Naga of Ancient Indian Philosophy and Naga Babas

Is there a relation between Naga Babas - known mainly for initiating the Kumbh Mela every three years, and the ancient system of Indian belief that revered Nagas. (The above images are from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Naga_baba.jpg and http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/19/Naga182.JPG)?

I would say yes, based only on one fact - Kumbh Mela is started by a march of the Naga Babas to the water. And, in traditional belief, Naga represented not just snakes, but also water. (More at http://isai-os.blogspot.com/2009/07/more-on-early-religion-of-india-nagas.html)

What I have not been able to figure out, is if this has anything to do with Nagaland, a state in India. Nagaland is now a mainly Christian state. However, there are references to the region being a traditional Naga culture, e.g. in Gita Mehta's book - River Sutra.

A dose of reality (or fantasy)

An article in the Financial Times of July 16, 2009 paraphrases Ramachandra Guha, giving reasons why India will not and should become a superpower. Here is a summary list from the article:

1. Rise of political extremism (primarily naxalites)
   
2. Corrupt government with a Gandhi family firm at its center
3. Weakened public institutions
4. Supine media
5. Rising inequalities between rich and poor
6. Unstable neighborhood
7. Discontented states (Kashmir, Nagaland, Manipur)
8. Environmental degradation (Massive depletion of underground aquifers, chemical depletion of soil, death of rivers and loss of species)

The writer of the article, James Lamont, closes it aptly with "Today, much of India is watching the skies rather than reachng for them."

Whether or not you believe these, they are good public discussion points.

Stern Grove concert to feature Indian performers

"Every summer, Stern Grove Festival brings world-class performing arts to you, admission-free, in one of the country's most beautiful and unique natural settings.

Year after year, summer after summer ..."
- http://www.sterngrove.org/2009season.html

Today we were at Stern Grove to listen to Joan Baez. It was, by all accounts, a superb performance. More important that the performance itself, it brought back memories - memories of old social issues, and memories of when words in songs mattered.

In this summer-long series, two Indian groups will be performing later in the season - on Sunday, August 2 (Kailash Kher's Kailasa, and Delhi 2 Dublin).

I know of Kailash Kher's - he sang Chak De Phattay in the movie Khosla Ka Ghonsla. Until today I had not heard of Delhi 2 Dublin. I checked them out on YouTube - they both sound awesome.

More important than how good the groups are, however, is the fact that Indian music is being played to "mainstream" audience. Today's attendance was mostly middle-aged people - not the kind that usually experiment with music. Commendations to the organizers for believing that Indian Music would go well this group.

This is not the first time Indian musicians have played there. Previous perfomers include Anoushka Shankar, and "Non-stop Bhangra Collective." And, in the distant past, Ali Akbar Khan, Swapan Chaudhary and Chitresh Das.

Are more things Indian going mainstream? At least in San Francisco.

More on Early Religion of India - Nagas and Yakshs

Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism borrowed extensively from the religion that existed in the land before them. There is evidence of this on all three kinds of temples.

It is believed that before 5th century BCE, the common element of worship was fire. In addition, there were other human type forms - Yakshas / Yakshis and Nagas.

Kalidas's Meghdoot is a Yaksh's story. Yakshas and Yakshis are associated with nature and fertility. Often they are shown one with trees. The image is obtained from http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/india_yakshi.jpg. More on Yakshas and Yakshis from Wikipedia.

Nagas - snakes - are associated with water. Hinduism has nagas in many form - Coiled around Shiva, The serpent on which Vishu is often shown in a reclining pose, and Shesh Nag, on whose head the world stands. Interestingly, why is Shesh Nag so called - the literal meaning of shesh is "remaining." More on Nagas from Wikipedia. Most of these images of Nagas are associated with water - Jain Tirthankar Parshvanath is shown on water; a Naga protects Buddha from rain; Shesh Nag was used for Sagar Manthan.

So, the origins of Hinduism are from a system of beliefs venerating - water, nature and fire.

Aniconic and Iconic images in Indian Religion

In India, while there are millions of deities, with well-defined forms, there are also aniconic images that are worshiped regularly.

Examples of aniconic images include:

1. Local devtas, typically called devis, bhairavs, peers etc. You see them by the side of the road, with a silver-colored foil and kumkum on them.
2. Saligram (typically found on the bed of Gandaki river in Nepal) - represent Vishnu
   
3. Stones from Vraj - represent Krishna
   
4. Stones from Narmada - Bana Linga - representing Shiva
5. Crafted shivlings
   
6. Fire

(2, 3, and 4 above are considered to have divinity in them, and can be put in a temple, and their pooja started even without consecrating them.)