Something I had eaten yesterday really did not agree with me and I sadly missed the last evening meal with the LAB participants at the House of MG, I was sorry not to say goodbye, as they had all headed for flights back home in the early hours.
Leaving LOkesh's flat late this morning I noticed that the walls nearby were decorated with drawings as well. The designs are similar to Mandala, as seen in the yantra engravings and the Rangoli or Alpana designs drawn with rice flour.
These designs covered a wall some 100m long and included detailing on the capping and around small openings in the wall.
The designs included Paisley patterns, (the origins of this mark are in the print of the side of the hand in rice paste, often on the side of a building, to record the scale of a rice harvest) and the swastika, a symbol which has its Indian origins in the Indus Valley Civilizations of Ancient India.
Globally this symbol has become stigmatized for its association with Nazi Germany.
For many Hindus, Jains and Buddists the Swastika represents something very different;
"The word swastika came from the Sanskrit word svastika, meaning any lucky or auspicious object, and in particular a mark made on persons and things to denote good luck. It is composed of Su-meaning "good, well" and asti "to be" svasti thus means "well-being." The suffix -ka either forms a diminutive or intensifies the verbal meaning, and svastika might thus be translated literally as "that which is associated with well-being," corresponding to "lucky charm" or "thing that is auspicious."
The design is often placed at the threshold to a property for good luck and well being.
