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''Kumbhabhishekam'', also known as ''Samprokshanam'' is a
''Ashta'' means 8 in
''Kumbhabhishekam'', also known as ''Samprokshanam'' is a Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
temple ritual that is believed to homogenize, synergize and unite the mystic powers of the deity. It is part of the consecration ceremony of Hindu temples. ''Kumbha'' means the Head and denotes the ''Shikhara'' or Crown of the Temple (usually in the ''gopuram
A ''gopuram'' or ''gopura'' ( Tamil: கோபுரம், Telugu: గోపురం, Kannada
Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of th ...
'') and '' abhisekam'' or ''prokshanam'' is ritual bathing. Kumbhabhishekam is widely celebrated as a festival in South India
South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
.
On the appointed day and at an auspicious time, the ''Kumbha'' is bathed with the charged and sanctified holy waters in the sacrificial pot and, by a mystic process, these pranic powers trickle down a silver wire and enter the deity installed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The deity, which was until then only a granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
sculptured stone image, is believed to transform into a vibrant and vivid living representation of the deva
Deva may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Deva, List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters, an ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition monster
* Deva, in the 2023 Indian film ''Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefir ...
with innate beatitude, grace and grandeur, conferring divine blessings on all devotees.
Ashtabandhanam
''Ashta'' means 8 in Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
and ''Bandhanam'' means tying or fixing. ''Ashtabandhanam'' is the process of affixing an icon to its pedestal (''peetham'') with a clay-like paste made of 8 specific herbs mixed with wood lac, limestone powder, resin, red ochre, beeswax and butter. The paste is formed into long rolls about 2 cm thick and applied directly around the base of the icon, so that the cemented joints become watertight. This process is believed to keep the icon rejuvenated for a period of 12 years. When the ''Bandhanam'' is performed with gold (''Swarnabandhanam''), the rejuvenating power of the deity is believed to last for a period of 100 years.
The ''Ashtabandhanam paste is pliable like rubber. Through repeated interactions with ''abhishekha dravyams'' - materials used to bathe the icon during daily worship like water, milk, buttermilk, sandal paste and oils - and atmospheric oxidant
An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or "Electron acceptor, accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ''electr ...
s, the paste loses its flexibility, becomes rigid and gets riddled with a lot of fissures. Through these fissures, the ''abhisheka dravyams'' percolate and attack the '' Yantra'' embedded under the ''peetham'', obliterating the ''Bijaksharamantras'' -- mantra
A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...
s of sacred syllables ('' bija'') -- that are inscribed on the ''Yantra'', and this is believed to contribute to the lowering of the pranic spiritual power of the deity with the passage of time.
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