About the "Goddess of Menstrual Cramps"
Well, I'll start from the beginning- the Aryan invasion theory has been considered the cornerstone of Indian history for decades by scholars and archaeologists alike, perhaps even stubbornly, in the face of contradicting evidence- a relic of the colonial viewpoint. But over the last two decades, a group of Indologists led by David Frawley, a highly respected scholar who currently teaches at Harvard and has written several books on the Vedic civilization, have been propounding the view that there was no invasion at all, and that the Indian civilization is probably much more older than what we have thought.
The term "Aryan" itself means "noble", not a race. And if at all a migration had occured, it would have been the other way around, as there are numerous instances in the Vedas of the westward migration of the people.
Recent archaeological digs off the coast of Gujarat have revealed three underwater cities, two of them dating back to 6000 B.C!!!! And the third site is Dwaraka, which is probably the largest city ever excavated, dates back to 4000 B.C... Irrefutable evidence have been discovered that points out that the Ramayana and the Mahabharata were not merely literary epics; they were the narration of actual historical events!!!
All this tends to reinforce the idea that the Indus-Saraswati civilization was the oldest and largest civilisation in the world. Hence, there is a distinct probability that all the other ancient civilizations- Egypt & Mesopotamia- arose as a result of interaction with the Indus-Saraswati civilization, or due to migration of the Indians to these sites, or perhaps a combination of both these factors. The extensive trade links between these civilizations are testament to this.
But I digress... About 10 years back, some "goddess" figures were discovered in a Mayan pyramid. Since then, virtually every similar site in the Western Hemisphere has revealed the existence of female statues in some form or the other. But the historians were confused, as they did not know the function of these "idols".
David Frawley postulated that these statues represented the worship of the "mother goddess", similar to the Devi idols in the Indus-Saraswati civilization. In fact, his "grand theory" was that some of the Indians, who had acquired a flair for sailing long distances, had attempted an exploration of the world, discovered America and settled there, eventually building civilizations of their own- Mayan, Inca and Aztec- that resembled the ancient civilizations.
The majority of historians derided his views, and critcised Frawley for creating a "fertility cult". Some of them even commisioned a Spanish painter to draw her, and derisively titled it "The Goddess of Menstrual Cramps". And the name stuck!
By now, its been conclusively proven that those images represented the Earth Spirit Gaea. And lots of additional features have been discovered that show a remarkable similarity with the civilization in India.
So, perhaps, India is really the cradle of human civilization....
