Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Star of Vishnu

Star-of-Vishnu-hexagramPhoto of a typical Indian six pointed star is courtesy of thaths who published it on Flickr.
Wayne B. Chandler wrote in his book Ancient Future on p. 69
"In India the six-pointed star is called the star of Vishnu, reflecting the cosmic union between Kali and Shiva, the male and female forces of the universe…heralded as the star of creation by the Egyptians".

2 comments:

Thaths said...

Interestingly, this photo was taken in the Mattancherry area of Kochi town. Mattancherry was where the Malabari Yehudan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochin_Jews) lived.

Anonymous said...

Growing up Hindu, I thought it was interesting that in some of our images of Vishnu the discus he held had a Star of David design. I figured it was a coincidence. But one thing that I think is interesting about this photo - I have never seen the star displayed like this on a building, all on its own, only as a pattern on the discus of Vishnu, and only rarely - often there are other designs. I personally think that the star design is prominently displayed on this building as a direct result of contact with Jewish culture in Kochi.