The Asura's Curse

Photo Credit: Wikipedia, Palm Leaf Manuscript

The Discovery That Changed Everything

I’ve always been fascinated by ancient Sanskrit manuscripts. According to some estimates, India holds around five million manuscripts today—but scholars believe that’s only 8% of what once existed. Imagine the knowledge that has been lost. What were our ancestors trying to tell us? How was life in the past?

It’s easy to assume that people in ancient times were less advanced, but what if that assumption is wrong? Some myths describe technologies so sophisticated they seem impossible—until we start uncovering traces of them in history. That question led me down a path of forgotten manuscripts, hidden research, and suppressed truths.

A Childhood Fascination Turned into a Thriller

Some stories never leave you. Every year, Ravana’s effigy burns, symbolizing the victory of good over evil. But was he truly a villain? He was a scholar, musician, king, and devoted worshipper of Shiva. His empire stretched from Lanka to the Deccan Valley. So why is his story told only through one lens? That question lingered in my mind and shaped the heart of my novel.

As a child, I was captivated by the Vimanas in the Ramayana—flying machines that soared across the skies long before modern aviation. But were they just myths, or was there something real behind them?

Years later, I stumbled upon obscure research that hinted at a hidden truth. The deeper I dug, the more I realized this wasn’t just a legend—it was a puzzle waiting to be solved. And so, The Asura’s Curse was born.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia, Ravana

Egon Von Eickstedt

Photo Credit: Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de)

History's Dark Obsession

History is often rewritten—not just by time, but by those who control the narrative. One of the most disturbing examples? The Nazi obsession with ancient India. During World War II, German researchers scoured South Asia for traces of lost civilizations and advanced knowledge that could support their racial theories. Their search led them to forbidden manuscripts, hidden symbols, and myths of flying machines.

Decades later, classified reports hinted at something buried off the coast of Lanka—something linked to these ancient texts. What I found in my research was more unsettling than I expected. And it became the foundation for The Asura’s Curse.

Who Controls the Past, Controls the Future

History isn’t just about what happened—it’s about who tells the story. From colonial powers rewriting ancient narratives to governments classifying archaeological discoveries, the past is often shaped by those in control. Even today, research into ancient civilizations is met with resistance when it challenges mainstream history.

What if the truth was buried—not by time, but by those who feared its implications? The Asura’s Curse asks that question, forcing us to reconsider what we think we know about history.

Photo Credit: Palm Leaf Manuscripts — Diane Savona

Photo Credit: Wikipedia, Iron Pillar of Delhi

Science Catches Up with Myth

For centuries, ancient texts that described flying machines, powerful weapons, and advanced metallurgy were dismissed as mere fantasy. But today, scientists are beginning to reconsider:

🔹 Unexplained aerial maps found in ancient times

🔹 Indian metallurgy techniques that still puzzle modern researchers

🔹Structures built with precision that we struggle to replicate today

Could these ancient accounts have been early descriptions of real technology? The Asura’s Curse weaves together these threads, challenging the idea that progress only moves forward.

Lost Knowledge, Forgotten Truths

Across cultures, myths speak of lost civilizations and forgotten technologies. Today, we are rediscovering engineering feats that defy explanation—from precision-cut megaliths to ancient texts that describe machines beyond their time. Did our ancestors know more than we assume?

The Asura’s Curse explores this hidden history—because sometimes, the past isn’t just a story. It’s a warning.

Photo Credit: Rasika Muthucumarana, Maritime Archaeology Unit of Sri Lanka

Like the Radiant Sun

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia Shiva Pushpati

The story behind the story

A continuation of an ancient culture that lives even today in the hearts and minds of its people. A story that takes you deep inside its rites and legends. The mystery of a secret wisdom. A journey to India.

Many scholars believe that the figure carved on this steatite seal produced by the Indus Valley Civilization lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE represents Shiva (National Museum of Delhi)

In 2010, I first visited the Oriental Research Institute at Mysore (an architectural heritage building) founded in 1891 by the then Maharaja of Mysore. I got the opportunity to learn how palm-leaf manuscripts were produced and preserved.

Dating back to sixth century BCE or much earlier, dry palm leaves were used as writing material in South Asia. Beautifully inscribed using a stylus, natural colours were then applied to the surface so the ink would stick in the grooves and excess ink was wiped off with a clean cloth. A palm leaf text would typically last about eight hundred years before it decays. Every eight hundred years or so, the document must be copied onto new sets of dried palm leaves.

(The image shown here is a manipulated imitation of an ancient Sanskrit manuscript)

A snapshot of a modern-day mystery that takes you to the Old World from Varanasi to Venice. Inspired by the Vedas, Indian history and mythology, it is a story within a story and magical realism. A tribute to India, the country where I was born.

Writing this book was like ‘coming home’. I was lost for a very long time. Like many of us, I asked myself questions like - Where is my home? Where do I belong? I think, I have an answer - I am an Indo-European and proudly so!

No one has ever entered the summit of Mount Kailash to this day. Mountaineer Reinhold Messner would have had a unique opportunity, but he refused. Why? ‘I did not climb Mount Kailash out of respect,’ Messner says. ‘One of the greatest legends surrounding the Kailash is the story of Yogi Milarepa, who lived alone at the foot of the mountain in the 11th century. Milarepa is said to have reached the summit and the mountain was not touched since then. It would be sacrilege to conquer him. The locals do not want that. So, I circumnavigated the mountain twice, but did not climb.’ ‘Rather than faith itself, I am interested in the origin and history of religions and beliefs,’ he says. ‘The idea of Nirvana seems attractive to me, because for me it means that one gets lost in the infinity of space and time. For Tibetans, the Kailash is a last anchor point that connects them with their culture. The people I spoke to had completed the 500-kilometre-long trail that took them through deserts to the mountain to circle Mount Kailash, to be freed from rebirth. As you march around the sacred mountain, leave everything behind. Everything becomes unimportant, not because this mountain is there, but because you go there and walk around it.’
Mount Kailash is a 6,638 m (21,778 ft) high peak in the Himalayan mountain range.

https://www.geo.de/reisen/reisewissen/2023-rtkl-interview-reinhold-messner-und-der-kailash