Thread:Help request and invitation to a multilingual collaborative game (1)

Dear friends ;

I kindly ask for your help:

The image displays a most-perfect magic square from the Parshvanath Jain temple in Khajuraho. This square was cited many times in mathematical literature but representations where not available so far. It was uploaded by RainerTypke to Commons on request. source: Rainer Typke »Photographs »India 2008 »Khajuraho Temples »Khajuraho: Eastern Group ».

I went to the State Library from Bavaria in Munich, Germany to get the text translated. I have read about this square many years before because for me all started with a note: "... a young man has discovered the amazing properties of magic squares. Padmakumar, an honorary fellow in the State Science, Technology and Environment Department (STED) for the last 11 years, has published the wonderful properties of the magic square called ‘Sri Rama Chakra’ in the international mathematical journal, ‘Fibonacci Quarterly’ in August 1997." See DSpace at Cochin University record google search.

I have many questions which are puzzling me for a long time:

a) I searched Mr. Padmakumar for years but I could not contact him. Is it possible to find out how to contact him? b) Mr. Padmakumar mentioned magic square called ‘Sri Rama Chakra’. Does anybody know the exact meaning? Does it have any cultural implications? c) The usage of the picture lists many pages. One is a link to my last contact. The wikipedia search for Chautisa+Yantra lists some pages; some mention "Jain temples of Khajuraho; This is referred to as the Chautisa Yantra, since each sub-square sums to 34." Does this only refers to the value 34 (the sum of rows, columns, diagonals etc? Is there another meaning? d) Are there some publications about the inscription? Is it known when the square was created? e) Mr. Padmakumar published last year a book:
 * T.V.Padmakumar, Number Theory and Magic Squares, Sura books, India, 2008, 128 pages, ISBN 978-81-8449-321-4

I contacted the publisher surabooks.com about ordering the book. There is a great interest about it but money transfer prices are a multiple of the book price and shipping costs. Are there any ways to get the book by paying with credit cards or paypal? f) I kindly invite you to participate in the development of a game based on these type of squares. Please take a look at commons:commons:rakonto (redirecting today to "commons:story (game) - collaborative work".

Thanks for any help in advance! Best regards and greetings from Munich, Germany!

« לערי ריינהארט » at commons facebook wikieducator.org 00:01, 23 November 2009 (UTC)