Tantric art
- Kanishka Chhajer
- Dec 3, 2018
- 4 min read
The Bindu, line and circle
“What is here, is elsewhere. What is not here is nowhere”(Visvasara Tantra)
Tantra is the bond between the objective and physical world with its inner reality, a spiritual journey as we create our acts into a creative evolution. Its aim is not the discovery of the unknown but the realization of the known.Tantra is a Sanskrit word derived from the root tan-, to expand. It means knowledge of a systematic experimental method which offers the possibility of expanding man’s consciousness and faculties, a process through which the individual’s inherent spiritual powers can be realized.
Tantric Art
The art which has evolved out of tantrism reveals an abundant of forms, varied inflections of tone and colour, graphic patterns, powerful symbols with personal and universal significance. It is especially intended to convey knowledge urging a higher level of perception, and arouses dormant sources of our inner awareness. This form of expression has a deeper meaning of aesthetic value but its real significance lies in its content, the meaning it conveys ( Dhvani), the philosophy of life it unravels, the world- view it represents. In this sense tantra art is visual metaphysics.
Tantric imagery is not an illogical invention derived from chaotic artistic manipulation but they are the purest abstractions revealed and visualized during contemplation. These types of representations which are abstract are opposed to imitative, universal and cognitive where the artist’s vision of reality is deeply conditioned by tradition and inheritance, overpowering his personal subjective expression to a generic one. Tantric art when revealed and accepted becomes a tradition and remains timeless. Some very old symbols can be traced back to the Rig Veda (c. 2000 BC) where the creative principle of life is conceived as a Hiranya- garbha, the womb of energy through which the universe develops. The same symbol is crystallized in the conception of the Siva- Linga, or cosmic egg in the tantras.
To understand its pictorial range, tantric imagery can be broadly classified as :
Psycho cosmic forms and diagrams such as yantras and manadalas.
Visual representations of the subtle body or its constituents.
Astronomical and astrological computations.
Iconographic images, asanas and certain accessories used in rituals.
T H E B I N D U
Bindu is the ultimate point of power beyond which a thing or energy cannot be contracted or condensed. It is the repository of all manifestation and basis of all vibration, movement and form. As a centre, the point always controls everything which is projected from it; such a point is called mahabindu, or Great Point and signifies the starting point in the unfolding of inner space and the last point of its ultimate incorporation. It also signifies the mental point or manobindu, serving as the vehicle of the mind, an area of the meeting round of subject and object.
T H E L I N E
Unbroken series of points which have length without breadth, moving independently, form a straight line. It signifies the growth and development and like time, consists of an infinite number of points, each discreetly in space. Pure linear patterns are drawn lyrically to to illustrate sound vibrations, or geometrically in criss-cross manner, to form a certain order of the divisions of space, measures of time and the base lines of universe.
T H E C I R C L E
The circle is a symbol of wholeness functions as a paradigm of involution and evolution. The mandala, the word means circle, symbolizes wholeness and totality. It represents the cosmos or the potent core of energy where there is balance of force whose beginning is in its end, whose end is in its beginning. The mandala is an essential part of the tantric ritual. The adepts visualize the primal essence of the mandala in its external form to then internalize it through contemplation into a psychic force.The stunning images make abstract key symbols of Tantric metaphysics and cosmogony, from the bindu, a dot symbolizing the undifferentiated absolute, to the negative space of the shunya, the absolute void of the supreme deity.
T H E T R I A N G L E
The triangle, on the other hand, or Trikona, represents the three worlds or gunas: the neutral, the positive and the negative Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. The triangle downwards represents the yoni or the female organ, the seat of Sakti, the female energy or nature (Prakriti). The triangle pointing upwards is identified as the male principle (Purusha). When the two triangles penetrate each other in the form of a five-pointed star or a pentagon, each of its five points represents the 5 elements- earth(kshiti), water (ap), energy (tejas), air (marut) and space (vyoman). During contemplation, when the aspirant brings the 5 elements of his body into harmonious accord with the energy pattern is constructed , he becomes the perfect man and locks the pentagon within him. The union of the 2 triangles symbolizes the union of Siva-Sakti manifesting the creation of the objective universe. When the 2 triangles are separated and form an hour glass pattern or the shape of a Damaru, the drum of Bhairav (the destructive aspect of Shiva), they represent dissolution; time and space cease to exist.
Tantric art is a synthesizing force that balances beauty and functionality and has little space for ambiguity, experimentation and individual mannerism. This art form has intrigued many contemporary artists worldwide.The purity in form and colour is what makes it unique and timeless.
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