Isolated Fort attracts lightning near Ranchi city of India.

Lightning Strikes every year on the Fort of Jagatpal Singh near Ranchi city.

by 

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Below are the photos of the ruined fort of the king Jagatpal Singh  which is 20 km North of Ranchi city. This area was known to center of the business trade some 500 to 200 years back. Jagatpal Singh was given the title of Raja Bahadur from the British rulers in India. Fort is believed to be some 200 to 250 years old. According to local people lightning strikes every year on these forts and has gradually destroyed it. Lightning has emerged as a big killer in the state.  When I reached the area to know the truth I came to conclusion that due to its isolation, height and covered with long trees it may attract lightning. All the forts around this area need special care. All the forts should be protected and should be given importance as historical sites.     

According to local people the above fort is struck by lightning every year. 

 Ruins of the historical fort.

Migratory birds quenching their thirsts in the pond constructed by the king.

These are typical old structures very common the area. These structures are also very old.

Children playing in pond constructed by Jagatpal Singh some 200 years ago.

Remains of the Shiva Temple also constructed by King Jagatpal Singh.

What ancient people thought about lightning in the sky?

Lightning plays a role in many mythologies.
by
Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Lightning and thunder have awed man and beats ever since these creatures made their appearance on earth. Inevitably, these forces of nature found their way into mythology and folklore. In ancient Rome, lightning have even played a political role.

Lightning plays a role in many mythologies, often as the weapon of a sky and storm god. As such, it is an unsurpassed method of dramatic instantaneous retributive destruction: thunderbolts as divine weapons can be found in many mythologies.

Various ancient societies associated the lightning with a wheel. Marija Gimbutas has shown that the Baltic thunder god, Perkunas, was thought to procure fire by rotating his lightning-club in the nave of the solar wheel. In India the thunderbolt was envisaged as a disc with a hole in the middle that rotated when launched and shot lightning in all directions. This disc was a form of the vajra, the sacred lightning weapon of Indra, and was later depicted in the hands of Vishnu as the chakra.

References to lightning and thunder can be traced to Akkadian times (2200 B.C.) and the works of Hittite (900 B.C.). For the Vikings, lightning was produced by Thor as his hammer struck an anvil while riding his chariot across the clouds. In the Hindu mythology, lightning is the weapon of lord Indra, the king of Devas. Reportedly, there is even a temple in Tibet that is consecrated to lightning.

In ancient Rome, the members of the college of Augurs searched the southern skies for lightning. A lightning bolt passing from east to west was a good omen. If it was from west to east, it meant something was wrong with current political situation. The Augurs reports were politically exploited to postpone unwanted meetings, to delay passage of laws and event to prevent election of magistrates!

Nearly all cultures believed that thunder and lightning were caused by the activity of sky gods. These sky gods were associated with planets; they reigned supreme, and thunderbolts were their emblem of power over heaven and Earth. In Scandinavia, it was the great god Thor swinging his mighty hammer. The Greeks believed that it was Zeus (Jupiter) who threw thunderbolts. In Germanic mythology, Thor is specifically the god of thunder and lightning, wielding Mjolnir. In Maya mythology, Huracan is sometimes represented as three lightning bolts.

The Goddess of Lightning, also called Dian Mu in Chinese, is a supernatural being that has magic power and is in charge of lighting in the heaven. It is said that she is the wife of the God of Thunder. She is viewed as the symbol of justice as she can distinguish good from evil and uphold justice.

The history of the Goddess of Lightning can date back to the period of Song Dynasty (960~1279). In ancient China, the image of the Goddess of Lightning was often depicted as a kind and elegant woman. She has two lightning mirrors, which can help her look carefully whether the person is good or evil.
There spread a legend about the Goddess of Lightning. The legend goes that, in ancient times, there was no lightning during the thunderstorm. One night, the God of Thunder killed a good woman by mistake. He blamed himself for a long time. Then he told the Jade Emperor about this woman. Jade Emperor also commiserated with the woman and conferred the Goddess of Lightning on her. From then on, the God of Thunder and the Goddess of Lightning worked together to chase away the evil spirits and punish the criminals. In order not to kill the good people, the Goddess of Lightning would use her mirror to judge first and then the God of Thunder will make thunder to punish the evil. Therefore, we can always see a flash of lightning before hearing the thunder during the thunderstorm.

There is a good reason why all mythologies in the world contain references to lightning. Most of the natural disasters like earthquakes, cyclones, floods etc., result in deaths of many people. But lightning seems to choose its individual victims! Apparently, the vengeful Gods punish only the erring individual! There must be something divine about lightning!

Even today, lightning and thunder can, and occasionally do, strike fear into the hearts of humans by their dazzling display of fire-works, by deafening roar and by their enormous destructive potential. Lightning wreaks havoc by causing forest fires, by interrupting power distribution, by disrupting communications, by destroying property and by causing injury and death to humans and other animals.

Thunder and Lightning killing people in Jharkhand State of India.

Thunder and Lightning killing people in Jharkhand State of India.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Figure 1: Lightning clouds being built over Ranchi city.

Eight people died and two others were wounded by lightning in three districts of Jharkhand this week. Every week people are being killed by lightning in Jharkhand state of India. On 4th October A 12-year-old boy was killed and 25 others injured today when lightning struck at Islamnagar village in Jharkhand's Lohardagga district.
The lightning struck when the children were playing on the street at about 12 noon..The boy died on the spot, while the injured people, including 14 male and rest women and children, were admitted to Lohardagga Sadar Hospital.
On October 2 five people were killed and four others injured Friday evening when lightning struck a hut in which they had taken shelter in a Jharkhand village. The incident took place in Kambo village, about 40 km from Ranchi city.
According to the police, nine people took shelter in the hut with a roof made of paddy husk.The lightning struck the hut and five people died on the spot while four were injured.
This year till now more than 70 people have been killed hundreds injured. In the year 2007 more than 150 people died including 5 children of Ranchi city. This natural disaster is gradually increasing from last several years. The weather gods, it seems, have crushed Jharkhand. If heat stroke was not enough, then lightning has emerged as a big killer in the state.

While the state government is perturbed, people get mortally scared when discharged electricity. Unlike heat waves which is more severe during summer, lightning strikes have taken place at alarming regularity in almost all parts of the state.

Mainly high elevated places are prone to lightning in Jharkhand, such as isolated trees or tall buildings and, of course, lightning conductors. In Jharkhand people who shelter beneath trees during storm are often at severe risk of a lightning strike.

From six different types of lightning, Fork Lightning is very frequent in the state.

The plateau region of Jharkhand contains high amount of Iron stone in the rocks and soils. According to the recent studies lightning has been used as a naturally occurring instrument for studying the electrical nature of the ground. There have been numerous ancient observations based on these studies, however “few modern studies exist to indicate that soils of high conductivity (e.g. marshes) are lightning-prone; that ironstone outcrops attract lightning.

In Jharkhand forest areas are more prone to lightning. Trees are frequent conductors of lightning to the ground. Since sap is a poor conductor, its electrical resistance causes it to be heated explosively into steam, which blows off the bark outside the lightning's path.

From past several years the climate of Jharkhand has changed a lot from bad to worse. Ranchi which was earlier the summer capital of the Bihar and Jharkhand state united, is now under the impact of global warming or say regional warming. One of the major cause of global warming is carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Models have been developed that predict atmospheric increases in CO2. One such model predicts that a doubling of CO2could increase the amount of lightning occurrences by 30–77% .

The number of lightning deaths in the state has almost doubled in the past several years. Add to this the hundreds who sustain injuries and the loss of cattle and property annually. And, you would know why panic sets in when people in Jharkhand see the magnificent flashes with thundering sounds on the sky.

Thunder and lightning are probably the most obvious and dramatic features of common storms. Although there is still no clear agreement on how lightning is formed it is believed that it’s largely due to collisions between ice crystals.

As floods ,earthquakes, cyclone, drought, hailstorms, tsunami figure in the list of natural calamities in India, lightning should also be included in the list.

LIGHTNING KILLING PEOPLE IN JHARKHAND STATE OF INDIA.

LIGHTNING KILLING PEOPLE IN JHARKHAND STATE OF INDIA
By
Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

The weather gods, it seems, have crushed Jharkhand. If heat stroke was not enough, then lightning has emerged as a big killer as in the state. More than 200 people were killed because of lightning strikes in 2007. One incident occurred in the school premises near Ranchi city where six children were killed due to lightning. This year the toll is already more than 20.
In last two days seven people died due to lightning in Dumka and Jamshedpur district.

While the state government is perturbed, people get mortally scared when discharged electricity. Unlike heat waves which is more severe during summer, lightning strikes have taken place at alarming regularity in almost all parts of the state.

Mainly high elevated places are prone to lightning in Jharkhand. The plateau region of Jharkhand contains high amount of Iron stone in the rocks and soils. According to the recent studies lightning has been used as a naturally occurring instrument for studying the electrical nature of the ground. There have been numerous ancient observations based on these studies, however “few modern studies exist to indicate that soils of high conductivity (e.g. marshes) are lightning-prone; that ironstone outcrops attract lightning.
In Jharkhand forest areas are more prone to lightning. Trees are frequent conductors of lightning to the ground. Since sap is a poor conductor, its electrical resistance causes it to be heated explosively into steam, which blows off the bark outside the lightning's path.

From past several years the climate of Jharkhand has changed a lot from bad to worse. Ranchi which was earlier the summer capital of the Bihar and Jharkhand state united, is now under the impact of global warming or say regional warming. One of the major cause of global warming is carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Models have been developed that predict atmospheric increases in CO2. One such model predicts that a doubling of CO2could increase the amount of lightning occurrences by 30–77% .
The number of lightning deaths in the state has almost doubled in the past several years. Add to this the hundreds who sustain injuries and the loss of cattle and property annually. And, you would know why panic sets in when people in Jharkhand see the magnificent flashes with thundering sounds on the sky.

As floods ,earthquakes, cyclone, drought, hailstorms, tsunami figure in the list of natural calamities in India, lightning should also be included in the list.