Божество (Deity)

Platform: hackerlab | Category: OSINT | Type: Challenge | Difficulty: Medium | OS: NA | Author: XESXOR | Date: 2025-12-25 | Status: Solved Techniques: landmark_identification, plaque_research, quote_attribution

Summary

Task: Find the first word on a plaque near a Hindu god statue at a European scientific center, gifted by India. Solution: Identified the Shiva Nataraja statue at CERN and found the first quote is from Ananda K. Coomaraswamy.

Божество (Deity) — hackerlab.pro

Description

На территории европейского научного центра стоит статуя индуистского бога, подаренная правительством Индии. Рядом с ней размещена табличка с цитатами из книги. Вам нужно: найти это первое слово и использовать его в качестве флага.

Analysis

The task requires identifying a specific monument based on the description:

• European scientific center — key characteristic
• Hindu god statue — unique object for a scientific institution
• Gift from the Indian government — official present
• Plaque with book quotes — need to find the plaque text ‍​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‍

The combination "European scientific center + Hindu statue + gift from India" unambiguously points to the famous Shiva Nataraja statue at CERN.

Solution

Step 1: Identifying the Statue

Searching for Hindu god statue European scientific center India gift or Shiva statue CERN leads to the famous Shiva Nataraja statue at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva, Switzerland.

The two-meter bronze statue was gifted by the Indian government in 2004 and installed on the CERN grounds. ‍​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‍

Step 2: Researching the Plaque

Next to the statue is a plaque with several quotes. Searching for photos of the plaque (via Flickr, Google Images) or information about it reveals that the plaque contains:

1. A description of Nataraja (Shiva's cosmic dance)
2. A quote from Ananda K. Coomaraswamy: "It is the clearest image of the activity of God which any art or religion can boast of."
3. Quotes from Fritjof Capra (book "The Tao of Physics")

Step 3: Determining the First Word

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy — an Indian art historian, author of the famous book "The Dance of Shiva" (1918), which connects Hindu philosophy with modern physics. ‍​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‍

The first quote on the plaque belongs to him. The first word of his name is Ananda.

Additional Information

• The Nataraja statue symbolizes the cosmic dance of creation and destruction
• CERN was chosen for the statue placement due to parallels between Hindu cosmology and modern particle physics
• Fritjof Capra in his book "The Tao of Physics" (1975) drew parallels between Shiva's dance and the dance of subatomic particles ‍​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‍