What is the meaning of Swastik?
What is the importance of Swastik?
What is Swastik symbol in Hindu temple?
1) In Sanskrit, the word swastika is a combination of ‘su’ (meaning ‘good’) and ‘asti’ (meaning ‘to exist’)
This is frequently interpreted as “all is well.” Thus, the swastika is frequently adorned on Hindu residences, companies, printed products, autos, temples, and ashrams as a sign of good fortune and auspiciousness.
2) Many Hindus adorn the threshold of the front entrance to their homes with the swastika
They may wash off previous swastikas and reapply them, or they may include them into their rangoli (a traditional art form that uses colourful powders, rice and grains, or flowers to decorate the ground of courtyards), especially around Diwali, which falls this year on October 30. Frequently, Diya’s (clay lights) are skillfully arranged to form the swastika.
3) There are a variety of symbolic meanings associated with the limbs of the swastika in Hinduism
They can be seen as the four Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva), which are the foundational Hindu scriptures. Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha (proper action, worldly success, worldly delight, and spiritual emancipation) can be viewed as the four aims of life. The four seasons, the four cardinal directions, and the four yugas, or epochs (Satya, Treta, Dvapara, Kali), are also said to be represented by the limbs.
4) Other faith traditions originating in India also regularly use the swastika, with similar auspicious meaning
The swastika represents the heart and footprints of the Buddha to Buddhists. For Jains, the swastika represents the seventh tirthankara, also known as the “ford-maker,” who is one of the freed souls who guides others in the Jain faith. Each of the four possible locations for rebirth in the cycle of birth and death is represented by one of the arms.
5) The swastika is India’s version of one of humanity’s most enduring, ancient symbols
In reality, the symbol’s first recorded use dates to the end of the previous Ice Age. In Ukraine, archaeologists discovered a figure with a recognisable armed plus sign that dates to 10,000–13,000 BCE. It is uncertain how the sign was perceived by these prehistoric people. The emblem has been used in the Balkans for at least 8,000 years. The swastika was widely utilised by the Indus-Saraswati culture, as shown by archaeological evidence that dates back to at least 4,000 BCE.
6) Peoples throughout the world used their own version of the symbol
It was utilised by people in modern-day Greece and Turkey. It was employed by the Nordic and Celts. The Germanic peoples also did. It served as the sun’s emblem for the Phoenicians. Additionally, swastika-like symbols have been used in petroglyphs discovered in Armenia. Pottery from the Kush area of Africa (now Sudan) clearly depicts plus signs with arms. The emblem has also been employed in West African civilizations. The emblem was also employed by Neolithic tribes in China, long before Buddhism became widely practised. Native Americans have traditionally utilised emblems like the Swastika throughout North America. The Hopi people view it as a symbol for roving clans. It is a rotating log used in healing ceremonies by the Navajo people.
7) The symbol had a major resurgence of usage in Europe and North America in the 19th century as a good luck symbol
Before the Nazis adopted the Hakenkreuz, beer and Coca-Cola bottles included swastikas and swastika-like emblems. Swastikas were used on badges by the Boy Scouts of America and other scouting organisations throughout Europe. There is still a town called Swastika, Ontario, Canada, which was established in 1908. It was used as a sleeve insignia by the 45th Infantry Division of the US Army from the 1920s until the emergence of the Nazis (see image above, lower right). It was used on aircraft by the Royal Air Force of the UK until 1939.
8) The Nazis used the Hakenkreuz to represent their notion of Aryan identity. Where they miserably failed is in their understanding of the meaning of the Sanskrit term ‘Aryan’
The Nazi belief that there once existed a “master race” or group of people known as the Aryans, some of whom physically invaded the Indian subcontinent, is based on the now debunked Aryan Invasion Theory. The term “Aryan” really relates to people’s behaviour and signifies “noble.” Recent genomic research demonstrates that any large-scale human migrations into India were place far earlier than suggested by the Aryan Invasion or Aryan Migration ideas. Additionally, there is no traditional belief or proof of any outsider invasion during this time period that is backed by India’s holy or historical literature. In English versions of Mein Kampf, the Sanskrit term “swastika” rather of “hooked cross” was used to express the Nazis’ insignia, which was known as Hakenkreuz.
9) After the horrors committed by the Nazis, there has been a justifiable revulsion to Nazi symbolism, including the Nazi presentation of its emblem
The European Union recently tried to outlaw all uses of the swastika, regardless of how they are performed. Fortunately, Hindus have mobilised to protect their revered emblem. A representative of the Hindu Forum of Britain spoke out against the proposed EU ban, saying, “The swastika has been around for 5,000 years as a symbol of peace,” noting that outlawing the swastika would be comparable to outlawing the Christian cross because the Ku Klux Klan used burning crosses to terrorise African Americans. The Hindu American Foundation in the US helped a college student who was facing expulsion because his fraternity house had a Hindu swastika displayed on it. And in recent years, a lot of work has been done via interfaith dialogue to clear up misconceptions about the ancient.
10) In 2008, at the second Hindu-Jewish Leadership Summit a resolution formally recognized the long positive history of the swastika
The Hindu tradition’s old and incredibly lucky emblem is the Swastika. It is written on Hindu temples, altars used in rituals, doors, and even chequebooks. The Third Reich in Germany hijacked a twisted version of this hallowed sign and used it as an emblem to cover up atrocious atrocities against mankind, especially the Jewish people. The participants are aware that this emblem was important to Hindus for millennia before it was appropriated, and still is.
