The Surya Siddhanta is an ancient Indian collection of astronomical texts. The writer or writers of these texts are unknown. Today´s form of the Surya Siddhanta is thought to have been composed some time around 400 AD. These texts claim to represent a far older tradition. They could have origins hundreds of years before Christ.

According to the Surya Siddhanta, the sunlight moves at a speed of 2,202 yojanas in 0.5 nimisha. One yojana is equivalent to nine miles and 2,202 yojanas amount to 19,818 miles. One nimisha is equal to 16/75 of a second. Half a nimisha amounts to 8/75 of a second, which is 0.106666 seconds. A speed of 19,818 miles in 0.10666 seconds equals 185,793 miles per second.

The speed of light measurement in the Surya Siddhanta is very close to our modern calculation of 186,282 miles per second. The ancient Indian measurement has an accuracy of 99.7%.

How were they able to reach to such an accurate estimation of the speed of light? It could be that we are dealing with a case of lost or forgotten technology. Some also claim that the knowledge was just received intuitively. The Surya Siddhanta, speaks of a great astronomer named Maya who wanted to learn the secrets of the heavens. By performing rigorous yogic practices answers to his questions appeared in his mind intuitively. Could it be that our logic/orthodox scientific programming stopping us from using our full potential?