The ''chhatra'' (from sa, छत्र, meaning "umbrella") "jewelled/precious parasol" is an auspicious symbol in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

The ''chhatra'' in various traditions

According to Hindu mythology, it is the emblem of

Varuna Varuna (; sa, वरुण, , Malay: ''Baruna'') is a Vedic deity associated initially with the sky, later also with the seas as well as Ṛta (justice) and Satya (truth). He is found in the oldest layer of Vedic literature of Hinduism, such ...

, also considered an embodiment of

kingship King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. ''Chhatra'' is also a deity,

yidam ''Yidam'' is a type of deity associated with tantric or Vajrayana Buddhism said to be manifestations of Buddhahood or enlightened mind. During personal meditation (''sādhana'') practice, the yogi identifies their own form, attributes and mi ...

and ishta-devata. In various Dharmic traditions it is an accoutrement of ''

chakravartin A ''chakravarti'' ( sa, चक्रवर्तिन्, ''cakravartin''; pi, cakkavatti; zh, 轉輪王, ''Zhuǎnlúnwáng'', "Wheel-Turning King"; , ''Zhuǎnlún Shèngwáng'', "Wheel-Turning Sacred King"; ja, 転輪王, ''Tenrin'ō'' ...

''. A number of deities are depicted with ''chhatra'', and they include

Revanta Revanta or Raivata (Sanskrit: रेवन्त, lit. "brilliant") is a minor Hindu deity. According to the ''Rig-Veda'', Revanta is the youngest son of the sun-god Surya, and his wife Saranyu. Revanta is chief of the Guhyakas, semi-divine and d ...

, Surya, and

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

(in his

Vamana Vamana (), also known as Trivikrama (), Urukrama (), Upendra (), Dadhivamana (), and Balibandhana () is an avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. He is the fifth avatar of Vishnu, and the first Dashavatara in the Treta Yuga, after Narasimha. Or ...

avatar). The ''chhatra'' is cordoned amongst the symbols that approach universality within the numerous octavalent suites or sets of Ashtamangala, e.g., in the

Digambar ''Digambara'' (; "sky-clad") is one of the two major schools of Jainism, the other being '' Śvētāmbara'' (white-clad). The Sanskrit word ''Digambara'' means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic practice of neither possessing ...

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

tradition, and the

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

tradition. In Dharmic tradition iconography,

traditional Tibetan medicine Traditional Tibetan medicine (), also known as Sowa-Rigpa medicine, is a centuries-old traditional medical system that employs a complex approach to diagnosis, incorporating techniques such as pulse analysis and urinalysis, and utilizes behavior ...

thangka A ''thangka'', variously spelled as ''thangka'', ''tangka'', ''thanka'', or ''tanka'' (; Tibetan: ཐང་ཀ་; Nepal Bhasa: पौभा), is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, ...

s and Ayurvedic diagrams, the ''chhatra'' is uniformly represented as the

Sahasrara Sahasrara ( sa, सहस्रार, IAST: , en, "thousand-petalled", with many alternative names and spellings) or the crown chakra is considered the seventh primary chakra in some yoga traditions. Hatha yoga The Sahasrara is described ...

. In Vajrayana Buddhism, the umbrella or parasol is included in the 'Eight Auspicious Signs' or Ashtamangala. The ''chhatra'' shares a similar symbolic value to the

baldachin A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over hi ...

, refer image of

Vishvakarman Vishvakarma or Vishvakarman ( sa, विश्वकर्मा, Viśvakarmā, all maker) is a craftsman deity and the divine architect of the devas in contemporary Hinduism. In the early texts, the craftsman deity was known as Tvastar and the ...

. In Burmese culture, the ''

hti HTI may refer to: * Hti, the finial ornament placed on pagodas and temples in Myanmar * HTI+, a former technician certification from CompTIA * Great Barrier Reef Airport, on Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia * Haiti, a country in the Caribbe ...

'' is considered regalia, and also crowns

Burmese pagoda Burmese pagodas are stupas that typically house Buddhist relics, including relics associated with Buddha. Pagodas feature prominently in Myanmar's landscape, earning the country the moniker "land of pagodas." According to 2016 statistics compil ...

s. The

Royal Nine-Tiered Umbrella The Royal Nine-Tiered Umbrella (: ''Nopphapadon Mahasawettachat'', officially called the Nine-Tiered Great White Umbrella of State) is considered the most sacred and ancient of the royal regalia of Thailand. A royal umbrella (also called a ''chat ...

is one part of the royal regalia of Thailand, and appears in connection with this role in the logo of Royal Umbrella rice.

Gallery

File:Vasudeva Krishna on a coin of Agathocles of Bactria circa 180 BCE.jpg, A ''chatra'' crowning Vāsudeva-Krishna on a coin of

Agathocles of Bactria Agathocles I Dicaeus ( grc, Ἀγαθοκλῆς Δικαῖος, Agathoklēs Dikaios, the epithet means "the just") was a Greco-Bactrian/ Indo-Greek king, who reigned between around 190 and 180 BC, likely of the dynasty of Diodotus I, due to his ...

, circa 180 BCE.

Osmund Bopearachchi Osmund Bopearachchi (born 1949) is a Sri Lankan historian and numismatist who has specialized notably standardized the coinage of the Indo-Greek and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms. He is currently Emeritus Director of the CNRS at the École Normale Sup ...

Emergence of Viṣṇu and Śiva Images in India: Numismatic and Sculptural Evidence
2016. File:Buddha, Mathura IIe s. Musée Guimet.jpg, Statue of a

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

crowned by a ''chatra'',

Mathura art The Art of Mathura refers to a particular school of Indian art, almost entirely surviving in the form of sculpture, starting in the 2nd century BCE, which centered on the city of Mathura, in central northern India, during a period in which Bud ...

File:Umbrella with Eight Auspicious Motifs - Circa 1st-2nd Century CE - Gita Enclave - ACCN 75-32 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5698.JPG, Umbrella with Eight Auspicious Motifs, circa 1st-2nd Century CE.

Mathura Museum __NOTOC__ Government Museum, Mathura, commonly referred to as Mathura museum, is an archaeological museum in Mathura city of Uttar Pradesh state in India. The museum was founded by then collector of the Mathura district, Sir F. S. Growse in 1 ...

vishwakarmaji.png,

, Divine Architect of

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...

in a modern Hindu representation: note ''chhatra'' File:Chandragupt maurya Birla mandir 6 dec 2009 (31).JPG, A modern statue of Chandragupta Maurya under a ''chatra'' File:Head of Shwedagon Pagoda.JPG, A closeup of

Shwedagon Pagoda The Shwedagon Pagoda (, ); mnw, ကျာ်ဒဂုၚ်; officially named ''Shwedagon Zedi Daw'' ( my, ရွှေတိဂုံစေတီတော်, , ) and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda is a gilded stupa ...

's ''

'' Gran Palacio, Bangkok, Tailandia, 2013-08-22, DD 57.jpg, The

(''Nobapadol Mahasvetachatra'') attached to a throne inside a hall in the Grand Palace,

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

. Only a crowned king can use an umbrella with nine-tiers, until then he must make do with only seven. Prajadhipok's coronation records - 001.jpg, King Prajadhipok of Thailand signs a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

within the Ananta Samakhom Hall. A large white ''chatra'' is seen nearby his throne. พระราชพิธี เจ้าฟ้าเพชร 1.jpg, A ''Saptapadol Mahasvetachatra'' (seven-tiered-white-umbrella) hangs over the

urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

of Princess

Bejaratana Rajasuda Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda ( th, เพชรรัตนราชสุดา; ; , 24 November 1925 – 27 July 2011) was the only child of the King Vajiravudh of Thailand. She was a first cousin of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and third cousin of ...

of Thailand whilst the urn is being moved up to the Great Chariot of Victory, the seven-tiered umbrella denotes her rank as a royal princess. File:Nobapadol Maha Svetachatra above King Bhumibol Adulyadej's funeral pyre.jpg, ''Nobapadol Mahasvetachatra'' (nine-tiered-white-umbrella) over the funeral pyre of King

Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...

. Chhatra.jpg, ''Chatra'' kept in office of

Tijara Jain temple Tijara Jain Temple is a digambar Jain temple dedicated to Chandraprabha. The temple is located in the hill town Tijara, in the Alwar district of Rajasthan, India. It is an ''Atishaya Kshetra'' (English: Place where Miracles happen). It is from ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

Image:Parasol.svg, A ''chatra'' symbol

Notes

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend The ''Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend'' (2002) is a book written by Anna L. Dallapiccola, and contains information on over one thousand concepts, characters, and places of Hindu mythology and Hinduism, one of the major religions of the Indian ...

() by Anna Dallapiccola
General Buddhist Symbols

External links

* Buddhist ritual implements Buddhist symbols Ritual weapons Hindu symbols Indian iconography Jain symbols {{hinduism-stub