MOSCOW, RUSSIA, January 2012 (Global Hinduism .com): An ancient Vishnu statue has been found during an excavation in an old village in Russia’s Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia. The statue found in Staraya (old) Maina village dates back to VII-X century AD. Staraya Maina village in Ulyanovsk region was a highly populated city 1700 years ago, much older than Kiev, so far believed to be the mother of all Russian cities.
“We may consider it incredible, but we have ground to assert that Middle-Volga region was the original land of Ancient Rus. This is a hypothesis, but a hypothesis, which requires thorough research,” Reader of Ulyanovsk State University’s archaeology department Dr. Alexander Kozhevin told state-run television Vesti . An international conference is being organised later this year to study the legacy of the ancient village, which can radically change the history of ancient Russia.
The Vishnu statue is depicted with a hammer in one left hand while the seventh arm on the right side holds a reticulated sickle. This hammer and sickle imagery is also found in the Parashurama Sutra, conclusively placing the origin of great and popular Russian political ideology in Vedic India. The discovery of the statue confirms certain ideas that others have had about the Vedic ancient and glorious land and culture.
More at source.