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2.3 Beyond Equinoxes
The situation is not so clear for other cultures around the planet. The equinoxes
were probably known in early China (Pankenier, 2018: 47), but the four-part division of the world in the typical of Chinese city planning seems to be more centred
in the realm of the Celestial Emperor in the northern skies than in sunrise at due-east
or sunset at due-west.
The situation would apparently be different in India, where Surya Puja temples
ought to be considered (Malville & Swaminathan, 1996). In these temples, often
orientated to the east, the rising sun is expected to illuminate the sancta sanctorum of
the temple at certain key moments of the annual festival, perhaps at the ‘equinoxes’.
Fig. 11 Above: Spring Equinox (March 21st 2018) sunset behind Haroun’s shrine when the sun
declination was 23 arc minutes, as observed from Al Madras main high-place. The circle represents the sun at 0° declination when the border of the solar disk would set tangent to the present
shrine (arrow). Dashed line indicates the top of the observed solar disk. Solid line indicates the
edge of the disk for δ = 0° while dotted-dashed line indicates the top of the corresponding solar
disk. Below: The high place where the image was obtained. This is the apex of the Al Madras
sacred area in Petra (Jordan), a sacred site for Dushara. Figure by the author, based on images by
courtesy of José Ricardo Belmonte
J. A. Belmonte
2.3 Beyond Equinoxes
The situation is not so clear for other cultures around the planet. The equinoxes
were probably known in early China (Pankenier, 2018: 47), but the four-part division of the world in the typical of Chinese city planning seems to be more centred
in the realm of the Celestial Emperor in the northern skies than in sunrise at due-east
or sunset at due-west.
The situation would apparently be different in India, where Surya Puja temples
ought to be considered (Malville & Swaminathan, 1996). In these temples, often
orientated to the east, the rising sun is expected to illuminate the sancta sanctorum of
the temple at certain key moments of the annual festival, perhaps at the ‘equinoxes’.
Fig. 11 Above: Spring Equinox (March 21st 2018) sunset behind Haroun’s shrine when the sun
declination was 23 arc minutes, as observed from Al Madras main high-place. The circle represents the sun at 0° declination when the border of the solar disk would set tangent to the present
shrine (arrow). Dashed line indicates the top of the observed solar disk. Solid line indicates the
edge of the disk for δ = 0° while dotted-dashed line indicates the top of the corresponding solar
disk. Below: The high place where the image was obtained. This is the apex of the Al Madras
sacred area in Petra (Jordan), a sacred site for Dushara. Figure by the author, based on images by
courtesy of José Ricardo Belmonte
J. A. Belmonte