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Introduction
It has been believed that there is no evidence to determine the dates of events in the Ramayanic era. Some historians of the past even refuse to acknowledge that Rama and other characters from the Ramayana even existed. However, Sage Valmiki has recorded the dates if events in detail, albeit by describing the positions of stars and planets. To decipher the astronomical encodings has not been a trivial task, and not many have attempted to do so. It should be noted that the ancient Indians had a prefect method of time measurement. They recorded the 'tithis', days according to the nakshatra on which the moon prevailed, the months, the seasons and even the different Solstices. By therefore noting a particular arrangement of the astronomical bodies, which occur once in many thousand years, the dates of the events can be calculated. Dr. P.V. Vartak has thus attempted to calculate the dates of important incidents that occured during the Ramayanic Era. The correct astronomical records goes to show that Valmiki's has chronicled an account of a true story and also, that the an advanced time measurement system was known to the Hindus (Indians) atleast 9000 years ago. Please refer to Dr. Vartak's celebrated book "Vastav Ramayan" for further reading.
Before coming to the astronomical method, it should be noted that the Mahabharat has recorded a number of facts about Ramayan (and not otherwise). The precedence of the Ramayanic era to that of the Mahabharat can therefore be inferred. An attempt to fix the dates of the events in the Mahabharat era, mainly based on internal astronomical records. The Mahabharat Era has already been dated by Dr. Vartak to 5561 B.C. [Reference: Dr. Vartak's book "Swayambhu"].
Genealogical links available from the Mahabharat and Puranas, Yuga calculations and some archaelogical findings also provide clues to the dating of the Ramayanic era. Also, literary references to the characters from the Ramayanic Era provide limits after which the Ramayan could not have occured. For example, Guru Valmiki (the author of Ramayana) is refered to in the Taittiriya Brahmana (dated to 4600 B.C) and therefore Ramayana must have before the Brahmana was composed. However, archaeological and literary methods can only provide approximate datelines and for determining the precise time of the Ramayanic events, astronomical calculations may alone be useful.
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