Thursday, January 29, 2015

Surya Yantra and Surya Worship

In our country (the great Bharat), Surya worship was prevalent from good old days. The Temple at Konark is an example. In this temple there was a Surya Yantra which was sculptured by Rishis according to Yantra shastra.

Surya Yantra is very powerful yantra. It was made taking into consideration the yantra shashtra, the main Peethas of the Aadi-devata & Navagraha devatas. These are incorporated in the yantra in the form of triangles, circles & rose petals. We find these sculptures in the yantra at various Surya temples.

At present there is a Surya temple near Kumbhakonam in Tamilnadu where we come across this Surya yantra.

Details about Surya Yantra


There is small circle at center of yantra which is considered as the place of chaya & maya. There is a dot at the center which is supposed to be the energy point of Sun. Surrounding the circle there are 6 triangles which are considered as the abode of the Gods – Mahaganapati, Rudra, Ambika (devi), Vishnu, Dakshinamoorti & Maruti. Surrounding these triangles there are 3 circles. Within the next circular path there are 8 lotus petals. They are considered as the petals of Ashtadikpals (guards of eight directions) namely Eshana, Indra, Agni, Yama, Niruthi, Varun, Vaayu & Kuber. Surrounding these there are 4 circles. Within the next adjoining circular path there are 12 lotus petals. They represent 12 rashis namely – Mesha, Rishabha, Mithun, Karka, Sinha, Kanya, Thula, Vrishachik, Dhanu, Makara, Kumbha, Meena. They also indicate 27 stars associated with these rashis. Beyond this circular path there are 2 more circles.

Thus there are 9 circles which indicate path of planets. The Surya yantra is used for Navagraha worship. In the colored design of this yantra (in the picture above) we come across that they are identical to the colors in the white ray of the Sun when it splits.

This yantra can be drawn on a paper and used for meditation purpose. Hang the colored picture given below on a wall at eye level. Sit in front of this wall about 2 feet away from the wall. Then concentrate on the center point of yantra & recite the mantra or the shlokas given by your Guru or follow the procedure for meditation as taught by the Guru. When we start concentrating the point at center of the picture we may feel that the colors, circles & other drawings in the yantra may be moving around. It is the belief the meditation performed in this manner increases concentration, control over the mind, memory and will power etc.

Surya Namaskar

As stated earlier Surya Namaskaar is one of the methods of worshiping Sun god. It can be performed by yoga or worshiping by offering Arghya and reciting the mantras.

After taking bath early in morning, just at time of sunrise facing the east, we recite the surya gayatri 3 times which is the 1st step towards Surya namaskar.

Bhaskarayvidhmahe 
Mahatvidhikaraye dheemahi
Tanno adityaya prachodayat

We recite the following mantra which was given as upadesh to Shri Rama by Sage Agastya.

Om Dinakaraya Bhaskaraya
Jyotiswaroopaya
Surya narayan devaaya
Namo namaha

Then offer Arghya by reciting following mantra.

Om Mitraya Namah
Om Ravaye Namah
Om Suryaya Namah
Om Bhanave Namah
Om Khagaya Namah
Om Pushne Namah
Om Hiranyagarbhaya Namah
Om Marichaye Namah
Om Adityaya Namah
Om Savitraye Namah
Om Arkaya Namah

After performing Surya Namaskar in above manner, we recite following shlokas to pay our respect to Navagrahas.

Nama suryaaya somaay
Angaarakaay budhaayach
Guru shukra shanibyascha
Raaghave ketave namah.

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