Kamandalu

Kamandalu (s often use it for storing drinking water. [cite book |last=Radha |first=Swami Sivananda |title=Kundalini Yoga |origyear=1992 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=xfDzSaOju8gC&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 |accessdate=2008-08-20 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=8120808126, 9788120808126 |pages=357 p.40] The water filled kamandalu, which is invariably carried by ascetics, is stated to represent a simple and self-contained life.

The kamandalu also used in Hindu iconography, in depiction of deities related with asceticism or water. It is thus, viewed as a symbol of ascetism in Hinduism. The kamandalu is also used by Jain monks and in depictions of some bodhisattvas. [http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/archive/index.php?t-448.html, Sanatana Dharma for Kids: Hindu Trinity: Brahma - Sarasvati]

Method of making

A ripe pumpkin is plucked and the inner plum and seeds are cleaned leaving only the outer shell, which is used as the kamandalu. This is interpreted on a spiritual level as the removal of ego from a person. The ripe pumpkin represents the person, seed being the ego. Cleaning the seed thus symbolizes removal of ego, forming a cleansed person fit to accept self realization. [cite book |last=Pandit |first=Bansi |title=Explore Hinduism |origyear=2005 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=PT5h4IjBMk0C&pg=PA48&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U2UsvAhVC5zOsqyxQDoAtLUz2Xuuw |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Heart of Albion |isbn=1872883818, 9781872883816 |pages=187 p.48]

In Hinduism

Water in a kamandalu, represents Amrita - the elixir of life, thus a symbol of fertility, life and wealth.cite book |last=Jansen |first=Eva Rudy |title=The Book of Hindu Imagery |origyear=1993 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=1iASyoae8cMC&pg=PA144&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U2zD3j_c3YX3i7S_afvIBo5bFpJcQ#PPA52,M1 |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Binkey Kok Publications |isbn=9074597076, 9789074597074 |pages=158 p.52] The kamandalu is often depicted in hands of gods, who appear as ascetics, like Shiva, Brahma and also water deities like Varuna, Ganga and Sarasvati. Adi Shankaracharya’s "ashtotaram" hymn praises Shiva whose hand is adorned with the kamandalu. Other deities like the fire-god Agni and the preceptor of the gods, Brihaspati are depicted carrying the kamandalu. [cite book |last=Chaplin |first=Dorothea |title=Mythlogical Bonds Between East and West |origyear=2007 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=GiAwgX1Eg1wC&pg=PA114&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U0pxxG7H34NSD8UtWcsnONK3bFqog |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=READ BOOKS |isbn=1406739863, 9781406739862 |pages=160 p.117] [cite book |last=Chakrabarti |first=Dilip K. |title=Archaeological Geography of the Ganga Plain |origyear=2001 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=OEZe-wAIiKIC&pg=PA84&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U03sZZ2EEqI4D6BbAIkQsYm5YRh2Q#PPA84,M1 |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Orient Longman |isbn=8178240165, 9788178240169 |pages=301 p.40] The goddess "Karamgamaladharini" is described as wearing a garland of kamandalus. [cite book |last=Harper |first=Katherine Anne |coauthors=Robert L. Brown |title=The Roots of Tantra |origyear=2007 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=M7Fbj5hrmQoC&pg=PA240&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U2uK-LXAr6Itp1VSXzLJNNqCijatQ |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=0791453057, 9780791453056 |pages=270 p.240] The text Devi Mahatmya describes goddess Brahmani slay demons by sprinkling holy water from her kamandalu. [cite book |last=Coburn |first=Thomas B. |title=Devī-Māhātmya |origyear=1988 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=hy9kf7_TOHgC&pg=PA146&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U1WmRjQHp7mp1t1UJCpAh5dljwDCw |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=8120805577, 9788120805576 |pages=359 p.146] A 183-165 BC. coin depicts the god Krishna holding a kamandalu. [cite book |last=Kala |first=Jayantika |title=Epic Scenes in Indian Plastic Art |origyear=1988 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=MLcGKezqdDIC&pg=PA92&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U0N5RIjSPy03YwchDZRw-3Et-IRhQ |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=8170172284, 9788170172284 |pages=107 p.92]

Several mythological stories refer to the kamandalu. Vamana the dwarf avatar of god Vishnu, requests demon king Mahabali for three feet of land. The donation of the land is sanctified through pouring water through a Kamandalu. When Sukra, the demons' preceptor, tried to prevent flow of water from the kamandalu by blocking the spout, Mahabali pierced the spout with a stick, which blinded Sukra. [http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:FjUBwlZqqBUJ:www.pichu.info/nav.htm+Symbolic+kamandalam&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3, Suryanar Koil] . In Bhagavata Purana, king Satyavarta after initially put Matsya (Vishnu's avatar as a fish) which he found in the river into his Kamandalu, to protect it from the big fish. Later, the fish expanded and protected the king from great deluge of Hindu mythology. [http://www.geocities.com/bhagvatjee/bhaag/kathaa/skandh8/9matsya.htm. Sri Mad Bhagavat Puran, Skand 8, page 9, Chapter 24)] . The Mahabharata records the god Dhanvantari brought Amrita in a Kamandalu, when he emerged from the churning of the ocean (Samudra manthan). [cite book |last=Feller |first=Danielle |title=The Sanskrit epics' representation of Vedic myths |origyear=2004 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=G3yQJU-4mOoC&pg=PA187&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U17Qa_RpzJ833_ZwwIwTEgceDiThA |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ |isbn=8120820088, 9788120820081 |pages=382 p.187] The Hindu epic Ramayana records the monkey-god Hanuman disguised himself as a sage and fooling the demons to drink his urine stored in his kamandalu. [cite book |last=Bose |first=Mandakranta |title=The Ramayana Revisited |origyear=2004 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=OiPdOBHGVp4C&pg=PA102&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U1zaPsQyqPRaNeEpwd7Ec5knUvtKg#PPA103,M1 |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Oxford University Press US |isbn=0195168321, 9780195168327 |pages=400 p.103]

The mythical Sarasvati river traces her creation legends to the creator-god Brahma's kamandalu. [cite book |last=Darian |first=Steven G. |title=The Ganges in Myth and History |origyear=2001 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=0obUy_W9NREC&pg=PA60&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U2YgrSNYe3gwL13LRbjPnJmAWe9MQ |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=8120817575, 9788120817579 |pages=235 p.60] River Ganga is also believed to flow through Brahma's kamandalu. [cite book |last=Hiltebeitel |first=Alf |title=The Ritual of Battle |origyear=1990 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vwWGX08JAx8C&pg=PA160&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U2ZLjGMTW4NCZIbxNl7OhoJVAb8xg |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=0791402495, 9780791402498 |pages=368 p.160] One legend about Ganga's birth says Brahma washed the big toe of the foot of Vamana and collected the water in his kamandalu, which turns into Ganga. [http://www.geocities.com/dr_gda/ganga.htm, Origin of Holy River Ganga] .Another river Silambu has a similar tale of origin. When Brahma washed Vamana's foot by the water of his kamandalu, one of drops fell from Vamana's foot on the earth turning into the river. [ http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/07/08/stories/2006070800440200.htm,Deep in the Woods] .Another mythical tale about the pilgrimage place Darsha Pushkarini, narrates how sage Agastya trapped river Kaveri in his kamandalu, when she declined his marriage proposal. This led to famine in the region and noticing this, Kaveri escaped from kamandalu but with a curse of the sage and was finally purified at Darsha Pushkarini. [http://saranathantg.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html, Srimad Bhagawat Geeta] A varient tells angered by Kaveri's confinement, god Ganesha, in the form of a crow, pushed Agastya's kamandalu down rescuing Kaveri and leading to the river's formation. [http://chennaionline.com/columns/Lifehistory/history05.asp,(Agastya–Part V]

In the Sarada legends of Kashmir (based on oral tradition) narrated by Dr Romesh Kumar, it is said that when Ravana was engaged in a war with Rama, goddess Parvati advised Rama to take her to Uttarakhand away from the war scene, and thus Parvati was carried by Hanuman in the form of water in a kamandalu to be dropped wherever Parvati desired to be dropped. Wherever, Hanuman rested on his way to Utarakhand, drops of water which fell out of the kamandalu on the ground, formed the springs Masanag at Gushi and the Devibal spring at Tikr in Kashmir where the kamandalu was kept in a near by hillock where Parvati rested where as a Sarada shrine exists. At Amarkantak, the source of river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh, an ancient kamandalu which is always filled with water, is called the Brighu Kamandal. [http://www.kashmirsentinel.com/jan2003/16.html, Sarada Legends – Different versions] .

The text Garuda Purana states donation of a kamandalu in the Shradha (funery ritual) ceremony ensures that deceased has ample drinking water in his after-life journey. [cite book|title=The Garuda Purana |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=bHm6nKenVK4C&pg=PT56&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U0Qz5WF8nJoaBEdCF4o81mkKDIXNw#PPT57,M1 |accessdate=2008-08-21 |isbn=097930511X, 9780979305115]

In Buddhism and Jainism

Buddhists pour water from the kamandalu onto the palms of people, before rituals, where the water symbolizes elixir of life. [cite book |last=Blau |first=Tatjana |coauthors=Mirabai Blau |title=Buddhist Symbols |origyear=2002 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=bcf46Ye46qUC&pg=PA225&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U0A1Tzfjfyl9vIyoXBBN4PXcI0law#PPA225,M1 |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. |isbn=1402700334, 9781402700330 |pages=256 p.225] It is also called as "Bhumba". [cite book |last=Jansen |first=Eva Rudy |coauthors=Tony Langham |title=The Book of Buddhas |origyear=1990 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=GngtR4O6Y_EC&pg=PA28&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U2y3PRrsAwaxXB9s6OsP9yWQeoe9Q#PPA28,M1 |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Binkey Kok |isbn=9074597025, 9789074597029 |pages=110 p.28] Bodhisattvas like Maitreya and Avalokiteshvara are depicted carrying the kamandalu. [cite book |last=Wong |first=Dorothy C. |title=Chinese Steles |origyear=2004 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=4gNk5HzIIKgC&pg=PA93&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U19HMBEgtsmlpIOBtdR5P_0tggXmA#PPA93,M1 |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=082482783X, 9780824827830 |pages=226 p.93] [cite book |last=Donaldson |first=Thomas E. |title=Iconography of the Buddhist Sculpture of Orissa |origyear=2001 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=DbxE8zOuRbUC&pg=PA195&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U1igeMp0ILC63kLTERMbE9_cdjmMA#PPA194,M1 |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=8170173752, 9788170173755 |pages=792 p.195] The kamandalu was initially imported from Brahmanical Hinduism to Buddhism, through god Brahma to Maitreya, but later was incorporated in representations of many Mahayana Buddhist deities. [cite book |last=Jacques |first=Duchesne Guillemin |title=Acta Iranica |origyear=1974 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=_MoUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA97&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U1ympSYV8PORYGgiFvCEYIh5-yQEg#PPA97,M1 |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9004039023, 9789004039025 p.97] Jain Digambara sages use the kamandalu for "toilet purposes". [cite book |last=Jaini |first=Padmanabh S. |title=Collected Papers on Jaina Studies |origyear=2000 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=HPggiM7y1aYC&pg=PA164&dq=Kamandalu&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U0HXPgeeQc_SM35pMvhaWV1Xepl9Q |accessdate=2008-08-21 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=8120816919, 9788120816916 |pages=428 p.164]

Other uses

* "Kamandal", a collection of poems written by Jaswant Deed which has religious connotation. [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080309/spectrum/book2.htm, Kamandal by Jaswant Deed]

References