Hollywood blockbuster movie Avatar is inspired by Indian culture
There are so many things in the Hollywood movie avatar which are directly taken from Indian culture or related to India.
1.The name “avatar” is a pure Sanskrit word which means ”appearance in physical form “ , super soul assuming the human body in order to destroy evil and protect virtue.
2. The concept of the movie where a man can shift between the bodies (between human race and Na ‘vi race ) has a great relevance to the Indian religious thoughts. According to the following shloka in bhagavad geeta
"vāsānsi jīrNāni yathā vihāya navāni grihNāti naro.aparāNi.tathā śarīrāNi vihāya jīrNānyanyāni sanyāti navāni dehī.. "
The journey of the soul is continuous, just as a man gives up old worn out garments and wears new clothes in the same way the embodied soul "Ataman" gives up old worn out bodies verily accepts the new bodies."
its clearly stated that we are not confined to this body, we are beyond it, we are existence absolute, knowledge absolute, bliss absolute.
Following is the one of the short story of shankarachaya(The philosophers of India) which depicts the power of translocating the soul between bodies.
Shankaracharya left that place. On the way he saw a dead body of a king being carried to the cremation ground for the performance of the last rites. By his yogic powers, Shankaracharya translocated his soul in the body of the king and preserved his own body keeping it safely somewhere.
3. The people of Pandora were experts in archery. The bow and arrow constituted the classical Indian weapon of warfare, from the Vedic period. The Aryans used bows and arrows, often on war chariots. Some Rig Vedic hymns lay emphasis on the use of the bow and arrow. Detailed accounts of training methodologies in early India concern archery, considered to be an essential martial skill in early India.
4. As the people of Pandora, people of India worship nature as god. All the trees and animals are considered to be sacred by ancient Indian religion.
5. Vishnu the lord of ancient Indian religion flies on his vehicle which is a bird by name Garuda. Garuda is giant bird and it looks like an eagle .We find a link here to the way Na ‘vi’s flew on the back of their birds.
It may or may not be a coincidence that most of the concepts of avatar are linked to India.