Shri Yantra 2 Book

Mandala of the Sri yantra
Dr Uday Dokras
The Book of Mandala of the Sri yantra

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Dr Uday Dokras
Book of
Mandala of the Sri Yantra
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CONTENTS
Shatkona page 6
Introduction page 8
TRIPURA SUNDARI page 27
Chapter I-Sri Yantra School of Hinduism? Page
32
Chapter II- The Architectural Element of Sri
Chakra Yantra page 44
Perfect geometry-Chitra Ramaswamy page 58
YANTRA / YANTRA PROPERTIES PAGE
66
Chapter III-Twins and Opposites-Ying and
Yang Page 83
Chapter IV Mandala of the Maha Meru page 94
Chapter V-Hinduism Mount Meru & S.E. Asian
Art page 137
CHAPTER VI-Mount Kailash is MOUNT
MERU Lord Shiva’s home page 151
Chapter VII-Where is the exact location
of Sumeru Mountain? Page 176
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Shatkona (षट्कोण)
shatkona represents the union of male and female. The Kagome crest; six-
pointed star /Hindu deity Karttikeya or Murugan with his consorts on his Vahana peacock.
Shatkona (षट्कोण) is a symbol used in Hindu yantra; a “six-pointed star” is made from two
interlocking triangles; the upper stands for Shiva, Purusha, the lower for Shakti, Prakriti. The
Shatkona is a hexagram and is associated with the son of Shiv-Shakti, Lord Murugan.
Stylistically, it is identical to the Jewish Star of David and the Japanese Kagome crest.
The union of the 2 triangles gives birth to Sanat Kumara, whose sacred number is six. The
Shatkona represents both the male and female form, as a symbol of the divine union of
masculine and feminine and as a source of all creation; more specifically it is supposed to
represent Purusha (the supreme being), and Prakriti (mother nature, or causal matter). Often this
is represented as Shiva/Shakti. It is often referenced that the Satkona/Shatkona is the symbol of
the Hindu deity known as Sanat Kumara (and by many other names).
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I N T R O D U C T I O N
Our
Symbol: The Sri Yantra
The Sri Yantra embodies profound philosophical understandings and is a powerful source of
inspiration.
By Jim Ryan, PhD, professor of Asian and Comparative Studies
The Sri Yantra, the symbol of California Institute of Integral Studies, comes from India. A
yantra, in the Indian tradition, is a literally a "device" for spiritual advancement. The Sri Yantra
is, in fact, the central object of worship in at least one important Indian cult, but beyond its
specific context, the Sri Yantra embodies profound philosophical understandings, which make it
a powerful source of inspiration. Each design element of the Sri Yantra has special philosophical
significance. The dot in the very center is representative of the Source of the universe; this dot,
or bindu, is the "singularity" from which all manifest reality emerges. From one point of view,
the design is representative of the evolution of the universe itself from its mysterious beginnings,
charting its many levels.
The Sri Yantra in its central portion contains nine triangles. Four of them point upward and
represent the unmanifest power of the universe; all that is beyond our quotidian sense
perceptions. They are thought of as being masculine and represent the masculine aspect of
divinity. The five downward-pointing triangles represent the divine feminine and the manifest
aspects of the world.
Because the Sri Yantra forms a unity, the divine masculine and divine feminine in erotic
embrace, as it were (this is exactly how the Indian tradition understands them!), we must realize
that the transcendent Reality, whether we call it God, Goddess, or Perfect Emptiness (as in
Mahayana Buddhism), is always intimately intertwined in everything that we see. God or
Goddess is not a sacred beyond, but the very fiber and life of our existence here. Haridas
Chaudhuri chose this symbol when he founded the Institute because it is a visual representation
of his Integral philosophy.
This world is not to be seen as separate from the transcendent Truth, but as an expression of that
Truth in phenomenal form. What is sacred then, is not merely what is beyond our perception, but
everything that is present here in this world, all our actions, our emotions, our thoughts. The
notion of the integration of body, mind and spirit are symbolized and indicated by the Sri Yantra,
making it a perfect visual representation of the Institute's vision.
It should be mentioned that from another point of view the Sri Yantra is understood to be the
Mother of the Universe Herself, the incarnate Goddess Who both embodies and transcends time.
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In a world where the male divinity, and all that is male has had primacy for a very long time, this
design can be seen as the very embodiment of a challenge to patriarchy and to the masculinist
world we live in.
Yantra Mandala
The Sri Yantra, Shri Yantra, or Shri Chakra is a form of mystical diagram (yantra) used in the
Shri Vidya school of Hinduism. It consists of nine interlocking triangles - four upward ones
which represent Shiva, and five downward ones representing Shakti. All these surround the
central point, the bindu.
Is yantra the same as mandala?
Mandalas and Yantras are geometrical drawings. Yantras are used as tantric tools for the
worshipping of the Divine Feminine. Mandalas are representations of your inner and outer wolds
and a symbol of the totality of existence. You can use both Yantras and Mandalas during
meditation and your spiritual que
Sri Yantra, the most powerful of all yantras was created by Lord Shiva . The worship of Devi in
Sri Chakra is regarded as the highest form of the Devi worship. It is said originally that Lord
Shiva gave 64 chakras and their mantras to the world, to attain various spiritual and material
benefits.
Mandalas are a type of religious and spiritual art with a deep significance for many people.
As a symbol of the cosmos or universe, a traditional mandala is a square containing a circle, and
the entire design is symmetrical and balanced.
How old is the Sri Yantra?
Representations of the yantra in India have been considered to date back to 11,000–10,000 years
BCE. The Baghor stone, found in an upper-paleolithic context in the Son River valley, is
considered the earliest example by G.R. Sharma, who was involved in the excavation of the
stone (it was dated to 25,000 - 20,000 BCE).
Who is Goddess of Sri Yantra?
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Tripurasundari -The Great Goddess Lalita And The Sri Chakra - Swarajya
The great Goddess Lalita, also known as Tripurasundari, Maharajni and Rajarajesvari amongst
other names, is the presiding deity of the most esoteric yogic practices associated with the Sri
Chakra (also called Sri Yantra) that are collectively called Sri Vidya.
What is Shree Yantra used for?

Sri Yantra, also known as Sri Chakra, is a complex sacred geometry used for worship, devotion
and meditation. Yantra means 'instrument' or 'machine' in Sanskrit. This sacred symbol is in use
for thousands of years, and its origin is clouded in mystery. It is one of the most difficult
geometrical figures to draw.
Where should you put a mandala in your house?
If you want to decorate your house with items that have meaning and at the same time create a
relaxing environment, mandalas could be an option for you.
Mandala represents any form of geometric structure and symbols that represents cosmic energy
in the physical world. The appearance of the mandala is believed to be very sacred
which reminds the viewer of serenity and sanctity in the universe and the energy inside him/her
What chakra is Sri Yantra?
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the Navayoni Chakra
The Sri Chakra Yantra is also known as the Navayoni Chakra due to the 9 Triangles.
Which is powerful yantra?
Shree Yantra is one of the most auspicious and powerful Yantras.
How do you worship Sri Yantra?

The Sri Yantra should be worshipped every day with sandal paste and coral mala. You also light
incense, decorate with Marigold flowers. Before decorating you should clean the Shri Yantra
with water, saffron and milk and again rinse it with water.
Why is the Sri Yantra so powerful?
The Sri Yantra is very powerful since it was built with the principles of sacred geometry. It's a
highly sensitive source of supreme energy with outstanding magnetic powers.
What does the symbol of the Sri Yantra represent?
The Sri Yantra in its central portion contains nine triangles. Four of them point upward and
represent the unmanifest power of the universe; all that is beyond our quotidian sense
perceptions. They are thought of as being masculine and represent the masculine aspect of
divinity.
How do you activate Sri Yantra?

To attract all the positive energies the Shree Yantra should be placed in the North-East direction
and the tip of the Yantra should face the east direction. The level of the eye and the level of the
Shree Yantra should be equal.
Is it good to keep Sri Yantra at home?
In terms of vastu, Sri or Shree yantra is regarded as the most powerful and auspicious instrument.
It represents wealth and is associated with Goddess Laxmi. It is said to emit inner cosmic powers
potent enough to fulfil one's desires and bring prosperity.
What is the power of yantra?
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Occult yantras are used as good luck charms, to ward off evil, as preventative medicine, in
exorcism, etc., by virtue of their magical power. When used as a talisman, the yantra is seen to
represent a deity who can be called on at will by the user.
Is it good to wear Sri Yantra?

This auspicious and powerful Sri Yantra offers many benefits to the individual. It brings the
spiritual as well as material wealth. It is the ultimate solution to all the negativity in the life. It
pushes the negative energy away from you and your surroundings.Shree Yantra is one of the
most auspicious, result-oriented, and powerful Yantra. It has that unexplained power to fulfill all
our wishes and change our life for the better.
Sri Yantra, the most powerful of all yantras was created by Lord Shiva. The worship of Devi in
benefits.
In the "Shri Yantra Temple" of Ashtadhatu being built in Amarkantak, construction work is done
only in Guru Pushya Nakshatra. The construction of the temple started in 1991. It is expected to
be completed within seven-eight years.
In most normal situations yantras get fully activated within 40 days of installation and continue
to increase energy thereafter.
- Rudraksha Ratna
What are three types of mandalas?
Below are three main types of mandalas and how they are used.
 Teaching Mandala. Teaching mandalas are symbolic, and each shape, line, and color represents a
different aspect of a philosophical or religious system. ...
 Healing Mandala. ...
 Sand Mandala.
What are the four types of mandalas?
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Some Types of Mandala found in Mandalas Life
Lotus Mandala. Mantra mandala. Buddha Mandala. Sri Yantra mandala.

A mandala is a symbol of the universe in its ideal form, and its creation signifies the
transformation of a universe of suffering into one of joy. It can also be used as an aid to
meditation, helping the meditator to envision how to achieve the perfect self.
What is yantra called in English?
A chant is a religious song or prayer that is sung on only a few notes. ...
Can you tattoo a yantra?

Yantra are not 'art', they are raw power, the seed of power, so do not get them tattooed on your
skin. Then we have sigils for power and protection. e.g. runes, You can draw the Algiz rune on a
paper and keep it in your purse when you start for a journey. It will protect you for the duration
of your journey.
What are the 5 common symbols in mandalas?
Some common symbols within the mandala include wheel, bell, triangle, lotus and sun. Wheel
with eight spokes: The circular nature of a wheel works as an artistic representation of a perfect
universe.
The Mandala of the five elements represents the elements (space, fire, water, earth and air)
connected to the five families of Buddhas (Vairochana, Amitabha, Akshobya, Ratnasambhava
and Amogasiddhi) and connected to the five colors (white, red, blue, yellow and green).
What is the most famous mandala?
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The Taima mandala
The most famous mandala in Japan is the Taima mandala, dated to about 763 CE. The Taima
mandala is based on the Contemplation Sutra, but other similar mandalas have been made
subsequently. Unlike mandalas used in Vajrayana Buddhism, it is not used as an object of
meditation or for esoteric ritual.
Select a mandala that you are drawn to, that "feels right," or makes you feel happy,
empowered, or energized. There is no right or wrong choice, but a selection made using your
intuitive sense is usually the best means of finding and working with a mandala that will be most
beneficial to you.
Why are mandalas destroyed?

The destruction of the mandala serves as a reminder of the impermanence of life. The
coloured sand is swept up into an urn and dispersed into flowing water - a way of extending the
healing powers to the whole world. It is seen as a gift to the mother earth to re-energise the
environment and universe.
Paint mandalas on the walls or floors

1. A big mandala behind the bedhead. ...
2. A mandala in the entryway. ...
3. A mandala behind the sofa.
The Holi Sri Yantra, also known as Sri Chakra, is a

very important symbol of the Hindu philosophy
known as Tantra.
It is composed by nine mandalas based on nine
triangles of different size overlapping with one
another.
The triangles facing upwards symbolize Shiva and
the masculine, while the triangles facing downwards
represent Shakti, the divine feminine also depicted
in the Yoni Yantra Mandala.
The diagram is surrounded by lotus petals
representing the heart that is the container of the
Self, and when the heart opens, understanding
comes.
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The squared structures outside of the Yantra
represents the material world that our senses show
us and symbol of the illusion of separateness. Each
side has a gate pointing toward the center. These
doors represent the passage from the external and
material to the internal and sacred.
This ancient symbol has an important cosmological
significance as well. In fact is been observed that the
design of the Sri Yantra, and in particular the
triangles, is based on the rules of the Golden Ratio,
a mathematical and geometrical equation observed
in all of creation. The Sri Yantra portrait the
expansion of the universe starting from the center of
the mandala and describing the union of feminine
and masculine energy.
This Mandala is a great visual aid to reach higher
states of consciousness and deep meditation.
.
Sri Yantra, the most powerful of all yantras was created by Lord Shiva. The worship of Devi in
benefits. Mandalas, meaning "circles" in Sanskrit, are sacred symbols that are used for
meditation, prayer, healing and art therapy for both adults and children. Mandalas have been
shown in clinical studies to boost the immune system, reduce stress and pain, lower blood
pressure, promote sleep and ease depression. What is the real meaning of mandala? When we
create mandalas, we are making a personal symbol that represents who we are at the moment.
Would you like to see a reflection of your Self? You can color a mandala or try drawing one of
your own. Mandala, (Sanskrit: “circle”) in Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism, a symbolic diagram
used in the performance of sacred rites and as an instrument of meditation. It is also regarded as
a symbol of fortune, material growth, luck and rain. It can be seen as a form of the Buddha and
the Hindu deity Ganesha.The Sri Yantra, Shri Yantra, or Shri Chakra is a form of mystical
diagram (yantra) used in the Shri Vidya school of Hinduism. It consists of nine interlocking
triangles - four upward ones which represent Shiva, and five downward ones representing Shakti.
All these surround the central point, the bindu. A Shree Yantra must have at least 160 Masa (154
grams) per Shastra Shaubhagyalaxmi Upnishada. If you want to get a better and faster result,
then it is advised that you should install a larger Shree Yantra than the specified one. Many
people think Goddess Mahalakshmi is Lord Vishnu's consort. This is not entirely
true! Mahalakshmi is the supreme Deity Who is also known as Tripura Sundari or Sri Vidya or
Lalithambika or Lalitha. Mahalakshmi is the confluence of Lakshmi (satvic), Saraswathi
(rajasik) and Kali (tamasik) powers
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Why is the Sri Yantra so powerful?
The Sri Yantra is very powerful since it was built with the principles of sacred geometry. It's a
highly sensitive source of supreme energy with outstanding magnetic powers.
Sri Yantra, also known as Sri Chakra, is a complex sacred geometry used for worship,
devotion and meditation. Yantra means 'instrument' or 'machine' in Sanskrit. This sacred symbol
is in use for thousands of years, and its origin is clouded in mystery.
How do you worship Shree Yantra? Mandala art is a form of meditation that can be done on a
daily basis. This practice is not limited to stationary spaces such as your home. If you are looking
for a way to relieve stress and anxiety, Mandala art is a great option.
It should be bathed with panchamrit consisting of milk, curd, honey, ghee and gangajal. After
that, offer red cloth, red sandalwood, red thread, rice while worshipping the yantra. Now perform
an aarti with incense, dhoop, and diya while reciting lakshmi mantra, shri sukta and durga
saptashati.
Advantages Of Placing Shri Yantra At Different Locations
How does a mandala make you feel?
Mandalas, meaning "circles" in Sanskrit, are sacred symbols that are used for meditation, prayer,
healing and art therapy for both adults and children. Mandalas have been shown in clinical
studies to boost the immune system, reduce stress and pain, lower blood pressure, promote
sleep and ease depression.
Shree Yantra is one of the most auspicious and powerful Yantras.
Who is the goddess of Shri Yantra?
The great Goddess Lalita, also known as Tripurasundari, Maharajni and Rajarajesvari amongst
other names, is the presiding deity of the most esoteric yogic practices associated with the Sri
Chakra (also called Sri Yantra) that are collectively called Sri Vidya.
What are examples of mandalas?

A mandala is an arrangement of simple shapes repeated in a circular pattern. (Mandala actually
comes from the Sanskrit word for "circle.") For examples of mandalas, we can look to nature
(think flowers like roses, chrysanthemums, and dahlias; ripples in a body of water; and
snowflakes) as well as ancient art.
Other Powerful yantra?
 Tripura Sundari (Sanskrit: त्रिपुरा सुन्दरी, IAST: Tripura Sundarī), also known as
Rajarajeshwari, Shodashi, Kamakshi, and Lalita is a Hindu goddess, worshipped as a
principal aspect of supreme goddess Mahadevi mainly venerated in Shaktism, the
goddess-oriented sect of Hinduism. She is also a prominent Mahavidya.
 Kuber Yantra is a powerful yantra of Lord Kubera to attain his blessings. It is believed
that praying with complete devotion to this Kubera yantra helps you with money
problems and bless you with wealth and material comforts. It can be placed at the office,
home, shop etc for attracting financial gains.
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 What is sumeru Shree Yantra?
Having the shape of Sumeru Parvat this grand shri yantra is a wonderful go-getter of wealth and
if this yantra gets set up fit the Pooja (prayer) place in the house, Lakshmi will never leave that
house. In other words house will become a permanent adode of Lakshmi.
 In the "Shri Yantra Temple" of Ashtadhatu being built in Amarkantak, construction work
is done only in Guru Pushya Nakshatra. The construction of the temple started in 1991. It
is expected to be completed within seven-eight years.
How are mandalas healing?
The Healing Power of Mandalas
As the monks make the mandalas, they chant and meditate to evoke the positive vibrations
residing within the sacred patterns. This energy has healing power that extends to the entire
world -- further realized by releasing the sands into flowing water.
Many different cultures around the world use mandalas in their spiritual practices. The best thing
about designing your own mandals is that you have the freedom to choose whatever shapes and
colors that you feel express your sense of self and your view of reality.
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Beautiful hues result from combining yellow-orange, blue-green, and purple. Alternatively, go
in for yellow-green, blue, and red. Violet, blue-green, and yellow-green are also good color
combinations for mandala patterns.
6 benefits of mandala art?
Mentioned below are some of the important benefits of mandala art, which will benefit your
children in the following ways.
 Helps in Generating Circular Harmony. ...
 Enhances Concentration in Children. ...
 Helps in Developing Coordination and Psychomotor Skills. ...
 Introduction to Geometric Shapes.
 Helps in Increasing Self-Esteem.
Religion of the mandala?

mandala, (Sanskrit: “circle”) in Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism, a symbolic diagram used in the
performance of sacred rites and as an instrument of meditation.
Why is it called a mandala?
Why are mandalas 48 days?
In the Indian yogic system, it has been adviced that any form of practice be done for one
Mandala i.e 48 days. Just as the embryo needs to spend enough time in the womb to become a
fully formed child, a yogic practice needs its time to mature within our system. Since the circle
can represent a safe and contained space, mandalas have also been found to help both children
and adults suffering from anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder. Creating artwork
inside the circle can help silence a person's inner critic and induce a calm, meditative state.
Mandalas good for health?

Mandala's stress relieving benefits are well known, but it can also help in physical healing.
Many clinical studies conclude that it boosts the immune system, lowers blood pressure and
boosts sleep.30-Apr-2022
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Psychologist Carl Jung reasoned mandalas to be a representation of one's collective
unconscious which is a representation of a form of the unconscious is different from Freud's
concept of the subconscious and unconscious.
How to use a mandala in therapy?

1. Place your mandala art in front of you at arm's length (either flat on the ground or on a wall)
2. Sit comfortably in front of it with your feet flat on the floor or legs crossed.
3. Begin to breathe slowly and deeply from the diaphragm, emptying your mind and body of any
tension or worries.
Developing a daily mantra practice routine, calms our mind and brings the stress down. The
vibrations of these ancient mantras are known to bring positive vibes in and around us. Even if
we do not know their meaning.
How do you dispose of yantra?
In general broken or damaged piece of idol, Rudraksha or a yantra is supposed not to be kept
with us. The reason is they cannot generate the proper energy because of the damage and change
of their form due to the damage. The ideal way of disposing a broken yantra is to throw it in a
water body.
Can we keep yantra in pocket?
Carrying Shree Yantra in your pocket will make you positive and healthy --- Shree Yantra
induces positivity in your life. Keep a picture of Goddess Laxmi massaging Lord Vishnu's feet in
your wallet. It is considered truly auspicious.
Keep these things in your wallet for good luck and prosperity
Yantra comes in different materials such as copper, parad, or crystals. The most effective among
copper, parad, and crystal is the crystal itself. But don't get confused by the glass Shree
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Yantra. Crystals like gemstones can give the best results if you are thinking of buying Shri
Yantra.
What is Shree Yantra Crystal? Very beneficial for health and wealth Crystal has the divine
powers King of all yantras It should be put in safe, office, locker or worship place Also known as
lakshmi yantra. Shree means lakshmi (wealth) and so shree yantra is called as lakshmi yanra
also. It should be put in safe, office, locker or worship place .

Why do people destroy mandalas?
The destruction of the mandala serves as a reminder of the impermanence of life. The coloured
sand is swept up into an urn and dispersed into flowing water - a way of extending the healing
powers to the whole world. It is seen as a gift to the mother earth to re-energise the environment
and universe.
The purpose of the ancient ritual is to symbolize the transitory nature of material life. “One of the
main Buddhist concepts to keep in mind is impermanence,” said Mullen. “The mandala is
constructed to be dismantled immediately. That shows impermanence.
Does mandala bring good luck? It is also regarded as a symbol of fortune, material growth, luck
and rain. It can be seen as a form of the Buddha and the Hindu deity Ganesha.
What do mandala colors mean?
ORANGE: Creativity, transformation, self-awareness and intuition.

YELLOW: Learning, wisdom, laughter and happiness.
GREEN: Physical healing, psychic ability, love of nature and caring.
BLUE: Emotional healing, inner peace and meditation.
PURPLE: All things spiritual. There is a balance to find, swinging the pendulum of life from
reality to expectation, belief to manifestation. This is the journey of wisdom, our search for inner
peace. Understanding the universe beyond and within, on its own terms.
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The Healing Power of Mandalas
As the monks make the mandalas, they chant and meditate to evoke the positive vibrations
residing within the sacred patterns. This energy has healing power that extends to the entire
world -- further realized by releasing the sands into flowing water. Some common symbols
within the mandala include wheel, bell, triangle, lotus and sun. Wheel with eight spokes: The
circular nature of a wheel works as an artistic representation of a perfect universe.
Why does Lalita sit on Shiva?
She is not exactly sitting on Him but it represents that she is Shivaa- the female or the energy of
Shiva. Both are complete only when both are together and thus she forms Lalithambika.27-Sept-
2014
To attract all the positive energies the Shree Yantra should be placed in the North-East direction
and the tip of the Yantra should face the east direction. The level of the eye and the level of the
Shree Yantra should be equal.
The Shri Yantra should always be placed in the east or north direction if you have a picture. If
the Shri Yantra is in a crystallized form you can place it in the north direction with the central
point facing the east. You can place a Shiva Lingam near Shri Yantra to get the maximum
benefits.
Shri Yantra
Chakra pooja or yantra pooja is the worship of a deity in a diagrammatic form. This type of
worship exists in other parts of the world also. The greatest of the devtas, Lord Shiva is the Adi
Guru of the tantrik sciences. His consort Mata Shakti in essence is the complete energy that
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governs the Creation. Sri Yantra, the most powerful of all yantras was created by Lord Shiva.
The worship of Devi in Sri Chakra is regarded as the highest form of the Devi worship. It is said
originally that Lord Shiva gave 64 chakras and their mantras to the world, to attain various
spiritual and material benefits. That is why Sri Yantra is called Yantra Raja.
For his consort, the Devi, he gave the Sri Chakra and the highly coveted and the most powerful
Shodashakshari mantra, which is the equivalent of all the other 64 mantras put together. Usually
the Guru gives it to a highly deserving and tested disciple. Very few get it. Even in the Mantra
Shastra, where all other mantras are openly and clearly given, the Shodashakshari mantra is not
directly given. Several hints about the mantra are given and you are asked to get the mantra if
you are capable and deserving. The opening versus of the Mantra Shastra chapter on Sri Chakra
says, "Your head can be given, your soul can be given but the Shodashakshari Mantra of the
Devi can not be given".
It is said that in the beginning as the first step to creation God created Devi - the total cosmic
Female force. For the male part, out of his left he created Shiva, out of his middle he created
Brahma and out of his right he created Vishnu. That is why many regard the Devi as more
powerful than the Trinity and hence she is called Parashakti or Paradevi - para meaning beyond.
Lord Brahma created the universe. Lord Vishnu controls and runs the universe. Lord Shiva along
with Mata Shakti is engaged in the eternal dissolution and recreation of the universe.
The bindu in the center of the Sri Chakra is the symbolic representation of the cosmic spiritual
union of Lord Shiva and Mata Shakti. Apart from that Sri Chakra also embodies countless
number of deities and represents the whole creation. Hence by worshipping the Devi in Sri
Chakra one is actually worshipping the highest ultimate force in the tantrik form.
The Basics of Shri Yantra
Before starting the worship it is advisable to know about the way the Sri Yantra is constructed,
what all it represents, about the nine Avaranas, the deities, their Gunas and significance. Here we
will discuss its details as given in various scriptures.
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 Five downward pointing triangles representing Devi intersect with four upward pointing
triangles representing Siva, forming 43 triangles including the central triangle.
 From the five Shakti triangles comes creation and from the four Shiva triangles comes the
dissolution. The union of five Shaktis and four Fires causes the chakra of creation to
evolve.
At the centre of the bindu of the Shri Yantra is Kamakala, which has three bindus. One is red,
one is white and one is mixed. The red bindu is Kurukulla, the Female form, the white bindu is
Varahi, the Male form, and the mixed bindu is the union of Shiva & Shakti - the individual as the
potential Shri Cakra. Varahi, the father-form, gives four dhatus to the child and Kurukulla, the
mother-form, gives five dhatus to the child. Theses represent the nine dhatus of the human body.
Varahi's four fires are the 12 (4 x 3) sun Kalas, the 12 Zodiac constellations. Kurukulla's five
triangles are the 15 (5 x 3) Kalas of the moon, 15 lunar Tithis. These nine triangles also represent
the nine stages of growth of the human child in the womb.
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Surrounding the 43 triangles formed by the intersection of the nine triangles is the 16 petals
circle. Surrounding the 16 petal circle is an eight petal circle. After that the three lines and at the
outermost part of the Sri Yantra there are three lines called the Bhupura.
The 43 triangles constitute the six inner sections called Avaranas, the two circles of petals are
two more Avaranas and the Bhupura of three lines is the last Avarana.
The nine Avaranas of the Sri Yantra have various presiding Devis. They are the Devi's Parivar
(retinue) of total 108. In Srichakra pooja they are systematically worshipped one by one with
their names and mantras. The presiding Deity of Srichakra, Devi, is known as Lalita Tripura
Sundari.
Lalita means The One Who Plays. All creation, manifestation and dissolution is considered to be
a play of Devi. Tri-Pura means the three worlds and Sundari means beauty. She is the
transcendent beauty of the three worlds. Tripura also signifies: - She is the ruler of the three
gunas of Sattvic, Rajas and Tamas; and sun, moon and fire - the zodiac and the planets, and
therefore Time itself; She is also "tripura" as Will (Iccha), Knowledge (Jnana) and Action
(Kriya). She is also "tripura" as intellect, feelings and physical sensation; and She is triple as the
three states of the soul - awakening, dreaming and sleeping states. Her five triangles also
represent the Pancha Tatwas and the Pancha Bhootas. (This is what the verse in Lalita
Sahasranama means by -"Panchami pancha bhuteshi pancha sankhyopacharini ". It is difficult
to say what She is not.
Lalita Tripura Sundari holds five flowery arrows, noose, goad and bow. The noose represents
attachment, the goad represents repulsion, the sugarcane bow represents the mind and the
flowery arrows are the five sense objects. Nine AvaranasNow we will go to the Nava Avaranas
(Nine Corridors) of the Sri Yantra. The Sri Yantra is the most guarded yantra.When you sit
facing east and with the tip of the top triangle pointing at you, the bottom right hand side corner
of the Sri Chakra is guarded by Lord Ganesha. The bottom left hand side corner is guarded by
Lord Surya. The top left side corner is guarded by Lord Vishnu and the top right corner of the Sri
chakra is guarded by Lord Shiva. They must be worshipped before starting the pooja of the
Nava-Avaranas.After that the eight primordial directions are guarded by the eight Lokapalas.
Indra guards the East, Agni guards the South East, Yama guards the South, Nirriti guards the
South West, Varuna guards the West, Vayu guards the North East, Soma guards the North and
Ishana guards the North East.
24
The
25
As if this is not enough, each of the first eight Avaranas are guarded by eight Bhairavas and eight
Bhairavis! What is more is that these 64 pairs of Bhairavas and Bhairavis are assisted by 10
million yoginis each - total 640 million (64 crore). This is what the verse in Lalita Sahasranama
says --"Maha chatu-shshashti-koti yogini ganasevita." The First Avarana - 3 lines
The 3 lines of the 1st Avarana & the position of the various deities
The outermost 3 lines are known as Bhupura form the first Avarana of the Sri Yantra. This is
known as the Trilokya Mohana Chakra and the worshiper knowing its inner secrets can
mesmerise the three worlds. It is ruled by a yogini called Prakata Yogini. The deity of this is
Tripura. The beeja of this Avarana is Am Aam Sauh. The gem is topaz. The time is 24 minutes
(360 breaths).The mudra to be shown is Kshobha Mudra.
26
TRIPURA SUNDARI
There are various interpretations and many figures that represent the Chakra. The three main
types of Chakra are plane, pyramidal and spherical. The worship of Sri Chakra is an ancient
practice followed not only in our country, but also in a few othes. It is the worship of the deity in
a diagrammatic form, which is regarded as the highest form of Devi worship.
The Chakra is formed by nine interlocking triangles that radiate from the centre. It represents the
goddess in the form of Tripura Sundari. Also known as Rajarajeshwari, Shodashi, and Lalita,
is a Hindu goddess and is an aspect of Mahadevi mainly venerated in Shaktism, the goddess-
oriented sect of Hinduism. She is also a prominent Mahavidya. She is glorified in many Shakta
texts, with Lalita Sahasranama being the most popular one.
According to the Srikula tradition in Shaktism, Tripura Sundari is the foremost of the
Mahavidyas, the highest aspect of Mahadevi and also the primary goddess of Sri Vidya.
The Tripura Upanishad places her as the ultimate Shakti (energy, power) of the universe. She is
described as the supreme consciousness, ruling from above Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Kinsley
says, In one instance she is said to be sitting on Shiva's lap in the kāmeśvara form, the "Lord of
Desire". In another case, she is depicted as growing from the Sri Chakra, the yantra of
Tripurasundari. In this rendering of the goddess, she is self-emergent, as the Sri Chakra is
identical with the goddess herself".
Shaktism depiction of Sodashi seated on a lotus emerging from Shiva

Details of her appearance are found in the famous hymn in her praise, the Lalita Sahasranama,
where she is said to be,
27
Seated on a throne like a queen (names 2 and 3), to wear jewels (names 13 and 14), to have the
auspicious marks of a married woman (names 16–25), and to have heavy breasts and a thin waist
(name 36); the crescent moon adorns her forehead, and her smile overwhelms Kameshwara, the
lord of desire (name 28). She has as her throne with its legs being Pancha Brahmas (five
Brahmas) (name 249).
She is often depicted iconographically as seated on a lotus that rests on the supine body of
Sadashiva, which in turn lies on a throne whose legs are the gods Brahma, Visnu, Isvara, and
Rudra. In some cases, the lotus is growing out of Shiva's navel. In other more common cases, the
lotus is grown directly from the Sri Chakra.
The Vamakeshvara tantra says that Tripura-sundari dwells on the peaks of the Himalayas; is
worshipped by sages and heavenly nymphs; has a body like pure crystal; wears a tiger skin, a
snake as a garland around her neck, and her hair tied in a jata; holds a trident and drum; is
decorated with jewels, flowers, and ashes; and has a large bull as a vehicle.
The Saundaryalahari and the Tantrasara describe her in detail from her hair to her feet.
The Tantrasara dhyana mantra says that she is illuminated by the jewels of the crowns of
Brahma and Visnu, which fell at her feet when they bowed down to worship her. Kinsley also
says that "In Saundarya Lahari and Tantrasara she is not associated with Shiva in any obvious
way as she is in other depictions".
Vaishnavism traditions have a similar set of complementary parallels
between Vishnu and Lakshmi. The Tantric Vaishnava Pancharatra texts associates Lalita
with Lakshmi. Author Douglas Renfrew Brooks says, "Lalita, like the Pancharatra conception of
Lakshmi, acts independently by taking over the cosmic functions of the male deity; yet she does
not defy the god's wishes". Brooks also says, "In contrast to most Vaishnava conceptions of
Lakshmi, however, Lalita destabilizes temporarily for the purpose of reasserting order". [
Sri Vidya, then, can be understood as one of the premier instances of Hindu Shakta Tantrism.
Specifically, it is the tradition (sampradaya) which deals with worship of Tripurasundari, "the
most beautiful Tantric form of Sri/Lakshmi, [who is]... the most benign, beautiful and youthful
yet motherly manifestation of the Supreme Shakti.
Lalita Sahasranama
Lalita Sahasranama contains a thousand names of the Hindu mother goddess Lalita. The names
are organized in a hymns (stotras). It is the only sahasranama that does not repeat a single name.
Further, in order to maintain the meter, sahasranamass use the artifice of adding words like tu,
api, ca, and hi, which are conjunctions that do not necessarily add to the meaning of the name
except in cases of interpretation. The Lalita sahasranama does not use any such auxiliary
conjunctions and is unique in being an enumeration of holy names that meet the metrical,
poetical and mystic requirements of a sahasranama by their order throughout the text.
Lalita Sahasranama begins by calling the goddess Shri Mata (the great mother), Shri
Maharajni (the great queen) and Shrimat Simhasaneshwari (the queen sitting on the lion-throne).
[10]
In verses 2 and 3 of the Sahasranama she is described as a Udayatbhanu Sahasrabha (the one
who is as bright as the rays of thousand rising suns), Chaturbahu Samanvita (the one who has
four hands) and Ragasvarupa Pashadhya (the one who is holding the rope). Chidagnikunda
Sambhuta (one who was born from the altar of the fire of consciousness) and Devakarya
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samudyata (one who manifested Herself for fulfilling the objects of the devas) are among other
names mentioned in the sahasranama.
Composition
Lalitha sahasranama is said to have been composed by eight vak devis (vaag devathas) upon the
command of Lalitha. These vaag devis are Vasini, Kameshwari, Modhinee, Vimala, Aruna,
Jayinee, Sarveshwari, Koulini. The sahasranama says that "One can worship Lalitha only if she
wishes us to do so". The text is a dialogue between Hayagriva, an (avatar) of Mahavishnu and
the sage Agastya. The temple at Thirumeyachur, near Kumbakonam is said to be where Agastya
was initiated into this sahasranama. Another alternative version is the Upanishad Bramham Mutt
at kanchipuram is where this initiation happened.
This sahasranama is held as a sacred text for the worship of the "Divine Mother", Lalita, and is
used in the worship of Durga, Parvati, Kali, and other forms of Parvati. A principal text of Shakti
worshipers, it names her various attributes, and these names are organized in the form of a hymn.
This sahasranama is used in various modes for the worship of the Divine Mother. Some of the
modes of worship are parayana (Recitations), archana, homa etc.
This stotra (hymn of praise) occurs in the Brahmanda Purana (history of the universe) in the
chapter on a discussion between Hayagreeva and Agasthya. Hayagreeva is an incarnation
of Vishnu with the head of a horse who is held to be the storehouse of knowledge. Agasthya is
one of the sages of yore and one of the stars of the constellation Saptarshi (Ursa major). At the
request of Agasthya, Hayagreeva is said to have taught him the thousand holiest names of Lalita.
This has been conveyed to us by the sage Maharishi Vyasa. Lalitha Sahasranama is the only
sahasranama composed by vag devatas under Lalitha's direction. All the other sahasranamas
except Shiva Sahasranama are said to have been composed by Maharishi Vyasa ,Shiva
Sahasranama being composed by Mahavishnu and also by Krishna.
Structure
The slokas are organized in such a way that Devi is described from head to feet (kesadhi
padham). There are basically five works (pancha krtyam). They are creation (srishti), protection
(sthiti), destruction (samharam), hiding (thirudhanam) and blessing (anugraham). Devi herself
has been described as "pancha krtya parayana" in the sloka and the five tasks are described as
follows:
Srishti karthri brahma roopa gopthri-govinda-roopini samharini-rudrha-roopa
.
thirodhanakareeswari sadashivaa-anugrahadha Pancha krithya parayana This means Devi is the
aspect of Brahma, while creating sristhi, aspect of Vishnu while sustaining sristhi, aspect of
Rudra during dissolution sanghara. These five entities (Brahmma, Vishnu, Rudra, Isvara and
Sadasiva) are known as "pancha-brahma". Lalitha has designated the five functions to these
brahmam. Sometimes, Devi will take away the life from these five brahmmam and make them
inactive, performing all the five tasks herself. At that time they will be called "pancha pretam"
that is lifeless bodies.The first three slokas are: Srimata (great mother) – srshti; Sri Maharajni
(great ruler) – sthithi; Srimat Simhasaneswari (one who sits on the lion throne) – samharam. The
rest of the slokas cover thirodhanam and anugraham.
According to the Patala Khanda of Padma purana, Krishna is the male form of the goddess
Lalita.
29
I am Goddess Lalita and that Radhika who is celebrated in songs. I am called Vasudeva, who
always is of the nature of the art of love. I am truly of a feminine form, and I am the ancient
woman, and I am goddess Lalita, and in a manly form I have Krishna's body.
— Padma purana, Patala-Khanda, Verses 46:47

The next names – "chidhagnikunda sambhutha devakarya samudhyatha" tells us that devi arose
from the fire of knowledge to help devas in their task (war against asuras – bhandasura). From
the namAa- Udhyath bhanu sahasraba till sinjanamani manjeera manditha sree padambuja, all
her parts like her face, fore head, eyes, mouth, tongue, voice, hands and legs have been
described.Thereafter, Devi's place (Chintamani gruham), her war against bandasura, kundalini
shakti, and her properties have been described. A common image of the goddess depicts a parrot
and a sugarcane with her. Sugarcane represents the sweetness of her mind.
References in Hindu literature[edit]
The Soundarya Lahari of Adi Shankaracharya deals exhaustively about the nature of the
Goddess and her worship.The Lalitopakyana tells of the epic battle between her forces and the
forces of the arch-demon Bhandasura.[
The Tripura Sundari Ashtakam by Adi Shankaracharya describes her as a Mother wearing a blue
and red-spotted dress and holding a pot of honey.
The Sri Yantra in diagrammatic form, showing how its nine interlocking triangles form a total of
43 smaller triangles.
In the Shri Vidya school of Hindu tantra, the Sri Yantra ("sacred instrument"), also Sri Chakra is
a diagram formed by nine interlocking triangles that surround and radiate out from the central
(bindu) point. It represents the goddess in her form of Shri Lalita Or Tripura Sundari, "the beauty
of the three worlds (earth, atmosphere and sky(heaven)"(Bhoo, Bhuva and Swa).The worship of
the Sri Chakra is central to the Shri Vidya system of Hindu worship. Four isosceles triangles
with the apices upwards, representing Shiva or the Masculine. Five isosceles triangles with the
apices downward, symbolizing female embodiment Shakti. Thus the Sri Yantra also represents
the union of Masculine and Feminine Divine. Because it is composed of nine triangles, it is
known as the Navayoni Chakra. "These nine triangles are of various sizes and intersect with one
another. In the middle is the power point (bindu), visualizing the highest, the invisible, elusive
centre from which the entire figure and the cosmos expand. The triangles are enclosed by two
30
rows of (8 and 16) petals, representing the lotus of creation and reproductive vital force. The
broken lines of the outer frame denote the figure to be a sanctuary with four openings to the
regions of the universe".
In a recent issue of Brahmavidya, the journal of the Adyar Library, Subhash Kak argues that the
description of Sri Yantra is identical to the yantra described in the Śvetāśvatara Upanisad.
Together the nine triangles are interlaced in such a way as to form 43 smaller triangles in a web
symbolic of the entire cosmos or a womb symbolic of creation. Together they
express Advaita or non-duality. This is surrounded by a lotus of eight petals, a lotus of sixteen
petals, and an earth square resembling a temple with four doors. The various deities residing in
the nine layers of the Sri Yantra are described in the Devi Khadgamala Mantra.
The Shri Chakra is also known as the nava chakra because it can also be seen as having nine
levels. "Nine" comes from" Nava" of Sanskrit. Each level corresponds to a mudra, a yogini, and
a specific form of the Deity Tripura Sundari along with her mantra. These levels starting from
the outside or bottom layer are:
1. Trailokya Mohana or Bhupara, a square of three lines with four portals

2. Sarva Aasa Paripuraka, a sixteen-petal lotus
3. Sarva Sankshobahana, an eight-petal lotus
4. Sarva Saubhagyadayaka, composed of fourteen small triangles
5. Sara Arthasadhaka, composed of ten small triangles
6. Sarva Rakshakara, composed of ten small triangles
7. Sarva Rogahara, composed of eight small triangles
8. Sarva Siddhiprada, composed of 1 small triangle
9. Sarva Anandamaya, composed of a point or bindu
The Sri Chakra (called the Shri Yantra) is the symbol of Hindu tantra, which is based on
the Hindu philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism. The Sri Yantra is the object of devotion in Sri
Vidya.
The two dimensional Sri Chakra, when it is projected into three dimensions is called a Maha
Meru (Mount Meru).
31
Chapter I
Sri Yantra School of Hinduism?
The Sri Yantra, Shri Yantra, or Shri Chakra is a form of mystical diagram (yantra) used in
the Shri Vidya school of Hinduism. It consists of nine interlocking triangles of which 4 are for
Shiva and 5 for Raj rajeshwari(parvati ) that surround a central point known as a bindu. These
triangles represent the cosmos and the human body. Because of its nine triangles, Shri Yantra is
also known as the Navayoni Chakra.[1] When the two-dimensional Shri Yantra is represented
in three dimensions, it is called a Mahameru. Mount Meru derives its name from this shape. In
addition to Mount Meru, all other yantras derive from the Shri Yantra.
In the 2009 issue of Brahmavidya (the journal of the Adyar Library), Subhash Kak argues that
the description of Shri Yantra is identical to the yantra described in the Śrī Sūkta in veda.[
The Sri Yantra's 9 constituent triangles vary in size and shape and intersect to form 43 smaller
triangles, organized in 5 concentric levels. Together they represent the totality of the cosmos and
express Advaita or non-duality. In the middle, the power point (bindu) represents the cosmic
center. The triangles are circumscribed by two concentric circles composed of 8 and 16 petals,
representing the lotus of creation and reproductive vital force. The entire configuration is framed
by the broken lines of an earth square, representing a temple with four doors open onto the
regions of the universe.
Shri Yantra in various forms
The Lalita Sahasranama in diagrammatic form, showing how its nine interlocking
triangles form a total of 43 smaller triangles.///The Shri Yantra shown in the three-
dimensional projection called Mahāmeru/// Shri Yantra engraved in metal
The worship of the Sri Yantra is central to the Sri Vidya system of Hindu worship. It represents
the Goddess in the form of Devi Tripura Sundari, the natural beauty of the three worlds:
Bhu Loka (Physical Plane, Consciousness of the Physical Plane), Bhuvar Loka (Antariksha or
Intermediate Space, Sub-Consciousness of the Prana) and Swar Loka (Svarga or Heaven or
Super-Consciousness of the Divine Mind). The Sri Yantra is the symbol of Hinduism, which is
based on the Hindu philosophy of the vedas. The Sri Yantra is the object of devotion in Sri
Vidya.
32
The Shri Yantra represents the evolution of the multiverse as a result of the natural Divine
Will of the Godhead Aadi Paraa Shakti. The four upward-pointing isosceles triangles represent
the Goddess's masculine embodiment Brahman, while the five downward-pointing triangles
symbolize the female embodiment Jagat jannani.[5] The 12 and 15 sides of the four upward and
five downward triangles also correspondingly symbolise, on the physical plane, the 12 sidereal
zodiac signs of the Sun and 15 'nityas' phase-signs of the Moon.[6]
The Shri Yantra is also known as the nav chakra because it can be seen to consist of nine
concentric layers that radiate outward from the bindu. ("Nau" or "nava" means "nine"
in Sanskrit.) Each level corresponds to a mudra, a yogini and a specific form of the deity Tripura
Sundari along with her mantra. The various deities residing in the nine levels of the Shri Yantra
are described in the Devi Khadgamala Mantra. These levels, listed from outermost to innermost,
are:
1. Trailokya Mohana, the outermost square, traced in three lines and interrupted by four
recessed portals;
2. Sarvasaa Paripuraka, the outer lotus, consisting of 16 petals;
3. Sarva Samkshobahana, the inner lotus, consisting of 8 petals;
4. Sarva Saubhagyadayaka, the outermost ring of small triangles (14 in total);
5. Sarvarthasadhaka, the next ring of triangles (10 in total);
6. Sarva Rakshakara, a smaller ring of 10 triangles;
7. Sarva Rogahara, a ring of 8 small triangles;
8. Sarva Siddhiprada, one small triangle containing the bindu at its center;
9. Sarva Anandamaya, the bindu.
10.
TEMPLES
Her most important temple is the Kanchi Kamakshi temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.
Kanchipuram is one of the moksha puris. Sage Durvasa did intense penance in Kanchipuram and
the pleased Lalita Tripura Sundari appeared and agrees to reside in Kanchi for the benefit of her
devotees. Adi Sankaracharya installed the Sri Chakra in this temple. It is also the place of Kanchi
Kamakoti mandali.Her temple, the Tripura Sundari temple is located on top of the hills near
Radhakishorepur village, which is a very important temple, 1 of the 51 shaktipeethas, a little
distance away from Udaipur town railway station, Udaipur town, Tripura, North east India.
Another temple dedicated to goddess maha Tripura sundari, or goddess kamakhya, 1 one of the 4
main adi shaktipeethas, is in Nilachal hill, Guwahati, Assam near kamakhya junction railway
station, in Assam, North east India. In West Bengal, there is a temple of Ma Tripura Sundari
Devi located in Boral, near Garia. In Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur, there is Tripura Sundari temple
about 12 km from city on Bhedaghat road in village Tewar. Another temple dedicated to goddess
tripura sundari is in Banaswara, Rajasthan. In Tirusulam, a neighbourhood of Chennai, is the
Shri Tirusoolanathar Tripurasundari temple, an ancient temple built by Kulothunga Chola I in the
11th century. The Trisula Nathar Temple is dedicated to Sri Shiva as Trisula Nathar and Divine
Mother Shakti as Tripura Sundari Amman.
The Kamakshi Temple is an ancient Hindu Temple dedicated to Kamakshi, the ultimate
Goddess Lalita Maha Tripura sundari. It is located in the historic city of Kanchipuram,
near Chennai, India. The Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, the Akilandeswari temple in
33
Thiruvanaikaval near Tiruchirappalli and this Kamakshi temple are the important centers of
worship of Goddess, in the state of Tamil Nadu. The Temple was most probably built by
the Pallava kings, whose capital was Kanchipuram.
The Image of the main Deity, Kamakshi, is seated in a majestic Padmasana, a yogic posture
signifying peace and prosperity, instead of the traditional standing pose. Goddess holds a
sugarcane bow and bunch of five flowers in the lower two of her arms and has a pasha (lasso), an
ankusha (goad) in her upper two arms. There is also a parrot perched near the flower bunch.
There are no other Goddess temples in the city of Kanchipuram, apart from this temple, which is
unusual in a traditional city that has hundreds of traditional temples. There are various legends
that account for this fact.
According to a local legend, Adi Shankaracharya established the Sri Chakra in this Kamakshi
Devi temple in the trough-like structure in that shrine.
As per Hindu legend, Kamakshi Amman is considered in line
with Meenakshi at Madurai and Visalakshi at Varanasi. Kamakshi is the only Shakti shrine
centered across all Shiva temples in Kanchipuram which do not have separate shrines for
Amman. Kamakshi is worshipped thus as Parabrahma Swaroopini. She is none other
than Lalitha Maha Tripura Sundari herself. This can be further supported in tantric texts such as
Tripura Rahasya, Bahvrucha Upanishad and most importantly, Brahmanda Purana which
discusses how Lalitha Devi resides in Kamakoti Peetha in Kanchi.[2]
ARCHITECTURE
The temple occupies an area of 5 acres (2.0 ha). The sanctum houses the image of Kamakshi in
seated posture and is flanked by the trinity of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. There are smaller
shrines of Bangaru Kamakshi, Adi Shankara and Maha Saraswathi around the sanctum. The
picture provides a glimpse view of Temple Pond and Gaja Shed. Everyday the temple rituals
start with Go Pooja and Gaja Pooja. There is a separate shed with Elephants, which performs
pooja to the deity by trumpeting every day early morning 5.AM. In front of the Grabagraha there
is a Gayatri Mandapam to the right of the shire we can see the deities arupa lakshmi, swaropa
lakshmi. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable
Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.[3] The Devi in Adi Kamakshi
temple which is close by the present Kamakshi temple, is called by various names like Kirtimati,
Devagarbha in extant Tantric works like Tantrachudamani. She has four hands containing in
each of them respectively, Ankusa, Pasa, Abhaya and a Kapala. This description corresponds to
those extant old tantric works.
Four worship services are offered each day. The annual festival falls in Spring, in the Tamil
month of Masi, which runs from mid-February to mid-March. During this time the chariot
festival (Ther) and float festival, (Theppam) are held. Other festivals include Navaratri, Aadi and
Aippasi Pooram, Sankara Jayanthi and Vasanta Utsavam in the Tamil month of Vaikasi. All
Fridays are considered sacred, though the Fridays in the Tamil months of Adi (mid-July to mid-
August) and Thai (mid-January to mid-February) are celebrated.
Lalita Maha Tripura Sundari
Shri Lalita Parabhattarika presides over the Kamakoshtha in five forms:
34
1. Shri Kamakshi Para Bhattarika – Sri Kamakshi is the mula devata of the Kamakoti
Peetha seated in the centre of the inner sanctorum of the shrine in Kanchipuram known
as the Gayatri mantapam. According to kamakshi rahasya, this mandapa was built by the
celestials with the four walls representing the four Vedas and the twenty-four pillars
representing the twenty-four syllables of the sacred formula of gayatri. Shrividya
Parameshvari, who forms the inner core of the prakata gayatri and thus called rahasya
gayatrI, is enshrined at the centre of the gayatri mandapam as Shri Kamakshi. She is
seated on pancha brahmasana and sports in her four hands pasha, ankusha, iskhu
kodanda and pushpa bana. Paramba is seated in yonyasana and faces southeast. When
tormented by asuras led by Bhandasura, devas are said to have performed a penance to
appease the Supreme Shakti in the form of parrots, residing on champaka vrkshas at
Kanchi. Pleased with their penance, Paramba is said to have appeared from her residence
in Mahameru or Bilakasha through the bila dvara and destroyed the demons. The shri
vigraha of Paramba has been described as representing her three forms: sthula (Dhyana
yogya, Savayava), Sukshma (mantra and yantratmaka) and Karana or Vasanatmaka. It is
also said that Lord Mahadeva himself worshipped paramba in the four yugas assuming
the forms of sages krodha bhattaraka, parashurama, dhaumya and Adi shankara
bhagavatpada (and muka shankara, believed to be an incarnation of krodha bhattaraka).
The bila dvara leading to bilakasha can be seen today in front of the tapomagna
kamakshI sannidhi inside the garbhagrha. It is also said that bhagavan rudra assumed the
form of durvasas on her emergence from the bilakasha and first worshipped her through
the modalities of shrividya tantra by consecrating a shrichakra here. He is thus the
sampradaya guru of shrividya and the credit for crystallizing paramba at Kanchipuram as
Gurumurtisvarupini (Charyanandanatha-para bhattarika mithunatmika) goes to this great
seer. The forms of vashinyadi Vagdevatas can be seen around the Shrichakra in their
same positions as in Shripura. A shrine dedicated to hayagrIva and agastya can be seen
in the third prakara of the temple, at the location where the teaching of Lalita Trishati
was imparted.[4]
2. Tapah Kamakshi – This form of paramba can be seen to the right of the mula devata
and close to the bila dvara. Separated from mahadeva, uma appeared first as annapurna
in Kashi and then following the advice of sage Katyayana, appeared in Kanchi to
worship Ekamranatha under the mango tree in rudrakoshtha and married him.
3. Anjana Kamakshi – Also known as Arupa , her shrine is situated to the left of the mula
devata, facing the north and in front of saubhagya ganapati. Rama is said to have
performed a penance to regain her lost beauty in this place and due to the grace of
paramba, kumkuma offerings of mula devata is offered to her here before being accepted
by the devotees. While she represents Rama in her form as rama-bija, she represents
Kamakshi in the form of Kamakalakshara that is inherent in the rama bIja.
4. Svarna Kamakshi – The shrine of this deity, also known as Bangaru Kamakshi is
situated in the second prakara. It is said that this form was created by Shrividya
parameshvari from her third eye to serve as the shakti of ekamranatha named ekambika.
The original idol that appeared from the third-eye of paramba is seen today in Tanjore,
which was transported to Tanjore to protect the idol from Muslim attacks by
Kamakshidasa, an ancestor of Shri Shyama Shastrigal.
5. Utsava Kamakshi – The shrine of Utasava Kamakshi, the idol which is brought out
during processions, is located in the second prakara. The idol is accompanied on either
35
side by idols of Sharada and Rama. While the devatas generally are accompanied by
their male/female consorts in most cases, on account of Kamakshi being Shiva-
shaktyatmika, there is no shrine devoted to Shiva here. Sri Lalitambika, who appeared
from Chidagni for the destruction of Bhandasura, was presented to the world by Brahma
with the special name – Sri Kamakshi. Thus, ‘Kamakshi’ is the special epithet of the
primordial Parashakti Sri Lalita. As she brings joy to the mind of Sri Kameshwara, she is
referred to as ‘Sri Lalita’.
Durvasa Maharishi
Kamakshi Amman Temple with the golden overlays over its gopurams.
The shrine situated in front of Sri Kamakshi’s Garbha Grham is of Sage Durvasas, also known as
Krodha Bhattaraka. There are thirty-two chief upasakas of Devi like manu, chandra, kubera etc.
Among these, Kamaraja, Lopamudra and Durvasa are the chief upasakas. Durvasa pranita vidya
is called Sadi vidya. Durvasa represents the power of sattvika krodha of Amba, used to protect
and correct her devotees, and thus her limitless kriya shakti. It is Sri Durvasa who established the
Kamakoti Peetha by consecrating a Bhu-Prastara Srichakra in front of Amba. He composed
Lalita Stavaratna, also called Arya dwisahti, describing the Srinagara. He also composed
Traipura Mahimna Stotra, a complete mantra shastra in itself and also the Para Shambhu
Mahimna Stotra. Due to a curse by Saraswati, he was born as a deaf and dumb brahmana and
was graced by Sri Kamakshi with Anugraha Diksha.
Another popular myth is about Adi Shankara pacifying the Raudra Swarupa of Kamakshi. Sri
Kamakshi is Purna Brahma Swarupini and she did not attain Raudra. The shrine in the temple
premises, referred to as Adi Kamakshi, is actually Kalikamba. It is possible that this deity was
pacified by Adi Acharya
Daksha Yaga and Shakti Peethas
36
Shiva carrying the corpse of Sati (goddess)/ The mythology of Daksha yaga and Sati's self-immolation
is the main theme in the origin of Shakti Peethas.
Shakti Peethas are divine temples of Adiparashakti. The cause of the presence of Devi's presence
is due to the falling of body parts of the corpse of Sati Devi. The naval part of Sati Devi's body is
believed to have fallen here. There are 51 Shakti Peeth linking to the 51 alphabets in Sanskrit.
There are also arguments that the old Kanchi temple is the Shakti peetha,
where Sankaracharya has installed the Shri Chakra.
In the shrine of Kamakshi Amman close to the sanctum, the Tirukalavanur Divya Desam, the
temples dedicated to Vishnu in his form of Varaha glorified by the 7th-10th
century alwars (Tamil saint poets) is present. The temple faced west went to ruins and the deity
is now placed inside the Kamakshi Amman temple. There are shrines over the vimana.
II. A temple of Tripura Sundari temple is in Chhatrabhog (Saturbhog). It is situated in
south 24 Pgs under Diamond Harbour Subdivision West Bengal. The nearest railway station
is Mathurapur Road in Sealdah South section. From the source of Rajratnakar descendants of
Drajhu king, Kalinda made a wooden Tripura Sundari icon at this place. Many temples of
Goddess Raj Rajeshwari are also found in Uttarakhand, where she is considered as the Kul-devi.
III.A temple of Tripura Sundari is located at tripuradevi village in Berinag and Ancient 850 years
old Tripura Sundri amma (Thibbadevi) temple in Muguru is located in the Tirumakudal
Narsipur taluk of Mysore district in Karnataka. A temple of Sri Jwalamukhi Tripura Sundari is
located at S.Uttanahalli, Near Vidyaranyapura-Nanjangud Road, Mysore district in Karnataka.
IV. Goddess RajaRajeshwari Temple is in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Mysuru Road,
Bengaluru, Karnataka, which is a prime location in Bengaluru. Many people throng to this place
because of presence of the Goddess.
V. Tripura sundari in her form Raja Rajeshwari is worshiped in Kandamangalam Sree
Rajarajeshwari temple located in the village Kadakkarapalli, Cherthala taluk, Alappuzha district,
Kerala. The temple is named as Kanadamangalam by Sree Narayana Guru (social reformer and
37
spiritual leader) which comprises two words "Kandal" which means if you see and "mangalam"
which means good fortune.
VI.Bala Tripura Sundari Temple is also in Dolpa district of Nepal.
GEOMETRY
This geometrical representation of the divine mother works as the deity herself. Now how does
the yantra work? It has to be energised, by whom and what?? By a human it’s us. By what by the
prana that flows from the human. This is the secret. After the Devi is manifested in the human
body it is made to flow into the yantra. The technique can’t be explained. So human is the
fountain which activates the elixir called the Sri yantra. It is ideally suited for use around the
home, in conjunction with Reiki Treatments. The Sri Yantra, otherwise called Shri Yantra or
Shri Chakra, is a mystical geometric symbol framed by nine interlocking triangles that transmit
from the center point, known as a Bindu. Sri Yantra consists of 11 designs that when used
together, creates an incredible amount of energy around it that attracts health, wealth, abundance
and prosperity. Stress, anxiety, depression and financial pressure have been eradicated from my
life thanks to this tool. For those of you who are currently being challenged by life, the power of
Sri Yantra awaits you...
Sri yantra, it is place or asana of a particular diety invited to sit at certain place by inviting them
with beeja aksharas. It is geometrically designed in shape of pyramid. It also represents the
kundalini Shakthi that is present in human. N lot more to say. But coming to your question , it is
great n ultimate journey of spirituality , one cannot call it spirituality but worshiping the Devi in
vedic rituals . Sri yantra is useful in many ways one impt is it activates your kundalini Shakthi in
your body n once activated the energy flow of energy is enormous. It gives you the blessing of
Devi, your purpose of life will be designed by the mother. It gives you respect. It gives you atma
gyana, which is ultimate knowledge . It also gives you the power n authority to dictate the
planets( astrological) as in the case of bhaskaraya life had happened. No, one is dare to make
debate with you, as universal mother will be with you n many many more useful things.
But my dear frnd , I do not know why you asked this question , if you want to study this Vidya or
do puja of Sri yantra , beware of it. Bcoz in India you will hardly find 4 to 5 peoples who are
expert in Sri yantra or Sri Vidya upsana n these peoples you will not be able to see these peoples
in public life. They avoid public life. One such person is Sringeri jagadhguru Sri Sri Bharati
thirta mahaswami of Sri Sharada peetam , Sringeri in Karnataka.
Finally, if mother wants you to learn this Vidya , no one can stop you in learning this Vidya. It's
ultimate form of worship. Above this worship you can't find any.
38
Lord Kala Bhairavar @Arulmigu-
Brahmapureeswarar-
Temple,.Tirupattur,Trichy.
Lord Kala Bhairava is that manifestation of Lord
Shiva who controls the growth and management
of time. Whoever wants to spend or manage
their time in a proper manner should pray him.
Propitiating Lord Kala Bhairava will ensure
protection. Lord Kala Bhairava is the protecting
Deity in all Shiva temples; the Temple key is
traditionally placed before Bhairava
Shrine.Worship of Lord Kala Bhairava ensures
removal of all black-magic effects. Lord Kala
Bhairava Shrine is situated in the inner
praharam, as one turns right before entering Sri
Brahmapureeswarar-Shrine.
Lord Kala Bhairava is worshipped by offering

Sevvarali garland and special archanas for six
theipirai ashtami, for removal of marital
obstacles.
Moongil Annai Kamakshi Amman Temple @ Devathanapatti, Theni, Tamil Nadu.
The uniqueness is that it has no Temple Towers, Doors or murtis. Yes, there are no murtis in the
39
sacred sanctums here. The main deity here is Kamakshi Amman. The murti is replaced with a
door. Yes, door is worshiped here and it is revered as goddess Kamakshi. The other difference is
that whole coconut and unpeeled bananas are offered. The coconuts are broken after the Aarathi.
In most of the temples, coconuts are broken in to two first, followed by abhishekam and only
after that aarathi is taken. A lot of rituals are different. The lamps of this temple are lit only with
clarified butter (ghee). A lamp that was lit some 500 years ago is still burning to this date in this
temple. Devotees offer mainly ghee to the temple. There is a storage room with no doors and
pots of ghee are accumulated. Some of the pots in this storage are as old has 500 years. The pots
do not have coverlids; they are open and their aroma wafts around the temple complex. The ghee
is still fresh, and has not gone off. They do not attract any insects either. Devotees believe this is
because of Goddess Kamakshi’s blessings!
There is an interesting story behind this temple. ‘Amman Macchu’ is the moola-stanam of the
temple. Amman Macchu is located farther away from this temple. When traveled from
Devadanapaatti towards the Kodaikanal foothills one can find a Manjalaru Dam. Once crossed
the dam, starts the beginning of a mud trail. While hiking further, we get two creeks namely
olaiaru and majlaru, respectively. The trail leads to “Amman Macchu’’. This is the place where
the goddess Kamakshi did penance to subdue her anger after killing ‘Asura’ a demon who
tormented people of all lokas. Goddess came here and did penance in a bamboo bush. For the
love of her devotees, goddess Kamakshi came here as a newborn baby, she was placed in a huge
chest that was afloat in Manjalaru. She already communicated her arrival to her devotees in their
dreams. As per her instruction devotees waited for her arrival.
As the chest was floating, the bamboo trees of Manjalaru stopped it. The people understood that
the baby inside it is the Kamakshi. Hence the goddess here is known as ‘Mungil Anai
Kamakshi.’ Which loosely translates to ‘Bamboo fence Kamakshi’. During every temple festival,
the procession being from ‘Amman Macchu’ the temple festival is celebrated in Maasi (Feb-
March) month’s Amavasai (no-moon day) that coincides with Shiva Rathri. It was goddess's
order that the temple should be built away from Amman Macchu. Devotees throng this temple
for both to fulfill their wishes and to thank the goddess for the offerings received.
Just a few yards away, on a hill sits the Karupanna Swamy temple. He is the official caretaker of
Mungil Anai Kamakshi Temple. He also considered as the brother of Goddess Kamakshi. Before
visiting the Goddess temple, it is a rule to visit Karpanna Swamy Temple. It is believed that
Karpanna swamy temple was closer to the Kamakshi temple. However, later he moved away
from the temple. Karpanna Swamy is a stanch non-vegetarian while his sister Kamakshi is a pure
vegetarian. Due to the differences, he moved away to the near by hill. However, he did not
abjure is duty from guarding his sister’s temple and the village. Around the temple complex’s
there are many small sanctums for many gods and goddesses, like said before there are no idols
and doors in these smalls sanctums just the name plate.
There is a reason as why the murtis are not kept inside the sacred sanctums. The worshipping of
door in this temple came in to practice after a tiff between the priest and the king. To express
priest’s dissatisfaction, he locked the sacred sanctum and went home and never returned. The
locked sanctum was never opened again, and all the prayers were offered to the door instead. She
is in ‘chest’ form. The temple tower is replaced with a dome made out of hays called Nana Pull.
When the temple sanctum was closed down, the goddess again appeared in her devotees’ dreams
40
to watch out for her, she gave all the instructions as well. Like before, she again arrived in a
chest form. This time the chest was stopped by the ‘Naananpull’ a type of grass. People weaved
a hut using these hays. This replaced the usual sacred tower. Raja Kumbalathar are the ones who
manage and maintain this temple. An elderly male (above 60) from Raja Kumbalathar
Nayakanmar family changes the hay roof by weaving a new one. There are certain rituals that
need to be followed before weaving a new roof. They have to fast for 48 days, should collect all
the materials required from Murugamalai, a dense forest. When all the materials are gathered the
elder person should climb upstairs blind folded from the backside of the sacred sanctum to the
terrace and weaves it without looking in to it. Until they are done they are not supposed to leave
and women are prohibited from entering the temple, till the weaving work is finished. Once it is
completed, abishkam is done to the door.
Sairaksha Pooja is done every evening. The prayers are carried out with blowing of conch, and
beating of sekandi (kind of percussion instrument). After this pooja pin-drop silence is
maintained at the temple. It is believed that Goddess kamakshi is still alive and meditates every
evening. This is a temple that says murtis are not the only way to come closer to god, one can
still connect to the God/creator without having to worship idol. God is everywhere and it us who
needs to realize this absolute truth!
41
Chapter II
The Architectural Element of Sri Chakra Yantra
“Sri Yantra, in its formal content, is a visual masterpiece of abstraction, and must have been
created through revelation rather than by human ingenuity and craft”.
A religious symbol is an iconic representation intended to represent a

specific religion, or a specific concept within a given religion.
Religious symbols have been used in the military in many different countries, such as
the United States military chaplain symbols. Similarly, the United States Department
of Veterans Affairs emblems for headstones and markers recognize 57 symbols
(including a number of symbols expressing non-religiosity).
The belief that a god created the universe according to a geometric plan has ancient
origins. Plutarch attributed the belief to Plato, writing that "Plato said god geometrizes
continually" (Convivialium disputationum, liber 8,2). In modern times, the
mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss adapted this quote, saying "God arithmetizes".
Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) believed in the geometric underpinnings of the cosmos

Harvard mathematician Shing-Tung Yau expressed a belief in the centrality of
geometry in 2010: "Lest one conclude that geometry is little more than a well-
calibrated ruler – and this is no knock against the ruler, which happens to be a
technology I admire – geometry is one of the main avenues available to us for probing
the universe. Physics and cosmology have been, almost by definition, absolutely
crucial for making sense of the universe. Geometry's role in this may be less obvious,
but is equally vital. I would go so far as to say that geometry not only deserves a place
at the table alongside physics and cosmology, but in many ways it is the table.
The study of sacred geometry has its roots in the study of nature, and
the mathematical principles at work therein. Many forms observed in nature can be
related to geometry; for example, the chambered nautilus grows at a constant rate and
so its shell forms a logarithmic spiral to accommodate that growth without changing
shape. Also, honeybees construct hexagonal cells to hold their honey. These and other
correspondences are sometimes interpreted in terms of sacred geometry and
considered to be further proof of the natural significance of geometric forms.
The uniqueness of God’s creation is reflected in different fields of life by the great masters
throughout the ages that have born with the formation of the universe, from the big bang, till
42
times still to come. Special ratio that can be used to describe the proportions of everything from
nature’s smallest building blocks, such as atoms, to the most advanced patterns in the universe,
such as unimaginably large celestial bodies.
Divine Proportions
One of the key evidences presented for creation is the recurring appearance of the Divine
proportion, or golden section, throughout the design of the human body and other life forms. In
an article PROPORTIONS IN ARCHITECTURE, Ar. Minakshi Rajput Singh International
Journal of Research –GRANTHAALAYAH, Vol.6 (Iss.3): March, 2018 has made an attempt to
relate Sri yantra and golden ratio and the various forms that seem to exemplify in the plan and
elevation of the Indian temple. The yantra which is a complex geometry has been perfected to be
used for the development of temple forms of different eras. She finds that there is a relation
between Golden Ratio and Sri yantra and using Sri yantra as a device to evolve the plan and
elevation has been studied and found to be true in the temple taken for study purpose. The
construction of Hindu temples has always been a subject of study through various ancient
yantras, mandalas, that needs to be rediscovered and documented. A new perspective into the
relation between the Sri yantra, its significance and role in design of Indian temple would create
a wide scope of research by taking examples of temples of different era.
Mathematics and architecture
Vastu, crafts and architecture are traditionally attributed to the divine Vishwakarma
in the Hindu pantheon.[19] Theories tracing links of the principles of composition
in vastu shastra and the Indus Valley Civilization have been made, but scholar Kapila
Vatsyayan considers this as speculation as the Indus Valley script remains
undeciphered. According to Chakrabarti, Vastu Vidya is as old the Vedic period and
linked to the ritual architecture.[21] According to Michael W. Meister,
the Atharvaveda contains verses with mystic cosmogony which provide a paradigm for
cosmic planning, but they did not represent architecture nor a developed practice.[
Vastu sastras are stated by some to have roots in pre-1st-century CE literature, but
these views suffer from being a matter of interpretation. For example, the
mathematical rules and steps for constructing Vedic yajna square for the sacrificial
fire are in the Sulba-sutras dated to 4th-century BCE. However, these are ritual
artifacts and they are not buildings or temples or broader objects of a lasting
architecture. Varahamihira's Brihat Samhita dated to about the sixth century CE is
among the earliest known Indian texts with dedicated chapters with principles of
architecture. For example, Chapter 53 of the Brihat Samhita is titled "On architecture",
and there and elsewhere it discusses elements of vastu sastra such as "planning cities
and buildings" and "house structures, orientation, storeys, building balconies" along
with other topics.[22] According to Michael Meister, a scholar of Indian architecture, we
must acknowledge that Varahamihira does mention his own sources on vastu as older
texts and sages. However, these may be mythology and reflect the Indian tradition to
credit mythical sages and deities.
Ancient India
43
What is Meru Chakra?
The Meru chakra is a three-
dimensional Shree yantra. It
can be effectively used for
correcting defects of the north
(direction of health, fortune and
money) and northeast
(energetically most important
and most valuable area of the
house).
Plan of Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai, from 7th century onwards. The four gateways
(numbered I-IV) are tall gopurams./Gopuram of the Hindu Virupaksha Temple has a fractal-like
structure where the parts resemble the whole.
Vaastu Shastra, the ancient Indian canons of architecture and town planning,
employs symmetrical drawings called mandalas. Complex calculations are used to
arrive at the dimensions of a building and its components. The designs are intended to
integrate architecture with nature, the relative functions of various parts of the
structure, and ancient beliefs utilizing geometric patterns (yantra), symmetry
and directional alignments. However, early builders may have come upon
mathematical proportions by accident. The mathematician Georges Ifrah notes that
simple "tricks" with string and stakes can be used to lay out geometric shapes, such
as ellipses and right angles.
The mathematics of fractals has been used to show that the reason why existing
buildings have universal appeal and are visually satisfying is because they provide the
viewer with a sense of scale at different viewing distances. For example, in the
tall gopuram gatehouses of Hindu temples such as the Virupaksha
Temple at Hampi built in the seventh century, and others such as the Kandariya
Mahadev Temple at Khajuraho, the parts and the whole have the same character,
with fractal dimension in the range 1.7 to 1.8. The cluster of smaller towers (shikhara,
lit. 'mountain') about the tallest, central, tower which represents the holy Mount
Kailash, abode of Lord Shiva, depicts the endless repetition of universes in Hindu
cosmology. The religious studies scholar William J. Jackson observed of the pattern of
towers grouped among smaller towers, themselves grouped among still smaller towers,
that:
The ideal form gracefully artificed suggests the infinite rising levels of existence and
consciousness, expanding sizes rising toward transcendence above, and at the same
time housing the sacred deep within.
The Meenakshi Amman Temple is a large complex with multiple shrines, with the
streets of Madurai laid out concentrically around it according to the shastras. The four
gateways are tall towers (gopurams) with fractal-like repetitive structure as at Hampi.
The enclosures around each shrine are rectangular and surrounded by high stone
walls.
44
This "science of architecture" comprises of and is derived from texts on the traditional
Indian system of architecture. These texts describe principles of design, layout,
measurements, ground preparation, space arrangement, and spatial geometry. The
designs aim to integrate architecture with nature, the relative functions of various
parts of the structure, and ancient beliefs utilising geometric patterns (yantra),
symmetry, and directional alignments.
Vastu Shastra are the textual part of Vastu Vidya - the broader knowledge about
architecture and design theories from ancient India. Vastu Vidya is a collection of
ideas and concepts, with or without the support of layout diagrams, that are not rigid.
Rather, these ideas and concepts are models for the organisation of space and form
within a building or collection of buildings, based on their functions in relation to each
other, their usage and the overall fabric of the Vastu. [8] Ancient Vastu Shastra
principles include those for the design of Mandir (Hindu temples),[9] and the principles
for the design and layout of houses, towns, cities, gardens, roads, water works, shops
and other public areas.
In contemporary India, states consultants that include "quacks, priests and
astrologers" fueled by greed are marketing pseudoscience and superstition in the
name of Vastu-sastras. They have little knowledge of what the historic Vastu-sastra
texts actually teach, and they frame it in terms of a "religious tradition", rather than
ground it in any "architectural theory" therein.[
Geometric ratios, and geometric figures were often employed in the designs of
ancient Egyptian, ancient Indian, Greek and Roman architecture. Medieval European
cathedrals also incorporated symbolic geometry. Indian and Himalayan spiritual
communities often constructed temples and fortifications on design plans
of mandala and yantra.
Many of the sacred geometry principles of the human body and of ancient architecture
were compiled into the Vitruvian Man drawing by Leonardo da Vinci. The latter
drawing was itself based on the much older writings of the Roman architect Vitruvius.
Sacred geometry ascribes symbolic and sacred meanings to certain geometric shapes
and certain geometric proportions.[1] It is associated with the belief that a god is the
geometer of the world. The geometry used in the design and construction of religious
structures such as churches, temples, mosques, religious monuments, altars,
and tabernacles has sometimes been considered sacred. The concept applies also to
sacred spaces such as temenoi, sacred groves, village greens, pagodas and holy wells,
and the creation of religious art.
In Hinduism
45
The Ag
amas are a collection of Sanskrit, Tamil, and Grantha[7] scriptures chiefly constituting
the methods of temple construction and creation of idols, worship means of deities,
philosophical doctrines, meditative practices, attainment of sixfold desires, and four
kinds of yoga.
Elaborate rules are laid out in the Agamas for Shilpa (the art of sculpture) describing
the quality requirements of such matters as the places where temples are to be built,
the kinds of image to be installed, the materials from which they are to be made, their
dimensions, proportions, air circulation, and lighting in the temple complex.
The Manasara and Silpasara are works that deal with these rules. The rituals of daily
worship at the temple also follow rules laid out in the Agamas.
Hindu temples, the symbolic representation of cosmic model is then projected onto
Hindu temples using the Vastu Shastra principle of Sukha Darshan, which states that
smaller parts of the temple should be self-similar and a replica of the whole. The
repetition of these replication parts symbolizes the natural phenomena of fractal
patterns found in nature. These patterns make up the exterior of Hindu temples. Each
element and detail are proportional to each other, this occurrence is also known as the
sacred geometry.
The Shri Yantra, Sri Yantra, or Shri Chakra is a form of mystical diagram (yantra)
used in the Shri Vidya school of Hinduism. It consists of nine interlocking triangles
that surround a central point known as a bindu. These triangles represent the cosmos
and the human body. Because of its nine triangles, Shri Yantra is also known as
the Navayoni Chakra. When the two-dimensional Shri Yantra is represented in three
dimensions, it is called a Mahameru. Mount Meru derives its name from this shape. In
addition to Mount Meru, all other yantras derive from the Shri Yantra.
In the 2009 issue of Brahmavidya (the journal of the Adyar Library), Subhash
Kak argues that the description of Shri Yantra is identical to the yantra described in
the shrisukta in veda.
The Shri Yantra's 9 constituent triangles vary in size and shape and intersect to form
43 smaller triangles, organized in 5 concentric levels. Together they represent the
totality of the cosmos and express Advaita or non-duality. In the middle, the power
point (bindu) represents the cosmic center. The triangles are circumscribed by two
concentric circles composed of 8 and 16 petals, representing the lotus of creation and
reproductive vital force. The entire configuration is framed by the broken lines of an
46
earth square, representing a temple with four doors open onto the regions of the
universe.
The Lalita Sahasranama in diagrammatic form, showing how its nine interlocking triangles form a total of
43 smaller triangles./Shri Yantra engraved in metal/The Shri Yantra shown in the three-dimensional
projection called Mahāmeru
There exist many Vāstu-Śastras on the art of building houses, temples, towns and
cities. By 6th century AD, Sanskrit texts for constructing palatial temples were in
circulation in India. Vāstu-Śastras include chapters on home construction, town
planning, and how efficient villages, towns and kingdoms integrated temples, water
bodies and gardens within them to achieve harmony with nature. While it is unclear,
states Barnett, as to whether these temple and town planning texts were theoretical
studies and if or when they were properly implemented in practice, these texts suggest
that town planning and Hindu temples were conceived as ideals of art and integral
part of Hindu social and spiritual life.
Six of the most studied, complete and referred to Indian texts on Vastu Vidya that
have survived into the modern age, states Tillotson, are – the Mayamata,
the Manasara, the Samarangana Sutradhara, the Rajavallabha,
the Vishvakarmaprakasha and the Aparajitaprccha. Numerous other important texts
contain sections or chapters on aspects of architecture and design.
The Silpa Prakasa of Odisha, authored by Ramachandra Bhattaraka Kaulachara
sometime in ninth or tenth century CE, is another Vāstu Śastra. [29] Silpa Prakasa
describes the geometric principles in every aspect of the temple and symbolism such
as 16 emotions of human beings carved as 16 types of female figures. These styles
were perfected in Hindu temples prevalent in the eastern states of India. Other ancient
texts found expand these architectural principles, suggesting that different parts of
India developed, invented and added their own interpretations. For example,
in Saurastra tradition of temple building found in western states of India, the feminine
form, expressions and emotions are depicted in 32 types of Nataka-stri compared to 16
types described in Silpa Prakasa.[29] Silpa Prakasa provides brief introduction to 12
types of Hindu temples. Other texts, such as Pancaratra Prasada
[30]
Prasadhana compiled by Daniel Smith and Silpa Ratnakara compiled by Narmada
Sankara[31] provide a more extensive list of Hindu temple types.
Sanskrit texts for temple construction discovered in Rajasthan, in northwestern region
of India, include Sutradhara Mandana's Prasadamandana (literally, planning and
building a temple) with chapters on town building. Manasara shilpa and Mayamata,
texts of South Indian origin, estimated to be in circulation by 5th to 7th century AD, is
47
a guidebook on South Indian Vastu design and construction. Isanasivagurudeva
paddhati is another Sanskrit text from the 9th century describing the art of building
in India in south and central India. In north India, Brihat-samhita by Varāhamihira is
the widely cited ancient Sanskrit text from 6th century describing the design and
construction of Nagara style of Hindu temples.
These Vāstu Śastras, often discuss and describe the principles of Hindu temple
design, but do not limit themselves to the design of a Hindu temple. [37] They describe
the temple as a holistic part of its community, and lay out various principles and a
diversity of alternate designs for home, village and city layout along with the temple,
gardens, water bodies and nature.
SYMBOLISM
The worship of the Shri Yantra is central to the Shri Vidya system of Hindu worship. It
represents the Goddess in the form of Devi Tripura Sundari, the natural beauty of the
three worlds: Bhu Loka (Physical Plane, Consciousness of the Physical Plane), Bhuvar
Loka (Antariksha or Intermediate Space, Sub-Consciousness of the Prana) and Swar
Loka (Svarga or Heaven or Super-Consciousness of the Divine Mind). The Shri Yantra
is the symbol of Hinduism, which is based on the Hindu philosophy of the vedas. The
Shri Yantra is the object of devotion in Shri Vidya.
The Shri Yantra represents the evolution of the multiverse as a result of the
natural Divine Will of the Godhead Aadi Paraa Shakti. The four upward-
pointing isosceles triangles represent the Goddess's masculine embodiment Brahm,
while the five downward-pointing triangles symbolize the female embodiment Jagat
jannani.[5] The 12 and 15 sides of the four upward and five downward triangles also
correspondingly symbolise, on the physical plane, the 12 sidereal zodiac signs of the
Sun and 15 'nityas' phase-signs of the Moon.
The Shri Yantra is also known as the nav chakra because it can be seen to consist of
nine concentric layers that radiate outward from the bindu. ("Nau" or "nava" means
"nine" in Sanskrit.) Each level corresponds to a mudra, a yogini and a specific form of
the deity Tripura Sundari along with her mantra. The various deities residing in the
nine levels of the Shri Yantra are described in the Devi Khadgamala Mantra. These
levels, listed from outermost to innermost, are:
1. Trailokya Mohana, the outermost square, traced in three lines and interrupted
by four recessed portals;
2. Sarvasaa Paripuraka, the outer lotus, consisting of 16 petals;
3. Sarva Samkshobahana, the inner lotus, consisting of 8 petals;
4. Sarva Saubhagyadayaka, the outermost ring of small triangles (14 in total);
5. Sarvarthasadhaka, the next ring of triangles (10 in total);
6. Sarva Rakshakara, a smaller ring of 10 triangles;
7. Sarva Rogahara, a ring of 8 small triangles;
8. Sarva Siddhiprada, one small triangle containing the bindu at its center;
9. Sarva Anandamaya, the bindu.
The Sri Yantra, the symbol of California Institute of Integral Studies, comes from
India. A yantra, in the Indian tradition, is a literally a "device" for spiritual
advancement. The Sri Yantra is, in fact, the central object of worship in at least one
48
important Indian cult, but beyond its specific context, the Sri Yantra embodies
profound philosophical understandings, which make it a powerful source of
inspiration. Each design element of the Sri Yantra has special philosophical
significance. The dot in the very center is representative of the Source of the universe;
this dot, or bindu, is the "singularity" from which all manifest reality emerges. From
one point of view, the design is representative of the evolution of the universe itself
from its mysterious beginnings, charting its many levels.
The Sri Yantra in its central portion contains nine triangles. Four of them point
upward and represent the unmanifest power of the universe; all that is beyond our
quotidian sense perceptions. They are thought of as being masculine and represent
the masculine aspect of divinity. The five downward-pointing triangles represent the
divine feminine and the manifest aspects of the world.Because the Sri Yantra forms a
unity, the divine masculine and divine feminine in erotic embrace, as it were (this is
exactly how the Indian tradition understands them!), we must realize that the
transcendent Reality, whether we call it God, Goddess, or Perfect Emptiness (as in
Mahayana Buddhism), is always intimately intertwined in everything that we see. God
or Goddess is not a sacred beyond, but the very fiber and life of our existence here.
Haridas Chaudhuri chose this symbol when he founded the Institute because it is a
visual representation of his Integral philosophy.
This world is not to be seen as separate from the transcendent Truth, but as an
expression of that Truth in phenomenal form. What is sacred then, is not merely what
is beyond our perception, but everything that is present here in this world, all our
actions, our emotions, our thoughts. The notion of the integration of body, mind and
spirit are symbolized and indicated by the Sri Yantra, making it a perfect visual
representation of the Institute's vision.It should be mentioned that from another point
of view the Sri Yantra is understood to be the Mother of the Universe Herself, the
incarnate Goddess Who both embodies and transcends time. In a world where the
male divinity, and all that is male has had primacy for a very long time, this design
can be seen as the very embodiment of a challenge to patriarchy and to the
masculinist world we live in.
Sri Yantra (pronounced Shri Yantra) is a sacred diagram of Tantric Hinduism. Its symbolismas explained
in Zimmer [18,20]. It consists of three concentric parts:
1. An inner figure of interpenetrating triangles. This figure, symmetric in its vertical centr al axis,
contains both upward-pointing triangles (vahni), symbolizing the male element (“Purusha”, the
49
Cosmic Person), and downward-pointing triangles (sakti # ), symbolizing the female aspect
(“Prakr. iti”, i.e. energy) of divinity. There are 4 male triangles, and 5 female ones. Their inter-
penetration symbolizes the complementarity of the opposite principles in creating the illusion of
duality through ignorance, whereas the general symmetry and balance of the whole 2gure
symbolizes the more profound reality of Unity of God through its various unfoldings.
H. Zimmer, Kunsform und Yoga im indischen Kultbild, Frankfurter Verlags-Anstalt, Berlin, 1926. H. Zimmer, (ed. by J. Campbel)
Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization, Bollingen Series,
2. Two concentric rings, holding a regular lotus (padma) design. The inner pattern bears 8 lotus
petals, the outer one 16. These patterns symbolize the sanctity of the inner diagram, used as
instrument (yantra) in yoga meditation.
3. A triple Greek-like key-pattern, the bhupura symbolizes the ground-plan of a temple with 4
square openings, in the 4 directions of space. This sanctuary is the seat of the chosen deity,
representing one’s Higher Self.
The Sri Yantra diagram is a sacred symbol of Tantric Hinduism, and it is traditionally used in yoga
meditation exercises.
Sr ! Yantra Geometry Gerard Huet INRIA-Rocquencourt, B.P. 105, 78153 Le Chesnay Cedex, France. Theoretical Computer
Science 281 (2002) 609 – 628
Solving the Sri Yantra
The Quest for the Optimal Configuration
If you have ever attempted to draw this figure you already know that it is a lot more
difficult to draw than you might have thought at first. The reason for this is mainly
because the triangles are interconnected. If you move one, you need to move all the
others so that they will intersect properly. With enough time or with the aid of
computers and mathematics it is possible to draw a figure where the intersections
match perfectly.
But it turns out that this is not enough to fully define the figure. This criteria in itself
is not enough to produce a unique figure. This is the reason why there are so many
different versions of the Sri Yantra in circulation.
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Surprisingly the methods that we have found in the Indian literature are far from
satisfactory. They often lead to very imprecise and crude figures. They only provide a
rough idea of what the figure should look like. Contemporary methods can lead to
more precise figures but they are all slightly or greatly different.
This begs the question: what is the proper configuration of the Sri Yantra? The goal of
this article is to investigate the geometry of the Sri Yantra and see if we can find out
more about this fascinating sacred figure. Join us on the quest for the optimal Sri
Yantra.
Questions that will be answered in this article:
 What is the Sri Yantra?

 Why is it so difficult to draw?
 Why are there so many different versions?
 What are the characteristics that define an optimal figure?
 What is a Meru (pyramidal) Sri Yantra?
 What is a Kurma (spherical) Sri Yantra?
 How can I get an optimal Sri Yantra figure?
Nine Triangles in a Circle
Five
Four
triang Compl
triangl Centr
les ete Sri
es al
pointi Yantr
pointi figure
ng a
ng up.
down
Figure 1
The Sri Yantra is composed of a central figure that is surrounded by two circular rows
of petals and then by a rectangular enclosure called the bhupura. In this study we will
be focusing mainly on the central figure which is composed of nine overlapping
triangles and a bindu point. Four of the triangles point up, the other five point down.
In the most popular configuration the two biggest triangles (green triangles in figure 1)
touch the outer circle on all three points. In some other versions there are either one
or two more triangles that touch the outer circle (See figure 5).
51
Interconnections
Figure 2
Triple intersections. Figure 3 False Sri Yantra
As with everything else there is a tendency When looking at the figure we notice that
there is a high degree of interconnectedness between the nine triangles. This the main
reason why it is so difficult to draw. This means that every triangle is connected to one
or more of the other triangles via common points. Changing the location of one of the
triangle usually requires changing the size and position of many other triangles.
Figure 2 shows where the triple intersection points are located. These are the points
that lock together the triangles. You can't move one without also moving the others.
Notice also that the two biggest triangles are touching the outside circle on three
points and that the apex of every triangle is connected to the base of another triangle.
to simplify and/or distort things , so that over time knowledge gets eroded. In the case
of the Sri Yantra this has led to what some call the "false Sri Yantra". It's a version
that is so far from the original figure that it is missing some of the most basic
characteristic of a Sri Yantra. An example of such a false Sri Yantra is shown in figure
3. Here we see that the apex of most triangle is not connected with the base of another
triangle as indicated by the red arrows. This reduces greatly the difficulty of drawing
the figure and leads to something that looks like a Sri Yantra but isn't.
The First Key: Concurrency
52
Figure 4 Errors in the drawing will lead to extraneous secondary triangles.
The obvious challenge when drawing a Sri Yantra is to achieve near perfect
concurrency. Meaning that all the triple intersection meet at the same point rather
than crisscrossing.
Figure 4 shows a detail of a Sri Yantra with the error circled in red. The lines should
intersect at the same point but instead they crisscross each other and form an
extraneous triangle. Using the right sequence to draw the Sri Yantra will ensure that
there will be errors only in two of the triple intersections.
Very few Sri Yantras achieve perfect concurrency. Mathematically speaking it is not
possible. But practically speaking a satisfactory level of precision can be achieved. It is
difficult to achieve this when doing the drawing by hand but not impossible. Often the
lines are made thicker to hide the errors at the intersections. A good level of accuracy
can be achieved with a pencil and ruler and a lot of patience. A better accuracy can be
achieved with a drawing program such as AutoCAD or Visio. The greatest amount of
accuracy will be achieved by using a mathematical program such as Mathematica to
compute the figure.
The One and the Many
53
Figure 5
Three different
configurations of the Sri
Yantra.
It would seem at this point that all one needs to do is to make sure that the lines
match precisely at the triple intersections (concurrency) and our job is done. Not so!
Why are there so many different versions of the Sri Yantra out there? Figure 5 shows a
few examples of Sri Yantras. In these examples the differences are obvious. The
differences are usually more subtle and require closer examination. Like snow flakes
there seems to be an infinite number of different Sri Yantras. Why is that? How can
that be? Isn't there a precise and complete method that would tell us how this famous
sacred figure should be drawn? If there is one we haven't found it yet.
The reason is simple. The criteria of concurrency (precise intersections) is not enough
to fully define the Sri Yantra. Over time people have assumed that being able to
produce a figure where the lines meet precisely at the intersections will produce a
unique figure. This has lead to the current multiplicity of figures available.
Let us take the simple example of drawing a triangle. If the only criteria required is
that the figure must have three sides then you can draw a infinite number of different
triangles with three sides. If on the other hand you are asked to draw a triangle where
the sides are of equal length then there is only one way to draw such a triangle (not
taking size into account).
The Sri Yantra is a geometry with five degrees of freedom, which means that up to five
different criterion can be used to define it. This is why we have to decide on the
location of five lines when drawing the figure. Five degrees of freedom is not a lot
considering that there is a total of nine triangles. This is because of the high degree of
interconnectedness between the triangles. This effectively limits the possibilities and
variations that can be achieved.
The Second Key: Concentricity
54
Figure 6
Concentricity: the center of the innermost
triangle coincide with the center of the
outer circle.
Lets now take a look at the bindu point; the small point located in the central triangle.
It should be located in the center of the innermost triangle. This can be achieved
precisely by placing the bindu at the center of a circle that fits inside this triangle (see
figure 9). This is known in mathematics as the incenter of a triangle.
To achieve a perfectly centered figure however, the bindu should also be located at the
center of the outer circle. This is illustrated in figure 6. The red cross shows where the
center of the outer circle is located. The small red circle shows where the center of the
innermost triangle is. As we can see in this figure they coincide. This is not the case
for most Sri Yantras.
Figure 7 7
Sri Yantra that doesn't meet the
concentricity criteria.
55
Figure 7 shows an example of a Sri Yantra where the center of the innermost triangle
doesn't match perfectly with the center of the outer circle. The green dot (center of the
innermost triangle) is not aligned with the center of the red cross (center of the outer
circle).
The Third Key: Equilateral Inner Triangle
Figure 8
R. Buckminster Fuller stands in front of
his geodesic dome.
The equilateral triangle is a perfect and minimal structure. It is the simplest, strongest
and most fundamental structure in geometry and computer graphics. It has the
highest degree of tensegrity for a minimum amount of structural elements. That is
why it is so prevalent in the structural designs created by Buckminster Fuller. This is
also why the geodesic dome, a spherical structure composed of small triangles is the
only man-made structure that becomes proportionally stronger as it increases in size.
Figure 9
Equilateral triangle as the expression of Rishi, Devata, Chanda.
56
The Sri Yantra symbolizes, among other things the unfoldment of creation. The bindu
represents the unmanifest, the silent state. The next level in the expression of the
Universe is represented by the innermost triangle. This level represents the trinity of
rishi, devata, chanda, or the observer, the process of observation and the object being
observed. At this point the symmetry of creation is still intact and will be broken when
it reaches the next level which represent the grosser aspects of the relative.
This reflects the unfoldment from unity to trinity as expounded in the Vedic literature.
According to the Veda the Universe becomes manifest when unbounded awareness
becomes aware of itself. The spark of self awareness ignites creation. At this point
Unity divides into the trinity of rishi (the observer), devata (process of knowing) and
chanda (the object of perception). The same idea is also found in the bible as the
principle of the holy trinity.
The central triangle is the central lens of the Sri Yantra. If as some suggest, this
pattern is capable of emitting a significant amount of subtle energy, the importance of
having a well balanced and centered figure becomes obvious.
For these reasons we believe that the central triangle should be equilateral in an
optimal Sri Yantra configuration. For this to happen the highest down pointing
primary triangle must have an angle of 60 degrees (see figure 9 and 11).
Center of Mass
Figure 10
Left: Figure with Concurrency criteria only. Center: Figure with
Concurrency and concentricity. Right: Figure with Concurrency,
concentricity and equilateral central triangle.
Now lets see if we can find ways to confirm the idea that we are getting closer to a
perfectly balanced configuration. Another measure of overall balance of a structure is
the center of mass. This is the point in the geometry where it would balance if it was a
solid object.
Figure 10 shows a detail view of the central triangle of three different Sri Yantras. The
left figure shows a configuration where only concurrency is achieved. In this case the
57
bindu (red dot), the center of the outer circle (green dot) and the center of mass (blue
dot) are not aligned.
The central figure shows a Sri Yantra that achieves concurrency and concentricity. As
a result the bindu (red) and the center of the outer circle (green) overlap nicely. The
center of mass still doesn't overlap however.
On the right we see that for a figure drawn with the three criterion that we have
suggested (concurrency, concentricity and equilateral central triangle), the three
centers overlap and we have a perfectly centered and balanced figure.
The Sri Yantra from Sringeri Temple
Figure 11
Sri Yantra from Sringeri
temple.
The Sringeri temple in India claims to have the oldest Sri Yantra. This temple is one of
the four pillars founded by none other than Shankara during the first millennium.
Assuming that older Sri Yantras are closer to the original configuration lets see how
this Sri Yantra compares to our optimal version. Obviously it is not possible to be
certain that it is the oldest Sri Yantra on Earth but it is certainly older than most of
the versions available. The shape of the petals and the bhupura are good indicators
that it is a old Sri Yantra configuration.
Figure 11 shows an alleged picture of this Sri Yantra and a diagram that was drawn
from the picture. Taking into account the distortions caused by the camera and
printing we can see that the figure has many of the same characteristics as our
optimal figure. The bindu is well centered and more importantly the centermost
triangle has an angle very close to 60 degrees.
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The Three Flavors of the Sri Yantra
Plane form Pyramidal form (Meru) Spherical form (Kurma)
Since the Sri Yantra is based on triangles it is very appropriate that there are
currently three main ways to represent this figure. The first and probably the most
common is the plane form, which is what we have been looking at so far. More
pictures of the plane form can be seen here.
The second is the pyramidal form called Meru in India. Mount Meru is a mythical
mountain. So named because of the mountain shape of the figure. More pictures of
pyramidal Sri Yantras can be seen here.
The third and rarest form is the spherical form or Kurma. Kurma was the second
incarnation of Vishnu, the turtle incarnation. This refers to the similarity between this
form and the shell of a turtle. It is interesting to note that there seems to be some
confusion with the use of these two terms. The pyramidal form is often wrongly
referred to as Kurma. https://www.sriyantraresearch.com/Optimal/optimal_sri_yantra.htm
MANDIRS BUILT WITH SRICHAKRA DESIGN
Dhyani Mandir Temple - Nikora Gujarat India
59
Devi Puram Temple - Anakapalle, Andhra Pradesh, India/ Devi Puram Temple - Anakapalle,
Andhra Pradesh, India
Mahe Meru Temple - Adudhurai Thanjavur

Venkateswara Temple - Madnapalle Andhra Pradesh India
Yantra Mandir - Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh India
60
Perfect geometry-Chitra Ramaswamy
Huge faces of goddesses and finely sculpted figurines of yoginis greet visitors at the
entrance.
An interface of interlocking triangles, snake hoods and more… a look at the
sprawling Sri Yantra Maha Meru Temple, Amarkantak, by Chitra Ramaswamy
It is a vast palette of blue, green and brown – in that order. The clear and azure
blue sky appears punctuated by greens in enchanting hues as they spike
heavenwards from atop the mountain ranges they inhabit. A tier below the
emerald vegetation, it is all a monochrome in brown, a stupendous structure
rising out of a basin-like valley.
The Maha Meru Sri Yantra Temple is encircled by forest on two sides, the ancient
and sacred Batte Krishna Kund, a pond on its western side, and a water reservoir
to its north. The temple is constructed in the middle of the Maikal, Satpuda and
Vindhyachal range of mountains, 3500 ft. above sea level in Amarkantak, Madhya
Pradesh. Amarkantak enjoys the distinction of being the source of three rivers –
the Juhila, the Sonbhadra and the Narmada. The borderline dividing north and
south India also passes through this spot.
The entrance to the sprawling temple precincts is through an impressive,
sculpturally rich towering gate, the four sides of which are crowned with the
faces of goddesses Saraswati, Kali, Bhuvaneshwari and Lakshmi.
The lower segments of these sides are embellished with finely sculpted
figurines of the 64 yoginis associated with the Tantrik cult, 16 on each side. In
addition, Ganesh and Kartik are also featured on one of the sides.
Elevated platform
The temple is constructed on an elevated square platform measuring 90,000
sq.ft. and is structured in the form of a mandal of uniform length, breadth
and height, each measuring 52 feet. The temple, we are told, has been built
on the tenets of temple architecture as laid down by sage Agasthya.
The design, layout and plan of the temple adhere to ancient traditional
knowledge and methods and are aligned with astrological aspects. The
construction is in sync with stellar and planetary movements as per tantrik
calendar. In keeping with this style of architecture, the Padambandh or
foundation of the temple gives solid protection to the edifice. The next stage,
the Sarpbandh, features a pair of sculpted sarps or serpents with tails
entwined in each other.
The serpents rise from the base of the outer walls of the temple and run
through its perimeter in a circumambulatory mode till they appear with their
hoods raised, at the entrance to the temple.
Above the Devbandh, where one would normally see the tower or shikhar, is
the Maha Meru Sri Yantra. Images of Goddess Maha Tripura Sundari with her
consorts are sculpted on all its four sides.
Three-dimensional projection
The Maha Meru temple is the three-dimensional projection of the two-
dimensional Sri Yantra or Sri Chakra which forms the core of Sri Vidya
worship in Hinduism.
The temple with its complicated architectural pattern that requires perfect
mathematical calculations and accurately proportioned dimensions, is
61
perhaps the first of its kind to be built anywhere in the world. It is formed by
nine interlocking isosceles triangles of varying dimensions that surround and
radiate from a focal or central point that is referred to as the bindu.
The triangles are so interfaced as to form forty three smaller triangles in a
maze that symbolises the cosmos with its multitude of creations. The triangles
themselves are inscribed by two rows of lotus petals, eight and sixteen,
respectively, and an earth square, symbolic of a temple with four doors.
Each of the levels of the Sri Chakra, also known as the nava chakra for its
nine levels, is associated with a yogini, a mudra and a specific form of the
principal deity Tripura Sundari who is worshipped by followers of the Sri
Chakra.
The sanctum sanctorum has a 62-inch-tall idol of the Divine Mother made of
ashtadhatu, an alloy of eight metals.
62
Dance of time
In keeping with the principles of Vaastu Shastra, Kaal Nritya or ‘the dance of
time’ is portrayed on the external walls of the temple. On the four edges on top
are four paws of a powerful lion, symbolising actions performed. Stuck in its
paws are spherical balls, below which are depicted the poisonous serpents,
symbolic of individuals trapped in the cycle of birth and death.
While construction of the main temple is complete, work is still in progress as
several smaller shrines are slated to be added over a period of time.
The Maha Meru Shree Yantra Temple, Amarkantak, MadhyaPradesh. The temple is
encircled by forest on two sides, the ancient and sacred Batte #Krishna Kund, a pond
on its western side, and a water reservoir to its north.
63
64
SriYantra temple was constructed by Acharya Mandaleshwar of the Attal Akhada Sri
Swami Shukdevanadji in Amarkantak. The whole temple is in the shape of a colossal
Sri-Yantra and is a geometric representation of the Primal Force, Maha Shakti.
It is constructed in the middle of the Maikal, Satpuda and Vindhyachal range of

mountains, 3500 ft. above sea level in Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh. Amarkantak
enjoys the distinction of being the source of three Rivers Juhila, Sonbhadra and
Narmada.
The borderline dividing north & south India also passes thro' this spot. Entrance to
the sprawling temple precincts is thro' an impressive, sculpturally rich towering gate,
the 4 sides of which are crowned with the faces of goddesses Saraswati, Kali,
Bhuvaneshwari & Lakshmi
The lower segments of these sides are embellished with finely sculpted figurines of the
64 Yoginis associated with the Tantrik cult, 16 on each side. In addition, Ganesh &
Muruga are also featured on one of the sides.
The temple is constructed on an elevated square platform measuring 90,000 sq.ft & is
structured in the form of a mandal of uniform length, breadth & height, each
measuring 52 ft. The temple has been built on the tenets of temple architecture as laid
down by sage Agasthya.
Devi reigns supreme inside Sri Chakra,Nandini Ramani, 2019

Muthuswami Dikshitar captures the glory of Devi in his Navavarana Kritis
Parasakti is worshipped in her three divine facets as Durga (the
vanquisher of obstacles), Lakshmi (giver of prosperity), and Saraswati
(giver of knowledge) throughout Bharatavarsha during Navaratri. From
time immemorial, Vedic chants, hymns and songs of saints and seers
have been an integral part of the myriad modes of Devi worship; more so,
during the auspicious Navaratri celebration to propitiate Sakti, hailed as
Akhilandakoti Brahmanda Nayika.
Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar occupies a unique place in the realm of Devi
worship and Sri Vidya Cult. His scholarly and highly spiritual
compositions on Goddess Kamalamba enshrined in the Tiruvarur temple
as Gnana Sakti, the giver of high intellect, are a unique set describing Her
as the primordial Power seated in Yogic posture presiding over the form
and content of the ever-auspicious Sri Chakra.
65
YANTRA / YANTRA PROPERTIES
As per Vedic texts the "Sri

Yantra" is one of the most powerful and auspicious amongst all different Yantra as it
represents energies of all Gods and Goddesses and basically is a representation of
your entire Life which is a Play of Goddess Lalita
When it comes to Vastu, you always hear about mystic instruments such as Yantra
and Pyramids that are used to correct the faults in design. Traditionally Yantra find
66
seat in temples near the deity idols or are placed in altars or near entrances of homes.
In South India, Yantra are drawn with Rangoli designs at entrances of homes during
religious festivals. The famous Tirupathi temple is in the shape of a Shree Yantra and
many attribute its power and fame to this geometry. But what does Yantra mean? How
do they work? Are they really beneficial? Let’s get into the bottom and find out the core
meaning.
A Yantra also referred as Mandala is a sacred figure or symbol characterized by simple

geometric forms arranged in a symmetric design. These are mystical religion based
diagrams which have an ultimate reality and are of strong astronomical esthetics. It
carries the signification of a mantra or process. It can be etched on a plain surface or
made in a three dimensional form or used as an amulet or charm. Adi
Sankaracharya's Saundarya Lahiri is an authoritative work on Yantra. The literal
meaning of Yantra is: "to control, curb, bind or influence".They can also be considered
as diagrammatic representations of different Mantras and thus helps resonate positive
energies disperse negative energies and help individual elevate spiritually.
As per ancient Vedic texts there are different kinds of Yantra meant for different
purposes. Yantra geometries are three dimensional in nature but are represented as
two dimensional when etched or drawn. Different types of Yantra include Planetary
Yantra, Numerological Yantra, Yantra for different Gods and Goddesses and others.
Yantra represent a Physical force or a creative energy. Yantra in Sanskrit means the
chant that awakens energy when you place it anywhere in the environment around
you. This energy is said to cleanse the environment and electrify the atmosphere with
positivity.
.
Subtle Energy: If you see any divine object such as OM, Swastika or Trident
(Hinduism), Cross (Christianity), Moon and Crescent (Islam), they have a distinct
shape and this emits a specific frequency and cosmic energy pattern. One can draw a
yantra on paper, wood, gemstone, metal, or earth, or can give it a three-dimensional
shape. It would attract cosmic energies for Yantra science is based on the sacred Vedic
geometries.representing.scriptural.mantras.
Powers of Mantras: A Yantra is composed of geometrical shapes generating a subtle
range of cosmic force matching the invoked energy. When you chant a Vedic mantra,
the layers of energy in the microcosm vibrate on the same wavelength with the
corresponding energy current in the macrocosm. Thus the energy of the Yantra and
Mantra comes from the creation as a whole (Macrocosm).
WHAT IS YANTRA
A Yantra is a divine figurine which is also commonly referred to as the‘Mandala’ in
Sanskrit. It is a visual representation of the specific mantra and is a sacred
instrument which comprises of symbols and geometric forms which are aligned in a
design that is symmetric in nature. The driving force of a Yantra is the divine mantra
through which it is born. Most of the Yantras are ruled by a specific deity, planets or
are ruled by the mystical energies that are designed for a specific purpose. A Yantra in
lay man’s language can be described as a Holy object which holds the supreme
energies of the Gods, which when energised and prayed upon daily can help to achieve
all the heart’s desire.
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The literal meaning of the word ‘Yantra’ means "to control, curb, bind or influence".
Yantras are powerful representations of the cosmic energies and the associated
mantras in diagrammatic forms. Praying over a Yantras by chanting the respective
mantra can resonate positive energies and destroy negative energies and can help an
individual to elevate spiritually.
Yantras work on the divine vibrations of the mantras and helps to connect to the
energies of the divine through this process. Yantras can also be described as diagrams
which are based on religion and which are symbolic of ‘ultimate reality’. They canalso
be defined as an object holding divine astronomical powers and aesthetics.
Sage AdiSankaracharya is one of prominent names that is remembered as he is one of

the scholars whose literary work titled ‘SaundaryaLahiri’ is a masterpiece that talks
about yantras.
Yantras are made of which objects
Yantras can be etched on wood, metal or printed on cloth or can be made in three
dimensional forms or can be made in the form of an amulet or charm that one can
wear or keep with oneself on an everyday basis. One of the most astonishing facts
about the Yantras which are carved on different metal sheets hold special significance
as each metal sheet has a different mantra for the Yantras carved or etched on it.
What is the Properties of Yantra
There are various types of Yantras and each Yantra has a deity, a celestial body or a
specific energy associated to it. A Yantra is a divine symbolic visual representation of
the mantra which is a source of Supreme energy. A Yantra works on the vibrations
created by the resonance of the mantras chanted and magnifies the force of energy to
manifest it into reality. It can be referred to as the magnetic field that when energised
helps one attain union with the divine.
The divine cosmic rays that are emitted by the cosmic bodies are attracted by the
yantras. The Yantra then work in union with the divine energies and nullify the
negative energies the surroundings hold and transform them into positive energies.
Once the energies become positive, it spreads them in the atmosphere where it is
installed.
The properties of the Yantra combines with the supreme energies of the divine and
amplifies the thought process through mantra signification.
ANALOGY OF A YANTRA
When you look at a Yantra, you will notice the certain symbols making up the entire
Yantra. These symbols include bindu (dot), trikona (triangle), chakra (circle), shatkona
(six-pointed star) (bhupura (square) and Padma (divine lotus)
All the Yantras are made up of signs are symbols which hold a deep meaning. The
symbols that one would witness while taking a closer look at the Yantras are as
follows
This symbol is known as a ‘Bindu’ meaning ‘Dot’. In the world of Yantras, the
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dot is known as ‘Guru GyanBindu’ It indicates the energy and its extreme
concentration at the centre. It is also called the centre of cosmic radiation. Bounded
by different surfaces such as a triangle, a hexagon, a circle, the bindu represents the
union with the force or creative energy ruling the yantra.
This symbol is known as ‘Trikona’ meaning ‘Triangle’. In the world of

Yantras, the Trikonas are referred to as the ‘Guru GyanTrikona’ It is the emblem of
Shakti, the absolute female energy of the Divine. It completes the creation or
manifestation of both, material as well as spiritual worlds. The triangle pointing down
characterizes the Yoni which is the source of all creations. Pointing upwards signifies
forceful spiritual desire, the transferal of one’s nature into the subtler sphere and the
Fire Element because Agni always burns upwards. A triangle pointing downwards
represents the Water Element for water flows down. Fire Element represents Shiva
and Water Element represents Shakti
This symbol is known as ‘Shatkona’ meaning ‘Hexagram’ in Greek and

‘Sexagram’ in Latin. This symbol displays two triangles which are interlocked and
inverted forming a star sign(six-pointed star). In the world of Yantras, the Shatkonas
are referred to as the ‘Guru GyanShatkona’ It is an archetypal amalgamation of two
triangles structured in all the Yantra. It characteristically signifies the divine
unification of Shiva (Male energy) and Shakti (Female energy) which is the cause of all
creation.
This symbol is known as ‘Chakra’ meaning ‘Circle’. In the world of Yantras, the
Chakra symbol is referred to as the ‘Guru GyanChakra’ It stands for rotation which is
central to the functioning of the macrocosmic progression. At the same time, the circle
signifies perfection and the peaceful creative void of the Vishudha chakra. In the series
of the five fundamental elements it represents the Air Element.
This symbol is known as ‘Bhupura’ meaning ‘Square’. In the world of Yantras,

the Bhupura symbol is referred to as the ‘Guru GyanBhupura’ it represents the Earth
Element that resides in the physical self. Yantra start with the dot and end with the
square. It implies the way the cosmos evolves. It begins with the subtle energies at the
centre, with granular at ether and then culminating in earth.
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This symbol is known as ‘Padma’ meaning ‘Divine Lotus’. In the world of
Yantras, the Padma symbol isreferred to as the ‘Guru GyanPadma’ All the Vedic
scriptures as well as the scriptures of other faiths consider lotus to be the divine
emblem of purity that resides in the chakras. A lotus in Yantra represents the
unconditional force of the Supreme Absolute Truth. The lotus serves as a divine seat
for devas (gods). It also represents detachment. It grows in the mud but never touches
even a tinge of mud, representing detachment to the external forces (material world)
and maintaining the original nature which is pure and divine.
YANTRA: AN OBJECT OF MEDITATION
Yantra is one of the most powerful objects one can use to channelize focus on. It is a
Holy instrument which holds divine and supreme energies of the deities. Yantra is a
medium that helps one attain union with the God through the process of meditation
and channelizing your focus on the geometrical symbols present on the Yantra. Once
you start focusing all your attention on the centre of the Yantra it amplifies the pure,
supreme energy of the divine deity and through the power of resonance (mantra
chanting) it connects you to the energy present in the macrocosm and manifests your
heart’s desires.
How do Yantra Work?
A Yantra as stated above is the symbolic representation of the mantra. Yantras work
on the resonance of the powerful mantras. Once you start reciting a mantra by
concentrating on the centre of the Yantra with complete devotion it connects you with
the divine energies and helps to manifest your thoughts.Yantrasenchances the
concentration power and thus help in increasing the intensity of the prayers which in
turn makes the urge to fulfil our wants more strong and influential.
The powers of a Yantra thrive on the reverberation of cosmic energies. Yantra is a

mystical object. Every Yantra has a ruling deity and the energies of this deity are
stored in the Yantra through the powerful mantra. So when one focuses on the Yantra
with closed eyes and chants the mantra with complete devotion and purity, the
thoughts and wishes which the devotee wants are amplified and the Yantra paves way
by connecting the divine vibrations to the worldly desires one prays for and then this
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thought is manifested.
Yantra work in following ways

 In order to achieve your dreams you can install a Yantra and meditate on the yantra
to achieve resonance with the divine energy ruling the yantra
 In order to gain success and progress in career you can install it on your office desk.
This creates a magnitude of force and helps to turn your desires into reality
 You can install a yantra in the puja altar or hang it on a wall near the entrance of
your house or office. This helps in inviting positivity and destroying negative
energies. It also helps to manifest what you pray for
 You can install the Yantra in your vehicle to be safe from accidents
 You can also wear the Yantras which are available in the form of jewellery such as a
pendant, ring, bracelet or an amulet.
 You can also keep the Yantra in your purse or wallet. This creates a shield of
protection around you and keeps all negativity at bay
 Make sure you are not placing the yantra in a leather purse or wallet
 Yantra are the ultimate answer for establishing a vibration of large amplitude or
resonance with the benefic energies of the cosmos. Thus the vibrations generated get
us in contact with highly elevated energies & entities which help us attain spiritual
course of conduct in our daily lives & enhance the spirituality within.
TYPES OF YANTRA
There are four basic variations:

 Yantra of deities- Yantra of Ganesh, Shiva, Hanuman, Durga, Laxmi and the like.
The most significant being the Shakta Yantra (these are usually forms of the Great
Mother or the Mahavidyas- 'Sources of supreme knowledge').
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 Yantra with Astrological significance (these are used to harness the energies of
the nine planets)- Navagraha Yantra, Kalsurpa Yantra, Nakshatra Yantra and the
like.
 Architectural Yantra (these are used for the ground plans of lands)- Vastu Yantra,
Bhumi Yantra and the like.
 Numerical Yantra (comprising select combinations of numbers which serve as
talismans)- Kuber yantra, Rog Nivaran yantra, Beesa Yantra and the like.
 Purposeful Yantra: Those meant for a certain purpose like Lagna yog (for early
marriage), Santan gopal (for begetting a child), Vashikaran (for attraction).
Yantra for success in personal and professional life:

Yantra, besides fulfilling their fundamental purpose, helps prosper in career along
with good health, wealth, happiness and success. These are etched in metals like
Silver, Gold, Copper and Bhojpatra which are cheaper than gemstones and can be as
effective as gems. They are the doorway to the cosmic universe. Maha Meru, or Sri
Meru Chakra is the supreme of all Yantra. The transcendent geometry of the Sri
Chakra is the genomic code of the Cosmic Space that redirects its positive vibrations
to the place it is installed.
THE EFFECT OF YANTRA
One must always pay attention to the importance of placing correctly energized Yantra
in the appropriate direction. They are best placed in the North East part of the
dwelling as it is confluence of positive energies coming from the geometric lines from
North and the rising sun in the East. However if North East part is not convenient,
then it is best to place them closer to you on your desk or on wall or near entrance
door. Some Yantra offer results instantly if the karmic potential is ripe. Some offer
results gradually over a long period of time. Yantra for wealth and affluence require
patience. For instance, Kuber Yantra works better after the first year. Yantra are also
exceedingly helpful for health and averting accidents and mishaps.
SOME OF THE POPULAR YANTRA AND THEIR USES

 Shree Yantra for name, fame, wordly pleasures, prosperity and salvation
 Mahalakshmi Yantra for money, food grains, for perfection, attainment of high goals
 Kuber Yantra for riches and preserving acquired money
 Ganesh Laxmi Business Yantra / Vyapaar Vridhi Yantra for progress in business
and improvements in slow or quiet business
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 Ganesh Yantra to begin pious and fortune giving deeds, attaining prosperity and
accomplishment of goals
 Mahamrityunjaya Yantra for improving health, preventing disease and protection
from untimely death
 Surya Yantra for worshipping the Sun, attaining glory, inner radiance and worldly
pursuits
 Nav Graha Yantra for pacifying the nine planets, attaining peace and pleasure
 Hanuman Yantra to empower learning, increase wisdom and devotion to God
 Durga Yantra for worshipping Goddess Durga to remove pain and suffering
 Bagalamukhi Yantra to destroy enemies, success in law-suits and achievement in
sports competitions
 Mahakali Yantra for worshipping Shakti, Goddess Mahakali to attain desired goals
 Batuk Bhairav Yantra to save from untimely death
 Durga Bisa Yantra to save from the evil eye, banish hindrance from evil spirits and
achieve both progress and success in all realms
 Saraswati Yantra for improvements in learning, wisdom, grace and talents in the
education & arts
 Gayatri Yantra for purifying the mind and ensuring good progress in life
 Vashikaran Yantra to attract the person you desire and bring him or her under your
influence
 Santan Gopal Yantra to beget a child
 Mahasudarshan Yantra to get the grace of Lord Vishnu
 Ram Raksha Yantra for worshipping Lord Ram and succeeding in aspirations
 Kaal Sarp Yantra to negate the effect of Kaal Sarp Yoga and removing evil effects of
the nine planets
 Bhuvaneshwari Yantra for gaining mesmerizing personality that draws all people
towards him
 Dhumavati Yantra for all round success and spiritual upliftment
 Kamla Devi Yantra for elevation of the soul through both spiritual and worldly goals
 Mangal Yantra to negate the malefic effects of planet Mars and for luck in business
& health
 Matangi Yantra for the attainment of great powers, power of speech and happiness
in family life
 Rahu Yantra to negate the malefic effects of planet Rahu
 Shani Yantra to propitiate an afflicted Shani and achieve Rajayog
 Shiva Yantra to free the fear of death, grave dangers, fatal diseases and make
courageous and healthy
 Tara Yantra for wealth and prosperity in life
 Guru Yantra for strengthening a weak Jupiter and get blessings in prosperity,
power, rank, authority, abundance
 Shukra Yantra to negate the malefic effects of planet Venus and gain respect, love of
opposite sex and peace of mind
 Ketu Yantra to negate the malefic effects of planet Ketu and gain all round success
 Chandra Yantra to negate the malefic effects of planet Moon and gain respect,
friendship and create contacts with opposite sex in harmonious way
 Buddh Yantra to appease the planet Mercury or Buddh
 Manokamna Yantra changes one's luck for the better, brings about desirable
outcomes and makes manifest one's deepest desires
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 Sarva Siddhi Yantra most powerful yantra set comprising of the qualities of nine
exclusive Yantra: Ganesh, Mahalaxmi, Saraswati, Durga Bisa, Shree Yantra, Durga,
Mahamrityunjay, Batuk Bhairv
 Vahan Durghatna Yantra for protection from accidents, injury, or other mishaps,
especially those related to vehicles
 Rog Nivaran Yantra to free the wearer from any fatal diseases and make him
courageous and healthy
 Kamakshi Yantra prosperity, knowledge, fame and good progeny expeditiously in
abundance
 Katyayani Yantra for success in love with auspiciousness and fruitful marriage
 Lakshminarayan Yantra invokes the blessings of Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi
for complete happiness and success
 Swastik Yantra to prevent home from evil eyes
 Vaastu Yantra to remove Griha Dosha, Dik Dosha and negative energies
Benefits of different types of energized Yantra
 Helps you to get rid of insufficiency,
 Helps to win over competitors,
 Nullifies resentments
 Wards off malefic of planets
 Yantras help in attractingpositive energies, prosperity, abundance and most of all,
good luck in all walks of life
 Offers a range of benefits and fills your house with radiant and beneficent energies
 Fulfils wishes through power of manifestation
 Helps to attract prosperity and helps to safeguard the existing wealth
 Helps to repel the negative energies like intentions of malice, psychic spells or plain
jealousy
 Maintains peace and harmony among family members and colleagues
SIGNIFICANCE OF YANTRAS
Yantras are ancient holy tools which forms a bridge between the worshipper and
divinity. It is an object which can be used to elevate oneself spiritually, to enhance the
power of concentration. A Yantra helps to manifest desires through enhanced
meditation and mantra chanting.
The geometric figures and symbols of which the yantra is made up of are visual
representations of the respective mantra.Yantras are often mistakenly thought to be
symbols purely of the manifold aspects of the Mother Goddess. This is an
understandable error as most Yantras are indeed connected to the Goddess, the most
famous being the Sri Yantra, an abstract representation of the Mother (and Father
too!) as Cosmos.
The Sri Yantra is also commonly misunderstood to represent Lakshmi, the Goddess of
Fortune but it is more true to say the Sri Yantra includes and transcends every notion
of divinity ever conceived of the pantheons of deities relating to the Sanatana Dharma.
In actual practice a Yantra is a symbolic representation of aspects of divinity, usually

the Mother Goddess. It is an interlocking matrix of geometric figures, circles, triangles
and floral patterns that form fractal patterns of elegance and beauty. Though drawn in
two dimensions, a Yantra is supposed to represent a three dimensional sacred object.
Three-dimensional Yantras are now becoming increasingly common. Although the
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Yantra is primarily a meditation tool both for serious spiritual seekers as well as
sculptors in the classical tradition, its Shakti is also available to new seekers with
sincere devotion and good intention. Before creating Yantric artefacts in wood, stone
or metal, they draw a Yantra that represents attributes of the god or goddess they
wish to sculpt, etch or create. Intense meditation upon it causes the fully formed
image to leap into the mind's eye with remarkable intensity with imprinting ability. In
some cases, traditional Yantra-makers do not need to make a sketch before creating
the image.
Yantras are also used for innumerable mundane purposes such as to enhance the
quality of one's life, attract prosperity, abundance, love, harmony, peace, enhance
learning, promote healing, relieve health problems, for career advancement, achieve
desired goals in projects, improve business and protection from negative forces.
HOW TO ENERGIZE YANTRA

We at Rudra Centre get Yantras energized with the help of qualified Brahmins or
priests who are well-versed in the Yantric sections of the Holy Vedas. The Vedas
especially Yajur Veda have instructions for various rituals. The priests follow the exact
purification and energizing procedures called the PranaPratishta given in the
Shastras.
For the PranPratishta, the Priest:
 Sits on an asana or mat facing east and keeps the Yantra to be energized on a plate
in front at the altar.
 Places spoonful of water on his head and chants:
ApavitrahPavitroVaSarvaVastanGatopiVa Yah
SmaretPundariKakshamSaBahyaBhyantarahShuchih
 May all things unholy become holy, may all lower tendencies depart, just as soon as
we transcend may within and without be purified!
 Om Sri GurubhyoNamaha
I bow down to my Guru
Om Sri GaneshayaNamaha
I bow down to Shree Ganesha
Om Sri Kula DevatabhyoNamaha
I bow to the family deity
Om Sri IshtaDevatabhyoNamaha
I bow to my personal deity
Om Sri Mata PitribhyamNamaha
I bow to my parents
Sips water after each mantra:
 Om Sri KeshavayaSwaha
Om Sri NarayanaSwaha
Om Sri MadhavayaSwaha
Pours one spoon of water on ground:
 Om Sri GovindayaNamaha
Om Sri GovindayaNamaha
Repeats and touch each after each next mantra, right eye, left eye, forehead: Om Apo
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JyothiRasoAmtritam
 Brahma BhuBhuvahaSwarom
chants the pranpratishtha mantra while offering yellow rice to the Yantra:
 Om Um Kum Chum Dhum Tum pum yum sum soham
PranahaEhaGachaEhaTishtha Sum Yum Pum Tum Tum Chum Kum Um Om
Om Um Kum Chum Dhum Tum pum yum sum soham
PranaEhaSusthishaBhavatu Sum Yum Pum Tum Tum Chum Kum Um Om
Om Um Kum Chum Dhum Tum pum yum sum soham
PranaManasyachakshuJibhyamGhraniPani
Pachusthan
DasoIndriyaniSusthishaBhavantu
Sum Yum Pum Tum Tum Chum Kum Um Om
 The priest than offers flowers while reciting DevayeNamahAvahanamSamarpayami
 Offers flowers for asana while reciting DevayeNamahAasanamSamarpayami
 Offers water to wash to the feet of lord while speaking DevayePaydamSamarpayami
 Bathes the Deity while reciting DevayeSnanamSamarpyami
 Offers Panchamrit with mantra DevayePanchaamritSnanamSamarpyami
 Recites the mantras DevayeVastramSamarpyami, DevayeUpvastramSamarpyami,
DevayeYaghopavitamSamarpyami For clothes upvastar and YajyoPaveet,
 Applies Ghand/Scent while reciting DevayeGandhamSamarpyami
 Offers unbroken rice while reciting DevayeAkshtanSamarpyami
 Offers flowers and garland while reciting DevayePushyaniSamarpyami
 Lights up Dhoop and offers while reciting DevayeDhoopamSamarpyami
 Lights up a Deep and offers while reciting DevayeDeepamSamarpyami
 Offers fruits and coconut and lemon while reciting
DevayeNavdamfalamchaSamarpyami
 Offers Pan, Supari, Clove while reciting DevayeTambulamSamarpyami
 Offers Pradikshina while reciting DevayePradkshinayaSamarpyami and walks
around the Yantra three times while chanting YaniKan cha apainjanmantarkirtani
cha TanisarvaniNashyantuPradakshinPadePade
 Offers flowers and Namaskar with folded hands and chant a rosary of the beeja
mantra of the Yantra. Beeja mantras of each yantra are specific to the Yantra and
the Deity which they represent.
In this way, all the yantras are energized in accordance with the Yantric rites before
they are shipped to the buyers.
PUJA VIDHI ( PROCEDURE) OF YANTRA
You can pray on a Yantra which is installed in the puja altar of your house or office
daily and experience the positivity and fulfilment of desires that you pray for. Listed
below are the detailed steps of how you can offer daily prayers to the Yantras
 Wake up early in the morning and purify your body by taking bath.
 Wear clean cloths and start with a clear and positive mind frame
 Now be seated in the Padmasana pose where you place your each foot on opposite
thighs on a mat known as asana
 Make sure that you are seated facing East
 Now light adiya (oil or ghee lamp)
 Burn incense sticks
 Take mango tree leaves and sprinkle water placed in the kalash on yourself as well
as on the Yantra
 Once this is done wipe the Yantra with a soft cloth and place it back in the altar
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 Now apply sandal paste or Kumkum in the Centre of the Yantra
 Offer fresh flower and a fresh fruit to the yantra by placing it in front of the Yantra.
 Now channelize you attention in the centre of the yantra and stay quiet until your
mind is silenced and all the wavering thoughts are destroyed.
 Now chant the specific mantra of the Yantrafor at least nine times
 Now slowly close your eyes and visualize the Yantra and its centre point and fix your
attention with closed eyes on the central point of the Yantra while chanting the
divine respective mantra of the yantra.
 As you chant the mantra keep thinking about the wish you need the Lord to
fulfilland
 Now with all sincerity, ask God to grant you the desire of your life that you wanted
to be fulfilled in your own language.
Ganesh Pandey, Danya: A huge Shree Yantra is being established from Ashta metal
in Kalyanika Devasthanam Ashram located in Kanara Dol under development block
Lamgada. This Sri Yantra weighing one and a half thousand kg has been made by
eminent sculptors in Kumkonam, Kerala. From 18 to 29 April, Shri Dhyan Peeth
Establishment and Pran Pratishtha ceremony will be organized by the great Pandits of
South and North India. In the program, famous story reader Murari Bapu will also
organize Ram Charit Manas Gyan Prava Yagya.
Shree Yantra of one and a half thousand kg of Ashta metal will be installed in
Kalyanika Ashram Dol
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: Jagran
Baba Kalyan Das ji, the founder of Kalyanika Devasthanam Ashram told that
preparations are going on for the program on a war footing. He said that the
construction of Shri Yantra Mandir and Sadhana Kendra was started in the ashram
from the year 2012, which has been completed this month. Baba Ji told that the Pran
Pratishtha of Shri Yantra and Shri Ganesh program ceremony of the temple will be
held from April 18 to April 29. He expressed the hope that there would be a dignified
presence of His Excellency the Vice President and the Governor in this grand
event. Kalyan Das ji told that the establishment of Shri Dhyan Peeth and Pran
Pratishtha program will be completed by the great Pandits of South and North
India. He informed that five hundred sadhaks would be able to meditate at a time in
the Dhyan Peeth. Many seekers from abroad are also participating in this event.
Temple and meditation center built in six years
The Shri Yantra Mandir and Meditation Center started from the year 2012 were
completed in six years. Baba Kalyan Das told that the height of this temple is 126 feet
and the circumference is 150 feet. He said that despite the continuous construction
work being in progress, it took more than 6 years for the construction of the grand
temple. Seekers of these countries will participate
Sadhaks from America, Japan, Germany, Korea and Dubai are participating in this
Maha Yagya, which will run from April 18 to 29. Preparations are going on in full
swing to welcome the guests and seekers coming from the country and abroad. In the
Kalyanika Veda Vedanta Sanskrit Vidyapeeth established in the ashram, Sanskrit
education is being given to the children till Inter. Along with Sanskrit, conduct,
rituals, English language and technology based education is also given to the children
so that the children can lead in every field.
- Baba Kalyan Das
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The Maha Meru Shree Yantra Temple, Amarkantak, MadhyaPradesh. The temple is
encircled by forest on two sides, the ancient and sacred Batte #Krishna Kund, a pond
on its western side, and a water reservoir to its north.
SriYantra temple was constructed by Acharya Mandaleshwar of the Attal Akhada Sri
Swami Shukdevanadji in Amarkantak. The whole temple is in the shape of a colossal
Sri-Yantra and is a geometric representation of the Primal Force, Maha Shakti.
It is constructed in the middle of the Maikal, Satpuda and Vindhyachal range of

mountains, 3500 ft. above sea level in Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh. Amarkantak
enjoys the distinction of being the source of three Rivers Juhila, Sonbhadra and
Narmada.
The borderline dividing north & south India also passes thro' this spot. Entrance to
the sprawling temple precincts is thro' an impressive, sculpturally rich towering gate,
the 4 sides of which are crowned with the faces of goddesses Saraswati, Kali,
Bhuvaneshwari & Lakshmi
The lower segments of these sides are embellished with finely sculpted figurines of the
64 Yoginis associated with the Tantrik cult, 16 on each side. In addition, Ganesh &
Muruga are also featured on one of the sides.
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The temple is constructed on an elevated square platform measuring 90,000 sq.ft & is
structured in the form of a mandal of uniform length, breadth & height, each
measuring 52 ft. The temple has been built on the tenets of temple architecture as laid
down by sage Agasthya.
Devi reigns supreme inside Sri Chakra,Nandini Ramani, 2019
Muthuswami Dikshitar captures the glory of Devi in his Navavarana Kritis

Parasakti is worshipped in her three divine facets as Durga (the vanquisher of
obstacles), Lakshmi (giver of prosperity), and Saraswati (giver of knowledge)
throughout Bharatavarsha during Navaratri. From time immemorial, Vedic
chants, hymns and songs of saints and seers have been an integral part of the
myriad modes of Devi worship; more so, during the auspicious Navaratri
celebration to propitiate Sakti, hailed as Akhilandakoti Brahmanda Nayika.
Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar occupies a unique place in the realm of Devi worship
and Sri Vidya Cult. His scholarly and highly spiritual compositions on Goddess
Kamalamba enshrined in the Tiruvarur temple as Gnana Sakti, the giver of high
intellect, are a unique set describing Her as the primordial Power seated in Yogic
posture presiding over the form and content of the ever-auspicious Sri Chakra.
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Chapter III
Twins and Opposites
Yin and yang (/jɪn/ and /jæŋ/) is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but
interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of
material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and yang and formed into objects and lives. Yin
is the receptive and yang the active principle, seen in all forms of change and difference such as
the annual cycle (winter and summer), the landscape (north-facing shade and south-facing
brightness), sexual coupling (female and male), the formation of both men and women as
characters and sociopolitical history (disorder and order).
Taiji or Tai chi (simplified Chinese: 太极 ; traditional Chinese: 太極 ; pinyin: tàijí; lit. 'great
pole') is a Chinese cosmological term for the "Supreme Ultimate" state of undifferentiated
absolute and infinite potential, the oneness before duality, from which yin and yang originate. It
can be compared with the old wuji ( 無極 , "without pole"). Yin and yang is a concept
originated in ancient Chinese philosophy that describes how obviously opposite or contrary
forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world,
and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.
In Daoist philosophy, dark and light, yin and yang, arrive in the Tao Te Ching at chapter 42.[21] It
becomes sensible from an initial quiescence or emptiness (wuji, sometimes symbolized by an
empty circle), and continues moving until quiescence is reached again. For instance, dropping a
stone in a calm pool of water will simultaneously raise waves and lower troughs between them,
and this alternation of high and low points in the water will radiate outward until the movement
dissipates and the pool is calm once more. Yin and yang thus are always opposite and equal
qualities. Further, whenever one quality reaches its peak, it will naturally begin to transform into
the opposite quality: for example, grain that reaches its full height in summer (fully yang) will
produce seeds and die back in winter (fully yin) in an endless cycle.
It is impossible to talk about yin or yang without some reference to the opposite, since yin and
yang are bound together as parts of a mutual whole (for example, there cannot be the bottom of
the foot without the top). A way to illustrate this idea is [citation needed] to postulate the notion of a race
with only women or only men; this race would disappear in a single generation. Yet, women and
men together create new generations that allow the race they mutually create (and mutually come
from) to survive. The interaction of the two gives birth to things, like manhood. [22] Yin and yang
transform each other: like an undertow in the ocean, every advance is complemented by a retreat,
and every rise transforms into a fall. Thus, a seed will sprout from the earth and grow upwards
towards the sky—an intrinsically yang movement. Then, when it reaches its full potential height,
it will fall. Also, the growth of the top seeks light, while roots grow in darkness. The cycles of
the seasons and of plants that progresses or entropies depending on the season until summer
where it seeks to procure even healthier leaves, the whittling (entropy) of the plant is in autumn,
the degrown plants (destruction) is in winter, the growth (creating) of the plant or tree during
spring is where it's gaining or progressing, fully progressed occurs during summer, summer
seeks stability as it seeks to keep (progress) the leaves and branches that are healthy, growth and
progress reaching its end point of a cycle. And creation as part of yang, and destruction as part of
yin, progress on one side (yang) and entropy on the other side (yin), is represented in the cycles.
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Yin and Yang originated in India and have Hindu Connection
India and China are the two of oldest, culturally rich and continuous civilizations of the world.
Both of these civilizations have given many wonders to the world. In ancient times, both
civilizations had a continuous flow of information between them and have shared many things
including history, religions, ideas, faiths and cultural practices. While China was thriving in
physical creations and very down to earth philosophies, India was achieving new heights in the
subject of heart and soul.
It is of little wonder then that many beliefs, practices and cultural ideas migrated from India to
China. The most acknowledged and widely known ones today are Buddhism, Martial Art of
Kalaripayattu, considered to be the mother of Kung-Fu and India’s Dhyana (meditation) which
later became the foundation of Zen.
The trade relations of the two nations via sea and land were connected through Tibet, Thailand,
Far East and Burma. There were many notable Buddhist monks who traveled from China to
India for education, attain spirituality, learn the teachings of Buddhism in monasteries while on
the other hand, many like Bodhidharma traveled to China to promote and expand Buddhism and
laid foundation for Kung Fu as a defensive martial art.
All this is well known and acknowledged today by the world, however many in the academic
field seem to have missed the deep spiritual connection of the Chinese concept of Yin and Yang
with its Indian counterpart – Hinduism.
Yin and Yang are fundamentally an important part of Chinese philosophy of two polarities in
Creation – the positive and negative; male and female. Yin and Yang are the two halves that
together complete and complement each other. It defines the nature of change, balanced as two
halves of a whole.
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Yin and Yang is the concept of duality forming a whole that we encounter every day. For
example:
 Night (Yin) and Day (Yang)
 Woman (Yin) and Man (Yang)
 Dark (Yin) and Light (Yang)
 Earth (Yin) and Sky (Yang)
 Moon (Yin) and Sun (Yang)
 Cold (Yin) and Hot (Yang)
Many items have been sorted and grouped under various Yin and Yang classification system
since its conception. The original name of the symbol is Taijitu but it became popular as Yin
Yang in the West which today represents Taoism.
Yin and Yang are semantically complex words.
According to various sources, the following translations are given to these two words:
Yin 陰 or 阴 Noun
① [philosophy] negative/passive/female principle in nature
② Surname Bound morpheme
① the moon
②shaded orientation
③ covert; concealed; hidden
④ vagina
⑤penis
⑥ of the netherworld
⑦ negative
⑧ north side of a hill
⑨south bank of a river
⑩ reverse side of a stele
⑪in intaglio Stative verb ① overcast ② sinister; treacherous
Yang 陽 or 阳 Bound morpheme
① [Chinese philosophy] positive/active/male principle in nature ②the sun ③ male genitals④ in
relief ⑤ open; overt ⑥ belonging to this world ⑦ [linguistics] masculine ⑧ south side of a
hill ⑨ north bank of a river
There are many explanations given about their possible origin and how the concept of Yin and
Yang came to be. Many sources say that it originated in Burma, Tibet or Far East but somehow
missed the possible and more plausible connection of Yin and Yang with Yoni and Linga, the
Indian concept of two polarities widely used in Hinduism.
If we look more closely the actual meaning of both, they are very similar or almost identical. The
Ling and Yoni are at least 6-8000 years old in India and are prominently used and placed in
Hinduism and Tantra.
The meaning of Yoni and Linga is as stated below:

 Linga: Male, Purusha (man), male sexual organ, consciousness and the universal source
of creation.
 Yoni: Female, Prakriti (nature), Shakti, female reproductive organ, womb, motherhood,
Mother Goddess among others.
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Together they complete and complement each other, representing interdependence of the whole
creation, the union of dualities and polarities. We already know, Shiva and Shakti or
Ardhanarishwara in Hinduism represent the union of fundamental opposites that are present in
this universe, as the Atma and Gross Body, Male and Female, Positive and Negative, Light and
Darkness, Consciousness and Material World. Since ancient times in India, they have been an
integral part of the religion, finding themselves in places of worship, art, religious symbolism,
spirituality, Yoga, Tantra and various other religious rituals.
Considering the same fundamental meaning, symbolism, antiquity, ancient connection and the
popularity among both countries which have been connected on many levels for thousands of
years, it’s the most possible explanation of Yoni and Linga that influenced and later became Yin
and Yang.
There are many undeniable similarities between Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Tantra. The roots of
Mahayana Buddhism and Buddhist Tantra have been derived from Hinduism. Both these
traditions are identical, just as the concept of Yin and Yang is identical to Linga and Yoni. Many
concepts were taken to China by Buddhist monks on their missions to propagate Buddhism.
It is very likely that this concept was initially adopted into Chinese philosophy and later became
deeply integrated into their civilization.
COSMOLOGY of YIN & YAN
In the cosmology pertaining to yin and yang, the material energy, which this universe has created
itself out of, is also referred to as qi. It is believed that the organization of qi in this cosmology of
yin and yang has formed many things. Included among these forms are humans. Many
natural dualities (such as light and dark, fire and water, expanding and contracting) are thought
of as physical manifestations of the duality symbolized by yin and yang. This duality lies at the
origins of many branches of classical Chinese science and philosophy, as well as being a primary
guideline of traditional Chinese medicine,[3] and a central principle of different forms of Chinese
martial arts and exercise, such as baguazhang, taijiquan (tai chi chuan), and qigong (Chi Kung),
as well as appearing in the pages of the I Ching.
The notion of duality can be found in many areas, such as Communities of Practice. The term
"dualistic-monism" or dialectical monism has been coined in an attempt to express this
fruitful paradox of simultaneous unity and duality. Yin and yang can be thought of as
complementary (rather than opposing) forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the
whole is greater than the assembled parts. According to this philosophy, everything has both yin
and yang aspects (for instance, shadow cannot exist without light). Either of the two major
aspects may manifest more strongly in a particular object, depending on the criterion of the
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observation. The yin yang (i.e. taijitu symbol) shows a balance between two opposites with a
portion of the opposite element in each section.
In Taoist metaphysics, distinctions between good and bad, along with other dichotomous moral
judgments, are perceptual, not real; so, the duality of yin and yang is an indivisible whole. In the
ethics of Confucianism on the other hand, most notably in the philosophy of Dong
Zhongshu (c. 2nd century BC), a moral dimension is attached to the idea of yin and yang.
These Chinese terms yīn 陰 "dark side" and yáng "white side" are linguistically analyzable in
terms of Chinese characters, pronunciations and etymology, meanings, topography,
and loanwords.
Characters
The Chinese characters 陰 and 陽 for the words yīn and yáng are both classified as Phono-
semantic characters, combining the semantic component "mound; hill" radical 阝 (graphical
variant of 阜 ) with the phonetic components jīn 今 (and the added semantic
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component yún 云 "pictographic: cloud") and yáng 昜 . In the latter, yáng 昜 "bright"
features 日 "sun" + 示 + 彡 "The rays of the sun".
Pronunciations and etymologies
The Modern Standard Chinese pronunciation of 陰 is usually the level first tone yīn "shady;
cloudy" or sometimes the falling fourth tone yìn "to shelter; shade" while 陽 "sunny" is always
pronounced with rising second tone yáng.
Sinologists and historical linguists have reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciations from data
in the (7th century CE) Qieyun rhyme dictionary and later rhyme tables, which was subsequently
used to reconstruct Old Chinese phonology from rhymes in the (11th–7th centuries
BCE) Shijing and phonological components of Chinese characters. Reconstructions of Old
Chinese have illuminated the etymology of modern Chinese words.
Compare these Middle Chinese and Old Chinese (with asterisk) reconstructions
of yīn 陰 and yáng 陽:
 ˑiəm < *ˑiəm and iang < *diang (Bernhard Karlgren)

o ʔjəm and *raŋ (Li Fang-Kuei)
 ʔ(r)jum and *ljang (William H. Baxter)
 ʔjəm < *ʔəm and jiaŋ < *laŋ (Axel Schuessler)
 'im < *qrum and yang < *laŋ (William H. Baxter and Laurent Sagart)
Schuessler gives probable Sino-Tibetan etymologies for both Chinese words.

Yin < *ʔəm compares with Burmese ʔumC "overcast; cloudy", Adi muk-jum "shade",
and Lepcha so'yǔm "shade"; and is probably cognate with Chinese àn < *ʔə̂ mʔ 黯 "dim; gloomy"
and qīn < *khəm 衾 "blanket".
Yang < *laŋ compares with Lepcha a-lóŋ "reflecting light", Burmese laŋB "be bright" and ə-
laŋB "light"; and is perhaps cognate with Chinese chāng < *k-hlaŋ 昌 "prosperous; bright"
(compare areal words like Tai plaŋA1 "bright" & Proto-Viet-Muong hlaŋB). To this word-
family, Unger (Hao-ku, 1986:34) also includes 炳 bǐng < *pl(j)aŋʔ "bright"; however Schuessler
reconstructs 炳 bǐng's Old Chinese pronunciation as *braŋʔ and includes it in
an Austroasiatic word family, besides 亮 liàng < *raŋh 爽 shuǎng < *sraŋʔ "twilight (of
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dawn)"; míng < *mraŋ 明 "bright, become light, enlighten"; owing to "the different OC initial
consonant which seems to have no recognizable OC morphological function".[
Meaning Yin and yang are semantically complex words.
John DeFrancis's ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary gives the following

translation equivalents.
Yin 陰 or 阴 — Noun: ① [philosophy] female/passive/negative principle in nature,
② Surname; Bound morpheme:
① the moon,
② shaded orientation,
③ covert; concealed; hidden,
④ vagina,
⑤ penis,
⑥ of the netherworld,
⑦ negative,
⑧ north side of a hill,
⑨ south bank of a river,
⑩ reverse side of a stele,
⑪ in intaglio; Stative verb: ① overcast, ② sinister; treacherous
Yang 陽 or 阳 — Bound morpheme: ① [Chinese philosophy] male/active/positive principle in

nature, ② the sun, ③ male genitals, ④ in relief, ⑤ open; overt, ⑥ belonging to this world, ⑦
[linguistics] masculine, ⑧ south side of a hill, ⑨ north bank of a river
The compound yinyang 陰陽 means "yin and yang; opposites; ancient Chinese astronomy; occult
arts; astrologer; geomancer; etc."
The sinologist Rolf Stein etymologically translates Chinese yin 陰 "shady side (of a mountain)"
and yang 陽 "sunny side (of a mountain)" with the uncommon English geographic
terms ubac "shady side of a mountain" and adret "sunny side of a mountain" (which are
of French origin).
Toponymy
Many Chinese place names or toponyms contain the word yang "sunny side" and a few
contain yin "shady side". In China, as elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, sunlight comes
predominantly from the south, and thus the south face of a mountain or the north bank of a river
will receive more direct sunlight than the opposite side.
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Yang refers to the "south side of a hill" in Hengyang 衡陽 , which is south of Mount Heng 衡
山 in Hunan province, and to the "north bank of a river" in Luoyang 洛陽, which is located north
of the Luo River 洛河 in Henan.
Similarly, yin refers to "north side of a hill" in Huayin 華陰 , which is north of Mount Hua 華
山 in Shaanxi province.
In Japan, the characters are used in western Honshu to delineate the north-side San'in region 山
陰 from the south-side San'yō region 山陽, separated by the Chūgoku Mountains 中国山地.
Loanwords
English yin, yang, and yin-yang are familiar loanwords of Chinese origin.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines:
yin (jɪn) Also Yin, Yn. [Chinese yīn shade, feminine; the moon.]
a. In Chinese philosophy, the feminine or negative principle (characterized by dark, wetness,
cold, passivity, disintegration, etc.) of the two opposing cosmic forces into which creative energy
divides and whose fusion in physical matter brings the phenomenal world into being. Also attrib.
or as adj., and transf. Cf. yang.
b. Comb., as yin-yang, the combination or fusion of the two cosmic forces; freq. attrib., esp.
as yin-yang symbol, a circle divided by an S-shaped line into a dark and a light segment,
representing respectively yin and yang, each containing a 'seed' of the other.
yang (jæŋ) Also Yang. [Chinese yáng yang, sun, positive, male genitals.
a. In Chinese philosophy, the masculine or positive principle (characterized by light, warmth,
dryness, activity, etc.) of the two opposing cosmic forces into which creative energy divides and
whose fusion in physical matter brings the phenomenal world into being. Also attrib. or
as adj. Cf. yin.
b. Comb.: yang-yin = yin-yang s.v. yin b.
For the earliest recorded "yin and yang" usages, the OED cites 1671 for yin and yang,[14] 1850
for yin-yang,[15] and 1959 for yang-yin.
In English, yang-yin (like ying-yang) occasionally occurs as a mistake or typographical error for
the Chinese loanword yin-yang— yet they are not equivalents. Chinese does have
some yangyin collocations, such as 洋銀 (lit. "foreign silver") "silver coin/dollar", but not even
the most comprehensive dictionaries (e.g., the Hanyu Da Cidian) enter yangyin * 陽陰 .
While yang and yin can occur together in context,[17] yangyin is not synonymous with yinyang.
The linguistic term "irreversible binomial" refers to a collocation of two words A–B that cannot
be idiomatically reversed as B–A, for example, English cat and mouse (not *mouse and cat)
and friend or foe (not *foe or friend).[18] Similarly, the usual pattern among Chinese binomial
compounds is for positive A and negative B, where the A word is dominant or privileged over B,
for example, tiandi 天地 "heaven and earth" and nannü 男女 "men and
women". Yinyang meaning "dark and light; female and male; moon and sun", however, is an
exception. Scholars have proposed various explanations for why yinyang violates this pattern,
including "linguistic convenience" (it is easier to say yinyang than yangyin), the idea that "proto-
Chinese society was matriarchal", or perhaps, since yinyang first became prominent during the
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late Warring States period, this term was "purposely directed at challenging persistent cultural
assumptions".[18]
Joseph Needham discusses yin and yang together with Five Elements as part of the School of
Naturalists. He says that it would be proper to begin with yin and yang before Five Elements
because the former: "lay, as it were, at a deeper level in Nature, and were the most ultimate
principles of which the ancient Chinese could conceive. But it so happens that we know a good
deal more about the historical origin of the Five-Element theory than about that of the yin and
the yang, and it will therefore be more convenient to deal with it first." [19] He then discusses Zou
Yan (鄒衍; 305–240 BC) who is most associated with these theories. Although yin and yang are
not mentioned in any of the surviving documents of Zou Yan, his school was known as the Yin
Yang Jia (Yin and Yang School) Needham concludes "There can be very little doubt that the
philosophical use of the terms began about the beginning of the −4th century, and that the
passages in older texts which mention this use are interpolations made later than that time." [19]
Certain catchphrases have been used to express yin and yang complementarity:[23]
 The bigger the front, the bigger the back.

 Illness is the doorway to health.
 Tragedy turns to comedy.
 Disasters turn out to be blessings.
Yin is the black side, and yang is the white side. The relationship between yin and yang is often
described in terms of sunlight playing over a mountain and a valley. Yin (literally the 'shady
place' or 'north slope') is the dark area occluded by the mountain's bulk, while yang (literally the
"sunny place' or "south slope") is the brightly lit portion. As the sun moves across the sky, yin
and yang gradually trade places with each other, revealing what was obscured and obscuring
what was revealed.
Yin is characterized as slow, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, and passive; and is associated with
water, earth, the moon, negativity, femininity, shadows/darkness, destruction, and night time.
Yang, by contrast, is fast, hard, solid, focused, hot/warm, dry, and active; and is associated with
fire, sky/air, the sun, positivity, masculinity, glowing/light, creation, and daytime.[24]
Yin and yang also applies to the human body. In traditional Chinese medicine good health is
directly related to the balance between yin and yang qualities within oneself. [25] If yin and yang
become unbalanced, one of the qualities is considered deficient or has vacuity.
I Ching
In the I Ching, originally a divination manual of the Western Zhou period (c. 1000–750 BC)
based on Chinese Astronomy,[26] yin and yang are represented by broken and solid lines: yin is
broken (⚋) and yang is solid (⚊). These are then combined into trigrams, which are more yang
(e.g. ☱) or more yin (e.g. ☵) depending on the number of broken and solid lines (e.g., ☰ is
heavily yang, while ☷ is heavily yin), and trigrams are combined into hexagrams
(e.g. ䷕ and ䷟). The relative positions and numbers of yin and yang lines within the trigrams
determines the meaning of a trigram, and in hexagrams the upper trigram is considered yang with
respect to the lower trigram, yin, which allows for complex depictions of interrelations.
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Taijitu
The Yin and Yang symbol with white representing Yang and black representing Yin.The "taichi
symbol" (taijitu)./Chinese
The principle of yin and yang is represented by the Taijitu (literally "Diagram of the Supreme
Ultimate"). The term is commonly used to mean the simple "divided circle" form, but may refer
to any of several schematic diagrams representing these principles, such as the swastika,
common to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Similar symbols have also appeared in other
cultures, such as in Celtic art and Roman shield markings.
In this symbol the two teardrops swirl to represent the conversion of yin to yang and yang to yin.
This is seen when a ball is thrown into the air with a yang velocity then converts to a yin velocity
to fall back to earth. The two teardrops are opposite in direction to each other to show that as one
increases the other decreases. The dot of the opposite field in the tear drop shows that there is
always yin within yang and always yang within yin.
T'ai chi ch'ua
T'ai chi ch'uan or Taijiquan (太極拳), a form of martial art, is often described as the principles of
yin and yang applied to the human body and an animal body. Wu Jianquan, a famous Chinese
martial arts teacher, described Taijiquan as follows:
Various people have offered different explanations for the name Taijiquan. Some have said: – 'In
terms of self-cultivation, one must train from a state of movement towards a state of
stillness. Taiji comes about through the balance of yin and yang. In terms of the art of attack and
defense then, in the context of the changes of full and empty, one is constantly internally latent,
to not outwardly expressive, as if the yin and yang of Taiji have not yet divided apart.' Others
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say: 'Every movement of Taijiquan is based on circles, just like the shape of a Taijitu. Therefore,
it is called Taijiquan.
— Wu Jianquan, The International Magazine of T'ai Chi Ch'uan
The Yin and Yang Symbol with white representing Yang and black representing Yin.
🉡 (U+1F261), a stylised 禄 lù and/or 子 zi character, meaning respectively "prosperity",

"furthering", "welfare" and "son", "offspring". 字 zì, meaning "word" and "symbol", is a cognate
of 子 zi and represents a "son" enshrined under a "roof". Lùxīng (禄星 "Star of Prosperity") is
Mizar (ζ Ursae Majoris) of the Big Dipper or Chariot constellation (within Ursa Major) which
rotates around the north celestial pole; it is the second star of the "handle" of the Dipper. Zi was
the name of the royal lineage of the Shang dynasty, and is itself a representation of the north
celestial pole and its spinning stars (Didier, p. 191 and passim). Likewise to the
Eurasian swastika symbols, representations of the supreme God manifesting as the north celestial
pole and its Chariot (Assasi, passim; Didier, passim), the lu or zi symbol represents the ordering
manifestation of the supreme God of Heaven (Tiān 天) of the Chinese tradition.
Luxing is conceived as a member of two clusters of gods, the Sānxīng (三星 "Three Stars") and
the Jiǔhuángshén (九皇神 "Nine God-Kings"). The latter are the seven stars of the Big Dipper
plus two less visible ones thwartwise the "handle", and they are conceived as the ninefold
manifestation of the supreme God of Heaven, which in this tradition is called Jiǔhuángdàdì (九
皇大帝, "Great Deity of the Nine Kings") (Cheu, p. 19), Xuántiān Shàngdì (玄天上帝 "Highest
Deity of the Dark Heaven") (DeBernardi, pp. 57–59), or Dòufù (斗父 "Father of the Chariot").
The number nine is for this reason associated with the yang masculine power of the dragon, and
celebrated in the Double Ninth Festival and Nine God-Kings Festival (DeBernardi, pp. 57–59).
The Big Dipper is the expansion of the supreme principle, governing waxing and life (yang),
while the Little Dipper is its reabsorption, governing waning and death (yin) (Cheu, p. 19;
DeBernardi, pp. 57–59). The mother of the Jiuhuangshen is Dǒumǔ ( 斗母 "Mother of the
Chariot"), the female aspect of the supreme (Cheu, p. 19; DeBernardi, pp. 57–59).
 Source#1: Didier, John C. (2009). "In and Outside the Square: The Sky and the Power of
Belief in Ancient China and the World, c. 4500 BC – AD 200". Sino-Platonic Papers. Victor
92
H. Mair (192). Volume II: Representations and Identities of High Powers in Neolithic and
Bronze China
 Source #2: Assasi, Reza (2013). "Swastika: The Forgotten Constellation Representing the
Chariot of Mithras". Anthropological Notebooks (Supplement: Šprajc, Ivan; Pehani, Peter,
eds. Ancient Cosmologies and Modern Prophets: Proceedings of the 20th Conference of the
European Society for Astronomy in Culture). Ljubljana: Slovene Anthropological Society.
XIX (2). ISSN 1408-032X.
 Source#3: Cheu, Hock Tong (1988). The Nine Emperor Gods: A Study of Chinese Spirit-
medium Cults. Time Books International. ISBN 9971653850.
 Source#4: DeBernardi, Jean (2007). "Commodifying Blessings: Celebrating the Double-

Yang Festival in Penang, Malaysia and Wudang Mountain, China". In Kitiarsa,
Pattana. Religious Commodifications in Asia: Marketing Gods. Routledge.* Source #5: Ma
Pilar Burillo-Cuadrado (2014). "The Swastika As Representation Of The Sun Of Helios And
Mithras". Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, Vol. 14, No 3, pp. 29-36
 Source #6: A reconstruction of Zhū Xī's religious philosophy inspired by Leibniz :the
natural theology of heaven (2014). Archived from the original on 2021-05-14. Retrieved
on 18 January 2022.
Chapter IV
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Mandala of Maha Meru
The Shri Yantra shown in the three-dimensional projection called Mahāmeru
Mount Meru ( मेरु), also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru, is the sacred five-peaked
mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all
the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. Many famous Buddhist, Jain,
and Hindu temples have been built as symbolic representations of this mountain. The "Sumeru
Throne" xūmízuò style base is a common feature of Chinese pagodas. The highest point (the
finial bud) on the pyatthat, a Burmese-style multi-tiered roof, represents Mount Meru.
Etymologically, the proper name of the mountain is Meru (Sanskrit: Meru), to which is added
the approbatory prefix su-, resulting in the meaning "excellent Meru" or "wonderful
Meru". Meru is also the name of the central bead in a mālā
In other languages, Mount Meru is pronounced:
 Assamese: মেৰু পর্বত (Meru Pôrbôt)

 Bengali: মেরু পর্বত (Meru Porbot)
 Burmese: ([mjɪ̰ ɴ mò tàʊɰ̃ ])
 Cebuano: Bukid Meru
 Chinese: 須彌山 (Xūmíshān)
 Gujarati: મેરૂ પર્વત (Meru Parvat)
 Hindi: मेरु पर्वत (Meru Parvat)
 Ilocano: Bantay Meru
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 Japanese: 須弥山 (Shumisen)
 Javanese: (Semeru)
 Kannada: ಮೇರು ಪರ್ವತ (Meru Parvata)
 Khmer: ភ្នំព្សុមេរុ (Phnom Preah Someru) or (Phnom Preah Somae)
 Korean: 수미산 (Sumisan)
 Malayalam: മഹാമേരു പർവ്വതം (Mahameru Parvatham)
 Odia: ମେରୁ ପର୍ବତ (“Meru Parbat”)
 Pāli: Sineru
 Tagalog: Bulkang Meru
 Tamil: மகா மேரு மலை (Maha Meru Malai)
 Telugu: మేరు పర్వతం (Meru Parvatam)
 Sinhala: මහා මේරු පර්වතය (Maha Meru Parvathaya)
 Tibetan: ཪི་རྒྱལ་པོ་རི་རབ་
 Thai: เขาพระสุเมรุ (Khao phra sumen)
 Vietnamese: Núi Tu-di
The dimensions attributed to Mount Meru
The dimensions attributed to Mount Meru — which all refer to it as a part of the Cosmic Ocean,
along with several other statements that describe it in geographically vague terms (e.g., "the Sun
along with all the planets circle the mountain") — make the determination of its location most
difficult, according to most scholars.
Several researchers identify Mount Meru or Sumeru with the Pamirs, northwest of Kashmir.
The Suryasiddhanta mentions that Mt. Meru lies at the centre the Earth ("bhuva-madhya") in the
land of the Jambunad (Jambudvīpa). Narapatijayacharyasvarodaya,[14] a ninth-century text,
based on mostly unpublished texts of Yāmal Tantr, mentions:
"Sumeruḥ Prithvī-madhye shrūyate drishyate na tu"
(Sumeru is heard to be at the centre of the Earth, but is not seen there).[15]
Several versions of cosmology can be found in existing Hindu texts. In one of them,
cosmologically, the Meru mountain was also described as being surrounded by
Mandrachala Mountain to the east, Suparshva Mountain to the west, Kumuda Mountain
to the north and Kailasa to the south.
Buddhist cosmology and Mount Meru (Buddhism)
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Yuan dynasty 1271–1368) Chinese mandala depicting Mount Meru as an inverted pyramid topped by a lotus.
According to Buddhist cosmology, Mount Meru (or Sumeru) is at the centre of the world
and Jambūdvīpa is south of it. It is 80,000 yojanas wide and 80,000 yojanas high according to
the Abhidharmakośabhāṣyam and 84,000 yojanas high according to the Long Āgama Sutra
Trāyastriṃśa is on its peak, where Śakra resides. The Sun and the Moon revolve around Mount
Meru, and as the Sun passes behind it, it becomes nighttime. The mountain has four faces —
each one made of a different material; the northern face is made of gold, the eastern one is made
of crystal, the southern one is made of lapis lazuli, and the western one is made of ruby.[
In Vajrayāna, maṇḍala offerings often include Mount Meru, as they in part represent the entire
universe. It is also believed that Mount Meru is the home of the buddha Cakrasaṃvara
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mural depicting Mt. Meru, in Wat Sakhet, Bangkok, Thailand.
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The cosmic tortoise, and Mount Meru
Mount Meru of Hindu traditions is described as 84,000 yojanas high, about 1,082,000 km
(672,000 mi), which would be 85 times the Earth's diameter. The Sun, along with all the planets
in the Solar System, revolve around Mt. Meru as one unit.
One yojana can be taken to mean about 11.5 km (9 miles), though its magnitude seems to differ
over time periods — e.g., the Earth's circumference is 3,200 yojanas according
to Varahamihira and slightly less so in the Aryabhatiya, but is said to be 5,026.5 yojanas in the
Suryasiddhānta. The Matsya Purana and the Bhagvata Purana, along with some other Hindu
texts, consistently give the height of 84,000 yojanas to Mount Meru, which translates into
672,000 miles or 1,082,000 kilometers.
Mount Meru was said to be the residence of King Padamja Brahma in antiquity.
According to Charles Allen, Mount Kailash is identified with Mount Meru. One description in
the Vishnu Purana of the mountain states that its four faces are made of crystal, ruby, gold,
and lapis lazuli. It is a pillar of the world and is located at the heart of six mountain ranges
symbolizing a lotus.
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Painting of Mount Meru
from Jain cosmology from the Samghayanarayana
According to Jain cosmology, Mount Meru (or Sumeru) is at the centre of the world surrounded
by Jambūdvīpa, in form of a circle forming a diameter of 100,000 yojans. There are two sets of
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sun, moon and stars revolving around Mount Meru; while one set works, the other set rests
behind Mount Meru.
Every Tirthankara is taken to the summit of Meru by Indra shortly after his birth, after putting
the Tirthankara child's mother into deep slumber. There, he is bathed and anointed with precious
unctions. Indra and other Devas celebrate his birth.
Javanese legands
This mythical mountain of gods was mentioned in the Tantu Pagelaran, an Old
Javanese manuscript written in the 15th-century Majapahit period. The manuscript describes the
mythical origin of the island of Java, as well as the legendary movement of portions of Mount
Meru to Java. The manuscript explains that Batara Guru (Shiva) ordered the
gods Brahma and Vishnu to fill Java with human beings. However, at that time, Java island was
floating freely on the ocean, always tumbling and shaking. To stop the island's movement, the
gods decided to nail it to the Earth by moving the part of Mahameru in Jambudvipa (India) and
attaching it to Java. The resulting mountain is Mount Semeru, the tallest mountain on Java.
The concept of a holy mountain surrounded by various circles was incorporated into
ancient Hindu temple architecture with a Shikhara (Śikhara) — a Sanskrit word translating
literally to "mountain peak." Early examples of this style can be found at the Harshat Mata
Temple and Harshnath Temple from the 8th century CE in Rajasthan, Western India. This
concept also continued outside India, such as in Bali, where temples feature Meru towers.
In Buddhist temples, the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya is the earliest example of the 5th- to
6th-century depiction. Many other Buddhist temples took on this form, such as the Wat
Arun in Thailand and the Hsinbyume Pagoda in Myanmar.
ANGKOR as a Mount Meru
Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument on the planet. Angkor Wat is spread across over 400
acres / 1.6 km², and is said to be the largest religious monument in the world. It was listed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site in 1992, which encouraged an international effort to save the complex.
Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later
galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu and Buddhist
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cosmology. ... The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture.What makes
Angkor Wat special?: Though just one of hundreds of surviving temples and structures, the massive
Angkor Wat is the most famed of all Cambodia's temples—it appears on the nation's flag—and it is
revered for good reason. The 12th century “temple-mountain” was built as a spiritual home for the Hindu
god Vishnu
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The five central towers of Angkor Wat, before a Hindu and later a Buddhist temple in Siem
Reap, Cambodia, symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru.
What does the Angkor Wat temple represent?
All of the original religious motifs derived from Hinduism, and the temple was dedicated to the gods
Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu. The five central towers of Angkor Wat symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru,
which according to Hindu mythology is the dwelling place of the gods.
King Suryavarman II
Angkor Wat is an architectural masterpiece and the largest religious monument in the world – covering an
area four times the size of Vatican City. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the first half of
the 12th century, around the year 1110-1150, making Angkor Wat almost 900 years old.
50 Angkor Temples
Angkor Wat is the most famous of more than 50 Angkor Temples within the Angkor Archaeological Park
and Siem Reap Province. The area is over 400 square kilometres (155 square miles) of hot and humid
jungle.It fulfills the criterion of both a temple mountain and is like a Jain temple city.
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Sprawling structures forming the shape of a giant spiral and an ensemble of buried towers have been dug
up from the grounds of Angkor Wat, spurring new mysteries about the ancient temple. It was once
believed that the Cambodian temple was surrounded sacred precincts, or 'temple cities. '
Why is Angkor Wat important to Hinduism?
All of the original religious motifs derived from Hinduism, and the temple was dedicated to the gods
Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu. The five central towers of Angkor Wat symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru,
which according to Hindu mythology is the dwelling place of the gods.
Angkor Wat occupies a rectangular area of about 208 hectares (500 acres) defined by a laetrile wall. The
first evidence of the site is a moat with a long sandstone causeway (length 250 meters, 820 feet; width 12
meters, 39 feet) crossing it and serving as the main access to the monument.
Area of about 500 acres

Built between roughly A.D. 1113 and 1150, and encompassing an area of about 500 acres (200 hectares),
Angkor Wat is one of the largest religious monuments ever constructed.
Is Angkor Wat bigger than the pyramids? Angkor Wat is the biggest religious complex on the
planet. The complex's main temple, Angkor Wat puts Vatican City to shame (sorry Pope Francis)
– it's four times the size! Plus, the entire city of Angkor used more stone than all the Egyptian
pyramids combined, and took over an area larger than modern-day Paris. Angkor Wat 'temple
city / city of temples', located in northwest Cambodia, is the largest religious structure in the
form of a temple complex in the world by land area measuring 162.6 hectares (401+3⁄4 acres). At
the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of four towers surrounding a central spire that rises to
a height of 65 m (213 ft) above the ground. The temple has three rectangular galleries, each
raised above the next. It lies within an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2+1⁄4 miles) long and
a moat more than five kilometres (three miles) long. Outer enclosure
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A view of the gates and west wall of the outer enclosure of Angkor Wat from across the moat/ The Northern library//Ta Reach Statue at
Angkor Wat, an Eight-Armed Vishnu.
The outer wall, 1,024 m (3,360 ft) by 802 m (2,631 ft) and 4.5 m (15 ft) high, is surrounded by a 30 m
(98 ft) apron of open ground and a moat 190 m (620 ft) wide and over 5 kilometres (3 mi) in
perimeter. The moat extends 1.5 kilometres from east to west and 1.3 kilometres from north to south.
Access to the temple is by an earth bank to the east and a sandstone causeway to the west; the latter, the
main entrance,
is a later addition, possibly replacing a wooden bridge. There are gopuras at each of the cardinal points;
the western is by far the largest and has three ruined towers. Glaize notes that this gopura both hides and
echoes the form of the temple proper. The outer wall encloses a space of 820,000 square metres (203
acres), which besides the temple proper was originally occupied by the city and, to the north of the
temple, the royal palace. Like all secular buildings of Angkor, these were built of perishable materials
rather than of stone, so nothing remains of them except the outlines of some of the streets. [58] Most of the
area is now covered by forest.
A 350 m (1,150 ft) causeway connects the western gopura to the temple proper, with naga balustrades and
six sets of steps leading down to the city on either side. Each side also features a library with entrances at
each cardinal point, in front of the third set of stairs from the entrance, and a pond between the library and
the temple itself. The ponds are later additions to the design, as is the cruciform terrace guarded by lions
connecting the causeway to the central structure. Beyond, the second and inner galleries are connected to
each other and to two flanking libraries by another cruciform terrace, again a later addition. From the
second level upwards, devatas abound on the walls, singly or in groups of up to four. The second-level
enclosure is 100 m (330 ft) by 115 m (377 ft), and may originally have been flooded to represent
the ocean around Mount Meru. Three sets of steps on each side lead up to the corner towers and gopuras
of the inner gallery. The very steep stairways represent the difficulty of ascending to the kingdom of the
gods. This inner gallery, called the Bakan, is a 60 m (200 ft) square with axial galleries connecting each
gopura with the central shrine, and subsidiary shrines located below the corner towers.
The roofings of the galleries are decorated with the motif of the body of a snake ending in the heads of
lions or garudas. Carved lintels and pediments decorate the entrances to the galleries and to the shrines.
The tower above the central shrine rises 43 m (141 ft) to a height of 65 m (213 ft) above the ground;
unlike those of previous temple mountains, the central tower is raised above the surrounding four. The
shrine itself, originally occupied by a statue of Vishnu and open on each side, was walled in when the
temple was converted to Theravada Buddhism, the new walls featuring standing Buddhas. The monument
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was made out of five to ten million sandstone blocks with a maximum weight of 1.5 tons each. The entire
city of Angkor used far greater amounts of stone than all the Egyptian pyramids combined, and occupied
an area significantly greater than modern-day Paris. Moreover, unlike the Egyptian pyramids which use
limestone quarried barely 0.5 km (1⁄4 mi) away all the time, the entire city of Angkor was built with
sandstone quarried 40 km (25 mi) (or more) away.[71] This sandstone had to be transported from Mount
Kulen, a quarry approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast.
The route has been suggested to span 35 kilometres (22 mi) along a canal towards Tonlé Sap lake, another
35 kilometres (22 mi) crossing the lake, and finally 15 kilometres (9 mi) against the current along Siem
Reap River, making a total journey of 90 kilometres (55 mi). However, Etsuo Uchida and Ichita Shimoda
of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan have discovered in 2011 a shorter 35-kilometre (22 mi) canal
connecting Mount Kulen and Angkor Wat using satellite imagery. The two believe that the Khmer used
this route instead.
Devata Sculpture on Wall at Angkor Wat
Virtually all of its surfaces, columns, lintels, and even roofs are carved. There are kilometres of reliefs
illustrating scenes from Indian literature including unicorns, griffins, winged dragons pulling chariots as
well as warriors following an elephant-mounted leader and celestial dancing girls with elaborate
hairstyles. The gallery wall alone is decorated with almost 1,000 m2 (11,000 sq ft) of bas reliefs. Holes on
some of the Angkor walls indicate that they may have been decorated with bronze sheets. These were
highly prized in ancient times and were a prime target for robbers.
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Chapter 4
The Quest for the Optimal Configuration of the SriYantra
Context
Traditional Indian architecture is extremely simple and straightforward. Simple techniques of

construction were utilized to build some of the glorious and magnificent buildings that have
withstood the test of time. Structural elements like columns and beams were carefully integrated
within the buildings to meet the needs of religious and cultural traditions.
The vast freedom available to the sthapaka and sthapathi in the design of temples and other
spiritual buildings resulted in the development of overwhelming wealth of architectural elements,
variety of sculptural forms and decorative exuberances that has become the everlasting symbol
of Indian Temple Architecture.
The shikhara remains the most outstanding element of the temple and the gateway is usually
modest. The prakaras or the walls surrounding the garbha griha were built around the whole
complex and were oriented to the cardinal directions. These enclosures had elaborate and
magnificent gateways (gopurams) that led the devotees into the sacred courtyard.
A temple is the seat of divinity and is also a sacred institution that aims at giving mental and
physical solace to the devotee. The Garbhagruha (Garbhagudi) or sanctum sanctorum
encompasses the center or the nabhi of the superstructure. From the square shape of the
Garbhagruha to the finial (which is a point) is the shikara.
This curved form is identified in modern times as the pyramid. The shikara normally refers to the
superstructure of the sanctum sanctorum and is the most important part of the temple. The
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pyramidal superstructure has a number of storeys. The shikara can be a square, circular,
hexagonal (6 sides) or octagonal (8 sides).
The vertical growth of Shikara is also sometimes used to designate the whole superstructure of
the temple. The term Shikara is frequently mentioned at several places in the great epics
Ramayana and Mahabharata when referring to the ‘Prasada’ or temple. While the shikara
generally refers to the curvilinear vertical growth of the sanctum sanctorum, the gopurams or
gate towers refer to the gateways to the various enclosures and a temple. These are also pyramid
shaped and the cross-section is reduced as they go up.
Generally the pyramidal superstructure has four or eight triangles joined if the garbha griha was
square (or rectangular) and round shaped if the sanctum sanctorum was circular. The
superstructure was solid or hollow. The shikhara generally comprises of three parts:
. The recessed storeys
. Enclosure surrounding each storey.
. The dome (stupi or kalasa) rising above the last storey (also called the Vimana or Harmya)
In certain temples the shikara is formed by placing a flat roof on four pillars. Another slab is
placed over the shikara. Slab upon slab diminishing in size as they go up are placed one above
the other, topped by a perforated ring stone, known as the amalaka, forming a step pyramid. The
added weight of the slabs keeps the roof in position. Many a time an upper chamber for the
shrine was introduced for greatly reducing mass and weight.
The surrounding walls around the sanctum sanctorum, which have gateways or gopurams, also
have pyramid shaped roofs with diminishing tiers as they go up, with the outermost enclosure
referred as mahamayada. The immediate enclosure around the garbhagriha, known as the
Prasada towers above it like a pyramid with diminishing tiers and is also known as the shikara.
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The celestial power drawn through the shikaras gives the deity effulgence and metaphysical
power. The shikara apart from being a roof for the sanctum sanctorum is also a symbol of divine
sanctity giving significant emphasis to the garbhagriha and the principal deity of the central
divinity. The top of the shikara tapers to a finial and is known as the kalasa or stupika.
One of the learned writers on Temple architecture says that the height of each storey of the
pyramidal superstructure diminishes in arithmetical progression, being one-fourth or one-third
less than the lower storey, the ground floor not being included. Pyramids
Pyramids are synonymous with Egypt. In recent times these structures with four triangular sides
standing over a square base have entered the domain of Vastu and are being prescribed for many
of the imbalances of a building – residential or business. Egypt is a land of pyramids and we
have Egyptologists and pyramidologists doing research and throwing light on the antiquity and
mystery surrounding them. Egyptologists are archaeologists who specialize studying the ancient
Egyptian artefacts.
The term pyramid is derived from the Greek words pyra meaning fire, light, or visible, and the
word midos meaning measures. It is also translated to mean fire at the center. This word perhaps
denotes the great hidden power of these structures with a square base and four triangular sides
that rise upwards to a finial.
Even though Egypt is synonymous with pyramids, we find them in other parts of the world such
as China, Mexico, Spain, France, Siberia, Central America, Greece, Cambodia and other
countries. The pyramids of Egypt are traced to at least 4000 years back. The Giza pyramids of
Egypt date back to about 2500 B.C.
The Giza pyramids are generally identified with three major pyramids – Pyramid of Cheops
(Khufu) or the Great Pyramid, the pyramid of Chephren (Khafu) and the pyramid of Mycerinus
(Menkaure). This apart the area spread over thirteen acres of land has six or more smaller
pyramids. A remarkable feature of the Giza pyramids is that they are aligned with great precision
to the cardinal directions.
The lengths of the four sides of the base of the Great Pyramid are amazingly equal measuring an
average of 755.5 feet. The great pyramid, known as the eighth wonder of the world is said to
have been built over a period of several decades using 2.3 million limestone bricks weighing an
average of two and half to fifteen tons each.
It rises up to a height of 481 feet. Several theories are put forth on how such these giant blocks
were put in place to create the perfect pyramid. One theory tells us that a ramp, straight or spiral,
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was raised as the construction carried on. These ramps helped in pushing up the blocks into
place.
The entrance to the great pyramid is on the north. The pyramid contains four chambers. The
King’s Chamber, lying at a height identified with the pyramid’s center, can be reached only
through a narrow passage located at the northern face. A number of corridors, galleries and
airshafts lead to the chamber.
These pyramids served as burial places for the Egyptian Kings known as pharaohs. A series of
other chambers are found above the King’s chamber. Each side of the Great Pyramid rises at an
angle of 51 degrees 51 minutes to the top. Not only that, each of the sides are aligned almost
exactly with true north, south, east, and west. Vastu texts consider the proper orientation to the
cardinal directions as of great significance while referring to the Yoni aspect of the Ayadi
Shadvargas.
There are many similarities between the Hindu Shikaras and the Egyptian pyramids. We have
referred to Step pyramids. In fact, they are similar to the shikaras with the diminishing storeys
that is considered in Vastu Shastra. While the Shikaras drew the cosmic energies into the
garbagriha to flood the sanctum sanctorum with divinity, the pyramids drew the cosmic energies
to preserve the bodies of the Pharoah Kings who were considered divine.
In the villages of India, we even find huts that have tops in the shape of pyramids. It is
interesting to note that while pyramids are said to keep foodstuff fresh, the prasadams and other
offerings in the garbhagriha or sanctum sanctorum of a temple also remain fresh for a long time.
Whether you call it a shikara or pyramid, it is a fact that the shape of these structures influences
the flow of energy from the universe and this energy helps in enhancing the overall quality of our
life. The most important thing to recognize is that many of their architectural and construction
features are similar to that used in Indian temples built thousands of years ago.
It appears that in earlier times people from Egypt and possibly from various other countries did
travel to India to learn about its architectural and construction features. A look at the pyramids
clearly reinforces the fact that there was a compatible interaction and understanding between the
cultures of Egypt and India in the science of Vastu Shastra.
https://www.indiadivine.org/vastu-temples-and-pyramids-in-vedic-context/
What is Vastu Yantra? Where Should We Keep Vastu Dosh Nivaran Yantra?
A Vastu yantra prohibits negativity from entering the home. It spreads a protective shield
encompassing the home and thereby brings positivity into the home. It fights against the negative
forces of the environment and helps maintain harmony within the members of the family.
The Vastu yantra is a harmless tool with no bad effects and can be kept in homes, offices,
factories or any other place of your liking. However, this article will guide you through the
details of Vastu dosh nivaran yantra and where you can place it at your home to get fruitful
results.
All You Need To Know About Vastu Yantra

What is Vastu Dosh Nivaran Yantra?
The Vastu dosh nivaran yantra is the messiah for all those families who have built their home on
disputed lands and are struggling to find a balance in their life. Vastu dosh is a major issue if not
solved while planning a home can bring you down the ladder of life.
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But it certainly is not possible for everyone to construct their homes following all the Vastu
principles. Especially for people living in flats and apartments, it is impossible to construct a
home according to Vastu. You have to rely on Vastu remedies to rectify the Vastu dosh already
made while building the home.
Initially, understanding the effects of Vastu dosh is difficult. But as days pass, it starts to shade
its shadow on the lifestyle of the inmates. Leading a peaceful life gets fully disrupted when you
live in a home having Vastu dosh. Vastu has the power to make and break homes. However, after
knowing about Vastu dosh, you cannot apparently deconstruct your home again.
The Vastu dosh nivaran yantra comes to the rescue in those cases. It pulls the perfect balance
between the three-dimensional geometrical energy field and removes all negative aspects from
the home. It promises to bring wealth, peace, happiness and harmony in the home apart from
maintaining proper health of the inmates. Having this yantra at home, brings in a lot of changes
in life.
The Vastu yantra has an appearance of square shape and is made up of ashtadhatu. In Hindu
astrology the ashtadhatu is of great significance. It is the compilation of all the five metals of
nature i.e., gold, silver, copper, brass and iron. The presence of all these metals in the Vastu
yantra helps it neutralize all the power force and therefore, peace prevails inside the home.
Where should we keep Vastu dosh nivaran yantra?

The right place to keep the Vastu yantra for home is to keep it underground. Yes, you should dig
the soil of your home before the construction of the home and put it inside. In case you are living
in a flat or apartment here are the right directions to keep the Vastu dosh nivaran yantra:
According to the common rule, the northeast direction is the best place for keeping the Vastu
dosh nivaran yantra. North-east corner is the direction for worship. The sun shades its first ray of
light on the north-east direction after rising. It is said that when the morning sunlight falls on the
Vastu yantra through the window, the yantra works more effectively.
Mount the yantra on the southeast wall of your home. Beside or above the yantra, add a wall
mounted lamp for it to get light all the day and night. The southeast direction is considered a
feminine safety spot. Having the yantra on that part of your home will ensure the wellbeing and
safety of the women of your home.
You can keep it anywhere, but never opposite a mirror or glass. As far as the reasons are
concerned, we guess you are already aware that mirrors in astrology have equally positive and
negative after effects. If you keep the yantra opposite to a mirror, then the mirror will reflect
back all the energy that it tries to flourish on the home.
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It will be of no use if the energy is restored back to the place from where it is coming from. You
will get no visible result even after investing in the Vastu remedy tool. There are a lot of Vastu
yantra images available on the internet where it is shown that yantras could be kept in front of
the mirror. Do not get influenced by them, as all of it is just decoration and not for real.
Vastu yantra can also be hung on the door. Just like you put a swastika or om on the door, adding
a Vastu dosh nivaran yantra, will also be an effective way. It can act as a decor item and at the
same time will help to restrict the negative energies from entering your home’s periphery. The
ashtadhatu present in it will prohibit the evil eyes from shading an ill effect on your family.
As the main place to keep the Vastu yantra is under the ground. People tend to think a pot will be
the best place to keep it and they bury it inside the pot. But that is not the right place at all. There
is a difference between, burying a tool under the ground and inside the pot. You can instead,
place it on a table at the corner of your drawing room. Check living room colour ideas.
Note this point!

There are several views of different people about the right place to keep the yantra. But we
would recommend you to consult an astrologer to seek his advice about the same. Though there
are only positive effects and zero side effects of the yantra, yet for a subconscious satisfaction,
consulting an astrologer will be the perfect decision.
Hope this writeup has been helpful for you and will help you in having a harmonious, peaceful,
healthy and happy home!
Vastu Tips for Vastu Tips for Designing House Temple Colour
Bathroom Mirror Drawing Room as Per Vastu
Bungalow Planning as L Shaped House Vastu Check Vastu of Your

per Vastu Design House
Frequently asked questions

 Where should I keep Vastu Yantra at home?
Ideally, vastu yantra should be kept under the ground. If that is not possible then you should
place it on a table in the drawing rooms corner.
 How does vastu dosh nivaran yantra help?
The vastu dosh nivaran yantra helps in achieving good health, prosperity, happiness, harmony
and peace.
 Does vastu yantra eliminate negativity

Yes, vastu yantra helps in eliminating negativity and acts as a protective shield.
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Pyramid-shaped roof of the pooja room
Vastu for Pooja Room in House (Best Direction, Colors, Design, Door etc.)
 Storage Considerations for the Pooja Room
 Carefully Select the Wall and Floor Colours
 Lights for the Prayer Room
 Doors for the Pooja Room
 Additional Accessories for the Pooja Room
 Areas to Align Your Sacred Room In
 Vastu Tips
Vastu Shastra lays down the foundation for building the pooja rooms in our houses. These spaces
play a vital role in Indian homes, and they ought to be placed in a sacred way to attract all the
positive energies. Our Vastu tips for the your pooja rooms take into consideration the direction,
colours, design, and materials.
Vastu Plan for Pooja Room
Location of the Prayer Area
The North-east, East or the North directions are preferred for constructing a pooja room. These
directions are considered the most auspicious. Avoid placing the pooja rooms beneath the
staircases and next to the toilets to ensure zero negative energies.
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Ground floor
pooja room is ideal
Ensure correct placement of the pooja room
Ideal Design for a Pooja Room
Ideally, in order to follow Vastu for a pooja room in flats, make sure you have a pyramid-type
structure of the ceiling. This roof looks like a gopura of a temple. Such a design ensures
attracting positive energies in this space.
Consider Deciding the Level of the Pooja room

According to the vastu for pooja room in flats, these spaces should be built on the ground floor
of the house. According to Vastu principles, the pooja room should not be in the basement or on
the elevated floors. Avoiding such placements brings in maximum positivity and good omen.
Positioning the Idols Inside the Prayer Room

Preferably, it is said that one should avoid placing idols inside the prayer room. But if you want,
ensure that it is not more than 9 inches or less than 2 inches in height. The idols should be kept
slightly away from each other to ensure proper flow of the air. The feet of the idols should be at
the chest level while praying. The position of the idols should be such that one faces the East or
North while praying.
Idols should reach the chest level during prayers

Storage Considerations for the Pooja Room
Make sure to align the storage in the South or West directions to ensure uninterrupted sunlight in
the room. Prayer books, wicks, lamps, etc. shall not be jumbled up and not placed over the idol.
The reason is to create a de-cluttered worshipping environment.
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Ens
uring light-coloured walls and floor
Proper placement of the diyas and wicks

Carefully Select the Wall and Floor Colours
Serene colours like light blue, white, and pale yellow shall be chosen for the pooja room. White
or cream-coloured marble is recommended for the floor to ensure better reflection and a brighter
room. It's best to avoid dark colours.
Lights for the Prayer Room

Have a provision of a window in the northeast to allow natural light to seep in. Diyas and lamps
would be there in any prayer room, but you can add artificial lighting too. This would increase
the radiance of the sacred
place. Proper
lighting for the sacred room
Doors for the Pooja Room
Your sacred place should have doors made of wood. These doors should have two-shutters and a
threshold to avoid insects. The direction of the idol shall be away from the entry door of the
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prayer room.
Double shutter wooden door for the mandir

Additional Accessories for the Pooja Room
As per pooja room Vastu, images which display negative energies like death, war, etc. shall not
be kept in this place. Avoid placing a dustbin in the area. Place copper vessels to collect as much
water as possible.
No negative accessories to be placed
Areas to Align Your Sacred Room In

You can align the pooja room in the kitchen or the living room. Ensure that the direction should
be northeast of the home. If you feel like building the mandir in your bedroom, make sure to
install it in the north-east of your bedroom. Your feet should not point to the pooja room while
sleeping.
Pooja room in the living room

It's always recommended to follow a Vastu expert’s guidelines to make sure all the intricacies
of Vastu Shastra are taken care of. Still, if you follow all the above Vastu Tips, you will attract
health, prosperity, and happiness.
Vastu Tips
Vastu Vastu Plan West Facing Griha Vastu for
Shastra for East House Vastu Pravesh Couple
Facing Plan Muhurat in Bedroom
2021
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Sleeping Kitchen Mirror
Vastu Vastu for
Direction as Colour as per Placement as
Dosh Bathroom
per Vastu Vastu per Vastu
Vastu Tips for Bedroom

Vastu for Vastu Tips Vastu
Career Colour as per
Home for Money Pyramid
Growth Vastu
Ancient Vastu Planning and Natural Disasters

The natural calamities (earthquakes, tsunamis and cyclones) in Pakistan, Indonesia, the coastal
belts of Sri Lanka and India and earlier in Gujarat and in Orissa have left hundreds of thousands
dead and homeless. Many of these people are yet to put their lives and properties together.
Were our ancient masters who laid down the laws of Vastu not aware of the destructive powers
of natural calamities? Did they not think of these phenomena when they wrote their texts?
They did think of earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and other natural calamities when they gave
us information about ways and means of construction. They spoke of soil evaluation before
construction began. They believed that a foundation of a building was much more than a
combination of bricks, mortar, concrete, steel etc. They felt that laying a foundation was a
symbolic homage to Mother Earth by man and every possible care to strengthen it was necessary.
Depth of Foundation
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They particularly talked about depth of a foundation (bhumilamba). In fact ancient treatises on
Vastu Sastra have customarily advised a foundation that is equal to a man’s stature plus his
length of hand. Today’s engineers tell us that six to seven feet of foundation is necessary for a
normal height building to be firm and secure. Our masters also highlighted the importance of the
base (adhishtana) being as high as the foundation.
They spoke of the importance of pillars and columns in making a building strong. They talked
about decreasing heights for each floor of the building. We notice that ancients built multi-
storeyed buildings such that the height of each floor slowly reduced as they went up. In fact
Brihat Samhita of Varahamihira tells us the each floor should be less than the floor below it by
1/12th its height. They may have deduced that during an earthquake or other natural calamities
such a building could sway but not fall.
Earthquakes themselves do not kill people, but badly constructed buildings do. Being aware of
this fact our ancients gave importance to every aspect of foundation including the materials used.
They spoke of the need to vibe with Nature by using construction materials like bricks (Ishtika),
stones (Sila) and wood. The ancient classical texts also spoke of wood as basic material not only
for doors, windows, and cabinets but also for structures too. In fact it is commonly known in
engineering that wood absorbs shock evenly and a house built out of wood is unlikely to
collapse. Wood and steel are said to be ductile and less prone to seismic disturbances.
Importance of spacing out buildings
Our ancients while speaking of buildings have highlighted the Paisacha zone of a mandala. They
divide an area into four concentric zones. The inner zone is Brahma, the next is Daiva, the third
zone is Manushya and the fourth zone is Paisacha.
They have very clearly specified construction on the Daiva and Manushya zones and totally
disapproved of construction on the Paisacha. To apply this to present times, we need to construct
the building away from the compound so that it does not touch the neighbour’s wall.
Modern Engineering tells us that adjacent buildings should be separated by sufficient distance to
prevent hammering each other in case of seismic disturbances!
Structural and Sital Shapes
Another important uncompromising thumb rule of our masters of wisdom was in respect of the
shape of a structure. Our ancient writers have invariably recommended square, rectangular,
circular and other regular shapes. Irregular shapes have been prohibited. The square (Chaturasra)
is the fundamental, essential and perfect form of Indian Architecture. A square presupposes the
circle and in fact results from it. Expanding energy shapes the circle from the center and then
establishes itself in the shape of a square. In a square, the primary elements of Nature (Pancha
Mahabhootas) are also said to be in perfect balance The Chaturasra, because of its perfect shape
is considered sacred and superior in Indian Architecture. We find today’s engineering principles
telling us that geometric shapes like squares, rectangles and triangles disperse seismic forces
equally in all directions and are therefore safe in the case of natural calamities. Irregular shapes
result in uneven distribution of forces thereby making buildings prone to collapse!
The recent earthquakes, tsunamis and cyclones saw most modern buildings collapse. Yet these
devastating forces of nature could not disturb many temples built hundreds of years ago based on
certain principles of construction as rooted in Vedic tradition. Are these not proof of the great
scholarship of our ancient masters of architecture? Are these not proof of the fact that they were
aware of many of the known and unknown laws of Nature and their relationship to man and his
buildings?
Disturbing Energies
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Generally Vastu refers to the energies from the North-west and South-east as disturbing energies
It is pertinent to note here that the earlier earthquakes of Gujarat and Seattle took place in the
northwest of India and America respectively. The earthquake in Indonesia at the fag end of the
year 2004 that devastated crores worth of property and killed more than 1,50,000 people spread
across 12 nations. The tidal waves generated by the earthquake travelled northwest to the coastal
belt of Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar and other places and killed
thousands of innocent people.
A careful observation reveals that the tsunami tidal waves moved along the North-west-South-
east diagonal to hit India and Sri Lanka. The powerful earthquake this month that rocked parts of
Pakistan and India and caused enormous damage to lives and property occurred to the northwest
of India.
Summing up, the ancient masters of Indian architecture took into account all aspects of celestial
and terrestrial nature – cosmological, philosophical, metaphysical, astronomico- astrological,
geographical and geological- to make man live in harmony with Nature and Her laws!
Our architects and engineers have just to take what our Vedic seers have handed over to us on a
platter and apply it to the modern buildings and layouts so that the residents live in security,
safety and happiness.
~ by Niranjan Bangalore & Raman Suprajarama
a) Shree Yantra Temple Amarkantak-Location – Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh (India)
This temple is under

construction keeping in mind all aspects of the ancient traditional knowledge of Shree
Vidya. Its geometry matches exactly with Swarna Shree Yantra. The construction is
carried only on certain days in various phases in accordance with auspicious moments/ star
constellations on the basis of the Hindu calendar.
120
e
121
b) Golden Temple Sripuram, Vellore-Location – Thirumalai Kodi, Vellore, Tamil Nadu
(India)
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The remarkable Sripuram design portrays Shree Yantra. It covers messages from famous
Sri Sakthi Amma along with messages from other faiths and religious leaders.
c) Shri Jagannath Temple, Odisha-Location – Puri, Odisha (India)
The most
famous temple of East India, it is also one of “Chaar Dhams”. It is mentioned in Shri
Latitasahastranam that-
Shri Jagannath Temple is Shree Yantra. Shree Yantra is engraved in Jagannath Temple’s
Ratnavedi where idol of Shri Lalitha Amba with her four arms is seated.
d) Shree Yantra Mandir, Haridwar-Location – Haridwar, Uttarakhand (India)
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The Shree Yantra Temple is one of the most honoured Shakti Upasna Kendra. The temple
is visited by large number of people daily and during festivals.
This Shree Yantra shaped temple is situated on the banks of river Narmada and is an
important centre for mediation. It is built under directions of Shri Anandima for
meditation and yoga.
f) Maha Meru Temple, Thanjavur –Tamil Nadu-Location – Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu

(India)
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This temple resembles ancient temples of the 11th century with the incorporation of the
Maha Meru sculpture on the roof, located above the dome of the temple.
g) Shree Chandrabadni Temple, Tehri Garhwal – Uttarakhand-Location – Tehri Garhwal,

Uttarakhand (India)
Shree Chandrabadni Temple is located on the place where torso of Goddess Sati fell while
Lord Shiva was taking away her burnt body. Her weapons were also scattered over the
place. Idol of goddess Sati is not present but a Shree Yantra carved on a flat stone is
worshipped in the main shrine.
Besides these,-h) Shree Yantra is engraved on main pillars of Abu’s famous Delvada
Temple
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i) Shreee Yantra exists on the doors Rajasthan’s famous Osiya Mata Temple
j) On main doors of Pashupatinath Temple, Nepal also Shree Yantra is carved.
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K) Shree Yantra is placed in foundation of India’s most famous Tirupati Balaji Temple
l) Worship of Shree Yantra and Shree Vidya has continued since all four Peethas of
Shankaracharya- Adi Shankaracharya being devotee of lord Shiva was also a great devotee
of Goddess Maa Latitha Tripur Sundari.
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e) Dhyani Temple, Nikona (Surat – Gujarat)-Location – Nikona, Surat, Gujarat (India)
If you have ever attempted to draw this figure you already know that it is a lot more difficult to
draw than you might have thought at first. The reason for this is mainly because the triangles are
interconnected. If you move one, you need to move all the others so that they will intersect
properly. With enough time or with the aid of computers and mathematics it is possible to draw a
figure where the intersections match perfectly.
But it turns out that this is not enough to fully define the figure. This criteria in itself is not
enough to produce a unique figure. This is the reason why there are so many different versions of
the Sri Yantra in circulation.
This begs the question: what is the proper configuration of the Sri Yantra? The goal of this
article is to investigate the geometry of the Sri Yantra and see if we can find out more about this
fascinating sacred figure. Join us on the quest for the optimal Sri Yantra.
Questions that will be answered in this article:
 What is the Sri Yantra?
 Why is it so difficult to draw?
 Why are there so many different versions?
 What are the characteristics that define an optimal figure?
 What is a Meru (pyramidal) Sri Yantra?
 What is a Kurma (spherical) Sri Yantra?
 How can I get an optimal Sri Yantra figure?
Nine Triangles in a Circle
Five
Four
triangl
triangl Compl
es Centra
es ete Sri
pointin l figure
pointin Yantra
g
g up.
down
Figure 1
The Sri Yantra is composed of a central figure that is surrounded by two circular rows of petals
and then by a rectangular enclosure called the bhupura. In this study we will be focusing mainly
on the central figure which is composed of nine overlapping triangles and a bindu point. Four of
the triangles point up, the other five point down. In the most popular configuration the two
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biggest triangles (green triangles in figure 1) touch the outer circle on all three points. In some
other versions there are either one or two more triangles that touch the outer circle (See figure 5).
Interconnections
Figure 2
Triple intersections.
When looking at the figure we notice that there is a high degree of interconnectedness between
the nine triangles. This the main reason why it is so difficult to draw. This means that every
triangle is connected to one or more of the other triangles via common points. Changing the
location of one of the triangle usually requires changing the size and position of many other
triangles.
Figure 2 shows where the triple intersection points are located. These are the points that lock
together the triangles. You can't move one without also moving the others.
Notice also that the two biggest triangles are touching the outside circle on three points and that
the apex of every triangle is connected to the base of another triangle.
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Figure-3 False Sri Yantra
As with everything else there is a tendency to simplify and/or distort things , so that over time
knowledge gets eroded. In the case of the Sri Yantra this has led to what some call the "false Sri
Yantra". It's a version that is so far from the original figure that it is missing some of the most
basic characteristic of a Sri Yantra. An example of such a false Sri Yantra is shown in figure 3.
Here we see that the apex of most triangle is not connected with the base of another triangle as
indicated by the red arrows. This reduces greatly the difficulty of drawing the figure and leads to
something that looks like a Sri Yantra but isn't.
The First Key: Concurrency
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Figure 4
Errors in the drawing will lead
to extraneous secondary
triangles.
The obvious challenge when drawing a Sri Yantra is to achieve near perfect concurrency.
Meaning that all the triple intersection meet at the same point rather than crisscrossing.
Figure 4 shows a detail of a Sri Yantra with the error circled in red. The lines should intersect at
the same point but instead they crisscross each other and form an extraneous triangle. Using the
right sequence to draw the Sri Yantra will ensure that there will be errors only in two of the triple
intersections.
Very few Sri Yantras achieve perfect concurrency. Mathematically speaking it is not possible.
But practically speaking a satisfactory level of precision can be achieved. It is difficult to achieve
this when doing the drawing by hand but not impossible. Often the lines are made thicker to hide
the errors at the intersections. A good level of accuracy can be achieved with a pencil and ruler
and a lot of patience. A better accuracy can be achieved with a drawing program such as
AutoCAD or Visio. The greatest amount of accuracy will be achieved by using a mathematical
program such as Mathematica to compute the figure.
The One and the Many
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Figure 5
Three different configurations
of the Sri Yantra.
It would seem at this point that all one needs to do is to make sure that the lines match precisely
at the triple intersections (concurrency) and our job is done. Not so!
Why are there so many different versions of the Sri Yantra out there? Figure 5 shows a few
examples of Sri Yantras. In these examples the differences are obvious. The differences are
usually more subtle and require closer examination. Like snow flakes there seems to be an
infinite number of different Sri Yantras. Why is that? How can that be? Isn't there
a precise and complete method that would tell us how this famous sacred figure should be
drawn? If there is one we haven't found it yet.
The reason is simple. The criteria of concurrency (precise intersections) is not enough to fully
define the Sri Yantra. Over time people have assumed that being able to produce a figure where
the lines meet precisely at the intersections will produce a unique figure. This has lead to the
current multiplicity of figures available.
Let us take the simple example of drawing a triangle. If the only criteria required is that the
figure must have three sides then you can draw a infinite number of different triangles with three
sides. If on the other hand you are asked to draw a triangle where the sides are of equal length
then there is only one way to draw such a triangle (not taking size into account).
The Sri Yantra is a geometry with five degrees of freedom, which means that up to five
different criterion can be used to define it. This is why we have to decide on the location of five
lines when drawing the figure. Five degrees of freedom is not a lot considering that there is a
total of nine triangles. This is because of the high degree of interconnectedness between the
triangles. This effectively limits the possibilities and variations that can be achieved.
The Second Key: Concentricity
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Figure 6
Concentricity: the center of
the innermost triangle
coincide with the center of the
outer circle.
Lets now take a look at the bindu point; the small point located in the central triangle. It should
be located in the center of the innermost triangle. This can be achieved precisely by placing the
bindu at the center of a circle that fits inside this triangle (see figure 9). This is known in
mathematics as the incenter of a triangle.
To achieve a perfectly centered figure however, the bindu should also be located at the center of
the outer circle. This is illustrated in figure 6. The red cross shows where the center of the outer
circle is located. The small red circle shows where the center of the innermost triangle is. As we
can see in this figure they coincide. This is not the case for most Sri Yantras.
Figure 7
Sri Yantra that doesn't meet
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the concentricity criteria.
Figure 7 shows an example of a Sri Yantra where the center of the innermost triangle doesn't
match perfectly with the center of the outer circle. The green dot (center of the innermost
triangle) is not aligned with the center of the red cross (center of the outer circle).
The Third Key: Equilateral Inner Triangle
Figure 9
Equilateral triangle as the expression of
Rishi, Devata, Chanda.
The equilateral triangle is a perfect and minimal structure. It is the simplest, strongest and most
fundamental structure in geometry and computer graphics. It has the highest degree
of tensegrity for a minimum amount of structural elements. That is why it is so prevalent in the
structural designs created by Buckminster Fuller. This is also why the geodesic dome, a spherical
structure composed of small triangles is the only man-made structure that becomes
proportionally stronger as it increases in size.
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The Sri Yantra symbolizes, among other things the unfoldment of creation. The bindu represents
the unmanifest, the silent state. The next level in the expression of the Universe is represented by
the innermost triangle. This level represents the trinity of rishi, devata, chanda, or the observer,
the process of observation and the object being observed. At this point the symmetry of creation
is still intact and will be broken when it reaches the next level which represent the grosser
aspects of the relative.
This reflects the unfoldment from unity to trinity as expounded in the Vedic literature. According
to the Veda the Universe becomes manifest when unbounded awareness becomes aware of itself.
The spark of self awareness ignites creation. At this point Unity divides into the trinity of rishi
(the observer), devata (process of knowing) and chanda (the object of perception). The same idea
is also found in the bible as the principle of the holy trinity.
The central triangle is the central lens of the Sri Yantra. If as some suggest, this pattern is
capable of emitting a significant amount of subtle energy, the importance of having a well
balanced and centered figure becomes obvious.
For these reasons we believe that the central triangle should be equilateral in an optimal Sri
Yantra configuration. For this to happen the highest down pointing primary triangle must have
an angle of 60 degrees (see figure 9 and 11).
Center of Mass
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Figure-10
Left: Figure with Concurrency criteria only. Center: Figure with
Concurrency and concentricity. Right: Figure with Concurrency,
concentricity and equilateral central triangle.
Now lets see if we can find ways to confirm the idea that we are getting closer to a perfectly
balanced configuration. Another measure of overall balance of a structure is the center of mass.
This is the point in the geometry where it would balance if it was a solid object.
Figure 10 shows a detail view of the central triangle of three different Sri Yantras. The left figure
shows a configuration where only concurrency is achieved. In this case the bindu (red dot), the
center of the outer circle (green dot) and the center of mass (blue dot) are not aligned.
The central figure shows a Sri Yantra that achieves concurrency and concentricity. As a result
the bindu (red) and the center of the outer circle (green) overlap nicely. The center of mass still
doesn't overlap however.
On the right we see that for a figure drawn with the three criterion that we have suggested
(concurrency, concentricity and equilateral central triangle), the three centers overlap and
we have a perfectly centered and balanced figure.
The Sri Yantra from Sringeri Temple

The Sringeri temple in India claims to have the oldest Sri Yantra. This temple is one of the four
pillars founded by none other than Shankara during the first millennium. Assuming that older Sri
Yantras are closer to the original configuration lets see how this Sri Yantra compares to our
optimal version. Obviously it is not possible to be certain that it is the oldest Sri Yantra on Earth
but it is certainly older than most of the versions available. The shape of the petals and the
bhupura are good indicators that it is a old Sri Yantra configuration.
Figure 11 shows an alleged picture of this Sri Yantra and a diagram that was drawn from the
picture. Taking into account the distortions caused by the camera and printing we can see that the
figure has many of the same characteristics as our optimal figure. The bindu is well centered and
more importantly the centermost triangle has an Since the Sri Yantra is based on triangles it is
very appropriate that there are currently three main ways to represent this figure. The first and
probably the most common is the plane form, which is what we have been looking at so far.
More pictures of the plane form can be seen here.
The second is the pyramidal form called Meru in India. Mount Meru is a mythical mountain. So
named because of the mountain shape of the figure. More pictures of pyramidal Sri Yantras can
be seen here.
The third and rarest form is the spherical form or Kurma. Kurma was the second incarnation of
Vishnu, the turtle incarnation. This refers to the similarity between this form and the shell of a
turtle. It is interesting to note that there seems to be some confusion with the use of these two
terms. The pyramidal form is often wrongly referred to as Kurma. This form is the rarest because
of the extremely high level of difficulty involved in generating it. We have not yet found a
correct physical representation of a spherical Sri Yantra. There are many attempts but very few
have succeeded. Pictures of spherical Sri Yantras can be seen here.
The Optimal Sri Yantra
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As we have mentioned earlier, drawing a Sri Yantra with minimal errors at the intersections is in
itself a good challenge. If on top of that we add the two additional criterion that we have
proposed (concentricity, and equilateral inner triangle) then it would probably take a lifetime of
trials and errors to achieve such a figure. But thanks to computers and mathematics this can be
achieved in the blink of an eye. To achieve this result however, the figure needs to be converted
into a simultaneous equation and then solved for the required constraints. For more on this topic
take a look at the excellent paper from C.S. Rao. Once this is done we can then shape the figure
according to the different criterion described above to obtain an optimal figure where the errors
at the intersections are minimal, the figure is perfectly centered and the innermost triangle is
equilateral.
Chapter V
Hinduism Mount Meru & S.E. Asian Art
Mount Meru, in Hindu mythology, a golden mountain that stands in the centre
of the universe and is the axis of the world. It is the abode of gods, and its
foothills are the Himalayas, to the south of which extends Bhāratavarṣa (“Land
of the Sons of Bharata”), the ancient name for India. The roof tower crowning
the shrine in a Hindu temple represents Meru. As the world axis, Mount
Meru reaches down below the ground, into the nether regions, as far as it
extends into the heavens. All of the principal deities have their own celestial
kingdoms on or near it, where their devotees reside with them after death,
while awaiting their next reincarnation.]
GEOGRAPHY; The dimensions attributed to Mount Meru — which all refer to it
as a part of the Cosmic Ocean, along with several other statements that
describe it in geographically vague terms (e.g., "the Sun along with all the
planets circle the mountain") — make the determination of its location most
Some researchers identify Mount Meru or Sumeru with the Pamirs, northwest
of Kashmir.
The Suryasiddhanta mentions that Mt. Meru lies in the middle of the
Earth ("bhuva-madhya") in the land of the Jambunad
(Jampudvīpa). Narapatijayacharyasvarodaya, a ninth-century text, based on
mostly unpublished texts of Yāmal Tantr, mentions:
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(Su-meru is heard to be in the middle of the Earth, but is not seen there).
Several versions of cosmology can be found in existing Hindu texts. In
one of them, cosmologically, the Meru mountain was also described as
being surrounded by Mandrachala Mountain to the east, Suparshva
Mountain to the west, Kumuda Mountain to the north and Kailasa to the
south
Main articles: Buddhist cosmology and Mount Meru (Buddhism)
Yuan dynasty 1271–1368) Chinese mandala depicting Mount Meru as

an inverted pyramid topped by a lotus.
According to Buddhist cosmology, Mount Meru (or Sumeru) is at the

centre of the world, and Jambūdvīpa is south of it. It is
80,000 yojanas wide and 80,000 yojanas high according to
the Abhidharmakośabhāṣyam and 84,000 yojanas high according to
the Long Āgama Sutra. Trāyastriṃśa is on its peak, where Śakra resides.
The Sun and the Moon revolve around Mount Meru, and as the Sun
passes behind it, it becomes nighttime. The mountain has four faces —
each one made of a different material; the northern face is made of gold,
the eastern one is made of crystal, the southern one is made of lapis
lazuli, and the western one is made of ruby
In Vajrayāna, maṇḍala offerings often include Mount Meru, as they in
part represent the entire universe.It is also believed that Mount Meru is
the home of the buddha Cakrasaṃvara
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Tibetan Cakrasaṃvara sand mandala with Mount Meru in the centre.
/ Tibetan Buddhist embroidery representing Mount Sumeru.
Hindu cosmology
Mount Meru of Hindu traditions is described as 84,000 yojanas high,

about 1,082,000 km (672,000 mi), which would be 85 times the Earth's
diameter. The Sun, along with all the planets in the Solar System,
revolve around Mt. Meru as one unit.
One yojana can be taken to mean about 11.5 km (9 miles), though its
magnitude seems to differ over time periods — e.g., the Earth's
circumference is 3,200 yojanas according to Varahamihira and slightly
less so in the Aryabhatiya, but is said to be 5,026.5 yojanas in the
Suryasiddhānta. The Matsya Purana and the Bhagvata Purana, along
with some other Hindu texts, consistently give the height of 84,000
yojanas to Mount Meru, which translates into 672,000 miles or
1,082,000 kilometers.
139
Mount Meru was said to be the residence of King Padamja Brahma in
antiquity.
According to Charles Allen, Mount Kailash is identified with Mount
Meru. One description in the Vishnu Purana of the mountain states that
its four faces are made of crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis lazuli.[23] It is a
pillar of the world and is located at the heart of six mountain ranges
symbolizing a lotus.[23]
Painting of Mount Meru from Jain cosmology from

the Samghayanarayana
Jain cosmology
According to Jain cosmology, Mount Meru (or Sumeru) is at the centre of
the world surrounded by Jambūdvīpa, in form of a circle forming a
diameter of 100,000 yojans. There are two sets of sun, moon and stars
revolving around Mount Meru; while one set works, the other set rests
behind Mount Meru.
Every Tirthankara is taken to the summit of Meru by Indra shortly after
his birth, after putting the Tirthankara child's mother into deep slumber.
There, he was bathed and anointed with precious unctions. Indra and
other Devas celebrated his birth.
Javanese Legends: This mythical mountain of gods was mentioned in
the Tantu Pagelaran, an Old Javanese manuscript written in the 15th-
century Majapahit period. The manuscript describes the mythical origin
of the island of Java, as well as the legendary movement of portions of
Mount Meru to Java. The manuscript explains that Batara Guru (Shiva)
ordered the gods Brahma and Vishnu to fill Java with human beings.
However, at that time, Java island was floating freely on the ocean,
always tumbling and shaking. To stop the island's movement, the gods
decided to nail it to the Earth by moving the part of Mahameru
in Jambudvipa (India) and attaching it to Java. The resulting mountain
is Mount Semeru, the tallest mountain on Java.
Mount Semeru, a large active volcano on Java, is named after the
mount.
140
The five central towers of Angkor Wat, before a Hindu and later a
Buddhist temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia, symbolize the peaks of
Mount Meru.
The concept of a holy mountain surrounded by various circles was
incorporated into ancient Hindu temple architecture with
a Shikhara (Śikhara) — a Sanskrit word translating literally to
"mountain peak." Early examples of this style can be found at
the Harshat Mata Temple and Harshnath Temple from the 8th century
CE in Rajasthan, Western India. This concept also continued outside
India, such as in Bali, where temples feature Meru towers.
In Buddhist temples, the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya is the
earliest example of the 5th- to 6th-century depiction. Many other
Buddhist temples took on this form, such as the Wat
1. Prang of Wat Phutthaisawan, a Buddhist temple in Samphao Lom,

Thailand, representing Mount Meru
2. A Buddhist prang in Wat Arun, Bangkok, representing Mount Sumeru
3. Hsinbyume Pagoda in Mandalay, Myanmar, representing Mount Sumeru
4. The meru of Pura Ulun Danu Bratan is dedicated to Shiva and his
consort Parvathi
141
Depiction of Mount Meru at Jambudweep, a Jain temple in Uttar
Pradesh
Jean Filliozat of the Ecole Francaise, a leading western authority on Indian

cosmology and astronomy, interpreted the symbolism of the temple. The temple
sits on a rectangular base and rises in five levels and is crowned by five main
towers. One hundred four smaller towers are distributed over the lower four
levels, placed so symmetrically that only 33 can be seen from the center of any
side. Thirty-three is the number of gods who dwelt on Mount Meru. Phnom
Bakheng's total number of towers is also significant. The center one represents
the axis of the world and the 108 smaller ones represent the four lunar phases,
each with 27 days. The seven levels of the monument represent the seven
heavens and each terrace contains 12 towers which represent the 12-year cycle
of Jupiter. According to University of Chicago scholar Paul Wheatley, it is "an
astronomical calendar in stone."[
Following Angkor's rediscovery by the outside world in the mid-19th century,
decades passed before archeologists grasped Phnom Bakheng's historical
significance. For many years, scholars' consensus view was that the Bayon, the
temple located at the center of Angkor Thom city, was the edifice to which the
Sdok Kak Thom inscription referred. Later work identified the Bayon as
a Buddhist site, built almost three centuries later than originally thought, in
the late 12th century, and Phnom Bakheng as King Yasovarman's state temple
The view of the Angkor Wat from the top of Phnom Bakheng is featured in the
movie Tomb Raider (when Lara Croft looks through the binoculars upon
arriving in Cambodia).
Phnom Bakheng/Angkor Wat seen from Phnom Bakheng at sunset
142
1. General view
2. Upper terrace
3. Stone tower and Angkor Wat far afield
Bas-relief in Phnom Bakheng

What was Phnom bakheng used for?
Phnom Bakheng is a symbolic representation of Mount Meru, home of the

Hindu gods, a status emphasized by the temple's location atop a steep hill 65
143
m above the surrounding plain. The temple is built in a pyramid form of seven
levels, representing the seven heavens. Who built bakheng?
King Yasovarman
It is possible to see: the five towers of Angkor Wat in the west, Phnom Krom to
the southwest near the Grand Lake, Phnom Bok in the northeast, Phnom
Kulen in the east, and the West Baray. Phnom Bakheng was built in late ninth
to early tenth century by King Yasovarman dedicated to Siva (Hindi).
Related Content
Southeast Asian arts
Southeast Asian arts, the literary, performing, and visual arts of Southeast
Asia. Although the cultural development of the area was once dominated by
Indian influence, a number of cohesive traits predate the Indian influence.
Wet-rice (or padi) agriculture, metallurgy, navigation, ancestor cults, and
worship associated with mountains were both indigenous and widespread, and
certain art forms not derived from India—for example, batik textiles, gamelan
orchestras, and the wayang puppet theatre—remain popular.
The term Southeast Asia refers to the huge peninsula of Indochina and the
extensive archipelago of what is sometimes called the East Indies. The region
can be subdivided into mainland Southeast Asia and insular Southeast Asia.
The political units contained in this region are Myanmar (Burma), Thailand,
Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
The Philippines originally was not included, because Philippine history has not
followed the general historical pattern of Southeast Asia, but, because of its
geographic position and the close affinities of its cultures with the cultures of
Southeast Asia, it is now usually regarded as the eastern fringe of Southeast
Asia.
A common geographic and climatic pattern prevails over all of Southeast Asia
and has resulted in a particular pattern of settlement and cultural
144
development. Mountain people generally have a different culture than that of
the valley dwellers.
The cultural setting of Southeast Asian arts
Southeast Asia has been the crossroads of many peoples who have been
contending against each other for centuries. The first to come were
the Austronesians (Malayo-Polynesians), sometimes described as Proto-Malays
and Deutero-Malays. At one time they occupied the eastern half of mainland
Southeast Asia, but later they were pushed toward the south and the islands
by the Austroasiatics. At present, peoples of Austronesian origin occupy
Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. There were three main Austroasiatic
groups, the Mon, the Khmer, and the Viet-Muong. The Mon were at one time
dominant, but they lost their ethnic identity in the 18th century and became
absorbed by the Burmese and the Tai; only a few thousand Mon are now found
living near the Myanmar-Thailand border. The Khmer from the 9th century to
the 15th built a great empire, but much of its territory was lost to its
neighbours so that only the small kingdom of Cambodia remains today. The
Viet-Muong now occupy Vietnam. A Tibeto-Burmese tribe, the Pyu, founded an
empire of city-kingdoms in the Irrawaddy Valley in the early centuries of the
Common Era, but the Pyu disappeared, and the Burmese, taking the
leadership, founded their kingdom of Pagan and have occupied Burma (now
Myanmar) up to the present day. In the 13th century the Tai-Shan lost their
kingdom of Nanchao in Yunnan, China, and entered the Mae Nam Chao
Phraya Valley to found kingdoms that gradually evolved into the kingdoms of
Siam (Thailand) and Laos.
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External influences
In Southeast Asia, winds of change often came as storms. Indian commerce
expanded into Southeast Asia in the early centuries of the Common Era and, in
spite of its peaceful nature, caused revolutionary changes in the life and
culture of the peoples of the region. The Indians would sojourn in the region in
small numbers for two or three monsoons only. The success of their
commercial venture and the safety of their persons depended entirely on the
goodwill of the inhabitants. The Indians brought new ideas and new art
traditions. Since these ideas had some affinity with indigenous ideas and art
forms, the natives accepted them but were not overwhelmed by an influx of
new traditions. The Hindu and Buddhist cultures of the Indians made a
tremendous impact and came to form the second layer of culture in Southeast
Asia, but the first layer of native ideas and traditions has remained strong to
the present day.
Changes often came to Southeast Asia, usually because it possessed a
commodity that was in great demand by the rest of the world. The Indians
came because they were looking for fresh sources of gold after the Roman
imperial source had run dry. In the 15th, 16th, and the 17th centuries, insular
Southeast Asia attracted Islamic merchants from India and farther west and
145
later the Portuguese and the Dutch as a rich source of spices. As with the
Hindu and Buddhist merchants of the past, the Islamic traders came not as
missionaries, though they did spread their religion in the region. The
Portuguese came as conquerors and as militant missionaries of their Roman
Catholic form of Christianity, and, for those reasons, their cultural traditions
were unacceptable to the natives. In the 17th century the Dutch came as
conquerors and colonists for whom the attraction was first spices and then
coffee, rubber, and petroleum. Since mainland Southeast Asia produced no
spices for export, it was less vulnerable to the navies of Portugal and The
Netherlands, so the region was not greatly affected by the Muslims,
Portuguese, and Dutch. In the 19th century, Britain and France became
interested in mainland Southeast Asia as the back door to China and sought to
possess it as a colony. By the end of the 19th century, Burma had fallen to
Britain, Siam was allowed to retain its independence only with the tacit
permission of the two powers, and the rest had fallen to France. When in the
mid-20th century the whole of Southeast Asia became free again, European
culture and European art forms clearly had made little impact.
Indigenous traditions
The peoples of Southeast Asia were once thought to have shared a lack of
inventiveness since prehistoric times and to have been “receptive” rather than
“creative” in their contacts with foreign civilizations. Later excavations and
discoveries in Myanmar and Thailand, however, inspired some scholars to
argue against the accepted theory that civilization moved to Southeast Asia
from China in prehistoric times; rather, these scholars contended, the peoples
of mainland Southeast Asia were cultivating plants, making pottery, and
working in bronze about the same time as the peoples of the ancient Middle
East, and therefore civilization spread from mainland Southeast Asia to China
and India. Southeast Asians do not have a strong tradition of art theory or
literary or dramatic criticism, for they are always more concerned with doing
the actual work of producing beautiful things. Because the Southeast Asians,
especially in the western half of the mainland, worked on nondurable
materials, it is not possible to trace the development and evolution of art forms
stage by stage. The region has always been thickly forested, so it was natural
that the first material to be used for artistic purposes should have been wood.
They retained the wood-carving tradition, begun in ancient times, even when
they learned to work with metals and with stone; wood carving flourished long
after the great age of stone sculpture and stone architecture, which ended in
the 13th century. Proto-Neolithic paintings discovered in a cave near
the Salween River in the western Shan state of Myanmar have very
close affinity with the later carvings on posts of houses among the Nagas on
the western hills of Burma. Similarly, cave paintings of a pair of human hands
with open palms, one holding the sun and the other holding a human skull,
are reflected in the later aesthetic tradition of Southeast Asia: the sun symbol
is found as an art motif all over the region, and a suggestion of awe, triumph,
and joy at acquiring a human head is found in carvings under the eaves of the
146
Naga houses. The cave painting testifies to the continuity of the magico-
religious tradition connected with all the arts of the area.
The art of casting the bronze drums found at Dong Son, near Hanoi, which are
similar to the bronze drums used by mountain tribes throughout Southeast
Asia, was thought to have come from China, but recent excavations in Thailand
proved that the drums and the so-called Dong Son culture itself are native to
mainland Southeast Asia. In any case, the continuity of the aesthetic tradition
of Southeast Asia can be seen in the bronze drums that were cast by
the Karen for centuries until the early years of the 20th century. The
mountains of mainland Southeast Asia provided gold, silver, and other metals,
and the art of metalworking must have developed quite early. Silver buttons,
belts, and ornaments now made and worn by the hill peoples in Southeast Asia
have behind them a very ancient tradition of workmanship. The same artistic
tradition is found in textile designs.
Music, dance, and song were originally associated with tribal rituals. From the
beginning, the main characteristic of Southeast Asian music and dance has
been a swift rhythm. The slow and stately dances of the Siamese court were of
Indian origin; when they were introduced into Burma in the 16th century, the
Burmese quickened the tempo, but, even with that modification, the dances
were still called Siamese dances to distinguish them from the native ones. In
their oral literature—namely, in folk songs and folktales—the emphasis is on
gaiety and humour. Typically, Southeast Asians do not like an unhappy
ending.
The role of royal patronage and religious institutions
In all the regions of Southeast Asia, the arts flourished under the patronage of
the kings. About the time of the birth of Christ, tribal groups gradually
organized themselves, after some years of settled life as rice cultivators, into
city-kingdoms, or conglomerations of villages. A king was thus little more than
a paramount tribal chieftain. Since the tribes had been accustomed to
worshiping local spirits, the kings sought a new spirit that would be worshiped
by the whole community. One reason that the gods of Hinduism and Buddhism
were so readily acceptable to Southeast Asia was this need for new national
gods. The propagation of the new religions was the task of the kings, and
consequently the period from the 1st to the 13th century was a great age of
temple building all over Southeast Asia. Architecture, sculpture,
and painting on the temple walls were the arts that flourished. In the ancient
empires of eastern Indochina and the islands, scholars of Sanskrit, the
language of the sacred works of Hinduism, became part of the king’s court,
producing a local Sanskrit literature of their own. This literary activity was
confined to the hereditary nobility and never reached the people, except in
stories from the great Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Because the
Hindu religious writings in Sanskrit were beyond the reach of the common
people, Hinduism had to be explained to them by Hindu stories of gods and
147
demons and mighty men. On the other side of the peninsula, in the Pyu-
Burmese empire of Prome, which flourished before the 8th century, there was
no such development—first, because Hinduism was never widely accepted in
Burma and, second, because the more open Burmese society developed neither
the institution of a god-king nor that of a hereditary nobility.
Although Pali scholars surrounded the king in later Pagan, Pali studies were
pursued not at the court but at monasteries throughout the kingdom so that
even the humblest villager had some faint contact with Pali teachings. While
the courts of the kings in Cambodia and Java remained merely local centres of
Sanskrit scholarship, Pagan became a centre of Pali learning for Buddhist
monks and scholars even from other lands. As in the case of stories from the
Indian epics, stories of the Jatakas (birth stories of the Buddha) were used to
explain Buddhism to the common people, who could not read the scriptures
written in Pali. Just as scenes from the great epics in carving or in fresco
adorned the temples in Cambodia and Java, scenes from the Jatakas adorned
the Pagan temples.
Fresco of the Preaching Buddha at the Wet-kyi-in, Gu-byauk-gyi,

Pagan, c. 1113.
J.A. Lavaud, Paris
Musicians of the Pyu kingdom played before the emperor of China in 801, and
the various musical instruments at the performance have their counterparts at
the present day, not only in Myanmar but throughout Southeast Asia. At
Pagan the people were so fond of music that even the collection of taxes
became an occasion to dance and sing, and a royal official, endowing a temple,
inscribed a prayer asking that in all his future existences until he reached
Nirvana “might he be woken up every morning to the strains of music sweetly
played on flute and violin.” In spite of this love for music and dance, no
dramatic art seems to have developed in Burma, perhaps because Sanskrit, in
which there was a dramatic tradition, was not studied. In contrast, at the
courts of Cambodia and Java, the Sanskrit drama, Hindu dances, and native
148
dance traditions combined and produced the court opera ballets. These
dramatic elements later reached the common people by way of the shadow
play.
The patronage of the king and the religious enthusiasm of the common people
could not have produced the great temples without the enormous wealth that
suddenly became available in the region following the commercial expansion.
With the Khmer and Javanese empires, the wealth was produced by a
feudalistic society, and so the temples were built by the riches of the king and
his nobles, combined with the compulsory labour of their peasants and slaves,
who probably derived some aesthetic pleasure from their work because of their
religious fervour. Nonetheless, their monuments, such as Borobudur, in Java,
and Angkor Wat, in Cambodia, had an atmosphere of massive, all-conquering
power. At Pagan, where wealth was shared by the king, the royal officials, and
the common people, the temples and the monasteries were built by all who had
enough not only to pay the artisans their wages but also to guarantee their
good health, comfort, and safety during the actual construction. The temples
were dedicated for use by all monks and lay people as places of worship,
meditation, and study, and the kings of Pagan did not build a single tomb for
themselves. The Khmer temple of Angkor Wat and the Indonesian temple of
Borobudur were tombs in that the ashes of the builders would be enshrined
therein; the kings left stone statues representing them as gods for posterity to
worship, whereas at Pagan there was only one statue of a king, and it depicted
him on his knees with his hands raised in supplication to the Buddha.
Consequently, the atmosphere that pervaded the temples of Pagan was one of
joy and tranquillity.
This golden age of wealth and splendour in Southeast Asia ended in the 13th
century with a sudden violence, when Kublai Khan’s armies destroyed both the
Burmese and the Khmer empires and his navy attacked Vietnam and Java. The
tiny kingdoms that subsequently sprang up all over Southeast Asia continually
fought among themselves; their kings were neither powerful nor rich, and the
royal courts became centres of military planning and political intrigue. During
the 13th and 14th centuries, in the new Javanese kingdom of Majapahit and
the new Burmese kingdom of Ava, vernacular literatures came into being.
Again, differences in social structure had aesthetic repercussions. In Majapahit
the king was powerful and gave his patronage to the newly arisen literature,
confining it to the court. At Ava the vernacular literature bloomed throughout
the kingdom, and the king, lacking power and prestige, prevailed upon some
established writers to join the court circles and give them glamour.
After Majapahit, a new cultural force—namely, Islam—reached insular

Southeast Asia, and over the two layers of indigenous and Hindu–
Buddhist cultures was added the third layer of Islam. In mainland Southeast
Asia, a new Burmese empire arose over the ruins of the old and continued its
149
task of spreading Buddhism. Hindu tradition reached the Burmese court
secondhand in the 18th century as the result of the Burmese conquest of Siam
and was one of the factors that contributed to the rise of a Burmese drama. On
the other side of the peninsula, Vietnam, reconquered by China, fell more and
more under the influence of Chinese culture. After a short period of Islamic
bloom, native culture in insular Southeast Asia was subjected to alien rule. In
Burma and Siam alone among the states of Southeast Asia, native arts
continued to flourish because, after centuries of warfare, they finally emerged
as strong kingdoms.
150
CHAPTER VI
Mount Kailash is MOUNT MERU Lord Shiva’s home
Churning of the ocean of milk, in Hinduism, one of the central events in the
ever-continuing struggle between the devas (gods) and the asuras (demons, or
titans).
Mount Mandara—a spur of Mount Meru, the world axis
The gods, who had become weakened as a result of a curse by

the irascible sage Durvasas, invited the asuras to help them recover the elixir
of immortality, the amrita, from the depths of the cosmic ocean. Mount
Mandara—a spur of Mount Meru, the world axis—was torn out to use as a
churning stick and was steadied at the bottom of the ocean by Vishnu in
his avatar (incarnation) as the tortoise Kurma. The asuras held the head of
the naga (half-human, half-cobra) Vasuki, who was procured for a churning
rope, and the gods held his tail. When Vasuki’s head vomited forth poison that
threatened to fall into the ocean and contaminate the amrita, the
god Shiva took it and held it in his throat, a feat that turned his throat blue.
In the churning of the ocean many wonderful treasures that became

the prototypes for their earthly and heavenly counterparts were brought up
from the depths:
(1) Chandra, the moon,

(2) parijata, a beautiful and fragrant tree now planted in Indra’s heaven,
(3) the four-tusked elephant Airavata, Indra’s mount,
(4) Kamadhenu, the cow of plenty,
(5) Madira, the goddess of wine, who became Varuni, the wife of Varuna,
(6) Kalpavriksha, the wish-fulfilling tree,
(7) the apsaras (celestial dancers),
(8) the celestial horse Uccaihshravas,
9) the goddess Lakshmi, who became Vishnu’s wife,
(10) Panchajanya, Vishnu’s conch,
(11) Vishnu’s mace and magic bow,
(12) various gems, and
(13–14) Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, who rose up out of the waters
carrying in his hands the supreme treasure, the amrita.
151
When the amrita appeared, the gods and the asuras fought over its possession,
though they had originally agreed to share it equally. After many adventures, it
was finally consumed by the gods, who were thus restored in strength.
The Churning of the

Ocean of Milk Gallery,
located in the temple
complex of Angkor Wat,
displays a spectacular 49
meters of intricately
sculpted bas-reliefs that
are part of a larger
ensemble of scenes from
the Battle of Kuruksetra,
the Ramayana, the 37
Heavens and the 32 Hells,
and Angkor Wat's patron,
Suryavarman II
Lord Shiva directing the
Churning of the oceans in
a painting from 1867
152
Mount Meru, in Hindu mythology, a golden mountain that stands in the centre
of the universe and is the axis of the world. It is the abode of gods, and its
foothills are the Himalayas, to the south of which extends Bhāratavarṣa (“Land
of the Sons of Bharata”), the ancient name for India. The roof tower crowning
the shrine in a Hindu temple represents Meru. As the world axis, Mount
Meru reaches down below the ground, into the nether regions, as far as it
extends into the heavens. All of the principal deities have their own celestial
kingdoms on or near it, where their devotees reside with them after death,
while awaiting their next reincarnation. According to I. Mabbett, writing in the
1
Chapter on The Symbolism of Mount Meru. From the book History of Religions, states
that “nurtured by the development of Hindu Cosmology the idea of Mount Meru
was carried far and wide by the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism.
Also recognized as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru, is the sacred five-peaked
mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the
center of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes.[1]
Many famous Buddhist temples and similarly Jain as well as Hindu temples
have been built as symbolic representations of this mountain. The "Sumeru
Throne" 須彌座 xūmízuò style base is a common feature of Chinese pagodas.
The highest point (the finial bud) on the pyatthat, a Burmese-style multi-tiered
roof, represents Mount Meru.
Etymologically, the proper name of the mountain is Meru (Pāli Meru), to which
is added the approbatory prefix su-, resulting in the meaning "excellent Meru"
or "wonderful Meru".Meru is also the name of the central bead in a mālā.
Mount Meru of Hindu traditions is described as 84,000 yojanas high, about

1,082,000 km (672,000 mi), which would be 85 times the Earth's diameter.
The Sun, along with all the planets in the Solar System, revolve around Mt.
Meru as one unit.
__________________________________________________________
153
1. 23(1), 64-83. (1983). Retrieved August 21, 2021, from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1062318
circumference is 3,200 yojanas according to Varahamihira and slightly less so
in the Aryabhatiya, but is said to be 5,026.5 yojanas in the Suryasiddhānta.
The Matsya Purana and the Bhagvata Purana, along with some other Hindu
texts, consistently give the height of 84,000 yojanas to Mount Meru, which
translates into 672,000 miles or 1,082,000 kilometers.
antiquity.
Mount Kailash is identified with Mount Meru.

According to Charles Allen, Mount Kailash is identified with Mount Meru. One
description in the Vishnu Purana of the mountain states that its four faces are
made of crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis lazuli.[23] It is a pillar of the world and is
located at the heart of six mountain ranges symbolizing a lotus
The abode of Shiva is in Mount Kailash, and the smashana, the cremation
ground. Kailash means ‘where there is only celebration’, and smashana is
where there is only void. Divinity dwells in the void as well as in celebration.
And in you there is void, there is a celebration.
- An excerpt from Gurudev’s talk on Lord Shiva
Often Mount Kailash, popular as the heavenly abode of Lord Shiva, is popular
for its majestic beauty and Mansarovar. The lake is an inseparable part of
Kailash. Mansarovar is a large freshwater lake situated in Tibet (China) and is
a pilgrimage holding religious importance for Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists.
Every year lakhs of pilgrims and tourists across the world visit Mansarovar to
experience the beauty and piousness of the place.
Mount Kailash—the Stairway to Heaven—is the most intriguing mountain

range is the whole of Himalayas, so we thought of divulging some things that
you might not know about it. As a matter of fact, Mount Kailash is 22,000 ft
from the Tibetan Plateau, which is largely considered to be inaccessible. For
Hindus and Buddhists, Mount Kailash is the physical embodiment of Mount
Meru.
154
MEANING AND HISTORY OF MANSAROVAR
Mansarovar is considered as one of the Holy places as the legends say that the
lake is a bathing place for gods during Brahma Muhurta. According to Hindu
beliefs, the lake was first created in the mind of Lord Brahma and so is named
Mansarovar. Mansarovar, as the name suggests, is a combination of two
Sanskrit
ords: manas means ‘mind’ and ‘intellect’ and sarovar means ‘lake'.
It is believed that at Kailash Mansarovar the lords reside and meditate. The
reason why Mansarovar cannot be everywhere is because of the aura of the
place. Holy lake Mansarovar is compared with the mind of lords which is as
calm as water and as strong and tranquil as a mountain.
What is the significance of Mount Kailash?
WHY VISIT MANSAROVAR?
1) Religious importance: According to the scriptures, the lake is considered

sacred. The beauty and significance of Mansarovar are described beautifully in
many scriptures.
In Hinduism, it is believed that taking a dip in the Kailash Mansarovar or
drinking the water washes away all the sins.
According to Jains, the lake is believed to be the place where Lord Rishabh
Deva, the first Tirthankara attained spiritual liberation.
According to Buddhism, Mount Kailash is also known as Meru Parvat and it is
considered to be the place where Lord Buddha stayed and meditated.
According to Bon Religion, "Zhang Zhung" is a holy place in Tibet. It is
believed that the founder of Bon religion Tonapa Shernab visited Tibet for the
first time and took a bath in this lake.
According to Sikhism, the lake is believed to be the place where Guru Nanak
Dev, the founder of Sikhism and the first of the 10 Sikh Gurus learned to
meditate.
2) Geographical importance: Mount Kailash is the central part of the earth
surrounded by 6 other mountain ranges from the sides. The campus of Mount
Kailash is considered to be the focal point of the whole universe.
Apart from being a beautiful place, Lake Mansarovar is the highest freshwater
lake in the world standing at a height of 4,557 meters above sea level, making
it one of the highest lakes in the world. The place is best to go deeper into
samadhi. Lake Mansarovar is the point of origin of four major rivers namely
Brahmaputra, Ghagra, Sindhu, Satluj.
3) Medical Importance: The trip to Mansarovar is a good opportunity to get to
know the herbs and shrubs that surround Mount Kailash. The wild plants and
flowers are used for medicinal purposes. There are various flowers such as
155
Nagmani flower, which is shaped like a snake stone and attracts tourists with
its beauty. Bicchu ghas also known as stinging nettle plant in English grown at
Mansarovar has diverse medicinal benefits. Stinging nettle (Bicchu ghas) is
useful to cure joint pain and works as acupuncture.
4) Tourist attraction: If you love nature, lakes, snowy mountains, greenery,
you will love Mansarovar too. The Mountain Kailash is surrounded by
flourishing gardens. You will get a glimpse of beautiful flowers like lotus, lili
and swans, enhancing the beauty of the lake. During sunrise, you can see the
golden peak of Mt. Kailash which is a sight to behold. The order of the place,
the scenic beauty of Mansarovar is widespread and something you don’t want
to take your eyes off. It is said that Mansarovar is Asia's most religious, most
challenging and among the most-visited trips.
PLACES TO VISIT NEAR MANSAROVAR
Though traveling to Mansarovar in itself will be a refreshing and adventurous

journey for you. But there are some other highlights too for you so that you
must not miss any fun coming your way.
1) Gauri Kund: Another tourist attraction is Gauri Kund, also known as
Parvati Sarovar. There are mystical stories weaved around this. It is believed
that the lake is the bathing place of Devi Parvati where she also created Lord
Ganesha. This lake is also titled as the lake of compassion.
2) Rakshas Tal: Rakshas tal is also known as ‘Ravana lake- the lake of
Demons.’ It is believed to be the dwelling place of Ravana and so it was named
as Rakshas Tal. The lake is situated near Mansarovar and is recognized as the
largest saltwater lake of Tibet. The lake includes four islands namely Dola,
Topserma, Lachato, and Dosharba. People residing near this lake don’t take
bath in this tal as the water in the lake is very salty and poisonous.
3) Kailash Parikrama: Mount Kailash is known as the residing place of Lord
Shiva and Goddess Parvati. According to Shiva Purana, circumambulating the
mountain helps you get rid of all your sins. The circumambulation distance is
a 3-day 53 kilometers journey. The journey is adventurous and one has to face
many challenges due to extreme weather and low availability of oxygenZ.
15 Little-known Mount Kailash Facts & Mysteries, by Catherine
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Lord Shiva’s face in Mount Kailash captured by Google Earth
LOCATION
Mount Kailash is located in western Tibet. At an elevation of 6,656 meters
above sea level, Mt.Kailash is not a high mountain Tibet. But it's been
worshipped as a famous sacred site by countless people of Buddhism, Bon,
Hinduism, and Jainism. Hinduism believes that the mountain is the residence
of Shiva and the center of the world, while Jainism believes that the mountain
is the place where its ancestor Rishabhanatha attained the path, Tibetan
Buddhism believes that this mountain is the residence of Cakrasamvara
representing boundless happiness, and for Bönpo Religion, Mt Kailash is a
nine-story swastika mountain that is the seat of spiritual power. So this
spiritual mountain is actually the center of the world and holy place of many
sects. The miracles at Kailash Mansarovar have been constantly heard,
speculated, talked about, and even investigated, but so far there is no
conclusion. Here we have collected 15 secrets, mysteries, or facts of Mount
Kailash, and maybe give you some new insight into it.
1. Kailash Mountain Is Unclimbable
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Mysterious Kailash in the sunset
Mount Kailash’s height is 6,656 meters above sea level. It is not the tallest
mountain in Tibetan areas. However, no one has climbed to the Mount Kailash
summit. The ancient legend claimed that only Milarepa, a Buddhist monk had
peaked Mount Kailash.
2. The Climbers’ Mysterious Death

A team of scientists who intended to climb to the top of Mount Kailash finally
gave up on the advice of a Tibetan Lama. Four of the climbers still died within
a year or two. It is said climbing mount Kailash will offend the gods.
3. The Cross Mark Proved the Existence of religion Masters

A groove and a gouge form a giant cross mark on the mountain. The groove
around the waist of Kailash Mountain is Shiva neck's snake trailed. The gouge
was left when Milarepa was fighting with Naro Bönchung for the control of
Kailash Mansarovar.
4. Kailash Peak Is Pyramid

Scientists have discovered that the top of Mt. Kailash is actually a man-made
vacuum pyramid. It is surrounded by more than 100 other small pyramids.
According to preliminary estimates, the direct height of the pyramid complex is
between 100 and 1,800 meters, while the Egyptian pyramid is only 146 meters.
If true, it would be larger than any known pyramid today.
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The top of Mt. Kailash looks like a pyramid
5. Supernatural Energy Created Mt. Kailash
The Kailash Pyramids miracle was probably built by an advanced civilization
that understood the subtle laws of energy (the twist field) and how to control
energy and time.
6. Google Maps show the center location of Mt.Kailash

Kailash Mountain is considered the axis of the universe, the center of the
world, the pillar of the world. It is the place where the earth connects with
heaven. As you can see from Google Maps, the distance from Stonehenge in the
UK to Mt Kailash is 6,666 kilometers, which is also the distance from Kailash
Range to the North Pole. The distance from Mt Kailash to the South Pole is
13,332 kilometers, which is exactly twice the distance to the North Pole or
Stonehenge.
Mount Kailash is the center of the world
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7. Mt Kailash Is Also Energy Center of Earth
Mt Kailash is the center of a worldwide system that connects mystical sites and
energy sites from around the world, including the Pyramids of Egypt, the
Pyramids of Mexico, Easter Island, Stonehenge, and the North Pole... which
constitute the global energy grid system.
8. Kailash Range Area Will Accelerated Aging

Some scientists believe that the Kailash range is a vortex of energy that lifts the
body and mind. It is said that people who spend 12 hours in the vicinity of
Kailash experience accelerated hair and fingernails growth, which is equivalent
to two weeks of normal time.
9. Mount Kailash is the prototype of Mount Meru, the world center recorded
in Hinduism and Buddhism.
10. Mansarovar Lake & Lake Rakshastal Represent Yin-Yang
Rakshastal (left) and Mansarovar (right) lie at the foot of the southern face of
Mount Kailash.
There are two lakes at the foot of Mount Kailash. Mansarovar Lake was
originally created in the Hindu god’s thoughts and then visualized on the earth.
This holy lake is a freshwater lake, whereas, the Rakshas Tal Lake, which is
separated by only one way, is a saltwater lake known as a ghost lake. One
shapes like the sun, and the other shapes like the moon. The two lakes
represent light and darkness respectively.
11. Mount Kailash's satellite view shows that the shadow side of the Kailash
Himalaya is like Shiva's face, smiling.
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The satellite view shows the face of Lord Shiva on Kailash Mountain.
12. Kailash Parvat Mystery
OM(ॐ) is definitely God's signature in the Himalayas.

Viewing from the south of the ridge, you can see the Kailash Parvat's Hindu
OM(ॐ) symbol. The huge ice trough and horizontal rock formations from the
top of the mountain constitute this symbol.
13. Lord Shiva and Rishabhanatha store their knowledge at Kailash
Himalaya
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When we say that Mount Kailash is the residence of Lord Shiva, it does not
mean that Lord Shiva was seen in the Himalayas or hiding in the mountains,
but that he stores the knowledge of enlightenment there in a specific form of
energy. Similarly, Buddhists say that their three main bodhisattvas: Guanyin
Bodhisattva, Vajrasattva Bodhisattva, and Manjushri Bodhisattva all live in
Mt.Kailash, while Jains say that their first ancestor Rishabhanatha also lives
there. This does not mean that they actually live there, but that they store the
knowledge and truth of enlightenment there.
14. Four Asia Rivers Source From Kailash Mansarovar

Kailash Himalaya and the lake Manasarovar nearby give birth to the Indus
River, Ganges, Sutlej River, and Brahmaputra in Asia. Originating from there,
the four rivers set off at the same time but flowed in different directions. After
traveling tens of thousands of miles, they went to the same destination—the
Indian Ocean.
15. Kailash range area exist underground cities

There are two dungeons in the area around Kailash, Shambhala and
Agartha. They are two branches of human civilization. These two advanced
civilizations come from the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas respectively.
16. According to the Buddhist and Hindu scriptures, around the Mount
Meru exist ancient monasteries and caves wherein the holy sages reside in
their material and subtle bodies. These caves can be seen by only a few
fortunate ones.
17. Every year, thousands of pilgrims enter Tibet for pilgrimage to the holy
Mount Kailash. A few make it to the region and a very few manage to finish
circumambulating the hallowed peak. As for climbing up the summit, some
daring mountaineers have attempted to do so, but with no luck.
18. Trekking all the way up to the peak of Mount Kailash is held to be a
forbidden act among Hindus for the fear of trespassing the sanctity of the
mountain and disturbing the divine energies residing there. As per a Tibetan
lore, a monk named Milarepa once ventured far enough to reach the top of
Mount Meru. When he returned, he forewarned everyone to avoid bothering
the God resting high up in the peak.
19. Two beautiful lakes, namely Mansarovar and Rakshas Tal, are located at
the base of Mount Kailash. Of the two, Mansarovar, which lies at an altitude
of 14, 950 ft, is considered the highest freshwater body in the world.
20. While Mansarovar has a deep spiritual significance, its antithesis,

Rakshas Tal, was born of the intense austerities performed by the demon
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King Ravana to please Lord Shiva. For its close association with a demoniac
entity, the Rakshas Tal Lake is endowed with salty water and deprived of
aquatic plant life and marine life.
21. Mount Kailash is believed to be the Axis Mundi aka the cosmic axis,
world axis, world pillar, centre of the world, the world tree. It is the point
where heaven meets earth. The Google Maps vouch for the validity of this
fact.
22. True to its nature, the water of the holy Lake Mansarovar stays placid
whether it is windy or not. Also, its next-door neighbour, Rakshas Tal stays
more or less turbulent
23. Do not be surprised if you find your nails or hair grown by a few
millimetres after returning from your Mount Meru trip. Tourists and
pilgrims have discovered that the air of this ancient peak amps up the
process of ageing! Once a group of climbers of Siberian origin reached ahead
of a certain point and immediately aged by a few decades. Shockingly, all of
the trespassers died of old age a year after!
https://www.greattibettour.com/tibet-travel-tips/mount-kailash-facts-
mysteries-you-may-not-know.html
ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE: Mount Meru is the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu,
Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the center of all the
physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes.
Many famous Hindu and similar Jain, as well as Buddhist temples, have been
built as symbolic representations of this mountain.
Geographical
The dimensions attributed to Mount Meru, all references to it being as a part

of the Cosmic Ocean, with several statements that say, “The Sun along with
all the planets circle the mountain,” make determining its location most difficult,
according to most scholars.
of Kashmir.
The Suryasiddhanta mentions that Mt. Meru lies in ‘the middle of the Earth‘
(“bhurva-madhya”) in the land of the Jambunad (Jambudvip).
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There exist several versions of cosmology in existing Hindu texts. In one of
them, cosmologically, the Meru mountain was also described as being
surrounded by Mandrachala Mountain to the east, Supasarva Mountain to the
west, Kumuda Mountain to the north and Kailasha to the south.
Hindu legends
Mount Meru of Hindu traditions has clearly mythical aspects, being described
as 84,000 Yojana high (about 1,082,000 km), which would be 85 times the
Earth’s diameter, and notes that the Sun along with all the planets in the Solar
System revolves around Mt. Meru as one unit.
One yojana can be taken to mean about 11.5 km (9 miles) though its
magnitude seems to differ over time periods, e.g. the Earth’s circumference is
3,200 yojanas according to Vārāhamihira and slightly less so in the
Āryabhatiya, but is said to be 5,026.5 yojanas in the Suryasiddhānta.
The Matsya Purana and the Bhāgvata Purāna along with some other Hindu
texts consistently give the height of 84,000 yojanas to Mount Meru which
translates into 672,000 miles or 1,082,000 kilometers.
antiquity.
Jain legends
According to Jain cosmology, Mount Meru (or Sumeru) is at the center of the
world surrounded by Jambūdvīpa, in the form of a circle forming a diameter of
100,000 yojans.
There are two sets of sun, moon, and stars revolving around Mount Meru;
while one set works, the other set rests behind Mount Meru.
Javanese legends
This mythical mountain of gods was mentioned in Tantu Pagelaran, an Old

Javanese manuscript written in the Kawi language from the 15th-century
Majapahit period.
The manuscript describes the mythical origin of Java island and the legend of
the movement of portions of Mount Meru to Java.
The manuscript explained that Batara Guru (Shiva) ordered the
god Brahma and Vishnu to fill the Java island with human beings.
However at that time, Java island was floating freely on the ocean, always
tumbling and shaking. To stop the island’s movement, the gods decided to nail
it to the Earth by moving the part of Mahameru in Jambudvipa (India) and
attaching it to Java. The resulting mountain is Mount Semeru, the tallest
mountain on Java.
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Javanese Legand: This mythical mountain of gods was mentioned in
century Majapahit period. The manuscript describes the mythical origin of the
island of Java, as well as the legendary movement of portions of Mount Meru to
Java. The manuscript explains that Batara Guru (Shiva) ordered the
gods Brahma and Vishnu to fill Java with human beings. However, at that
time, Java island was floating freely on the ocean, always tumbling and
shaking. To stop the island's movement, the gods decided to nail it to the Earth
by moving the part of Mahameru in Jambudvipa (India) and attaching it to
Java. The resulting mountain is Mount Semeru, the tallest mountain on Java.
Mount Semeru, a large active volcano on Java, is named after the mount.
incorporated into ancient Hindu temple architecture with a Shikhara (Śikhara)
— a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak." Early examples of
this style can be found at the Harshat Mata Temple and Harshnath
Temple from the 8th century CE in Rajasthan, Western India. This concept
also continued outside India, such as in Bali, where temples feature Meru
towers.
In Buddhist temples, the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya is the earliest
example of the 5th- to 6th-century depiction. Many other Buddhist temples
took on this form, such as the Wat Arun in Thailand and the Hsinbyume
Pagoda in Myanmar.
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The central tower symbolizing the sacred Mount Meru
The five central towers of Angkor Wat, before a Hindu and later a Buddhist
temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia, symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru. Angkor
Wat is a unique combination of the temple mountain (the standard design for
the empire's state temples) and the later plan of concentric galleries. The
construction of Angkor Wat also suggests that there was a celestial significance
with certain features of the temple. This is observed in the temple's east–west
orientation, and lines of sight from terraces within the temple that show
specific towers to be at the precise location of the sunrise on a solstice. [38] The
temple is a representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods: the
central quincunx of towers symbolises the five peaks of the mountain, and the
walls and moat symbolize the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean. Access
to the upper areas of the temple was progressively more exclusive, with the
laity being admitted only to the lowest level.
Central structure of Angkor is MOUNT MERU
The temple stands on a terrace raised higher than the city to give the
impression of a mountain It is made of three rectangular galleries rising to a
central tower, each level higher than the last. The two inner galleries each have
four large towers at their ordinal corners (that is, NW, NE, SE and SW)
surrounding a higher fifth tower. This pattern is sometimes called a quincunx
and represents the mountains of Meru. Because the temple faces west, the
features are all set back towards the east, leaving more space to be filled in
each enclosure and gallery on the west side; for the same reason the west-
facing steps are shallower than those on the other sides.
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Mannikka interprets the galleries as being dedicated to the king, Brahma, the
moon, and Vishnu. Each gallery has a gopura at each of the points. The outer
gallery measures 187 m (614 ft) by 215 m (705 ft), with pavilions rather than
towers at the corners. The gallery is open to the outside of the temple, with
columned half-galleries extending and buttressing the structure. Connecting
the outer gallery to the second enclosure on the west side is a cruciform
cloister called Preah Poan (meaning "The Thousand Buddhas"
Gallery). Buddha images were left in the cloister by pilgrims over the centuries,
although most have now been removed. This area has many inscriptions
relating the good deeds of pilgrims, most written in Khmer but others
in Burmese and Japanese. The four small courtyards marked out by the
cloister may originally have been filled with water. North and south of the
cloister are libraries.
Beyond, the second and inner galleries are connected to each other and to
two flanking libraries by another cruciform terrace, again a later addition.
From the second level upwards, devatas abound on the walls, singly or in
groups of up to four. The second-level enclosure is 100 m (330 ft) by 115 m
(377 ft), and may originally have been flooded to represent
the ocean around Mount Meru.[60] Three sets of steps on each side lead up to
the corner towers and gopuras of the inner gallery. The very steep stairways
represent the difficulty of ascending to the kingdom of the gods. This inner
gallery, called the Bakan, is a 60 m (200 ft) square with axial galleries
connecting each gopura with the central shrine, and subsidiary shrines located
below the corner towers.
The roofings of the galleries are decorated with the motif of the body of a
snake ending in the heads of lions or garudas. Carved lintels and
pediments decorate the entrances to the galleries and to the shrines. The tower
above the central shrine rises 43 m (141 ft) to a height of 65 m (213 ft) above
the ground; unlike those of previous temple mountains, the central tower is
raised above the surrounding four.[5] The shrine itself, originally occupied by a
statue of Vishnu and open on each side, was walled in when the temple was
converted to Theravada Buddhism, the new walls featuring standing Buddhas.
In 1934, the conservator George Trouvé excavated the pit beneath the central
shrine: filled with sand and water it had already been robbed of its treasure,
but he did find a sacred foundation deposit of gold leaf two metres above
ground level.
Two Other Examples of the Design of Temples after the Concept of
Mount Meru are given below( 2 of many)
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I. The meru of Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, Indonesia is dedicated to Shiva and
his consort Parvathi/. Built in 1633, the design and plan of the holy
pura follows a square layout. A typical temple is laid out according to
ancient Lontar texts with three courtyards separated by low walls
pierced by ornate gateways. The outer courtyard is for secular
pursuits, with pavilions used for meetings, resting performers and
musicians at festivals. Food stalls are set up here during festivals.
The middle courtyard is a transition zone between the human and
divine sections; here offerings are prepared and temple paraphernalia
are stored. The inner courtyard is the site of the shrines and religious
ceremonies.
The 11-storey pelinggih meru in the complex is dedicated to Shiva and his
consort Parvathi. Buddha's statue is also enshrined in this temple. This
temple is also called the "Bali temple on the Lake" because it looks as if it is
floating when the Bratan River rises. The shrines are therefore known
as merus and are square structures with brick bases and multiple pagoda-
style thatched roofs; the number of roofs reflects the status of the deity,
and is always an odd number. Pura Ulun Danu Beratan is one of the nine
'Kahyangan Jagat' temples on Bali. The temple complex consists of five
various shrines dedicated to other Hindu gods as well.
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II. Wat Phutthaisawan ( Phutthai Sawan or Buddhaisawan)
literally: "Monastery of Buddhist Kingship") is an historic Thai
Buddhist temple in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, central
Thailand, and is part of Ayutthaya Historical Park. It is over 666
years old.
The temple is situated on the west bank of Chao Phraya River,
opposite to south of Ayutthaya City- a city named after an incarnation
of SHIVA Rama.( AYODHRA where he ruled) .
Prang of Wat Phutthaisawan, a Buddhist temple in Samphao Lom, Thailand, representing Mount Meru
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Built in 1353 by King Uthong (Ramathibodi I), the first monarch and founder
of Ayutthaya Kingdom at the royal residence of "Wiang Lek", the site where he
first settled before establishing Ayutthaya as the capital city in 1350. He built
this temple to serve as a royal monastery after he had reigned for three years.
white prang (Khmer-style pagoda) as Mount Meru
The most striking aspect of this temple is a white prang (Khmer-style pagoda),
located in the middle of the ancient compound and built on an indented
pedestal protruding towards the north and south. According to the cosmology
of Buddhism, the prang represents the cosmic Mount Meru. The main prang is
surrounded by a square cloister. The cloister is enclosed by an outer wall,
which along with the pillars inside supports the roof. The floor of the terrace is
one step higher than the court. The inner wall of the cloister houses rows
of golden glittering Sukhothai Buddha images on decorated bases.
3 other examples olf Mount Meru Architecture
Prang of Wat Phutthaisawan, a Buddhist temple in Samphao Lom, Thailand,

representing Mount Meru/A Buddhist prang in Wat Arun, Bangkok, representing
Mount Sumeru/Hsinbyume Pagoda in Mandalay, Myanmar, representing Mount
Sumeru.
Kailash Mansarovar
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Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; Kangrinboqê or Gang Rinpoche; कै लास, is a
6,638 m (21,778 ft) high peak in the Kailash Range (Gangdisê Mountains),
which forms part of the Transhimalaya in the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet
Autonomous Region, China. In Hinduism, it is traditionally recognized as the
abode of Shiva, who resided there along with his consort goddess Parvati and
their children, Ganesha and Kartikeya.
According.to.Sadguru(https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/sadhguru/mystic/
mount-kailash-abode-of-shiva) in the Hindu way of life, people say Kailash is the Abode of
Shiva. In the yogic culture we do not see Shiva as a God. We see him as a man who was the first yogi or
the Adiyogi. And he was the Adi Guru or the first guru. He was the first one to transmit the yogic science
to his first seven disciples, who came to be known as the Saptarishis. Shiva is the greatest mystic that we
have known. So when we say "Abode of Shiva," it does not mean that if you dig in the rocks or look up in
the clouds somewhere you will find him. It is because everything that he knew has been deposited in
Mount Kailash in a certain energy form. He chose this peak as a scaffolding for his knowing. The
knowledge and the capability that Shiva was, all that is very alive and accessible at Kailash. So, starting
from Shiva himself, many great beings chose to deposit and preserve their work in Kailash. Rishabadev,
the saints of the Bon religion, two of the greatest Buddhist teachers, Agastyamuni, the Nayanmars, - all of
them chose Kailash Parvat as a place to preserve their work. Unfortunately, for most mystics on the
planet, if they get to share one or two percent of their work with people around them, they are very
fortunate. Most of them don’t even get to do that. So they always chose to deposit their work in some
space that is not too frequented by human beings, but at the same time it's accessible for those who wish
to go. Kailash is such a place. It is not totally inaccessible but it's hard enough to discourage a lot of
people. There are many places like this in India.
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In the Uttara Kanda section of the epic Ramayana, it is said
that Ravana attempted to uproot the Mount Kailash as retaliation to
lord Shiva, who in turn, pressed his right big toe upon the mountain,
trapping Ravana in between.[7] This version of lord Shiva is also referred to
as Ravananugraha, or favour form to Ravana while seated in mount Kailash.
According to the epic Mahabharata, it is said that the Pandava brothers,

along with their wife Draupadi, trekked to the summit of mount Kailash on
their path to liberation, as it is considered to be a gateway to Heaven, also
known as Swarga Loka.
According to Charles Allen, one description in the Vishnu Purana of the
mountain states that its four faces are made of crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis
lazuli. It is a pillar of the world and is located at the heart of six mountain
ranges symbolizing a lotus.[
The mountain is located near Lake Manasarovar and Lake Rakshastal, close to
the source of some of the longest Asian rivers: the Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra,
and Karnali also known as Ghaghara (a tributary of the Ganges) in India.
Mount Kailash is considered to be sacred in four
religions: Hinduism, Bon, Buddhism, and Jainism.
Counted among the most difficult to access religious sites in India, Kailash
Mansarovar is found today in Tibet which has been occupied by China since
the war of 1962. The two popular religious sites of Mt. Kailash and Mansarovar
Lake are the prime attractions of this world famous pilgrimage. Mt. Kailsh is
6,638 meters high mountain peak located in remote south-western corner of
Tibet and stands as the source of four major rivers of Asia called the
Brahmaputra, the Sutlej, Ganges and the Indus. Mansarovar is found at a
distance of around 20 km away from the Mt. Kailash and captivates travellers
for its blue and emerald green water. Kailash Mansarovar is a highly significant
pilgrimage for the Hindus, Jains as well as Tibetan Buddhists.
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Every year, thousands make a pilgrimage to Kailash, following a tradition going
back thousands of years. Pilgrims of several religions believe that
circumambulating Mount Kailash on foot is a holy ritual that will bring good
fortune. The peregrination is made in a clockwise direction by Hindus and
Buddhists, while Jains and Bönpos circumambulate the mountain in a
counterclockwise direction.
After the war of 1962, Indo-China land route via Nathu La in Sikkim is again
opened for the pilgrims. So, now onwards tourist can enjoy an easier and safer
journey to Mansarovar.
Selection Process of Yatris
It is an arduous nature of the journey only physically fit people are eligible to
apply. The applicant must not suffer from medical conditions like, diabetes,
high blood pressure, asthma, epilepsy, heart disease, etc. The Yatris would be
selected by MEA through a computerized selection process. Selected people will
be informed about their selection / inclusion in a meticulous batch 3-4 weeks
before their scheduled departure. Selected yatris will need to accumulate in
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New Delhi 3-4 days before the commencement of the yatra. After the selection,
the Yatris will need to qualify for the yatra after passing two sets of medical
tests. Yatris will have to undergo one more medical test to find out reactions to
altitude trekking. This will be done at Gunji, after five days of the Yatra when
the yatris have scaled around 3500 metres. Yatri who would be found
medically unfit at Gunji won’t be permitted to continue the Yatra.
REFERENCE
Mount Kailash is MOUNT MERU Lord Shiva’s home-Resham Sengar| 8, 2019,
174
Chapter VII
Where is the exact location of Sumeru
Mountain?
It is not on the earth but in a different dimension , according to the

Abhidharma Kosha , and seen only by those who have developed Siddhis/
Psychical powers . Sumeru Mountain and Ancient Heaven at North Pole star:
VārāhaMihira who was the most famous Indian astronomer from ancient times
identified North Pole as the location of Holy Meru in his work Pancha-
Siddhāntikā and same goes with the ancient Hindu astronomical text known
as the Suryasiddhanta, locates Meru as the 'Navel of the Earth'.
In Hindu rituals, the symbol with arms pointing clockwise ( 卐 ) is

called swastika. If you try to locate the ancient Ramayana verse on ‘Dhruvam
sarve Pradakshinam’ it refers Dhruvam as the pole star and these seven
sages(Saptarishis) (Big Dipper) offer Pradakshinam. The word swastika is
derived from the Sanskrit root swasti, which is composed of –
Su (सु) - good, well, auspicious-Asti (अस्ति) - to be or there is
Most of Hindu rituals in which devotees doing pradaskshina around

God, pradaskhina in temples, holy hills, pradakshina around Agni
God(Fire) during Hindu marriage rituals have been associated with this
cosmology.
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These circumpolar constellations never seem to set and they simply
rotate around the pole star that basically supported concept of Heaven/God for
people of ancient civilizations. It appeared for them as these circumpolar
constellations was controlling the movement of all stars and planets around
it . In Hindu mythology, these circumpolar constellations are referred
as Shisumara planetary system and other stars are also fixed on different sides
of the Śhiśumāra planetary system according to the calculations of ancient
Vedic astronomers. Even in current world and to concentrate their minds,
Vedic sages worship the Śhiśumāra planetary system, which is technically
known as the Kuṇḍalini-cakra.(Reference : Vibhuti Pada - The third chapter of Patanjali’s
Yoga Sutras)
ध्रुवे तद्गतिज्ञानम् ॥२८॥
dhruve tadgati-jñānam ॥28॥

Explanation : Meditating on the polestar(Dhruva) engenders knowledge (jnana)
||28||
As mentioned above, Sumeru/Meru is at the North Pole and Kumeru at

the South pole and most of ancient scriptures describe Meru as the Central
Pivot of the Universe and the entire cosmos revolves around it. In Hindu
cosmology, 7 Sages(Big Dipper), the Sun, Moon and Stars paying obeisance
while circum-ambulating the Holy Mountain and above Meru is Brahmalok or
the 'Abode of Brahma'. In Norse mythology, they talk about about a World
Tree that connects Heaven, Earth and Hell just like Meru. For Egyptians, Meru
was something like Pyramid and every ancient scriptures with civilizations
associated with it have localized this mountain to location towards North
Star something like below that supported as pillar for Heaven.
176
In the ancient Zoroastrian scriptures of the Avesta, Harā Bərəzaitī is the
source of all mountains of the world. Harā Bərəzaitī came to be identified
with Harborz and also Alborz, Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus range.
In Avestan cosmogony, High Harā is the geographic center of the universe,
immediately surrounded by the steppes of the Airyanem Vaejah, the first of the
seven lands created by Ahura Mazda. From these high Hara mountains, waters
rush down from the mountain as the mighty world river Arədvī Sūrā
Anāhitā ( Vedic Sarasvati Equivalent), which in turn feed the great
sea Vourukaša.
According to H. Lommel, the original name of the divinity in Indo-Iranian times

was Sarasvatī, which also means "she who possesses waters".In Sanskrit, the
name आर्द्रावी 4रा अनाहिता means "of the waters, mighty, and immaculate".
Similar to Hindu mythology Sarasvatī, Anāhitā of Avestan myths mentions this
river that nurtures crops and herds; and she is hailed both as a divinity and as
the mythical river which she personifies, "as great in bigness as all these
waters which flow forth upon the earth" (Yasht 5.3)
As per (Yasht 10.88) ....Harā is tall and luminous. The sacred

plant haoma(Soma in Vedic) grows on Harā. It is also the home of
the yazata Mithra. It is the site in legend of sacrifices (yasnas) to the yazatas
Mithra, Sraoša, Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā, Vayu, and Druvāspa, by sacrificers such
as the divine priest Haoma (epitome of the sacred plant) and kings
like Haošyaŋha and Yima.
Ancient Persian civilization refers Hara mountains as Sumeru . It is Mt Meru in

Jainism and Buddhism. 'Su' means good in Sanskrit and thus the name
Mount Sumeru. Good part of Vedic tribes is that they localize this mountain
and associated cosmogony in whichever place they migrate. Some researchers
identify Mount Meru or Sumeru with the Pamirs, northern part of Afghanistan.
As per current local Hindu cosmogony, SUMERU PARBAT(6351m) is
present Kedārnāth mountain in the Garhwal district of Uttaranchal, India.
Similarly, the five central towers of Angkor Wat symbolize the peaks of Mount
Meru, which according to Hindu mythology is the dwelling place of the gods.
The mountain is said to be surrounded by an ocean.
Shiva Lingam also represents same alignment to Holy Sumeru.
Constructing Shiva temples in India along the Madhyarekha has mythological

significance. Ancient Purnanas explains the significance and origin of Lingam
along this Meridian (79th meridian east - Wikipedia) Reference: Madhyarekha,
Madhyarekhā, Madhya-rekha: 2 definitions
177
Mount Meru : is also called Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru, is the sacred five-
peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to
be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes.
Many famous Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu temples have been built as symbolic
representations of this mountain. The "Sumeru Throne"-xūmízuò style base is
a common feature[citation needed] of Chinese pagodas. The highest point (the finial
bud) on the pyatthat, a Burmese-style multi-tiered roof, represents Mount
Meru.
Etymologically, the proper name of the mountain is Meru (Pāli Meru), to which
is added the approbatory prefix su-, resulting in the meaning "excellent Meru"
or "wonderful Meru". Meru is also the name of the central bead in a mālā.
In other languages, Mount Meru is pronounced:
1. Burmese: ([mjɪ̰ ɴ mò tàʊɰ̃ ])

2. Chinese: 須彌山 (Xūmíshān)
3. Japanese: 須弥山 (Shumisen)
4. Javanese: ꦱꦼꦩꦺꦫꦸ (Semeru)
5. Kannada: ಮೇರು ಪರ್ವತ
6. Khmer: ភ្នំព្សុមេរុ (Phnom Preah Someru) or (Phnom Preah Somae)
7. Korean: 수미산 (Sumisan)
8. Malayalam: മഹാമേരു പർവ്വതം (Mahameru Parvatham)
9. Pāli: Sineru
10. Tamil: மகா மேரு மலை
11. Telugu: మేరు పర్వతం
12. Tibetan: ཪི་རྒྱལ་པོ་རི་རབ་
13. Thai:เขาพระสุเมรุ (Khao phra sumen)
14. Vietnamese: Núi Tu-di
178
GEOGRAPHY; The dimensions attributed to Mount Meru — which all refer to it
as a part of the Cosmic Ocean, along with several other statements that
describe it in geographically vague terms (e.g., "the Sun along with all the
planets circle the mountain") — make the determination of its location most
of Kashmir.
The Suryasiddhanta mentions that Mt. Meru lies in the middle of the
Earth ("bhuva-madhya") in the land of the Jambunad
(Jampudvīpa). Narapatijayacharyasvarodaya, a ninth-century text, based on
mostly unpublished texts of Yāmal Tantr, mentions:
(Su-meru is heard to be in the middle of the Earth, but is not seen there).
Several versions of cosmology can be found in existing Hindu texts. In
one of them, cosmologically, the Meru mountain was also described as
being surrounded by Mandrachala Mountain to the east, Suparshva
Mountain to the west, Kumuda Mountain to the north and Kailasa to the
south
Main articles: Buddhist cosmology and Mount Meru (Buddhism)
Yuan dynasty 1271–1368) Chinese mandala depicting Mount Meru as

an inverted pyramid topped by a lotus.
According to Buddhist cosmology, Mount Meru (or Sumeru) is at the

centre of the world, and Jambūdvīpa is south of it. It is
80,000 yojanas wide and 80,000 yojanas high according to
the Abhidharmakośabhāṣyam and 84,000 yojanas high according to
the Long Āgama Sutra. Trāyastriṃśa is on its peak, where Śakra resides.
The Sun and the Moon revolve around Mount Meru, and as the Sun
passes behind it, it becomes nighttime. The mountain has four faces —
each one made of a different material; the northern face is made of gold,
179
the eastern one is made of crystal, the southern one is made of lapis
lazuli, and the western one is made of ruby
In Vajrayāna, maṇḍala offerings often include Mount Meru, as they in
part represent the entire universe.It is also believed that Mount Meru is
the home of the buddha Cakrasaṃvara
Tibetan Cakrasaṃvara sand mandala with Mount Meru in the centre.

/ Tibetan Buddhist embroidery representing Mount Sumeru.
Hindu cosmology
180
Mount Meru of Hindu traditions is described as 84,000 yojanas high,

about 1,082,000 km (672,000 mi), which would be 85 times the Earth's
diameter. The Sun, along with all the planets in the Solar System,
revolve around Mt. Meru as one unit.
circumference is 3,200 yojanas according to Varahamihira and slightly
less so in the Aryabhatiya, but is said to be 5,026.5 yojanas in the
Suryasiddhānta. The Matsya Purana and the Bhagvata Purana, along
with some other Hindu texts, consistently give the height of 84,000
yojanas to Mount Meru, which translates into 672,000 miles or
1,082,000 kilometers.
antiquity.
According to Charles Allen, Mount Kailash is identified with Mount
Meru. One description in the Vishnu Purana of the mountain states that
its four faces are made of crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis lazuli.[23] It is a
pillar of the world and is located at the heart of six mountain ranges
symbolizing a lotus.[23]
Painting of Mount Meru from Jain cosmology from

the Samghayanarayana
Jain cosmology
According to Jain cosmology, Mount Meru (or Sumeru) is at the centre of
the world surrounded by Jambūdvīpa, in form of a circle forming a
diameter of 100,000 yojans. There are two sets of sun, moon and stars
revolving around Mount Meru; while one set works, the other set rests
behind Mount Meru.
Every Tirthankara is taken to the summit of Meru by Indra shortly after
his birth, after putting the Tirthankara child's mother into deep slumber.
181
There, he was bathed and anointed with precious unctions. Indra and
other Devas celebrated his birth.
Javanese Legends: This mythical mountain of gods was mentioned in
century Majapahit period. The manuscript describes the mythical origin
of the island of Java, as well as the legendary movement of portions of
Mount Meru to Java. The manuscript explains that Batara Guru (Shiva)
ordered the gods Brahma and Vishnu to fill Java with human beings.
However, at that time, Java island was floating freely on the ocean,
always tumbling and shaking. To stop the island's movement, the gods
decided to nail it to the Earth by moving the part of Mahameru
in Jambudvipa (India) and attaching it to Java. The resulting mountain
is Mount Semeru, the tallest mountain on Java.
Mount Semeru, a large active volcano on Java, is named after the
mount.
The five central towers of Angkor Wat, before a Hindu and later a Buddhist
temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia, symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru.

incorporated into ancient Hindu temple architecture with
a Shikhara (Śikhara) — a Sanskrit word translating literally to
"mountain peak." Early examples of this style can be found at
the Harshat Mata Temple and Harshnath Temple from the 8th century
CE in Rajasthan, Western India. This concept also continued outside
India, such as in Bali, where temples feature Meru towers.
In Buddhist temples, the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya is the
earliest example of the 5th- to 6th-century depiction. Many other
Buddhist temples took on this form, such as the Wat
182
5. Prang of Wat Phutthaisawan, a Buddhist temple in Samphao Lom,
Thailand, representing Mount Meru
6. A Buddhist prang in Wat Arun, Bangkok, representing Mount Sumeru
7. Hsinbyume Pagoda in Mandalay, Myanmar, representing Mount Sumeru
8. The meru of Pura Ulun Danu Bratan is dedicated to Shiva and his
consort Parvathi
Depiction of Mount Meru at Jambudweep, a Jain temple in Uttar

Pradesh
Jean Filliozat of the Ecole Francaise, a leading western authority on Indian

cosmology and astronomy, interpreted the symbolism of the temple. The temple
sits on a rectangular base and rises in five levels and is crowned by five main
towers. One hundred four smaller towers are distributed over the lower four
levels, placed so symmetrically that only 33 can be seen from the center of any
side. Thirty-three is the number of gods who dwelt on Mount Meru. Phnom
Bakheng's total number of towers is also significant. The center one represents
the axis of the world and the 108 smaller ones represent the four lunar phases,
each with 27 days. The seven levels of the monument represent the seven
heavens and each terrace contains 12 towers which represent the 12-year cycle
of Jupiter. According to University of Chicago scholar Paul Wheatley, it is "an
astronomical calendar in stone."[
Following Angkor's rediscovery by the outside world in the mid-19th century,
decades passed before archeologists grasped Phnom Bakheng's historical
significance. For many years, scholars' consensus view was that the Bayon, the
temple located at the center of Angkor Thom city, was the edifice to which the
Sdok Kak Thom inscription referred. Later work identified the Bayon as
a Buddhist site, built almost three centuries later than originally thought, in
the late 12th century, and Phnom Bakheng as King Yasovarman's state temple
183
The view of the Angkor Wat from the top of Phnom Bakheng is featured in the
movie Tomb Raider (when Lara Croft looks through the binoculars upon
arriving in Cambodia).
Phnom Bakheng/Angkor Wat seen from Phnom Bakheng at sunset
4. General view
5. Upper terrace
6. Stone tower and Angkor Wat far afield
Bas-relief in Phnom Bakheng

What was Phnom bakheng used for?
Phnom Bakheng is a symbolic representation of Mount Meru, home of the

Hindu gods, a status emphasized by the temple's location atop a steep hill 65
184
m above the surrounding plain. The temple is built in a pyramid form of seven
levels, representing the seven heavens. Who built bakheng?
King Yasovarman
It is possible to see: the five towers of Angkor Wat in the west, Phnom Krom to
the southwest near the Grand Lake, Phnom Bok in the northeast, Phnom
Kulen in the east, and the West Baray. Phnom Bakheng was built in late ninth
to early tenth century by King Yasovarman dedicated to Siva (Hindi).
Below are most ancient Shiva temples in India that are perfectly aligned in
straight line - 79th Meridian East
185
 · Kedarnath - 79.066900° E
 · Kalpeshwar - 79.449108° E
 · Rudranath - 79.318445° E
 · Madhya Maheshwar - 79.221632° E
 · Baijnath Dham - 79.615734° E
 · Kaleshwaram, Telangana - 79.904528° E
 · Mallikarjun Jyotirling, AP - 78.868031° E
 · Kalahasti, AP - 79.698279° E
 · Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu - 79.696243° E
 · Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu - 79.066688° E
 · Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu - 79.693521° E
 · Thiruvanakoil, Tamil Nadu - 78.705673° E
 · Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu - 79.317787° E
The famous Brihadeeswara Temple of Tamil Nadu is referred as “Dakshina
Meru” - the Meru Mountain of the South. Every Hindu temple is built on
a cosmic plan and the roof tower crowning the shrine refers
to Kalasha (The Purna-Kalasha is considered a symbol of abundance and
"source of life" in the Vedas) and temple Shikara represents Meru which
reaches the ground and extends into the heavens pointing towards the world
axis.
186
'Su' means good in Sanskrit and thus the name Mount Sumeru.
Meru Peak is a mountain that lies in the Garwhal Himalayas, in

the Uttarakhand region of India. It lies between Thalay Sagar and Shivling, and
has some highly challenging routes. It is 6,660 metres (21,850 ft) high. It was
the site of the world's highest BASE Jump from 'Earth', by Glenn Singleman
and Heather Swan from a height of 6,604 metres (21,667 ft) in June 2006 but
has since been surpassed by Valery Rozov's 2013 jump from Everest's North
Face.
The mountain has three peaks: southern (6,660 metres, 21,850 ft), central
(6,310 metres, 20,700 ft), and northern (6,450 metres, 21,160 ft). The two
higher peaks were climbed earlier than the harder central peak, which was first
climbed in a 2001 solo ascent by Valery Babanov,and for a second and third
time in 2006.
The Shark's Fin route up the central peak of the mountain has a reputation
among mountaineers as one of the hardest routes in the world. It was first
climbed in October 2011 by a team consisting of Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin,
and Renan Ozturk.
Sumeru is a mountain-twin of another mountain called meru in indian Seite

wird erstellt that time the continent asia was called jumboo dweep( means -
gigantic island ) this sumeru parvat was regarded as king of
187
all http://mountais.it had a golden appearence and was bestowed with super
qualities,could assume human form on desire,mines of gold and gems were
supposed to be in abundance there.lot of rishies went there to perform tapasya.
The dimensions attributed to Mount Meru, all references to it being as a part of

the Cosmic Ocean, with several statements that say, "The Sun along with all
the planets circle the mountain," make determining its location most difficult,
according to most scholars.
of Kashmir
The most remarkeble thing about it is, it is said to be a divine place which was
accessible and visible to humans only during the satyug,tretayug and
dwaparyug and is not visible in kaliyug. Many scientists, researchers have led
numerous expeditions to find Sumeru in india but they have failed.
Sumeru Parbat(6351m),India - Wikimapia
SUMERU PARBAT(6351m) is at present under Kedarnath National HostGator

Website Hosting Review 1984 a team from Siliguri was successfully conqured
the peak 1st time.The team was led by Durjoy.Ghosh and was successful to
put four members and a sherpa on the to top Vide HJ-1985 issue.
Coordinates: 30°46'1"N 79°7'7"E
188
About the Author--- UDAY DOKRAS
The author has worked for 30 years in the human resources arena in India and abroad. He
was Group Vice -President of MZI Group in New Delhi and has anchored Human
Relations in Go Air and Hotel Holiday Inn;was General Manager-Health Human
Resources at the Lata Mangeshkar Hospital amd Medical college. Is currently Consultant
to Gorewada International Zoo,Nagpur and visiting Faculty at the Central Institute of
Business Management and Research, Nagpur.
In Sweden he anchored HR in Stadbolaget RENIA, SSSB and advisor to a multi

millionaire. He has studied in Nagpur, India where he obtained degrees of Bachelor of
Science, Bachelor of Arts(Managerial Economics) and Bachelor of Laws. He has done
his Graduate Studies in labour laws from Canada at the Queen's University, Kingston; a
MBA from USA, and Doctorate from Stockholm University, Sweden. Apart from that he
has done a Management Training Program in Singapore.
A scholar of the Swedish Institute, he has been an Edvard Cassel Fund and Wineroth
Fund Awardee.A scholar for the Swedish Institute for 5 years.
In 1984 he was involved with the Comparative Labour Law Project of the University of
California, Los Angeles, U.S.A. He was also visiting lecturer there. In 1985 he was
invited by the President of Seychelles to do a study of the efficacy of the labour laws of
Seychelles.
Author of a book on a Swedish human resource law, his brief life sketch is part of the
English study text book of 7 th Class Students in Sweden -“Studying English.
SPOTLIGHT 7”- and 8th Class students in Iceland - “SPOTLIGHT 8- Lausnir.”
RESEARCH PAPERS-320 + in Researchgate and academia.edu & scribd

Followers(readers) 65,000 consolidated as on 26 th September,2020.
Authors-DR Uday DOKRAS
189
Dr. Uday Dokras
B.Sc., B.A. (Managerial Economics), LL.B., Nagpur University, India
Certificat'e en Droit, Queen’s University. Ontario, Canada,
Ph.D. Stockholm University, Sweden,
Management and Efficacy Consultant, India
Reviews of the Book PROJECT HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
The authors highlight the benefits of paying attention to human resources and offer success and
failure factors guideline for a variety of potential practitioners and students in global project
marketplace.
Ms.Ylva Arnold, Head HR- Norstedts Publishers, Stockholm SWEDEN
190
From the Newspaper Times of India March
24, 2018
191
Iceland Sweden both countries use the English Text SPOTLIGHT-one of the lessons in
which is about Dr Uday Dokras
192
Prof. S.Deshpande,President of the Indian Instituye of Architects, New Delhi INDIA
releasing the book of Dr Dokras HINDU TEMPLES on the web in CARONA
gimes( May 2010)
193
194
195
Some of my books
196
197
198
Some of the 200 BOOKS BY DR UDAY DOKRAS
Published by
The Indo Nordic Authors’ Collective Stockholm
Dr. Uday Dokras
199
Tamil People as Traders and Voyagers
The Cambodian Trilogy
I.HINDU CAMBODIA
II.HYDROLOGY of ANGKOR
ANGKOR is known as a Hydraulic city- full or canals and
river and waterways. It is this water system they say that
brought the downfall of this intrinsic kingdom. But is that
TRUE?
200
III.ENTER…… THE KINGDOM THAT
VANISHED- Angkor
Building Materials of the Hindu Temple

Indo Nordic Author's collective, 2021
In depth study of how Building Materials of the Hindu

Temple was used in India,Indonesia and Cambodia and India
The Art & Architecture of THE GOLDEN TEMPLE

COMPLEX, AMRITSAR
201
Mathematics in Temple Designs
Jain ART
Book on Jain Art and Iconography
Jain Temples- Part I -Complete Compendium-

Book I
A to Z of the architecture, Design,Cosmology,Philosophy of
Jain temples in
202
Jain Temples II
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF JAIN TEMPLES
AND THE ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPHS(ORIGINAL) OF 3JAIN
TEMPLES of Nagpur
DWARKA- CELESTIAL MYSTERIES of the Lost

CITY of KRISHNA
TIRUPATI TEMPLE Book part I
203
TIRUPATI TemplePart II
Vahanas- the vehicles of Hindu Gods

Vahanas- the vehicles of Hindu Gods. Animals in Hinduism.
demi Gods
SATYANARAYAN PUJA-The Complete Compendium

Satyanarayan Puja or 9 Graha Puja( a puja of 9 planets) has
been performed by most Hindus not only now but for 1,000’s
of years.
MAHALAXMI Puja
Hindu Goddess MAHALAXMI Puja
204
ARCHITECTURE OF PALESTINE
Palestine my Love
Palestine my Love is about the culture arts and crafts of
palestine so we recognize it as a entity that is fighting for
recognition of not only its legitimacy but also its cultural
heritage
QUINTET (5) BOOKS ON MANDALA
Unravelling the MAZE of the MANDALA BOOK I

First part of a two book treatise on MANDALAS. This
introductory phase introduces mandalas
205
Maze of MANDALA BOOK II
Advanced Mandala routine for those who want to know more
about MANDALAS
Mandala BOOK III on Nakshatra
BOOK IV MANDALA & ARCHITECTURE

The Use of Mandalas in Building Temples and Modern
Buildings
206
Book V on Mandala of the Oriental Kingdoms
Islamic Architectureal Arts of of Imam Ali's 2

Shrines
Hindu Gods in Scandinavia

Did the Hindu Gods originate or live in Scandinavia once?
Find out
207
Book on Divinity and Architecture
What is divinity? How has man tried to harness architecture
to create magic in space
Virat Hridaya Padma-sthalam CHIDAMBARAM

Temple -Celestial Mysteries
This book is about a mysterious and revered tempe built by
the Chola Kings of South India 2000 years ago
T2- Temple Tech. A Book

How are Hindu temples built and the technology that follows
this craft. From A to Z Complete Guide.
208
Rendezvous with Sri RAM Portfolio of Temple Art
by Srishti Dokras, Architect Special section on
Hindu Foods by Karan Dokras, Product Guru
Best Foot Forward

The story of Footwear through the ages up to COVID times
Hindu Temple Panorama-Celestial Mysteries

A to Z of Temples. A total Panoramic View of design and
architecture of Hindu temples in 350 page...
DUOLOGY (2) on JAINISM

Ativir
209
ATIVIR means Very Brave and is the name given to Lord
Mahavir the 24 th Saint(TIRTHANKAR) Contains rare
translations of the Dialogue of the Mahavir with his disciples
called GHANDHARVAVAD
Vardhaman-वर्धमान
IThis book is about Jainism- written by a non-
THE TRILOGY(3) on DEVRAJA The God

kIngs of Khemer
Book I DEVRAJ- The God Kings of Indo China-

Cambodia.
This is the first Book of a Trilogy that traces the growth of
Hinduism in South East Asia.
BOOK I I DEVRAJA- The Great Civilizations of

South East Asia -HINDU Era
How Hinduism reached Cambodia and how the Hindu Kings
called Devraj Built these magnificent structures
210
Devraja BOOK II I Devraja and Raj Dharma God
King and Kingly Religion The HINDU Era of
Great Civilizations of Khemer
Book 2 of a Trilogy that traces the advent of Hinduism on
South East Asian and Indo-Chinese
Vayu- Man's taming of the winds

Man's conquest of nature spans a million years. How was
wind tamed by him. Here is the full story... more
VIMANA Ancient Conquests of Wind

Ancient flying machines of Gods and Men(?) Were they true.
Did they really exist. 7000 years ago?
211
LIGHT HOUSES In words and pictures
BOOK Architecture of the Lighthouse of

Alexandria-BOOK
Indo Swedish Author's Collective, 2020
The lighthouse was built on an island off the coast of

Alexandria called Pharos. Its name, legend
Cosmology of lotus
Indo Nordic Author's Collective, 2020
The Lotus is the king of the flower world but few know it as
a part of creation. Find out the Cosmology.
212
Celestial Mysteries of the Borobudur Temple
Borobudur remains a mystery even today. The largest
Buddhist Stupa in the world has many unanswered...
Win with this new DIET
Hindu tempel of India , Cambodia and Indonesia

Hindu Temples dot India, Cambodia and Indonesia
DISRUPTION-Book
Book Architecture Creativity
213
Creativity and Architecture are linked and go hand in hand.
This Book is a culmination of 16 publications that have been
put together as a book
Project HR Management
Indo Swedish Author's Collective
PROJECT HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT/'Dr UDAY

DOKRAS The project sphere has not been valued
appropriately
Human Resource Engineering in Theme Parks.

by Dr. Uday Dokras and Mansse Bhandari
As theme parks evolve into facilitating for greater thrill

seeking audience,the role of human res... more
Health Human Resource Management

214
Management of Health care workers in hospitals and the
human resource practices to be followed in hospitals.
WIN DIET Lose fat-Diet and Exercise Book ONLY

BODY SHAPING GUIDE YOU NEED
The Act on Co-determination at Work – an Efficacy

study
Thesis of the Author for the degree of Doctor of Law
Stockholm University, SWEDEN 1990
Later Bookks by the Authors
215
Nagpur’s Prolific and Successful Writer
Dr. Uday Vasant Dokras, son of the later Principal of VNIT Dr. Vasant Dokras, has
proved his mettle in writing; making history and India proud. He has written, 80
books since 1990 and 400 Technical and research papers/ articles. His books adorn
many international Libraries such as Royal Swedish Library, European Union,
Harvard University, StanfordUniversity amongst others-as well as the US Library of
Congress, Washington DC.
Recently, he has co-authored a Trilogy on Palestine with Australian Islamic Studies
Research author Muhsin Dadarkar who hails from Konkan but settled in Sydney
since past 40 years. Muhsin has sold Dr Dokras books to 6 arab countries and will be
translated in Arabic. Dr Uday’s other books have been translated into
Portugese( Brazil) and French. The French editions will be sold on
Googlebooks(French).
His expertise on Hindu temples in Bharat and Cambodia is unmatched on which he
has written 22 books and 180 papers. His work can be read on academia.edu. Dr
Uday together with his daughter Srishti who lives in Seattle,USA heads and operate
the Indo Nordic Author’s Collective- which gives budding author’s a chance to get
published.
He co-authors with professors from Norway, USA, Reunion (France) and Museum
Curators from USA . His brief life sketch is part of the English study text books of 7 th Class
Students in Sweden -“Studying English. SPOTLIGHT 7”- and 8 th Class students in Iceland -
“SPOTLIGHT 8- Lausnir.”A first for an Indian.
To celebrate 5 lakh readers of his books ( Half Million) , Shri Joginder Singh Uberoi
our Chartered Accountant felicitated him at the Gondwana Club.
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Mandala of the Sri yantra

The Book of Mandala of the Sri yantra

Is yantra the same as mandala?

How old is the Sri Yantra?

Who is Goddess of Sri Yantra?

What is Shree Yantra used for?

What chakra is Sri Yantra?

Shree Yantra is one of the most auspicious and powerful Yantras.

How do you worship Sri Yantra?

What does the symbol of the Sri Yantra represent?

How do you activate Sri Yantra?

Is it good to wear Sri Yantra?

What are three types of mandalas?

Lotus Mandala. Mantra mandala. Buddha Mandala. Sri Yantra mandala.

Can you tattoo a yantra?

What are the 5 common symbols in mandalas?

Why are mandalas destroyed?

Paint mandalas on the walls or floors

The Holi Sri Yantra, also known as Sri Chakra, is a

Shree Yantra is one of the most auspicious and powerful Yantras.

Who is the goddess of Shri Yantra?

What are examples of mandalas?

Other Powerful yantra?

How are mandalas healing?

The Healing Power of Mandalas

6 benefits of mandala art?

Religion of the mandala?

Mandalas good for health?

How to use a mandala in therapy?

also. It should be put in safe, office, locker or worship place .

ORANGE: Creativity, transformation, self-awareness and intuition.

Why does Lalita sit on Shiva?

The Basics of Shri Yantra

Shaktism depiction of Sodashi seated on a lotus emerging from Shiva

— Padma purana, Patala-Khanda, Verses 46:47

1. Trailokya Mohana or Bhupara, a square of three lines with four portals

Lord Kala Bhairava is worshipped by offering

A religious symbol is an iconic representation intended to represent a

Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) believed in the geometric underpinnings of the cosmos

Solving the Sri Yantra

The Quest for the Optimal Configuration

Questions that will be answered in this article:

 What is the Sri Yantra?

Nine Triangles in a Circle

The First Key: Concurrency

The One and the Many

The Second Key: Concentricity

The Third Key: Equilateral Inner Triangle

The Sri Yantra from Sringeri Temple

Plane form Pyramidal form (Meru) Spherical form (Kurma)

MANDIRS BUILT WITH SRICHAKRA DESIGN

Dhyani Mandir Temple - Nikora Gujarat India

Mahe Meru Temple - Adudhurai Thanjavur

Yantra Mandir - Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh India

It is constructed in the middle of the Maikal, Satpuda and Vindhyachal range of

Devi reigns supreme inside Sri Chakra,Nandini Ramani, 2019

As per Vedic texts the "Sri

A Yantra also referred as Mandala is a sacred figure or symbol characterized by simple

Sage AdiSankaracharya is one of prominent names that is remembered as he is one of

 ˑiəm < ˑiəm and iang < diang (Bernhard Karlgren)