Would anyone like to provide religious information related to Indian Astronomy?

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_astronomy

....The astronomy and the astrology of Ancient India (Jyotisha) is based upon sidereal calculations..., although tropical system also used... E.g, uttarayana(Uttarāyana उत्तरायण)was determined according to tropical system in Mahabharata, or by Lagadha in Vedanga Jyotisha... Uttarāyana is determined according to sidereal system by Hindus. The sidereal astronomy is based upon the stars and the sidereal period is the time that it takes the object to make one full orbit around the Sun, relative to the stars. This is considered to be an object's true orbital period....

....In Hindu Astronomy, the vernal equinox (the First Point of Aries) is often calculated at 23°From 0° Aries (1950 CE), i.e. about 7° Pisces.[1] The constellation that marks this vernal equinox is the Uttarabhadra....

.... In the time of the Puranas, the vernal equinox was marked by the Ashwini constellation (beginning of Aries), which gives a date of about 300-500 CE. The Vishnu Purana (2.8.63) states that the equinoxes occur when the Sun enters Aries] and Libra, and that when the sun enters Capricorn, his northern course (from winter to summer solstice) commences, and the southern course when he enters Cancer.The Brahmanas place the Equinox in Krittika (Pleidas) and the Rig Veda in Mrigasira (Orion). These would indicate a time of around 1900 BCE and 4000 BCE, respectively....

...Later in the 6th century, the Romaka Siddhanta ("Doctrine of the Romans"), and the Paulisa Siddhanta ("Doctrine of Paul") were considered as two of the five main astrological treatises, which were compiled by Varahamihira in his Pañca-siddhāntikā ("Five Treatises").[36] Varahamihira wrote in the Brihat-Samhita: "The Greeks, though impure, must be honored since they were trained in sciences and therein, excelled others....."[37] The Garga Samhita also says: "The Yavanas are barbarians, yet the science of astronomy originated with them and for this they must be reverenced like gods."....

....The sky altar and the sun are described as four-cornered in the Yajurveda 38.20., which could refer to the two solstices and two equinoxes....

Answer 2

I investigated this a bit when attempting to brew a computer program to compute prayer times, since in Saudi Arabia the thugs close the shops at those times. The dawn prayer, called for in the Qur'an when there is enough light to distinguish a black thread from a white one, is conventionally held at the beginning of astronomical twilight, when the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon. The next prayer is at local solar noon, and the one folliwing is in mid-afternoon, when the length of the shadow of a stick has increased over its length at noon by the length of the stick. There is another prayer at sunset, and yet another an hour and a half later (two hours during Ramadhan). The calendar is strictly lunar, with a new month beginning at the first appearance of a new moon. This becomes less than convenient if the weather goes bad, and computations are done with respect to estimated times of such sitings so that calendars can be prepared in advance. The criteria are heavily dependent on the exact positions of things, and have changed somewhat over the years.

Answer 3

Yes, someone would like to do so.