DIVINEINFORMATION PART 9 Dear friends,
While going through one of my externalmemory device, I came across some good information stored from a website (not available now). I thought of sharing interesting ones fromthem as a series. These are short information. Inpart 7, I am starting with 38th item in this posting. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 17-05-2021. 38 SHIVA-LINGA The Shiva-linga as a symbol of thecreative power of Lord Shiva is the most widely venerated cult object inSaivism. The Shiva-linga is usually made of stone and has three parts. The base is a square witha octagonal or oval platform or pedestal in which is embedded a cylindrical,round topped stone. AShiva-linga may be movable (chal) or immovable (achal). Themovable linga may be madeas a small pendant and worn on the body. Theimmovable lingas are those installed in temples and it is very common to have alinga in a temple without any image of Lord Shiva. Thelingas will always have an arrangement for water to drip on it continuously. During prayers it is bathed, bedeckedwith flowers and garlands, covered with oil and milk and offered rice and food. The linga may be shaped or naturalelliptical stones picked up from riverbeds (bana-lingas). Thelinga symbolizes the divine act of creation. It represents the union of linga(phallic symbol) with the yoni (female organ) showing manifest nature, theuniversal energy. 39 SHRAADH Itis a system of offerings for deceased ancestors, based upon the Vedas. It isperhaps the strongest feature of Vedic Hinduism to have survived into themodern period. On the day of the death of a person itis the eldest living son who serves as the sacrificer in the cremation ritesand who conducts ceremonies so that the spirit of the deceased canjoin the company of his or her ancestors. Without theseceremonies the spirit can become a troublesome ghost. Ceremonies and rituals take place foreleven days culminating on the twelfth day when priests are fed and givenpresents, sometimes of great value. In addition to these sraddhas linked toa specific death, other sraddhas for the ancestors may be held on the new-moonof each month or annually when the ancestors, represented by Brahmin (priest)surrogates are fed. Food is also given to crows, cows etc. Sraddharituals performed on the banks of the sacred river at centres like Benares orGaya are beneficial for the spirits of the ancestors. 40 STATUS OF WOMENIN HINDU SOCIETY The position of women in society isalways an index of the greatness of its religion and culture. A woman has always been given a muchhigher status and position in Hinduism than in any other religion. Women so inclined could availthemselves of the highest learning and there were many female seers andphilosophers. Inthe ancient times Sarada wife ofMandanamishra, was appointed as judge because of her superior erudition andspiritual attainments. Warrior queens like Kaikeye helped their husbands on thebattlefields. Womenwere not married till they were in their late teens, sometimes even later. Theycould choose their own husbands and inter-marriages were common. Polygamyexisted in some societies but mostly amongst princes who contracted severalmarriages with daughters of neighbouring rulers for political reasons. woman was supposed to be themanifestation of Goddess/Shakti and the male (Shaktiman) was supposed to beincomplete without the female (Shakti) with him, whether he was a god or ahuman being. Eachmale deity of the Divine Trinity has his female counterpart; Saraswati(learning), Lakshmi (wealth) and Parvati (power). Therituals especially auspicious ones, are incomplete when performed by a manwithout his wife co-participating. Dishonour to women was tantamount todishonour of the Almighty. Wifeor mother commanded more honour and reverence than husband or father. With the onslaught of the foreigninvasions and the subsequent rigidity of the caste system, Hindu women losttheir independence and became objects requiring male protection. In the process they lost the opportunities theyearlier had of acquiring knowledge and learning. Starting from the early nineteenthcentury there arose a new upsurge of intellectual searching and re-evaluationof our ancient past with several reformers spreading the message of the needfor purifying Hinduism of its excessive rites, rituals and orthodoxy ad theheaping of inequalities on women. Some of the reformers of the time wereRam-mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekananda and MahatmaGandhi. Women in modern Indian society havefull freedom and equality including the right of inheritance. 41 SWASTIKA The word ‘Swasti’ means auspicious, benevolent, agood deed or good wishes. The Swastika is considered auspicious and is paintedon the doors of houses in India to ward off evil spirits. Its origin goes back to the Vedic times (4500-2500 B.C.), may beeven earlier. Seals with the Swastika symbol have been found at excavationsites in Harappa which date back to about 2000 years. TheSwastika is in the form of Greek cross with the ends of the arms bent at rightangles. The right-handed Swastika moves in the clockwise directions and theleft-handed in the counter-clockwise direction. The latter is considered anevil omen and generally never used. TheSwastika is said to represent the Sun or Lord Vishnu. In the Puranas it hasbeen described as the ‘Sudarshana Chakra’ or the wheel of Vishnu and alsosymbolizes the constant changes in the universe. TheSwastika has also been associated with the Sun (the arms representing the sun’srays)and also with Ganesha, the pathfinder whose image is often found at thecrossroads. Inthe ‘Siddhanta Saar’ the hub of the Swastika has been described as the navel ofVishnu and the four lines as the four faces and four arms of Brahma. The Swastika isconsidered as a tantric symbol and is drawn in various stylised forms. It is atradition to pray to it during religious festivals and auspicious occasions. During Diwali, the festivalof lights, and the financial year-end for the Hindu businessmen, newaccount books are opened and decorated with the Swastika symbol and the words‘Shubh-Labh’ (meaning‘Auspicious Profit’) next to it. Prayers are also held so that the goddess of wealth,Lakshmi, will be benevolent. 42 STRUCTURE OF A HINDU TEMPLE The structure of a Hindu temple is the same all over India butthere may be certain additions to its basic form depending on theregional influence or the wealth of the temple and sometimes the politicalinfluence. For example the double images in the ‘garbha griha’ and thehigh protective wall in some South Indian temples were meant to protect againstthe Muslim invaders. Hindu worship is nor congregational inthe Christian sense, and is mainly personal except on certain occasions. The structure of the temple istherefore based on the principle of having a small garbha griha (A in the diagram) where theimage of the deity is installed. There is a passage for circumambulationof the garbha griha. This is the heart of the temple and the dome or spire isnormally above the garbha griha, except in South Indian temples where the spireis generally at the entrance. Circumambulation after prayers is verynecessary and the passage around the idol is a essential part of the structureof the temple. There is a small passage called theantrala (vestibule) (B), which connects the garbha griha to the mandapa (C) or thepillared hall where the devotees gather for worship. The pillars normally have carvings ofminor gods and goddesses, incidents from the life of the main deity andsometimes scenes from the various epics. In some temples these carvings coverthe exterior walls of the temples. The entrance porch is called theardhamandapa (D). In some of the larger temples there aresometimes extra halls called the maha mandapa (E) and kalyana mandapa (F) used for holding largeprayer meetings. My note- South Indian templesespecially in Kerala are larger in size and variation. Some Temples inTamilnadu are also very large like Sri Rangam, Medium like Madurai, Rameswaram,Tillai, temples, smaller like Chennai karpagambal orTiruverkad. Some examples. 43 TILAK Thecentre of the forehead between the eyebrows is the most important psychiclocation in the human body and its importance is stressed by puttinga coloured mark at this spot. This central spot is where the sixthchakra (Ajna) is located. It is also called the third eye or the eye of wisdom.It is the aim of yogis and devout Hindus to ‘open’ this third eye by constantmeditation. The ‘opening’ of the third eye meansthe unification of the conscious and subconscious minds, the point where allelements of duality merge into one universal entity. This spot therefore is of tremendousimportance and the putting of the coloured mark symbolizes the quest for the‘opening’ of the third eye. Allrites and ceremonies of the Hindus begin with a vermilion mark (tilak) toppedwith a few grains of rice placed on this spot with the index finger orthe thumb. The same custom is followed in welcoming or bidding farewell toguests or relations. The most common material used for making this markis ‘kumkum’, the red powder which is a mixture of turmeric, alum, iodine,camphor, etc. Another popular material is sandalwood paste blended with musk.This has a strong cooling effect and is generally meant for those who havemeditated for a long time. Sacredash from the sacrificial fire (yagna) or the funeral pyre is considered thebest material for the tilak by the yogis and sanyasis because they haverenounced all their attachments to worldly life and ash symbolises this. My note- For in auspicious or semi auspicious functions notilak is applied by male or female members of the family among Kerala iyers. I willcontinue in next posting -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/177358526.1117973.1621321655553%40mail.yahoo.com.
