Hey guys, today I am going to show you this strange pillar inside the
Chennakesava temple. Experts confirm that this is a rotating pillar, and was not built
as a regular pillar. At first glance, the pillar looks like a metal cylinder, but after
a closer look, you realize it is made of stone. Will this pillar actually rotate? I did take
multiple tour guides, and all of them explained that the Archeological Survey of India,
a government organization has confirmed that it was built as a rotating pillar 900
years ago by ancient builders, but the pillar stopped rotating about 300 years ago.
I have already shown you a pillar with rotating parts in another temple, but an entire pillar
rotating would be a spectacular sight. How did it rotate? At the bottom, you can see a small gap.
If you look inside, you can see small stone balls, some of them are still intact,
even though most of the stone balls have been crushed. These are the ball bearings on which the
pillar rotated. This is called Thrust Bearing or Thrust Ball Bearing where balls are placed between
2 rotating parts to reduce friction. We use the same technology for rotating parts today but we
use metal balls instead of stone. On the top of the pillar also, u can see the exact same gap,
yes there are ball bearings there too, confirming that it was built as a rotating pillar.
But why did they create such a rotating pillar? What could be the reason for that? This
entire cylinder looks like a miniature index, like the table of contents in a book.
What do I mean by this? Before buying a book, you will take a look at the table of contents, to get
an idea of what is inside the book. This pillar is designed to show the contents of the temple.
On the top, you will see small scale Madhanikas standing at an angle. All over the temple,
there are giant Madhanikas placed around the top, standing at an angle. If you walk around
the temple, you will see large carvings of various Gods, we do see miniature carvings of various Gods
in the pillar. You can see miniature models of everything you will see in the temple. Here is a
tiny elephant, a cute little bull, yeah that does look like a dinosaur.
And yes, we do see these weird dinosaurs and other animals carved outside as well.
But they not only carved the same miniature figures, they also carved using the same
technique. Watch this. You can take both your hands, and then put the fingers inside at the
back of several carvings, and your hands will touch one another. What does it mean? This means,
it is completely hollow behind these carvings. These carvings are just a few inches tall,
so think about the advanced carving techniques the ancient builders must have used. I know it
is hard to see because it is dark, but if you look carefully, you can see both the
hands touching behind these carvings, this is an insane mix of technology and artistic beauty.
But why did they have to make this pillar rotatable? Today,
we scroll through the table of contents to see what we like in a book, did ancient people
rotate this pillar to check out the miniature carvings, to see what they like in this temple?
I know this theory is not convincing to you, because it is also not convincing to me. Perhaps
the real answer lies in this spot. Yes, there is a particular spot, that is completely empty.
On the left rectangle, you can see a figure carved. On the right, again you can see another
carving. But why is this blank? One interpretation is that they left it blank to show that God,
the Supreme power has no definite shape, size or form. Many people think Hinduism is only
about Idol worship and polytheism, but even during ancient times, Hinduism acknowledged and discussed
other philosophies like God is formless, this is called Nirakara & Nirguna during ancient times.
Hinduism even discusses atheism, theosophy and other beliefs as well. So, did the sculptors
leave it blank to show that God is formless? This is a wonderful theory, but why didn’t the
sculptors leave any giant panels empty in the temple walls to show that God is formless?
Another brilliant theory goes on to say that the ancient sculptors purposefully left it empty,
to challenge the future generations. According to this theory, if any sculptor thinks he can
do a better carving, he can show it here, but it has been empty for 900 years since no sculptor
can surpass the ancient builders. It is a very beautiful theory, but this is wrong, because
they have already removed some parts of this area, at least an inch deep has been already carved out.
If this story is true, they would have left this area completely uncarved.
So, something was already here, and then it got removed. Was it some type of a mechanical device,
like a button, or a wheel to control the rotating pillar?
Now, let us face it, it is very hard to make a rotating structure completely made out of stone,
even today. In the last century, a man built a Castle called Coral Castle in the United States,
and he created rotating doors made of rock. But only the outside is made of stone, the central
axis was made out of metal, the ball bearings were made of metal and even that stopped working
after some decades. So, it must have been very hard to make a rotating pillar made entirely
out of stone, but why did it stop working? According to the tour guides, the original
temple had a tall tower and it collapsed due to heavy rain, causing the top beams to collapse,
and all the pillars here got compressed and the ball bearing system got locked and stuck.
This is why the pillar stopped rotating. But something is very strange on the pillar.
There is some type of a weird whitish wax that is applied on the floor and the pillar.
The tour guides are not able to confirm if this is new or if this part of the ancient design. I think
it is safe to assume that this is ancient, because the archaeology department will not
put a strange concoction to such structures, the authorities will try to main the authenticity of
ancient structures. And if you look carefully, you can see that it is just a coating on the bottom of
the pillar, because you can see the ridges of the pillar, and the various corners of the pillar.
But this is not just limited to the bottom, even on other areas, the same type of
wax has been applied. Here, the wax has been applied right above the ball bearings. We all
know that any rotating or moving system needs maintenance, especially periodic lubrication.
And even today, we use wax for lubrication of parts. This is called dry lubrication process and
lubricating wax is even used in industrial machines to reduce friction and wear and tear.
So, the locals must have continued this wax lubrication until the last 300 years
and must have stopped after the pillar stopped rotating. When the temple tower collapsed, they
must have tried to put a large quantity of wax in a desperate attempt to make it rotate again.
In the nearby pillars also, you can see the same material,
and I hope I can discuss it in a future video. But what really needs to be discussed now
is why Hindus worship this pillar as a God. If you visit this temple, you will observe something
interesting. The locals worship this pillar as the main god of this temple.
In case you are not familiar with Hinduism, there is a main idol in every Hindu temple,
there is a main God, this is inside the main chamber about 50 feet away from this pillar.
But locals worship this pillar as the main God. This is not only for the devotees,
the priests also perform the daily rituals to this pillar first, before they start doing the rituals
to the main idol. The head priest of the temple performs these rituals to this pillar, at least
twice a day. I mean what is going on here? Why would they make a rotating stone pillar
and put in a dark corner? How did they make such a mechanism during ancient times?
Did ancient builders use advanced technology? Thanks for watching and please subscribe! Bye!