DATE- 20TH JANUARY 2020
FACULTY – MS. MALVIKA
THE SWASTIKA
IMPORTANCE OF SWASTIKA SYMBOL IN DIFFERENT CULTURE
The swastika symbol is a geometrical figure and an ancient religious icon in the culture of EURASIA . It is used as a symbol of auspiciousness and good luck until the 1930s when it became a feature of Nazi symbolism as an emblem of the so-called Aryan race . As a result of world war 2 and the holocaust , most people in Europe and america associate it with Nazism and antisemitism. Swastika in Sanskrit means conductive of well being . In Hinduism swastika means prosperity and good luck , and in Buddhism it symbolizes auspicious footprints of Buddha.
Swastika is an icon which is found both in human history and modern world , it is found in archaeological remains of Indus valley civilization and Mesopotamia as well as in Byzantine and christian artwork. Later on it was found adopted by the Nazi party and Nazi Germany before world war 2 .It became a symbol of antisemitism and terror . It was widely used in ancient Greece and Rome , remains of it could be found in the Troy , a city that existed 4000 years ago. The symbol has been found in many artifacts of the ancient druids and celts .
SAMARA BOWL
The bowl was excavated as Samarra by Ernst Herzfeld in the 1911-1914 campaign, and described in a 1930 publication. The design consists of a rim, a circle of eight fish, and four fish swimming towards the center being caught by four birds. As is typical of cultures from this region, the use of a base six numerical system can be seen in the lines surrounding the bowl, so that there are a total of 120 lines, or four quarters with 30 lines each. At the center is a swastika symbol.
The bowl was broken, part of the rim is missing, and one crack ran right across the central symbol, so that the swastika symbol should be considered a reconstruction.
THE NAVAJOS BLANKET
The swastika symbol was widely used by the native american tribes , the Navajos to them it was associated with the whirling log an image which was considered sacred and used in healing rituals . The logs are used in sand paintings during a healing ritual . The sand painting is a temporary piece of art which has to be destroyed after the healing , these painting were also used in jewelry , blankets , rugs etc. This is based on a man who takes a journey through SAN JUAN river in canoe and notices the San Juan river meeting the Colorado river . There he learns about the logs and thats how he takes this to the his people .
CELTIC BRONZE SWASTIKA WITH HORSE HEADS BROOCH
This comes under the iron age Celtic art, the swastika appears either alone or in artistic composition on a large number of artifacts . One of things that was discovered in that period was Celtic bronze swastika – horse heads brooch which was used as bend cross and which was equated for well being . There was development in the LA TENE period , where an artistic development was noticed in the use of swastika , it was highly stylized and fused into artistic competition .
NAZI
This symbol was used during the Nazi party in Germany , it became the national symbol . In 1920 Adolf Hitler who ruled the Nazi party adopted the swastika as a central element in the flag as well as the banners . The symbol basically pointed towards military, brutality , fascism . This symbol was used to represent racial purification in Europe . Hitler and his Nazi party believed that the line of pure Germanic ancestry originating in Aryan race which was more superior and less superior should be removed from Europe , so after world war 2 this symbol has comes across the symbol for hatred and racial bias.
Also apart from the negative side this symbol is also used as good luck and well being , it is used in different types of coins , objects , pottery etc . This symbol is still widely used in Buddhism and Jainism , people still continue to use in other countries of the west which have now disappeared after it is hated by the Nazis .
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