Ancient Hindus could navigate the air By Shachi Rairikar..http://www.geocities.com/aoclery/AncienHindunavigateair.htm Talpade, a resident of Mumbai, was an erudite scholar of Sanskrit literature, especially of the Vedas, an inventor and a teacher in the School of Arts. His deep study of the Vedas led him to construct an aeroplane in conformity with the descriptions of the aircraft available in the Vedas and he displayed it in an exhibition arranged by the Bombay Art Society in the Town Hall.In 1895, full eight years before the Wright Brothers%u2019 first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA, Shivkar Bapuji Talpade and his wife gave a thrilling demonstration flight on Chowpatty beach in Mumbai.The Rig Veda, the oldest document of the human race, includes references to the following modes of transportation: jalayan%u2014a vehicle designed to operate in air and water (Rig Veda 6.58.3); kaara%u2014a vehicle that operates on ground and in water (Rig Veda 9.14.1); tritala%u2014a vehicle consisting of three storeys (Rig Veda 3.14.1); trichakra ratha%u2014a three-wheeled vehicle designed to operate in air (Rig Veda 4.36.1); vaayu ratha%u2014a gas or wind-powered chariot (Rig Veda 5.41.6); vidyut ratha%u2014a vehicle that operates on power (Rig Veda 3.14.1).
