The British Museum showcased a rare exposition titled, Tantra: enlightenment to revolution from 24 September 2020 to 24 January 2021. This landmark exhibition explored the radical force that transformed the religious, cultural and political landscape of India and beyond.
When the exposition was being mounted the Curator forwarded a note to me : A philosophy originating in medieval India, Tantra has been linked to successive waves of revolutionary thought, from its sixth-century transformation of Hinduism and Buddhism, to the Indian fight for independence and the rise of 1960s counterculture. Centering on the power of divine feminine energy, Tantra inspired the dramatic rise of goddess worship in medieval India and continues to influence contemporary feminist thought and artistic practice. From its inception to the present day, Tantra has challenged societal conventions around the world.
The exhibition showcased extraordinary objects, from the seventh century AD to the present, and included masterpieces of sculpture, painting, prints and ritual objects.
Among the Ritual Objects were several sets of কোশা-কুশী:Kosha- Kushi and they send me a message to provide them with elaborate details. The connection is through my late father, Nirmal Chandra Kumar, the antiquarian who was a Member of the Advisory Board.
Kosha-Kushi is an important ritual item used in the Hindu Pujo or worship. It is a Tantric ritual object related to the Divine Mother and represents the yoni and womb of the Goddess and the Lingam of the Lord.
কোশা-কুশী:Kosha-Kushi represents the body vessel which holds the deity as elixir/water personified primarily the Debi. The ladle like is Kushi representing the Lingam of Lord Siva to be inserted within the Sakti yoni. They come in different shapes which is based on the initiation and adhikara of the person to use them and the type of deity. In our daily Pujo and that of the Sarbojonin the priests will not dare to graduate from the third one.
The Smartas, a member of a large Hindu sect of Brahmans founded in the eighth century, guided chiefly by the traditions of the smriti, holding the doctrine of Advaita, worshiping all the principal deities equally of Bengal who are essentially semi Tantric as in nature will use Matsya Kosha, thelast one to draw sacred water for rituals.
The Ananda Kosha with the pointed head, seen here in the middle, is used for all Debatas who are to be worshipped in pure Tantrica path. Tantra, Sanskrit: तन्त्र, literally means loom, warp, weave. The Sanskrit root tan means the warping of threads on a loom.It implies "interweaving of traditions and teachings as threads" into a text, technique or practice. The word appears in the hymns of the Rigveda such as in 10.71, with the meaning of "warp (weaving)". It is found in many other Vedic era texts, such as in section 10.7.42 of the Atharvaveda and many Brahmanas. In the post-Vedic texts, the contextual meaning of Tantra is that which is "principal or essential part, main point, model, framework, feature". In the Smritis and epics of Hinduism and Jainism, the term means "doctrine, rule, theory, method, technique or chapter" and the word appears both as a separate word and as a common suffix, such as atma-tantra meaning "doctrine or theory of Atman (Self)".
The first, closed sharp patra with clitoris in the centre is Yoni Kosha to be used specifically for the Goddess Herself by higher initiates like the Sadak. Used by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Sadak Bamakhepa . A sādhaka or sādhak or sādhaj, Sanskrit: साधक, in Indian religions and traditions, such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism is someone who follows a particular sādhanā, or a way of life designed to realize the goal of one's ultimate ideal, whether it is merging with one's eternal source, brahman, or realization . The ritual implements in themselves carry great power and significance as it symbolises your will which should remain unshaken unperturbed during the whole worship. The open end of the patra is for samarpana of the remaining sanctified water to the deity signifying completion of the ritual process.
The only near about cross reference to কোশা-কুশী in other culture is to the Chinese Yin and Yang. Yin 陰 or 阴 ; Noun: Female. Yang 陽 or 阳 ; Bound morpheme: Male. The compound yinyang 陰陽 means, yin and yang : Unison.