Misplaced Pages

Kuberakolam

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Household symbolism in Hinduism
Part of a series on
Hinduism
OriginsHistorical

Traditional

Sampradaya (Traditions)
Major Sampradaya (Traditions)
Other Sampradaya (Traditions)
Deities
Absolute Reality / Unifying Force
Trimurti
Tridevi
Other major Devas / Devis
Vedic Deities:
Post-Vedic:
Devatas
Concepts
Worldview
Ontology
Supreme reality
God
Puruṣārtha (Meaning of life)
Āśrama (Stages of life)
Three paths to liberation
Liberation
Mokṣa-related topics:
Mind
Ethics
Epistemology
Practices
Worship, sacrifice, and charity
Meditation
Yoga
Arts
Rites of passage
Festivals
Philosophical schools
Six Astika schools
Other schools
Gurus, Rishi, Philosophers
Ancient
Medieval
Modern
Texts
Sources and classification of scripture
Scriptures
Vedas
Divisions
Upanishads
Rigveda:
Yajurveda:
Samaveda:
Atharvaveda:
Vedangas
Other scriptures
Itihasas
Puranas
Upavedas
Shastras, sutras, and samhitas
Stotras, stutis and Bhashya
Tamil literature
Other texts
Hindu Culture & Society
Society
Hindu Art
Hindu Architecture
Hindu Music
Food & Diet Customs
Time Keeping Practices
Hindu Pilgrimage
Other society-related topics:
Other topics
Hinduism by country
Hinduism & Other Religions
Other Related Links (Templates)

Image of a kuberakolam

A kuberakolam, rendered kubera kolam, is a magic square of order three constructed using rice flour and drawn on the floors of several houses in South India. In Hindu mythology, Kubera is a god of riches and wealth. It is believed that if one worships the Kuberakolam as ordained in the scriptures, one would be rewarded with wealth and prosperity.

A kolam is a drawing composed of lines and loops, drawn around a grid pattern of dots. In many places in South India, this form of art is drawn using rice powder/chalk/chalk powder and coloured powders.

Construction

The Kubera kolam magic square is formed by the numbers 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 in the arrangement depicted below:

  27     20     25  
  22     24     26  
  23     28     21  

In this magic square, the numbers in each row, and in each column, and the numbers in the forward and backward main diagonals, all add up to the same number, namely, 72. To construct the Kubera kolam, the lines are drawn first. The numbers are then written in the following order: 24, 28, 23, 22, 27, 20, 25, 26, 21 in that order. A coin and a flower are usually placed in each cell.

In literature

The Lost Symbol, a 2009 novel written by American writer Dan Brown, contains a brief reference to Kubera kolam.

In science

Attempts have been made to use the Kubera kolam to introduce randomization in image steganography.

References

  1. Ramesh N. "Chant "Lord Kuber" Mantra for uniform cash flow". Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  2. Dan Brown (2009). The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon Book 3). Random House. p. 263. ISBN 9781409091486.
  3. Alex Carmine (2009). Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol: The Ultimate Unauthorized and Independent Reading Guide. Punked Books. p. 87.
Worship in Hinduism
Main topics
Rituals
Puja
Homa
Other
Mantras
Objects
Materials
Instruments
Iconography
Places
Roles
Sacred animals
Sacred plants
Trees
Fruits and other plants
See also
Category: