Kalasha ( Water pot )

                                        Kalasha ( Water pot )


       Kalasha is one of the eight auspicious things in worship. Kalasha denotes auspiciousness.

   It is derived from ka means water and lasa means adorned. That which is adorned with water is called Kalasha.

Story behind the origin -
It is associated with the churning of milky ocean. It is said that Vishvakarma, the divine architect made a pot with the different powers of the deities to carry the nectar that came out from the churning of the ocean. So it is a symbol of properity. The divine doctor Dhanvantari carried this pot of nectar.

It is said that Brahma resides at the top of the pot, Lord Shiva in its neck and at the bottom resides Vishnu and Matruganah ( group of dieties ) reside in the middle portion of the Kalasha and in the stomach water of all the seven oceans, Vedas with their angad are present in the Kalasha.

Man needs water for living. To invoke god in that water, we worship Kalasha. Through Kalasha we create god. In a pot we tie the small white thread around the body in a net like pattern and put cardamom, clove, camphor in the water and on the top of the pot we keep mango leaves with coconut.

Generally brass or copper pot is used because they are considered good conductors of energy. It is believed that when mantra ( sacred hymns ) are recited outside they are absorbed inside the pot . Kalasha represents body and the threads around it are nadis and nerves. Fragrant powders are the supporting strength - chromosomes, genes, DNA, RNA etc.

A bunch of mango leaves and over it is kept a coconut with its head on it. All the leaves wither away but mango leaves do not . Mango tree symbolises dispelling of ignorance and giving knowledge and mango is fruit of knowledge. That is why mango leaves are used to give a prop to coconut.

Coconut is unique of all vegetables. It gives nourishment. It has three eyes . While worshipping the god we utter ' Soma Suryagni lochsnayai namah ' obeisance to the moon, sun, fire eyed one!. Here the right eye is the sun, left moon and third is fire. Third eye represents knowledge and can be opened by the god . God Shiva has three eyes . So the coconut represents the god. The head portion is considered as god and kept it on the pot. Fiber part is hair. So after breaking the coconut, only that hair is thrown out. Even when brass or copper pot is not available, mere coconut is used and the god is invoked because coconut contains natural water, the nourishing strength. No other vegetable has this property. So coconut is used as crown . Coconut is therefore considered auspicious and is designated as ' Shriphala.'

In worship of goddesses also, mother goddess's  face engraved on a metal is fixed to the rim of a pot. Filled with water, topped with coconut, and ringed with a coronet of mango leaves, a pot transforms into Purnakalasha, or brimming pot that ushers in fertility and fortune. The Purnakalasha is a permanent feature of all Hindu festivities related to marriage and child-birth. The pot represents fertility, the earth and the womb. The mango leaves ( mango flowers are considered as one of the five bows of the god of love ) associated with Kama, the god of love represents the pleasure principle that is an essential ingedient in fertility. The coconut, a cash crop in the tropical countries, symbolizes prosperity. It also represents the ego which makes one to relish power. The water in the pot is the nourishing element without which there can be no life on the earth. Pot serves as surrogate womb in many stories. Sage Agasthya was born from a pot . The womb, the giver of life is worthy of worship. It is the pot of immortality that keeps a family tree alive and flourish.

In nutshell, Kalasha is symbolic of human body and water in it is divine consciousness in the body.