Yesterday as part of the ladies' wing of Agathiyar Tapovanam Malaysia (ATM)'s program, the ladies gathered together to learn the art of laying Kolam and tying the flower garland from Mrs. Shanti Balachander. Of course, some men could not resist and tried their hands at it too. The ladies and gents too, had fun learning this art forms.
Balachander Aiya shared the following on this subject.
In her 2018 book, "Feeding a Thousand Souls: Women, Ritual and Ecology in India, an Exploration of the Kōlam", she (Vijaya Nagarajan) explains how the act of drawing a kolam is considered an offering to all beings. According to Vijaya Nagarajan, a professor at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of San Francisco, it is a metaphor for harmony. The powder, made of rice flour, is safe for ants, birds, bugs and insects to eat. So that every morning, the household can start its day with a ritual representing generosity. The art form is said to have originated in the Indus Valley Civilisation around 2500 BC, although there lies some dispute about the same. The term ‘kolam’ represents beauty, embodying the absolute symmetry of lines around a grid of dots and natural motifs like leaves and flowers.Interestingly, owing to its complexity, mathematicians and computer scientists like Marcia Ascher, a professor emerita of Mathematics at Ithaca College, have been studying it as an unusual example of the expression of mathematical ideas in a cultural setting."
Bala Aiya adds, "The powder, made of rice flour, is safe for ants, birds, bugs and insects to eat. So that every morning, the household can start its day with a ritual representing generosity", - Jeeva karuniyam."
In "South Indian Customs" by PV Jagadisa Ayyar, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 1985, the author writes, "The use of pulverized grain for the purpose has besides religious importance has its own moral purpose to serve to wit kindness to inferior insects."
There is an underlying truth here. Rather than have them seek food making their way into our homes and becoming a nuisance, they instead are fed and kept outside the home. The art of Kolam trains the maidens in freehand drawing too he adds.
For those who cannot afford to take time to sit and contemplate in meditation, if this practice is assimilated in their daily lives, focus, attention, and concentration, at least for these few minutes, is gained in this daily chore.
The Buddhists monk are known to create the Mandala that is a depiction of the universe, painstakingly working on it for hours, only to destroy their creation.
At https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/customs/mandala.shtml an enlightening account of this ceremony is given.
A mandala is a symbolic picture of the universe. The mandala's purpose is to help transform ordinary minds into enlightened ones and to assist with healing. According to Buddhist scripture, mandalas constructed from sand transmit positive energies to the environment and to the people who view them. They are believed to effect purification and healing. Mandala sand painting was introduced by the Buddha himself.The design of the mandala is marked with chalk on a wooden platform. This meticulous process takes an entire day. Starting from the centre and concentrically working outwards, the monks use metal funnels called chak-pur to place millions of grains of dyed sand to make the elaborate patterns. The vibrations of the chak-pur being grated with a metal rod cause the sands to flow like liquid. Other popular substances are powdered flowers and herbs or grains. In ancient times powdered precious and semiprecious gems were also used.
Once the mandala is complete the monks ask for the deities' healing blessings during a ceremony. As the monks chant, one monk begins the destruction of the mandala by scraping a knuckle through the sand, creating a cross of grey sand. Another monk takes a paintbrush and slowly and carefully sweeps the sand from the perimeter to the centre of the mandala. 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.
Another aspect of the mandala designs is seen in the yantra. In https://upliftconnect.com/sacred-power-of-yantra/ we are given an insight into the various forms of yantra and its significance. It says the yantra is the deepest representation or a symbol: "A mapping of the human body through sacred geometry. A Yantra is like a place holder, a fixed image which roots the divine into the matter."
Mavis Gewant is quoted: "Yantra gives a pattern to energy. By creating a Yantra, one sits for hours absorbed in the energy of the particular deity they are working with. When one chants the corresponding Mantra, both hemispheres of the brain are activated, eventually creating a state of one-pointedness, healing, and transformation. The Yantra that is a symbolic reminder of a chosen deity, called your Ishta Devata is likened to a map to help you find your way."
The website informs us further: "In the Tantric tradition there are three important ways to invoke and work with specific aspects of creation, called Devas or Devis. We can invoke the deity through sound (mantra), visualization (yantra) or by making offerings to an idol, which represents the deity."
In my teens, I used to draw pictures of deities on paper and the walls of my home and in temples. It gave much satisfaction and fulfillment being connected to the physical aspects of the deities, coming to actually see and understand rather than give a glance as many do. Those hours I spent right from pencil drawing to painting brought me into a state of concentration and focus that delighted me. I guess I covered the visualisation aspect then.
When I told Dr Krishnan, a medical astrologer, Siddha medicine practitioner and friend, that I was asked to come to the worship of Agathiyar, he prepared me a yantra that is said to carry the significance of a specific mantra or a process. It is said to be a device or instrument to garner the energy of a particular deity to come down and reside in an idol, a place, the home, or temple, sort of a SIM card in a cell phone, that gives access to certain people we know whose numbers are saved within. Just as a "SIM - short for Subscriber Identity Module - is a piece of plastic that slots into your smartphone (or mobile phone) that acts as your unique ID, so that you can connect to a mobile phone network" with the dialing or invocation of the accompanying mantra, a connection is made and the divine is accessible to us directly at all times. I guess I covered the mantra and yantra aspect too.
Then Agathiyar brought me to care for his idol in my home. I fill complete, having gone through a process that was outlined by the divine in my journey towards getting back to the source. Whether I achieve it or not, whether it is possible in this birth or not, is immaterial, for the effort has been made. If there is a need to come back to continue, so be it.