Satakoan or Satayantra is one of the most fabulous Hindu symbols. The Nepalese have been using this Satakoan as an auspicious emblem from time nernorial. In view of its deep cultural impact on the paiese minds, it can be taken as the king of symbols.
The Satakoan is composed of two sets of overlapping ngles. One symbolizes Shiva and another Shakti. Shiva ads for Eternal Being (very passive by nature) whereas ilkti stands for the most active female force. Thus. these ) sets of triangles set one upon another are symbolically ant to show the great union of Shiva and Shakti which. fact is the ultimate source of the entire cosmic energy. is reminds me of the philosophy known as Adwaitvada I the ultimate goal of which is to discover divine unity in amity This symbol appears to stand for divine unity. m tantric Hinduism accepts and admires it as the most graficent symbol of concentration on divine knowledge. balk; it is because of this accepted view that this symbol ; been attributed such a tremendous religious Acance. This popular symbol can be seen most widely lesented in a variety of Nepalese works of art. The akaan in the temple windows and bell posts, in the rtional mandala paints and wood carvings, is quite a amon sight in Nepal. One of the most gorgeous windows a very attractive Satakoan pattern in its centre can be Ix in the beautiful temple residence of Devi Annapurna na. situated at Bhotahiti Tole in Kathmandu.
The Satakoan really seems to have occupied a very iftcant place in our religious arts. However, we use this bpi for different purposes in different ways. All this ends upon the nature of the worship. For instance, the aping of the Satakoan is compulsory when the ritual ship of Kumari (vestal virgin) takes place at Nepalese
homes. This figure is considered as the most favourite seat of Kumari. This symbol is also seen to have been used as a sacred symbol of tantric deities particularly the female ones. That is. when a symbol is elaborately worshipped. an idol is invariably ignored in most cases. This is one of the typical characteristics of the symbol worship. The symbol worship has been highly ritualized in our country. For example. when a tantric Hindu priest fixes an altar for a sacrificial puja of a certain deity, he will never forget to draw a Satakoan figure on the ground before doing anything else. This reminds me of a very interesting story of a tantric ritual bowl.
It is made of beautiful brass the top of which looks like a six-petalled lotus (the basic design in it is the same as that of Satakoan but a bit stylised with a small depression in the centre). This ritual bowl, locally known as Baukunda or Valikunda. is generally used by the Tantric Hindu priests as a holy ceremonial bowl in which they are believed to invoke the deity they desire and get a hold on him by means of their unique mystic power. This is almost a common practice at the important temples like, Taleju. Digutaleju and religious international homes (Agam Grihas) during the Bada Dasain which falls every year in October. After the priests are through with the tantr.ic rites in the temple. and private homes, they handover the ceremonial bowl to a man selected for the purpose and ask him to go out in the street with that bowl consecreted with the mantra and display it to the public. Then the man, shaking violently, moves ahead on the main thoroughfares of the town. People come to tease him and he grows wild and runs to get on them. This adds a new attraction to the feature of Dasain festival. This is a very old custom still in vogue.
The Satakoan, or say the six-pointed star to make it simple which the majority of the tourists often mistake for the star David. is, in fact, a great cultural invention of the Tantric Hinduism. The six points of the Satakoan are said to mbolize the six senses of knowledge. One of them which is I common to all stands for extra sensory perception. wording to some Hindu priests, the Satakoan also 'resents the five basic elements viz., earth, fire, water, wind ether and. the great eternal being who is the supreme gulator of the entire universal order. But the Buddhist story out the Satakoan is somewhat a bit different. According to very old Buddhist priest. the Satakoan symbolizes the six eections of the highest form of wisdom (Pragya). However, e Mahayanists also accept it as a great symbol of Pragya Upaya united. According to them Pragya and Upaya are separable from each other. Pragya is Bodhi knowledge or ightenment and Upaya is the most activating force or male principal power. Thus, the main theme underlying this Uddhist conception of Satakoan also appears to be quite trular to that of Shiva Shakti principle.
Now let me try to explain a bit about the significance of e Satakoan as an auspicious symbol of Saraswati. the oddess of creative arts and wisdom. Even the big sfitutions and high offices like His Majesty's Principal mretariat, Royal Nepal Academy. Tribhuvan University id several other schools and associations have used this sautiful symbol for their official seal or identification nblem. However, it must be remembered that all the akoans do not necessarily look like the same as they are !supposed to bear their individual characteristics without ntorting the basic structure of Satakoan.
To sum up, this ancient symbol appears to be the central re of the highly sophisticated symbolism of Nepalese religious culture.
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