky. Although traditional Indian astronomy had veered more toward astrology, focusing more on future predictions based on planetary positions and the preparation of auspicious almanacs for rituals, Samanta focused minutely on the mathematical calculations and observational facts that went into these predictions. When he found discrepancies, he designed his own instruments to measure the phenomena, using everyday materials such as wood and bamboo!