Ancient Devanagari script found in a German flea Market: Redditor seeks answers

A Reddit user with the username AcceptableTea8746 recently turned to the online community for assistance in identifying a mysterious Devanagari text he discovered at a flea market in Hamburg, Germany.

The user shared images of two yellowed pages filled with intricate script, believed to be either Hindi or Sanskrit and asked fellow Redditors for help in determining the origin and meaning of the pages.

"Found this on a flea market in Hamburg, Germany. Can you tell me what it is?" the user posted on the subreddit r/india.

Social media users quickly responded, with many identifying the text as belonging to a 'panchang,' a traditional Hindu calendar and astrology almanac used to determine auspicious times for religious rituals. One of the first users noted, "It’s a very old panchang printed in Banaras city (currently called Varanasi) in the Uttar Pradesh state of India. A panchang is a Hindu calendar and almanac".

Another user provided further context, explaining, "This is a Hindu calendar known as a Panchang, printed by the Bhargava Press. The press was owned by Pandit Nawal Kishore Bhargava, a prominent publisher of his time, who famously declined to publish for the poet Mirza Ghalib. This calendar is at least 150 to 180 years old, if I'm not mistaken. His descendants still live in Lucknow, but they no longer operate the press."

Others chimed in with their insights, emphasizing the significance of the Panchang. "This is used for referring to planetary positions for every day and is mostly utilized by Purohits who perform Pooja at people's homes," one commenter explained. 

Several users advised the original poster on the importance of preserving the item. "Looking at the pages, it looks pretty old. This could become rarer with such detailing in the next 10 years and may be valuable in a decade," suggested one user.

Suggesting it to be a good showpiece, another user wrote, "This is not particularly expensive but a pretty cool artifact to have and hang, especially because of how it got to the other side of the world lol."

Since being posted, the inquiry has garnered significant attention, receiving over 2,000 upvotes and more than 190 comments, highlighting the community's enthusiasm for cultural artifacts and their histories.