Choeten Kora, Trashi Yangtse

 The road to Trashi Yangste is not an easy one. Unlike most roads we saw in Eastern Bhutan, the one that branched-off north from Trashigang was particularly bad. 

As we drove on a mud-path cut into steep slopes and dense forests, past recent landslides and rock-falls,  I imagined our final destination to be some sort of one-horse town; one in which there would be a few houses along the roadside; a town where we would have to wake up somebody to cook dinner and find a bed for the night..

It was late evening by the time our Pajero stopped and the driver announced, "We've reached!".  What stood below us was not a tiny settlement but a lovely little town built alongside a river. There were broad roads, numerous buildings, shops, lodges, snooker parlours, and, the biggest surprise of all - a beautifully lit up Choeten sitting like a jewel at the head of the valley.

This was the Chorten Kora, a shrine modelled on the Boudhanath stupa in Kathmandu, and revered by  people across the eastern Himalayas, from Nepal to Arunachal Pradesh, and maybe beyond.

I visited this shrine early next morning. What struck me the most was the deep sense of order, symmetry and rhythm within the complex. 

Each side was divided into two parts with four sections each. Niches within each of these four sections had exactly six prayer wheels. So as you walked along each side of the Chorten you could swing with your fingers 48 prayer-wheels or 192 prayers with each circumambulation! 

As if to keep time for each step and each breath you took, there were also two large water-driven prayer wheels by the river-side, gently tinkling their bells.

What is the significance of these numbers? Why are prayer-wheels and stupas by the roadside always built in units of 1, 2, 6 or 8?

There is no doubt deep symbolism in each of these elements. 

Is there a book that explains all this?

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LINKS & REFERENCES

* A brief history of Choeten Kora - https://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/jbs/pdf/JBS_06_01.pdf

* Symbolism of the Stupa / Chorten - https://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/buddhist-art/stupas.htm 

Apasmara and the Loss of Recollection

Representation of Siva as Nataraja, or the 'God of Dance', is supposed to be the acme of classical Indian sculpture. 

Having seen it hundreds of times, in temples, museums, and even government offices (there is fine specimen in the North Block), I have always been drawn to  its face. Composed and serene while engaged in callisthenics within a ring of fire, he seems rather cool about a little guy getting squashed underfoot. 

As children we had always been told that this was the demon of ignorance being trampled, and that the dance itself represented the three cyclic states of the cosmos - creation (srishti), preservation (sthithi) and destruction (samhara). All this highbrow symbolism has been beyond my comprehension, and I could only marvel at the sheer dedication, effort and patience that had gone into making each of these amazing Chola bronzes.

Today, my own veil of ignorance was lifted a bit - thanks to a tweet from @ARaganathan72 that let me to a remarkable article in the Swarajya magazine - "Nataraja and Epilepsy: An Interpretation of the Cosmic Dancer".

The author, Anand Venkatraman is a neuro-surgeon, no less, at the Harvard University. His focus is on the little man getting trampled by the Cosmic Dancer and who goes by names such as Apasmara and Muyalaka. AV goes into the etymology of 'Apasmara', translates it from Sanskrit as "Loss of Recollection". Apasmara is also the term for epilepsy which is one among the  eight 'Mahagada' or dreadful diseases in Ayurveda texts.

Pointing to the fact that the Aztecs and the ancient Greeks considered epilepsy a sacred disease, AV highlights the link between epilepsy and memory:

"Memory is what links our existence from second to second. Memory provides us with a sense of continuity, a perception of an enduring self, and gives meaning to what would otherwise be seemingly random events."

Inside our brains, epileptic fits emerge from the Temporal Lobes where memories are encoded, and the Hippocampus which is "ground zero for the intersection of mind and brain, of the environment and the organism, as memories are etched into its structure like a DVD". 

So the Nataraja reminds us to overcome our epileptic fits of forgetfulness, to reach out to the inner conciousness that unites us with the whole cosmos.

If 'Apasmara' has such a deep meaning, I now wonder what 'Muyalaka' means...also, why is the little demon doggedly holding on to a little snake?? 

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LINKS:
- Swaraj Article - "Nataraja and Epilepsy: An Interpretation of the Cosmic Dancer" - https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/the-nataraja-and-epilepsy-an-interpretation-of-the-cosmic-dancer
- On Apasmara / Muyalaka - https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/9098/apasmara