Origin of the Mandala
While in current Pop culture mandalas have gained popularity and almost everyone is drawing their own mandalas, there are mandala colouring books and t-shirt prints. Mandalas have been reduced to mere colourful floral motifs.
Mandalas possess huge traditional and cultural importance and have specific purposes. One needs to be a practising yogi initiated by a master or guru to decode and understand mandalas let alone make them.
In ancient Indian traditions, there were certain schools of spiritual teachings which devised elaborate methods of religious and spiritual learning with the help of diagrams, devices and Mantras to obtain access to a deity usually present in the centre of a mandala.
In Hinduism and Buddhism, a deity is a manifestation of a specific form of energy which is manifested in the form of that deity and every deity has specific symbolism like the colour of clothing, facial expressions, ornaments, hand gestures and things they hold in their hand which helps in reminding all the aspects attached to the king of energy they portray.
Mandala consists of a circular or square pattern with many levels, the levels show different planes of existence which are unavailable for access to normal human beings who have not stepped into spiritual realms yet but have been explored by ancient enlightened beings called Rishis, who were the founding fathers of Indian civilisation.
To explain these concepts to the aspirants, Yantras or Mandalas were designed to guide the person through different levels to ultimately reach the centre or the source, mandalas appear like cymatic patterns to an observer who has gained the skill to see other dimensions of existence. They are considered essential for the spiritual wellbeing of religious people hence also found on Eastern textiles, ancient temple ceilings and jewellery etc.
A mandala is a 2D representation while it is also represented in 3D in a pyramid form called Meru which means “mountain/spine”.
The base is usually a square sometimes represented as a turtle as turtle stands for stability, Then on each side, there are four gateways, Then there are circular of triangular levels in which different deities reside in different corners.
These deities are accessed by a mantra dedicated to that deity, there are rules on how many times and for what duration a mantra must be chanted sometimes there are some postures or rituals attached to a mantra. Mispronouncing mantras is unacceptable as it may lead to some unwanted results.
Each deity in Hinduism has a yantra or mandala which helps to guide the worshiper towards the deity.
The process of studying a Yantra is called a Tantra which translates to the technique in English. To even begin studying a certain technique on has to attain a balanced mind and body through Ayurveda, yoga and utmost discipline. A guru guides the disciples into these realms for years. Tantra techniques cant be self-taught, one has to get initiated by a guru through one of the three ways of initiation.
