Talk:Hindu iconography

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Look forward to your input ! Abecedare 22:35, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

The symbol for Omkara
The idea that the visual depiction of Aum has any relevance is not held by any notable scholar, or even a significant minority of common people. Besides the devanagari symbol, we have symbols in various languages, like the Tamil symbol on right (and Tibetan, Chinese, Gurmukhi, etc). Aum derives its importance from the three syllables, the vibrations they generate, not its notation used to denote it in Devanagari script (which is less than 800 years old.) Read also the introduction of the article on Mantra, which is very well written. It mentions how mantras like Aum are all about sound symbolism. It also says:


 * For many cultures it is the written letters that have power -- the Hebrew Kabbalah for instance, or the Anglo-Saxon Runes. Letters can have an oracular function even. But in India special conditions applied that meant that writing was very definitely inferior to the spoken word."

The only place where I heard of the visual motif was from the Omkara yantra from the fringe tantra text Sayantra Sunya-Samhita and has little to do with mainstream views.

Quote from User:Zora: "Since the Mandukya Upanishad, which discourses on AUM, was probably written between 800-400 BCE (and closer to the 400 BCE figure), it considerably predates Devanagari script. In fact, it might well pre-date the use of Brahmi script, the ancestor of Gupta, Sharada, Nagari, etc. The syllable, as sound, was considered sacred before writing was common, and 1600 years before Devanagari was developed. How then could the shapes of the Devanagari letters have anything to do with the sacredness of the syllable? Finding holiness in the shapes of the letters reminds me of the people who see the Virgin Mary in tortillas and mildew stains. Human beings are pattern and significance seeking animals, and we find significance in the strangest things."

The idea of the devanagari depiction of Aum being a symbol of Hinduism to parallel the Christian cross or the Star of David also surfaced in the article Mantra, and was removed from there after disussion at Talk:Mantra. deeptrivia (talk) 02:18, 17 June 2007 (UTC)


 * I wholeheartedly agree with you Deep, but in recent times devotees from North India I presume have created some visual significance for the Devanagari Aum. A Google Search shows how Ganesha for instance, is literally Omkara (Having the body of Om). Then again, much of visual iconography in Hinduism has a metaphorical purpose. Many Hindus would believe Ravana's "Ten heads" symbolise the wealth of knowledge he had. GizzaChat  &#169; 03:43, 17 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Artists use their creativity in an infinitude of ways. At what point does this becomes notable enough to be included in an encyclopedia shouldn't be hard to determine, following wikipedia principles such as WP:RS, WP:UNDUE, etc. Also, as can be verified in Sanskrit dictionaries such as, omkara still refers to the syllable, not its visual depiction (this is another piece of bogus information in this article.) In fact the suffix -kara always refers to syllables in Sanskrit grammar, akara, mkara, chkara, etc. deeptrivia (talk) 05:45, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Looks like the Aryan civilization that brought Sanskrit (caste system) into Indian subcontinent is trying to paint stories with their mythological believes to aspects and believes of Tamil civilization. — Preceding unsigned comment added by MaduraiSelvam (talk • contribs) 22:42, 7 July 2018 (UTC)

Merge "Indian iconography" into this page
That page doesn't have much information, but all of it is specifically about Hindu iconography. However, I don't feel qualified to merge the pages myself. platypeanArchcow (talk) 17:16, 10 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Support It would be possible to write a decent article on Indian iconography, mostly Hindu+Buddhist+Jain, but this isn't it, or the nbeginnings of it, so should be merged. Johnbod (talk) 17:26, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

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Wiki Education assignment: Honors World Religions
— Assignment last updated by Jad Mada (talk) 15:29, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

Hindu Sacraments section
Need to expand more.

eg Panchamrita

Abil/Abir

Kumkum

Chandan

Gulal/ Guggal

Astagandha Chandam Thilagam Turmeric powders

Tulsi

Betel nut

Peepal leaves

Camphor

Sindoor/ Sindhoor Powder

Dry Dates/Chuwara/Kharik

Cocconut

Ghee

etc

Ed 2607:FEA8:4A2:4100:F007:4418:10B8:F668 (talk) 05:39, 31 January 2023 (UTC)