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NAZCA LINES, PERU - THE SANSKRIT CONNECTION TO ITS NAME

Nazca, best known for the Nazca lines which are

believed to have had astronomical functions, is located

in the Peruvian arid desert and the Pampas de Jumana,

some 400 km south of Lima, the capital of Peru. The

geoglyphs of Nazca depict giant geometric forms

(triangles, trapezoids, parallel lines) and biomorphs

(birds, plants, and human-like forms) etched into the

surface of the desert. The geoglyphs were made by

scraping the dark surface of the stones exposing the

lighter soil beneath.

In the local language Quechua, 'Nazca' means the land

of 'suffering' and 'sorrow'. That sums up this barren

land and the difficult terrain of the Nazca valley,

which sees the confluence of many seasonal Peruvian

rivers before they flow into the Pacific across the

coastal Andes mountains. Nazca is known to have been

named after the Nazca River (Rio Grande de Nazca).Thisis an attempt to decode the word 'Nazca' with the help

of Sanskrit, a language which bears an uncannyresemblance to Quechua.

In Sanskrit, one of the closest related cognates of

'Nazca' or 'Nasca' is 'nissah' () which means

'suffering' and 'unbearable' as does the Quechua

'nazca' - which refers to the difficult terrain and the

severe arid conditions of the valley. The Nazca are fedonly by summer rains in the highlands. Watercourses are

otherwise dry for most parts of the year. The Nazca

desert is one of the driest on Earth. An even more

appropriate word which describes the Nazca valley is

the Sanskrit 'nishshah' () which means

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'overpowering'.However, the Sanskrit words that most accurately

describe the Nazca valley, are 'ni-sneh' ()and 'ni-srav' () which both mean 'without

moisture'. But they take us away from the Quechua

meaning of the word Nazca.

Many scholars have long argued that the word 'Peru' may

have named after the Sanskrit 'peru' () which

means 'sun', or 'golden mountain', rather than the more

often cited 'Biru', which was the name of a local ruler

who lived near the Bay of San Miguel, Panama, in the16th century.Many cites and ancient monuments in Peru have names

which are identical phonetically and in meaning to

Sanskrit words. Examples include 'KoriKancha'

() and 'Virakocha' (). For more on

the Sanskrit connection to 'Korikancha' and

'Virakocha', clickhereandhere.Another Peruvian name is the Pampas de Jumana - once

again Jumana is a close cognate of 'Yamuna', also

pronounced as 'Jamuna', the name of a river in the

plains of India.

Pampas de Jumana has an interesting feature - it is one

of the driest area in the world - and that has helped

preserve the geoglyphs here. Also, the warm air here

acts as a cushion and forces the winds to change

direction - that too has restrained erosion here. The

word 'yamana' () in Sanskrit means that which

'restrains' and 'binds'.

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Is the likeness of Peruvian names to Sanskrit a

coincidence? Possible. But, as more and more ancient

cites are excavated and their names reveal closeness to

Sanskrit, ignoring the leads may only de-accelerate the

pace of unveiling the truths of world history.

As an aside, the geoglphs of Nazca resemble the nearby

motifs of Paracas. The best known of the Paracas motifs

is the shining, resplendent 'Trident of Paracas' that

dates back to an era prior to the etching of the Nazca

lines. For a note on the Sanskrit connection to the

name 'Paracas' clickhere.

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