Marriage is...

Marriage is the union of disparate elements. Male and female. Yin and yang. Proton and electron. What are we talking about here? Nothing less than the very tension that binds the universe. You see, when we look at marriage, people, we're are looking at creation itself.

"I am the sky," says the Hindu bridegroom to the bride. "You are the earth. We are sky and earth united.... You are my husband. You are my wife. My feet shall run because of you. My feet shall dance because of you. My heart shall beat because of you. My eyes see because of you. My mind thinks because of you and I shall love because of you."

~Andrew Schneider, Northern Exposure

... more cool quotes can be found at my new website, Mandala Madness, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com

Marriage Mandalas

To the people of Madhubani, marriage is an important ritual. Special motifs are painted on the wall in the kohbar ghar (the place where the nuptial night is arranged).

These kohbar paintings often have a lotus motif pierced by a bamboo shaft representing sexual union of the bride and the bridegroom. Parrots, which represent the lovers, are often painted around the rim of the central lotus mandala....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, Mandala Madness, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in it's entirety here: About Madhubani Marriage Mandalas, a separate gallery of Marriage Mandala Art can be found here: Madhubani Marriage Mandalas.

Mandala of Auspicious Elements

A Maithila painting.

This mandala is rich in symbolism and is directly connected to the kohbar wall paintings for auspicious marriage. This painting, and many more can be found at Exotic India.

The parrots symbolize the love birds and they feature constantly as images of the bride and bridegroom in folk songs and poetry. They are an inseperable element in Maithila paintings representing the happy lovers. Encircling the parrots is a ring of fishes, brightly coloured in variety of patterns. The fishes are emblems of fertility and proliferation and thus an essential symbol of 'kohbar' paintings. Beautiful drawn and painted lotus flowers occupy the remaining space. The lotus signifies fertility and auspiciousness. since, it is associated with goddess Lakshmi, it is personified as the bride desirous of the qualities possessed by the goddess.

Madhubani Mandala Art

The wall paintings of Madhubani are a queer mixture of aestheticism, ecstasy and sex. Put here on paper are some of the same representations.

The major part of the painting has a circle of yantras representing different gods and goddesses. It is the influence of Tantra on the religious scene. The Kali Yantra, Sri Yantra etc. form the conglomeration of yantras, akin to mandalas, a symbol in Tantrik art....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, Mandala Madness, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in its entirety here: About Madhubani Marriage Mandala Art, and a nice gallery of the Madalas can be found here: Madhubani Marriage Mandalas.