A melting pot of culture

Pots and earrings play a significant role during Navratri. Read on to know the mythological importance of jewellery with Gods and Goddesses.

Earrings play an important role in Hindu mythology, and more with Gods than with Goddesses. In his famous Tandav pose, Shiva sports a ‘male’ earring in the right ear and a ‘female’ earring in the left, indicating that divinity transcends over gender divides. Vishnu, on the other hand, has earrings shaped like a fish or dolphin. It’s a reminder that life is about movement, like the flow of water.

To adorn the ear is part of the Solah Shringar, the sixteen love-charms of marriage, perhaps because the ear is seen as a metaphor for the womb. In the Indonesian Mahabharat, the sun-god, Surya, caused Kunti to deliver a son through her ear, which is why she remained a virgin. The son was called Karna, the ear-child.

Mythology connect
In folk Ramayana, Vayu, the wind-god, caused Anjani to deliver a son through her ear too. He was called Hanuman. In many parts of India, there are sacred places known as Mani-karnika. It is a metaphor for sites visited by the Goddess and her consort who provided the jewel or mani in the earrings that she misplaced.

That’s the reason earrings are an important part of a woman’s adorement during the nine-day Navratri festival. While the popular image associated with this festival is that of Durga riding a lion and impaling the buffalo-demon, a more traditional image is the pot. On the first day, the pot is worshipped during the ritual of ghata-sthapana. The pot is a metaphor for culture, a human creation indicating the rise of civilisation and personal wealth. It is also a symbol of the womb that nurtured the next generation of the family.

Devdutt Pattanaik is a cultural consultant with the World Gold Council.