Christmas, the birthday of Christ, is perhaps the most widely known festival in the world. But not many know that it is pre-Christian in its origin. One may wonder how the birth and the death of Christ can be of pre-Christian origin!! In fact the birth of Christ is shrouded in one more mystery. · Jesus of Nazereth was born four to eight years before he was 'born.' (His birth was in the reign of Herod, who died in 4 B.C., four years 'before Christ.') In 534 A.D., the first man who calculated the year of Jesus' birth made a mistake-and we've been stuck with it ever since. [Source:Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts] Rob from Kearns, Utah (31 March 1999) Connections Between Pre-Christian Pagans and Hindus Pre-Christian Pagans in Europe had many things in common with ancient Hindus in India – 7 days in a week, worship of Sun-God, Spring Festival, re incarnation, cremating the dead and immortality of the soul. The heroes who died in the Trojan war were cremated in a manner similar to those in India. Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagorus in 500 BC studied in Takshashila University in North India and learnt Mathematics (famous Pythogorus Theorem is from Bodhayana Sutra of the Vedic Period), Medicine and Transmigration of the soul. This is called the Pythogorean School of Thought.
