It
was a windy morning with a nip in the air when I was climbing the steep slope
leading to Mahakaal temple in
Darjeeling the other day. Rain laden clouds were hung over me, giving me a
feeling of getting drenched while the strong wind swept them away every now and
then. Some distance away from the temple I noticed myriads of multicolored prayer
flags with inscriptions, hung on rope lines and fluttering in the wind-
sometimes waving gently, sometimes raging; a multi-hued dance of shadow and
light. It was almost like a wall of flags on either side of the slope leading
me up to the temple.
Prayer flags
are not just pretty pieces of coloured cloth. The ancient Buddhist prayers, mantras, sutras and powerful symbols displayed on them seem to produce a
spiritual vibration that is activated and carried far and wide by the wind.
They are like silent prayers spoken on the breath of nature dissolved in the wind
and extended to fill all of space..
Sudharsana
Rajpaksha drove us through our visit to Sri Lanka. Endless beaches, timeless heritage
sites, oodles of elephants, famous tea and flavourful food may just not be
complete experience of Sri Lanka. In fact this Island country’s 2000-plus years
of culture can be discovered at ancient sites where legendary temples exhibit beautiful
details. I am still figuring out why they call it a lonely planet or
why Rabindranath Tagore called it a tear drop on the cheek of time.
Sudharsana
spoke fairly good English. He belonged to Galle,
an exotic city, bursting with the scent of spices and salty winds, with its
wonderful collection of Dutch-colonial buildings, a town of great beauty
indeed.
As we travelled through, we came across Buddhist temples at
several heritage sites, Anuradhapura, the ancient capital of Sri Lanka being
amongst them. . Huge flags in five colors in a uniform order were hoisted in
all these sites. Sudharsana being a Buddhist himself pointed out the sequence of
the
color order which is always: yellow, green, red, white and blue. Buddhism
divides the phenomenal and psycho-cosmic world into five basic energies. In our
physical world these manifest as earth, water, fire, air and space. Our own
bodies and everything else in the physical world is composed of these five
basic elements.
I
recall Tulsidas in his Ramcharit Manas:
Kshiti,
jal, paavak, gagan, sameera,
Panch
tatwa se bana sharira II
In Hindu
mythology and religion, flags have a great significance.
Jagannath temple is one of the tallest
monuments in the country representing the Kalingan
architecture. The grand ritual of Dhwaja
Parivartan or the Flag Change in the premises of the temple is being
performed daily since last 800 years and is considered as an auspicious event to witness. The flag atop the temple always flaps in the opposite
direction of air.
In Dwarka,
Gujrat, 52 yards of woven cloth is used for making the Dhwaja. Fifty-two small flags are made and joined together to make
a single flag. These 52 yards symbolizes, fifty entrances (gates) to the palace
of Dwarkadheesh, with each gate
having a Dhwaja (flag) besides the
two main gates, Swarga Dwar & Moksha Dwar. The 52 yards flag waving
from the summit of the temple can be seen from a great distance and people
believe and consider a glance at it as a holy sight.
During the great battle of Kurukshetra, Hanuman appeared on Arjuna’s flag hoisted on the chariot of Arjuna and Sri Krishna to help Arjuna by
stabilizing and strengthening his chariot. But during the great battle between Karna and Arjuna,
even Hanuman failed to stabilize the
chariot of Arjuna. Lord Krishna praised Karna for this feat. The battle over,Krishna asked Arjuna, to step down the chariot. After Arjuna got down, Krishna followed him
and thanked Hanuman for staying with
them during the whole fight in the form of a flag on the chariot. Hanuman bowed
to Krishna and left the flag. As soon as he left, the chariot began to burn and
turned into ashes.
The
Tibetan word for prayer flag is Dar Cho.
“Dar” means to increase life,
fortune, health and wealth. “Cho”
means all sentient beings. Prayer flags are simple devices that, coupled with
the natural energy of the wind, quietly harmonize the environment, impartially
increasing happiness and good fortune among all living beings. The prayer flags
acquire a fierce intensity when blown by those gusty winds.
As a natural force, the wind has been
personified as one or more wind gods or as an expression of the supernatural in many cultures. Vayu is the Hindu god of wind. The Greek
wind gods include Boreas, Notus, Eurus, and Zephyrus, Aeolus, in varying interpretations the ruler
or keeper of the four winds, has also been described as Astraeus,
the god of dusk who fathered the four winds with Eos, goddess of dawn. Venti
are the Roman gods of the winds. Fujin, is
the Japanese wind god and is one of the eldest Shintigods. Kamikaze is a Japanese word, usually translated
as divine wind, believed to be a gift from the gods.
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, artist,
and writer. "Blowin' in the Wind", a song written by him became an anthem for the
American civil rights and anti-war movements. His lyrics
depict the sufferings of mankind at the hands of the oppressor. The refrain "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in
the wind" has been described as "impenetrably ambiguous: either
the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as
intangible as the wind; or the answer is rolling in the winds, so you
can catch the answer by stretching your hands”.
Yes, how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Here I stand on the edge of the hill
on the top of this slope with my outstretched arms, the temple bells resonating
in distance. I close my eyes, inhale a lungful of fresh air and pray that I could
gather all power-laden energy of happiness,
of good fortune, of fulfillment, of wisdom and of peace, as the prayer flags sometimes
waving gently, sometimes fluttering vigorously, spread the answer far and wide,
blowin’ in the wind….
Prayer flags fluttering in the wind, itself is such a sublime topic to write about… it begins beautifully with the author walking up to a monastery with colourful prayer flags fluttering around him, while the overcast sky and wind create an out-worldly atmosphere around the holy precincts… the introduction itself draws the reader hypnotically into the penning. From Darjeeling to Sri Lanka, Jagannath Temple to Dwarka, Indian to Greek, Roman, Japanese mythology and last but not the least, Bob Dylan and a song from the American Civil Rights movement… what is it that the author has not touched upon? His unconventional referencing and knowledge on varied subjects, as always, is commendable and impressive. The movement of the penning, from the personal to the general and again back to personal experience is smooth and delightful. Though one wonders why the discussion is restricted to flags at the holy places only and does not include the national or organizational flags which are equally interesting and important. However, one can always argue that bringing in the national and organizational angle would rob the article of its ethereal character... The conclusion reads beautifully again, as the author picks up the thread of his journey to the mountains and ends the penning at a transcendental high where one wishes to rise above the limitations of the mundane and join him to seek the answer blowin’ in the wind…
ReplyDeleteRaj ..the Darjeeling and Sri Lanka scenario was so vividly described that i found my self walking your track..the information about flags threw a new dimension to its value. As for the answers , yes there are too many questions that haunt us ..Bob Dylan spelt them out for us and yet very few of us ,take that time out to seek the answers which are blowing in the wind ..Wise King Solomon had everything this earth had to offer ..apart from wealth and health ,he had 300 wives and 3000 concubines ..But he said he never experienced love from a single woman ...Towards the end of his life he wrote 'EVERYTHING IS VANITY AND STRIVING AFTER THE WIND .'Yes the wind may not hold all the answers , but we strive and strive because after all it is HOPE that takes us from one moment to the other ...let the flags of our soul fly high warding off all the negative energies and bring in abundant faith and hope ..love your writings coz it surfaces many dormant thoughts which lay buried alive under the debris of struggle.
ReplyDeleteVery well written piece Raj...enjoyed reading it. ..wind has the meaning of life hidden in it...from the terrace on brahmputra in Guwahati to my farm in ajmer when ever there is any sadness in the environment the wind starts blowing and takes away all the sadness from me...when the trees swing in this wind I feel it's message from above to carry on in this world happily till your time comes to meet the creator
ReplyDeleteVery well written piece Raj...enjoyed reading it. ..wind has the meaning of life hidden in it...from the terrace on brahmputra in Guwahati to my farm in ajmer when ever there is any sadness in the environment the wind starts blowing and takes away all the sadness from me...when the trees swing in this wind I feel it's message from above to carry on in this world happily till your time comes to meet the creator
ReplyDeleteVery well written piece Raj...enjoyed reading it. ..wind has the meaning of life hidden in it...from the terrace on brahmputra in Guwahati to my farm in ajmer when ever there is any sadness in the environment the wind starts blowing and takes away all the sadness from me...when the trees swing in this wind I feel it's message from above to carry on in this world happily till your time comes to meet the creator
ReplyDelete