Kolkata filmmaker traces Christ's 'India trail'
“It was a great day when Christ came on this earth, and you know
about how He was specially created to come down as a human being,
to work out this salvation of the people. It is said that he came
to India in Kashmir and he met there the king, Shalivahan.”
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Christmas Puja, Ganapatipule, India
24 December, 1995
Kolkata filmmaker traces Christ's 'India trail'
Monday November 7 2005 13:58 IST
IANS
KOLKATA: Where was Jesus Christ between the age of 12 and 30 years?
He supposedly visited India during this period, according to a
theory, and a filmmaker here has tried to follow Christ's yet
unexplored trail in his new movie.
Though the Bible does not give credence to such theories, engineer-
turned filmmaker Subhrajit Mitra's"The Unknown Stories of the
Messiah"focuses on the unexplored life of Christ and his unaccounted
years in the Bible.
Did Christ visit India after his crucifixion? Is a tomb in the
Kashmir Valley that of Christ? These are some of the controversial
questions Mitra raises in his film.
"Christ supposedly visited India, according to an alternative
theory," Mitra said.
"Neither the Bible nor the mainstream gospels give credence to such
theories but the scrolls found in caves near the Dead Sea or at Nag
Hammadi (in Egypt), believed to be the first drafts of the Bible,
corroborate the alternative theory about Christ," Mitra told IANS.
"According to Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic scriptures and beliefs,
Christ visited India during the period of his missing years in the
Bible and stayed in the country for 14 years.
"His Christianity was influenced by Hinduism as we find that the New
Testament of the Bible was more akin to Hinduism than Judaism.
"In Bhavishya Maha Puran, a text dating back to the second century
AD, there are references of Christ's interaction with King
Shalivahan, the grandson of Vikramaditya, in Kashmir.
"Scholars say it happened after Christ's resurrection," said Mitra.
He also noted that there were different isolated pockets that
corroborated the"Alternative theory"About Christ.
This alternative theory was strengthened after some scrolls (dating
back to between 200 BC and 100 AD) were discovered in 1947 in a group
of caves near Khirbat Qumran in Jordan at the northwestern end of the
Dead Sea.
Two years before that, in 1945, some scrolls dating back to 350 AD
were found tucked into a large jar at Nag Hammadi village in upper
Egypt.
Mitra's film, produced by Atanu Roy of Sweet Melody, seeks to unearth
the truth through the discourses of an archaeologist (played by
Soumitra Chatterjee) and a novelist (Aparna Sen).
"We have shot in Ladakh, Kashmir, the Silk Route, Kerala, Varanasi
and Puri for the film - following the trail of Christ," said Mitra.
"There are many documents in the vault of the Vatican and the church
doesn't publish them because they obviously want to project Christ as
a god and not as a human.
"Assimilation of all such stories raises the question why there was
no proper research on the alternative theory about Christ," said
Mitra.
German scholar H.J. Trebst, who has been researching on the subject
of Christ's missing 12 years, invited scholars to a seminar at Puri
in Orissa in November 2003.
According to some scholars of the Orient and the West, Christ had
visited Puri where he had studied Veda and yoga before returning home
to preach Christianity.
Christ also studied Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent, according to
Trebst, who has done extensive research in Ladakh and Nepal to trace
the evidence of Christ's itinerary in the subcontinent.
According to Trebst, Puri was a famous seat of learning some 2,000
years ago and history has revealed that various religious leaders
visited the city over the centuries.
There is also a belief that Christ's tomb is in the Kashmir Valley
and foreigners, especially Israelis, visit it in large numbers. The
main attractions in the valley for Israelis are two graves - believed
by some to be those of Christ and Moses.
A section of the local population believes that Kashmiris are one of
the lost tribes of Israel. Aziz Kashmiri, author of the book"Christ
in Kashmir", insists that Kashmiris are descendants of one of the 10
lost tribes of Israel and that Christ died during a visit to the
valley.
According to Mitra, it is time serious research begins to verify the
alternative theory about Christ and his Indian connections. About 2.3
percent of India's population of 1.1 billion follows Christianity,
with about 60 percent of them being Catholics.
The History Channel has shown interest in his film, Mitra said.
www.newindpress.com/
Christ was in India, claims Kolkata filmmaker
By: Jacob Chaterjee
Monday, 21 November 2005, 9:23 (IST)
Kolkata — A filmmaker based in Kolkata has made a shocking revelation that Jesus Christ had spent the missing years of his life in India and had probably died in Kashmir and will be documenting a movie on the missing years in the life of the Messiah.
Engineer—turned filmmaker, Subhrajit Mitra's"The Unknown Stories of the Messiah"Attempts to trace the unexplored life of Christ and his unaccounted years in the Bible.
Did Christ visit India after his crucifixion? Is a tomb in the Kashmir Valley that of Christ? These are some of the controversial questions Mitra raises in his film.
According to Mitra, Jesus did visit India and has substantiated his claims by taking recourse to the scrolls found in caves near the Dead Sea or at Nag Hammadi (in Egypt), believed to be the first drafts of the Bible.
"According to the alternative theory about Christ," he said," the Messiah did visit India.”
Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic scriptures and beliefs corroborate his claims, he said, and gives a glimpse of the missing years of his life that he had spent in India.
"He stayed in India for 14 years," Mitra continued.”His Christianity was influenced by Hinduism as we find that the New Testament of the Bible was more akin to Hinduism than Judaism.”
"In Bhavishya Maha Puran, a text dating back to the second century AD, there are references of Christ's interaction with King Shalivahan, the grandson of Vikramaditya, in Kashmir," he added.”Scholars say it happened after Christ's resurrection.”
"There are many documents in the vault of the Vatican and the church doesn't publish them because they obviously want to project Christ as a god and not as a human," the filmmaker argued.”Assimilation of all such stories raises the question why there was no proper research on the alternative theory about Christ.”
In November 2003, noted German scholar H.J. Trebst, who has been researching on the subject of Christ's missing 12 years, had invited scholars to a seminar at Puri, Orissa. In that seminar, several scholars contended that Christ had visited Puri where he had studied Veda and yoga before returning home to preach Christianity.
Trebst, himself, claimed that Christ also studied Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent.
According to Trebst, Puri was a famous seat of learning some 2,000 years ago and history has revealed that various religious leaders visited the city over the centuries.
There is also a belief that Christ's tomb is in the Kashmir Valley and foreigners, especially Israelis, visit it in large numbers. The main attractions in the valley for Israelis are two graves — believed by some to be those of Christ and Moses.
Incidentally, a section of the local population believes that Kashmiris are one of the lost tribes of Israel. Aziz Kashmiri, author of the book"Christ in Kashmir", insists that Kashmiris are descendants of one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel and that Christ died during one of his visits to the valley.
Mitra's film, seeks to focus on these very questions through the discourses of an archaeologist and novelist played by noted Bengali award—winning actors Soumitra Chatterjee and Aparna Sen.
"We have shot in Ladakh, Kashmir, the Silk Route, Kerala, Varanasi and Puri for the film — following the trail of Christ," said Mitra.
According to Mitra, the History Channel has shown interest in his film and it is time"serious research began to verify the alternative theory about Christ and his Indian connections.”
About 2.3 percent of India's population of 1.1 billion follows Christianity, with about 60 percent of them being Catholics.
www.in.christiantoday.com/
(Web. February 12, 2013)
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