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Five thousand years of an auspicious mark, from Indus Valley seals to the temple walls of Nara.

The word The four gatis The seal Mohenjo-daro The meander 1940 Everything, in one list

Section 1 of 6

The word

Su, asti, ka — and where it is drawn.

A Sanskrit text page in Devanagari script open under a reading lamp — The Sanskrit names the mark by what it is for rather than by what it shows. These four pages follow the word into the places it is actually used: a swept threshold, a shop ledger, an invitation, a pot at a doorway.

The word: su + asti + kaThe Sanskrit reads roughly as conducive to wellbeing — a description of what the mark is for rather than a story about what it depicts.
Thresholds, rangoli and kolamDrawn fresh each morning in rice flour at the entrance to a house, swept away and drawn again — a practice rather than an ornament.
The ledger opened at DiwaliA new account book is marked before the first entry of the financial year, which makes the mark a business custom as much as a devotional one.
Wedding cards and the kalashIt appears on invitations and on the pot set at the doorway, in contexts that are domestic rather than temple.

Five thousand years of an auspicious mark, from Indus Valley seals to the temple walls of Nara.

The word The four gatis The seal Mohenjo-daro The meander 1940 Everything, in one list About Contact

Su, asti, ka — conducive to wellbeing.