|| Indian Religious Symbols ||

||  Indian Religious Symbols  ||

 

India is truly a picturesque country. Homes, shrines, gardens, even vehicles, are decorated with colorful motifs. These are usually drawings of lotuses, crescent moons, crucifixes, lucky numbers, trees, flowers and birds, painted in bright colors on every available surface. In homes and places of worship particularly, graphic designs acquire great importance. Specific symbols of the many different religions which co-exist in India are used prolifically while praying for good fortune, to worship divinity or to seek blessings during sacraments. In this mosaic of symbols, each has an interesting legend. Each proves that Indians have the rare ability to live simultaneously in several centuries. In their religious celebrations and traditions there is, amazingly, an unbroken cultural continuity of thousands of years.

 

Hinduism During the Vedic era, when the Aryans came to the plains of India, they complied the four Vedas or great books of knowledge. A number of religious symbols sprang from the Vedic concept of the universe and the divine energy which rules it. Some figures were used as a focus of meditation. Others were used in ritual worship and sacraments. Yet others lent an artistic flavor to festivals and temple worship.