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{{short description|Flying palaces or chariots described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics}}{{Distinguish|Vamana}}{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Pushpaka Vimana}}
[[File:The Celestial Chariot (6124515635).jpg|thumb|The Pushpaka vimana flying in the sky.]]

'''Vimāna''' are mythological flying palaces or chariots described in [[Hindu texts]] and [[Sanskrit epics]]. The "Pushpaka Vimana" of [[Ravana]] (who took it from [[Kubera]]; Rama returned it to Kubera) is the most quoted example of a vimana. Vimanas are also mentioned in [[Jain texts]].  

== Etymology ==
{{Wiktionary}}
[[File:West Pediment, Phnom Rung 0434.jpg|thumb|Sculpture of the Pushpaka vimana, as a temple flying in the sky.]]

The [[Sanskrit]] word ''vimāna'' (विमान) literally means "measuring out, traversing" or "having been measured out". [[Monier Monier-Williams]] defines ''vimāna'' as "a car or a chariot of the gods, any self-moving aerial car sometimes serving as a seat or throne, sometimes self-moving and carrying its occupant through the air; other descriptions make the Vimana more like a house or palace, and one kind is said to be seven stories high", and quotes the [[Pushpaka Vimana]] of [[Ravana]] as an example. It may denote any car or vehicle, especially a bier or a ship as well as a palace of an emperor, especially with seven stories.<ref>[http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/monier/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw0980-vimalaya.jpg Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit-English Dictionary'']</ref> Nowadays, ''vimāna, vimān'' or ''bimān'' means "aircraft" in [[Languages of South Asia|Indian languages]], for example, the [[Bangladesh Biman]] ([[national flag carrier]] of [[Bangladesh]]) and in the town names [[Vimanapura]] (a suburb of [[Bangalore]]) and Vimannagar (a town in Pune). In another context, [[Vimanam (tower)|Vimana]] is a feature in Hindu temple architecture.

== Hindu epics ==
[[File:Ravana seizes the chariot Puspaka from Kuvera.jpg|thumb|right|Ravana rides his Vimana, Pushpaka.]]

=== Ramayana ===
[[File:Rama welcomed.jpg|thumb|Pushpaka vimana depicted three times, twice flying in the sky and once landed on the ground.]]

In the [[Ramayana]], the ''pushpaka'' ("flowery") vimana of [[Ravana]] is described as follows:

<blockquote>The Pushpaka Vimana that resembles the Sun and belongs to my brother was brought by the powerful Ravana; that aerial and excellent Vimana going everywhere at will ... that chariot resembling a bright cloud in the sky ... and the King [Rama] got in, and the excellent chariot at the command of the Raghira, rose up into the higher atmosphere.<ref>Dutt, Manatha Nath (translator), ''Ramayana'', Elysium Press, Calcutta, 1892, and New York, 1910.</ref></blockquote>

It is the first flying vimana mentioned in existing [[Hindu]] texts (as distinct from the gods' flying horse-drawn chariots). Pushpaka was originally made by [[Vishvakarma]] for [[Brahma]], the Hindu god of creation; later Brahma gave it to [[Kubera]], the God of wealth; but it was later stolen, along with [[Lanka]], by his [[half-brother]], king Ravana.

=== Mahabharata ===
A title of Uparichara was received by a king named Vasu after a Vimana (flying chariot) was granted to him by Indra, who was pleased with him. This chariot enabled him to wander (chara) above (upari) all mortals. The Vimana appeared as a crystalline entity in the sky.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhaṭṭācārya |first=Tārānātha TarkaVācaspati |url=https://archive.org/details/VfAW_vachaspatyam-vol-2-compiled-by-taranath-vachaaspati-bhattacharya-chowkhamba-seri |title=वाचस्पत्यम् (बृहत् संस्कृताभिधानम्) |publisher=Caukhambā |year=1873 |series=The Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Work No. 94 |volume=2 |location=Varanasi |page=331 |language=sa |trans-title=Vācaspatyam: A Comprehensive Sanskrit Lexicon. |chapter=उपरिचर |trans-chapter=Uparichara |quote=तुष्टेन शक्रेण तस्मै आकाशगं विमानं दत्तं तत्र चरणादुपरिचरनामेत्युक्तं |orig-year=1962 |chapter-url=https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/VCPScan/VCPScanpdf/pg1319.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dvaipāyana |first=(Vyāsa) Kṛṣṇa |author-link=Vyasa |title=महाभारतम्-01-आदिपर्व-064 |trans-title=Mahabharata - Volume 1 - Adi Parva - 064 |url=https://sa.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D-01-%E0%A4%86%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5-064&oldid=54241 |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=विकिस्रोतः |language=sa |quote=दैवोपभोग्यं दिव्यं त्वामाकाशे स्फाटिकं महत्। आकाशगं त्वां मद्दत्तं विमानमुपपत्स्यते॥ त्वमेकः सर्वमर्त्येषु विमानवरमास्थितः। चरिष्यस्युपरिस्थो हि देवो विग्रहवानिव॥ |trans-quote=The celestial chariot, enjoyable to the deities and beautifully crystalline in the sky, that I have graciously bestowed upon you will come to you. You alone, on the splendid chariot, residing above all mortals, will wander above, like the embodiment of the divine.}}</ref>
{{Verse translation|दैवोपभोग्यं दिव्यं त्वामाकाशे स्फाटिकं महत्। आकाशगं त्वां मद्दत्तं विमानमुपपत्स्यते॥१३॥
त्वमेकः सर्वमर्त्येषु विमानवरमास्थितः। चरिष्यस्युपरिस्थो हि देवो विग्रहवानिव॥१४॥|The celestial chariot, enjoyable to the deities and beautifully crystalline in the sky, that I have graciously bestowed upon you will come to you.(13)
You alone, on the splendid chariot, residing above all mortals, will wander above, like the embodiment of the divine.(14)|head1=महाभारतम् आदिपर्व ६४|head2=Mahabharata - Volume 1 - Adi Parva - 064|lang1=sa|attr1=Mahabharata|lang2=en|italicsoff2=y}}

== Jain literature ==
Vimāna-vāsin ('dweller in vimāna') is a class of deities who served the {{IAST|tīrthaṃkara Mahā-vīra}}.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8si5ZrsP90UC&q=Jaina+vimana+vehicle&pg=PA169|author=Hermann Jacobi|title=Jaina Sūtras|page=169|isbn=9781605067278|year=2008|publisher=Forgotten Books }}</ref> These Vaimānika deities dwell in the [[Jain cosmology#Urdhva Loka, the upper world|Ūrdhva Loka heavens]]. According to the ''Kalpa Sūtra'' of Bhadra-bāhu, the 24th {{IAST|tīrthaṃkara Mahā-vīra}} himself emerged from the great {{IAST|vimāna Puṣpa-uttara}};<ref>[http://jainsamaj.org/literature/bhadrabahu-040806.htm (2)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208115935/http://jainsamaj.org/literature/bhadrabahu-040806.htm |date=December 8, 2008 }}</ref> whereas the 22nd {{IAST|tīrthaṃkara Ariṣṭa-nemi}} emerged from the great vimāna Aparijita.<ref>[http://jainsamaj.org/literature/bhadrabahu-040806.htm (171)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208115935/http://jainsamaj.org/literature/bhadrabahu-040806.htm |date=December 8, 2008 }}</ref> The {{IAST|tīrthaṃkara-s Abhinandana}} (4th) and Sumati-nātha (5th) both<ref>Johann Georg Buhler (ed. by James Burgess) : ''The Indian Sect of the Jainas''. London : Luzac, 1903. p. 67</ref> traveled through the sky in the "Jayanta-vimāna", namely the great vimāna Sarva-artha-siddhi, which was owned by<ref>Johann Georg Buhler (ed. by James Burgess) : ''The Indian Sect of the Jainas''. London : Luzac, 1903. p. 74</ref> the Jayanta deities; whereas the {{IAST|tīrthaṃkara Dharma-nātha}} (15th) traveled through the sky in the "Vijaya-vimāna".<ref>Johann Georg Buhler (ed. by James Burgess) : ''The Indian Sect of the Jainas''. London : Luzac, 1903. p. 69</ref> A vimāna may be seen in a dream, such as the nalinī-gulma.<ref>Saryu Doshi (transl. by Thomas Dix) : ''Dharma Vihara, Ranakpur''. Axel Menges, 1995. p. 11a.</ref><ref>[http://www.eternalmewar.in/User/Research/WikiDescription.aspx?Id=RANAKPUR,%20FOUNDING%20OF ''Mewar Encyclopedia'', s.v. "Ranakpur, founding of"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721155726/http://www.eternalmewar.in/User/Research/WikiDescription.aspx?Id=RANAKPUR,%20FOUNDING%20OF |date=July 21, 2011 }}</ref>

== Ashoka Edict IV ==
Ashoka mentions a model vimana ("aerial chariot") as part of the festivities or procession which were organised during his reign.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Eugen Hultzsch|url=http://archive.org/details/InscriptionsOfAsoka.NewEditionByE.Hultzsch|title=Inscriptions of Asoka. New Edition by E. Hultzsch|date=1925|pages=30–31|language=sa}}</ref>

{{Quotation|text=In times past, for many hundreds of years, there had ever been promoted the killing of animals and the hurting of living beings, discourtesy to relatives, (and) discourtesy to Sramanas and Brahmanas.

But now, in consequence of the practice of morality on the part of king Devanampriya Priyadarsin, the sound of drums has become the sound of morality, showing the people representations of aerial chariots, elephants, masses of fire, and other divine figures.|author=Ashoka|title=|source=Major rock Edict no IV}}

== ''Samarangana Sutradhara'' ==
Chapter 31 of ''[[Samarangana Sutradhara]]'', an 11th-century treatise on architecture, discusses machinery and automata, discussing their operation in terms of the [[Pancha Bhuta|four elements and aether]], but suggesting that [[Mercury (element)|mercury]] may be an element in its own right.<ref name="Cardiff">{{cite journal |last1=Salvini |first1=Mattia |title=The Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |date=January 2012 |volume=22 |issue=1 |doi=10.1017/S135618631100085X |url=https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/1344377/The-Samaranganasutradhara-by-Mattia-Salvina,-Mahidol-University.pdf |access-date=25 October 2023}}</ref>  The author says he has personally seen most of the devices he describes in use, but does not specify which ones.  The list includes two wooden aircraft, referred to as "vimanas": a "light" one shaped like a huge bird and a "heavy" one shaped like a temple.<ref name="Baroda">{{cite book |last1=King Bhojadeva of Dhar (attrib.) |editor1-last=Sastri |editor1-first=T. Ganapati|title=Samarangana Sutradhara |date=1927 |publisher=Baroda Central Library |location=Baroda |page=introduction |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.345259/page/n5/mode/2up |access-date=25 October 2023}}</ref>  Both types contain a fire chamber which heats a container of mercury, somehow causing the aircraft to rise from the ground.  However, the description is purposely left incomplete for ethical reasons:

{{Poem quote|The construction of the machines has not been explained
For the sake of secrecy, and not due to lack of knowledge.
In that respect, that should be known as the reason—
They are not fruitful when disclosed<ref name="Cardiff" />}}

== ''Vaimānika Shāstra'' ==
{{Main|Vaimānika Shāstra}}
[[File:Vaimanika Shastra Shakuna illustration.jpg|thumb|right|upright| An illustration of the ''Shakuna Vimana'' that is supposed to fly like a bird with hinged wings and tail.<ref name="Mukunda 1974">*{{cite journal |last=Mukunda |first=H.S. |author2=Deshpande, S.M. |author3=Nagendra, H.R. |author4=Prabhu, A. |author5=Govindraju, S.P.|year=1974|title=A critical study of the work "Vyamanika Shastra" |journal=Scientific Opinion | pages=5–12| url = http://cgpl.iisc.ernet.in/site/Portals/0/Publications/ReferedJournal/ACriticalStudyOfTheWorkVaimanikaShastra.pdf |access-date= 2007-09-03}}</ref>]]

The ''[[Vaimānika Shāstra]]'' is an early 20th-century [[Sanskrit]] text on aeronautics, obtained allegedly by mental [[Mediumship|channeling]], about the construction of ''vimāna''s, the "chariots of the Gods". The existence of the text was revealed in 1952 by G. R. Josyer, according to whom it was written by one Pandit Subbaraya Shastry, who dictated it in 1918–1923. A Hindi translation was published in 1959, the Sanskrit text with an English translation in 1973. It has 3000 [[shloka]]s in eight chapters. Subbaraya Shastry allegedly stated that the content was dictated to him by [[Maharishi]] [[Bharadvaja]].<ref>Childress (1991), p. 109</ref> A study by aeronautical and mechanical engineering at [[Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore]] in 1974 concluded that the aircraft described in the text were "poor concoctions" and that the author showed a complete lack of understanding of aeronautics.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hvk.org/articles/0601/100.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331170834/http://www.hvk.org/articles/0601/100.html|archive-date=2012-03-31|title=Flights of fancy? (Part X of XII)|date=2001-06-24|publisher=[[The Week (Indian magazine)|The Week]]|access-date=2009-06-29}}</ref>

== Ayyavazhi ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2017}}

Pushpak Vimana, meaning "an aeroplane with flowers", is a mythical aeroplane found in [[Ayyavazhi]] mythology. [[Akilattirattu Ammanai]], the religious book of Ayyavazhi, says that the Pushpak Vimana was sent to carry [[Ayya Vaikundar]] to Vaikundam.

A similar reference is found in regards of [[Saint Tukaram]], [[Maharashtra]], India. Lord Vishnu was so impressed by the devotion and singing of Saint Tukaram that when his time came, a Pushpak Viman (a heavenly aircraft shaped as an eagle) came to take him to heaven. Though it is believed that every other human being can go to Heaven without body, Saint Tukaram went to heaven with body (Sadeha Swarga Prapti).

== In popular culture ==
Vimanas have appeared in books, films, games, on the Internet, etc., including:

* [[Biman]] is the name of national airline of [[Bangladesh]], its name derived from Sanskrit ''Vimāna''.
* ''[[Vimana (arcade game)|Vimana]]'' is an [[arcade game]] from [[Toaplan]] wherein the player's ship earns the name.

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=12em}}
* [[Early flying machines]]
* [[Gulliver's Travels#Part_III:_A_Voyage_to_Laputa,_Balnibarbi,_Luggnagg,_Glubbdubdrib_and_Japan|Laputa]]
* [[Merkabah mysticism]]
* [[Quimbaya artifacts]]
* [[Ratha]]
* [[Solar deity|Solar chariot]]
* [[Vaimanika Shastra]]
* [[Vimanavatthu]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_7.htm#Ancient%20Indian The Anti-Gravity Handbook (Lost Science)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614001754/http://world-mysteries.com/sar_7.htm#Ancient%20Indian |date=2011-06-14 }} by [[David Hatcher Childress]] at WorldMysteries.com
* [http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vimanas/vimanas.htm#menu Vymanika Shastra]
* [http://www.stephen-knapp.com/ufos_and_vimanas.htm UFOs and Vimanas]
* [http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/esp_vimanas.htm#inicio ''Los Vimanas'']—A collection of various texts, partially in Spanish and partially in English
* [http://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/vimana-aircraft-of-india-more-sloppy-scholarship-from-david-childress "Vimana Aircraft of India: More Sloppy Scholarship from David Childress"] by [[Jason Colavito]]

{{HinduMythology}}

[[Category:Flying chariots]]
[[Category:Objects in Hindu mythology]]