How many Chakra thoughts and their symbols have I introduced so far?
The Ratha Chakra (chariot wheel) of the warrior god symbolised by Indra. Its origin was a spoked wheel created by the ancestors of the Indo-Aryan people for the first time in human history on the Great Plains of the North Caucasus around 2000 BC.
The two-wheeled Ratha Chariot, pulled by galloping horses, was used to drive across the battlefield, revolutionising human warfare and sweeping across the western half of Eurasia with its newly created tactic of firing a volley of arrows from the vehicle while driving at high speed.
The power of the Ratha Chariot over the battlefield, along with its vigorous rotating wheels, became their ethnic identity, and at some point around 1900 BC, an offshoot clan of them built Chakra City in Arkaim.
The Sun-God called Surya is a very ancient deity, and probably by this time the power of the wheel had been projected into the grandeur of the Sun as it run across the sky radiating great energy, giving rise to the idea of the Sun God ‘Surya Chakra’.
Rig Veda 1.50.8
sapta tvā harito rathe vahanti deva sūrya | śociṣkeśaṃ vicakṣaṇa ||
Divine and light-diffusing Sūrya, your seven coursers bear you, bright-haired, in your car.
(car = ratha)
Wisdom library
The belief in the deity Surya mentioned in the above verse gave rise to the Sun Temple at Konark much later, and its great symbolic wheel can still be seen today.
The temple, designed in the shape of a gigantic Ratha Chariot, has 12 wheels, which are said to represent the 12 months of the year and the rotation of the sun and time.
Eventually, some of the Aryans went ahead eastwards and finally invaded the Indian subcontinent. Around the same time, the veneration for Indra, the advancing god of war, must have heightened. The Rig Veda has some very interesting verses about Indra and Surya.
Rig Veda 1.175.4
muṣāya sūryaṃ kave cakram īśāna ojasā | vaha śuṣṇāya vadhaṃ kutsaṃ vātasyāśvaiḥ ||
Sage Indra, who are the lord, you have carried off by your strength one wheel of (the chariot of) the sun. Take up your bolt for the death of Śuṣṇa, and proceed with your horses, swift as the wind, to Kutsa.
Wisdom library
I presume that this verse represents the process of Indra’s ascension to the status of the principal deity by taking the Chakra (wheel), the symbol of divine authority, from the Sun-God Surya, who once occupied a position befitting the Supreme Deity.
And for Vishnu, also originated from the solar deity, Rig Veda has the following hymn.
Rig Veda 1.155.Vishnu-Indra 6.
caturbhiḥ sākaṃ navatiṃ ca nāmabhiś cakraṃ na vṛttaṃ vyatīm̐r avīvipat | bṛhaccharīro vimimāna ṛkvabhir yuvākumāraḥ praty ety āhavam ||
He causes, by his gyrations, ninety and four periodical revolutions, like a circular wheel, vast of body, and evolving in many forms, through the praises (addressed to him); ever young, though not infantine, he comes at our invocations.
Wisdom Library
As in the case of Surya, the movements of the world/cosmos were grasped in association with a turning wheel, and Vishnu was worshipped as the creator of that cosmic wheel, or as the turning wheel itself.
So far these have all been Aryan Vedic deities invading the Indian subcontinent from outside, but the Indus civilisation of the indigenous Indians had a sacred Chakra Script that predates Vedic Chakra thought.
There is a fact that this six-spoked circle pattern has been handed down in modern India as a protective symbol for houses, temples and palaces, being called ‘Suriya Chakra’.
One hypothesis I have is that the Chakra-Wheel symbolism of the Ratha chariot brought by the foreign Aryans and the Indus Chakra script with its spiritual vision may have fused together to form the origin of the Sacred Chakra ideologies in India.
The Buddha’s turning of the wheel of Dharma marked the first significant breakthrough of it, and the Dharma Chakra of Ashoka the Great raised it high and pushed it all the way throughout India at once. It meant the complete conquest of the subcontinent by the prestige of the Sacred Chakra.
Around that time, probably when the three generations of the Maurya dynasty were flourishing, Krishna, who is historically believed to have existed several hundred years before Buddha, rised to prominence, as if he were following in Buddha’s footsteps, teaming up with Lord Vishnu and raising the Sudarshan Chakra.
In the Bhagavad Gita, a chapter of the epic Mahabharata that established his popularity, Krishna rode on a Ratha chariot, serving as the charioteer of Arjuna, and identified himself as Vishnu-Brahman, the Supreme Being. He preached on the Dharma, or the righteous path, that one should follow in this world.
In the accompanying myth, Krishna is also depicted as throwing the Sudarshan Chakra as a weapon in scenes where he is fighting various enemies.
The Sudarshan Chakra of Vishnu Krishna is still worshipped and revered as a deity in many temples, especially in South India, such as the Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala, Andra Pradesh.
And Mahatma Gandhi, a devotee of Vishnu (Rama and Krishna), held up the hand-spun spinning wheel “Charkha” as a symbol of his struggle for independence from British colonial rule.
On the other hand, since the unification of India by King Ashoka, there has been increased interaction between North and South, and the lotus flower, which probably originated from the Dravidian and other indigenous peoples and symbolising femininity, has been combined with the sacred Chakra of the Aryan Vedic tradition to create the medallion symbol, Lotus Flower Chakra, which representing a consecrated boundary.
Undoubtedly, Buddhism, which was spread throughout the country by King Ashoka, was the pioneer in elevating the Lotus Flower Wheel (Padma Chakra) to the status of common property of all India, which remains a pan-Indian favorite to this day.
This lotus flower wheel lineage, which is also linked to the Devi goddess beliefs, probably originated from indigenous peoples, literally blossomed and unfolded in a kaleidoscopic manner in South India.
Shri Chakra, symbolising the Devi Shakti of various goddesses.
Yoga Chakra, symbolising the Kundalini philosophy driven by Devi Shakti.
The Shatkona (hexagram) Chakra, which symbolises the union of the masculine and feminine principles in a straightforward manner.
If you draw a diagonal line across this hexagram, you will find the six-spoked lines of the Indus Chakra script. I believe there is a definite cultural connection between the hexagram and the Indus script, as the two often work together in a single design.
Further on, the Kolam (or Rangoli) Chakra, an auspicious pattern that has developed dazzlingly in South India in association with the Devi Shakti of Goddess Lakshmi.
Against the backdrop of these, the auspicious Chakra patterns on the ceilings and floors of temples developed spectacularly, especially in Tamil Nadu.
Such “Chakra Consciousness” is, of course, manifested in full force in the two great divinities, Vishnu and Shiva.
Chakrat Alwar, the main idol of Lord Vishnu, bearing a hexagram (shatkona) in a circular ring.
Its counterpart, Shiva as the supreme divine cosmic dancer, Nataraja Chakra.
The origin of this Shiva Nataraja in a circular ring may be traced back to the Cosmic wheel Shiva Brahman (Brahma-Chakra), described in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad.
Svetasvatara Upanishad：1. 4.
tam eka-nemim travrtam sodasantam satardharam vimsati pratyarabhih
astakaih sabdhih visva-rupaika-pasam tri-marga-bhedam dvini mittaika mohamWe know Him with one hub, three divisions, sixteen ends, sixteen supports (spokes), six sets of eight each, whose one noose has innumerable forms, whose paths are distinguished as three and whose delusion arises out of two causes.
“The verse envisions creation as a moving wheel (chakra), as a manifestation or projection of Lord Shiva.”
Hinduwebsite
The sculptural design of Shiva Lingam was born from the superimposition of these ideas and formations with, perhaps, the cosmic womb “Garbha”. That it was a metaphor for the Wheel-Axle Set was pointed out in the previous chapter.
Tracing its origins, Shiva Brahman was the universal column “Skambha” as the axle of the macrocosm, while Yoni Garbha was the Cosmic Chakra, ‘Wheel Universe’.
Tibetan Buddhism, which descended from these Tantric thoughts, also had a long lineage of chakra designs in the form of mandalas and thangka paintings.
In Nepal, which was strongly influenced by Tibetan esoteric Buddhism, stupas that look like domes when viewed from the side reveal a stunning circular wheel-axle design when viewed from directly above.
Mount Meru, which is shared in the pan-Indic tradition, stands as the central axle of the wheel world.
And when this wheel world merged with the lotus flower again, the Lotus Womb worldview was born.
The core of these chakra thoughts was,
Axle = Flower Receptacle = the axle of the wheel universe = Skambha, the universal axis pillar = the One Supreme God (or Buddha).
Behind this was an image of the Supreme Deity as the magnificent axle pillar supporting both this earth and the heavenly realm, understood as two rotating wheels.
I think it’s possible to say that the history of Indian religious thought has literally been the development (turning) process of the “Chakra-Wheel Ideologies” itself.
As to symbolize this concept, there were Lotus Chakra designs that served as auspicious patterns or sacred boundaries, shared by all the Indic religions. In Jain temples, this idea has culminated in the highly intricate and exquisite concentric multiple-circle sculptures on the ceilings of temples.
There are similar chakra designs adorn temple floors in Sikhism, along with Jainism, as a mosaic pattern with Islamic influences.
In India, the concentric circular design is also found in stained glass for Christian churches and in various Islamic geometric patterns. While this design is widely used in Western and Arab cultures, the preference for chakra symbolism in Indian culture cannot be ignored.
In this way, it would not be an overstatement to say that the Chakra Design is now a symbol of the all-Indian religious consciousness (or ‘divine authority’) itself. And it was not restricted to the realm of religion.
When I visited the State Museum in Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna and also known as the birthplace of Buddha statue in India, my eyes were caught by a terracotta relief of a woman from the 2nd century BC, during the Shunga dynasty, alongside the elegant Buddha sculptures on the main display.
These women wore accessories on their head, ears and chest that were clearly in the shape of a wheel = chakra.
Have chakras been loved not only for religious symbols but also for everyday fashion designs?! This new perspective has completely changed the way I look at India.
For foreign men travelling in India, the opportunities to communicate with Indian women are very limited. In traditional Indian culture, it is considered very immodest for a young woman, regardless of her marital status, to talk to a man she doesn’t know, starting from her teenage years. And if it is a foreigner, the barrier is even higher.
Indian guys will come to you even if you don’t ask them to (XD), so there are many opportunities to interact with the general public, but women tend to take a step back and are reserved for talking to us foreign men, so we too, become hesitant to talk to them.
In addition, the shop, restaurant and hotel staff with whom foreigners have most contact are all men, and there have been few opportunities for natural contact between young women and foreigners, except in some large cities and in South India (although this may have changed somewhat recently…).
So, even in my long experience of travelling in India, I have rarely come into close contact with Indian women and have never looked at their saris or accessories with any interest.
It was an indispensable part of the exotic and colourful landscape of India, but as a mere backdrop, it had been far from the centre of my consciousness.
However, my experience at the Mathura Museum completely changed my perspective. I began to pay constant attention to women’s fashion design while walking around the cities, and then I was astonished. Their sense of design was almost the same as it was during the Shunga dynasty, more than two thousand years ago, and they have continued to wear chakra designs that could be described as a primitive form to this day.
A profusion of chakra designs! It was popping out of temples and flooding the streets!
This was most clearly demonstrated in the women’s everyday saris.
Even today, in the 21st century, nearly 80-90% of adult Indian women wear the national dress, the sari, on a daily basis. Whether they are cleaning and washing clothes, working on farms, doing construction work or sitting at desks in offices, they are dressed in saris.
Imagine a situation where 80% of Japanese women wear traditional kimonos at all times and we will understand the astonishing scene.
The most popular of these sari designs were actually Chakra Designs. There was a flood of all kinds of chakra designs, including simple wheels, sun wheels, colourful lotus wheels, large auspicious circle designs, and more.
Sari shop assistants said that they are worn for everyday wear, of course, but are also favoured for special occasions, especially religious festivals and weddings.
A more careful look revealed that the chakra designs were not confined to saris, but extended to Punjabi dresses for girls, children’s clothes for both sexes, the latest mode of fashion to ethnic costumes from different regions, and jewellery such as rings and earrings.
The scene looked as if numerous goddesses, adorned with chakra designs all over their bodies, had taken human form and come out into the town.
It goes beyond clothing. The Indian world was full of chakra designs, such as giant billboards, shop signs, shop interiors, paintings on the walls of private homes, tents and banners for weddings and events, sheets and textiles with traditional designs, folk art furniture and accessories, decorations for TV studios and various stages, and even motifs on bank notes.
What on earth had I seen on my travels in India so far? As the saying goes, “the scales fell from my eyes”, and that’s exactly what happened to me at this moment.
Then, I was suddenly reminded of Thailand.
Located in the heart of Southeast Asia, the Kingdom of Thailand is a devoutly Buddhist country known for its extraordinary respect for the royal family. This is true on a daily basis, but especially when the King falls ill, the streets are filled with yellow shirts, symbolising the royal family and showing the depth of the people’s devotion and love for the King.
The Indian world, full of Chakra Designs, both sacred and secular, and the Chakra conscious people who live there, overlapped beautifully in my eyes with the Thai people who wear the royal colour as a sign of loyalty to the King.
At that time an extremely vivid impression was stamped on my mind.
India is “The Sacred Chakra Empire” where the Chakra is worshipped as the one and only Imperial Deity-King.
Of course, the Chakra itself is neither deity nor king, it is only a ‘symbol’ of sacredness or divine authority.
Yet this symbol, along with the concepts of seeing its central axle (or lotus flower receptacle) as the supreme deity and the world as a wheel (or lotus flower), has always been the main theme of the Indian world throughout its long history, spanning at least four to five thousand years.
Countless dynasties rose and fell, and religious beliefs changed over time, yet the Chakra always remained at the heart of the Indian people, fascinating their souls.
According to Vishnu mythology, the one supreme God pervades and permeates the entire world. This was indeed the very existence of the Chakra in the Indian world.
In Gujarat, there is a traditional dance called Garba that is performed in groups during the festival of Navratri, dedicated to the goddess Durga. It consists of people dancing enthusiastically in a large circle, and if you look at it from a bird’s eye view, you can see it going round and round like a wheel around the goddess, who is an immovable axle at the centre.
The word garba comes from the Sanskrit word for womb and so implies gestation or pregnancy — life. Traditionally, the dance is performed around a clay lantern with a light inside, called a Garbha Deep (“womb lamp”). This lantern represents life, and the fetus in the womb in particular. The dancers thus honor Durga, the feminine form of divinity.
Garba is performed in a circle as a symbol of the Hindu view of time. The rings of dancers revolve in cycles, as time in Hinduism is cyclical. As the cycle of time revolves, from birth, to life, to death and again to rebirth, the only thing that is constant is the Goddess, that one unmoving symbol in the midst of all of this unending and infinite movement. The dance symbolizes that God, represented in feminine form in this case, is the only thing that remains unchanging in a constantly changing universe (jagat).
wikipedia
The underlying philosophy here is that the Devi Shakti faith, which is deeply rooted in South India, especially below the Deccan Plateau, has usurped the status of the “Primordial One as the Axle of the Wheel Universe” which was originally occupied by Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. She was eventually elevated to the status of the one and only Supreme God.
The most important texts of Shaktism, Devi Mahatmya, and Devi Bhagavata Purana, revere Devi (the Goddess) as the primordial creator of the universe and the Brahman (ultimate truth and reality).
Wikipedia
This Navratri, dedicated to Goddess Durga, is a festival commemorating her nine-day battle with the evil demon Mahishasura and her victory over it, where the main theme is to celebrate ‘the victory of Dharma (good) over Adharma (evil)’.
The huge wheel depicted there by the Goddess and the people. This representation of the wheel can rightly be called the ‘Chakra Dance‘, a national festival symbolising “India, the land of Dharma Chakra”.
It may be presumptuous for someone who is just a stick martial artist to say this, but I would like to propose a new paradigm of ‘Chakraology (or Chakra Studies)’ to all those who are interested in India. Originally, Chakraology may have been a limited concept dealing with the chakra philosophy of yoga, but the Chakraology I am advocating here is a new perspective dealing with the totality of pan-Indian Chakra Consciousness, which includes the yogic chakras.
Once the concept of a comprehensive ‘Chakra Consciousness’ is acquired, it will be possible to establish a clear and consistent perspective on all aspects of the Indian world, from architecture, art, performing arts, religion, thought and history to contemporary social events. It is bound to open up a whole new horizon of perception in all disciplines dealing with India (or even in the field of industrial marketing).
Now, I believe this deeply and unwaveringly, after having completed my long, long journey exploring the millennia-old history of the Great Chakra Thought.
~to be continued~
INDIA~The Land of Holy Chakra 
