(In Pics) Five Sacred Pots of Hindu Mythology

Hinduism is the largest religion on the Asian subcontinent, a part of the lives of nearly a quarter of all Asians. It is a religion of beauty and color, filled with vivid characters and stories told and recorded sine time immemorial.

It is also a religion of symbols and of relics. Thankfully Hindu doesn’t go for the same bodypart fetish that some other religions have (but see item three), but many of the Hindu sacred objects may be unfamiliar to westerners.

Take for example the humble pot. Here are five such vessels which have a sacred role to play in Hindu mythology.

1. Kalasha: The Vase of Longevity

*Pictured above is a highly ornate example of a Kalasha. These pots, designed to be “large enough to hold a* *coconut” and indeed often filled with one, are considered a symbol of abundance and wisdom when arranged in this way. The pot itself is held to contain “amrita”, the* *elixir of life* *itself (Art Institute of Chicago /* *Public Domain*)

2. Kamandalu, drinking Vessel of the Ascetics

At the other end of the chain we get the Kamandalu. Originally made of a dry gourd or coconut shell but now more commonly made of metal, this pot is carried by Hindu ascetics filled with water as a symbol of their simple life free from material possessions. The fluted, pot-bellied vessel is also said to contain “amrita” in the form of life-giving water, and it appears in many stories across *Hindu traditions* *(Naresh Dhiman /* *CC BY 2.0*)

3. Kapala: the Skull Cup

*Look, this one has a skeleton carved on it, just in case you didn’t get that it is literally made from the* *skull* *of a human. The Kapala appears to come from Tibetan traditions and is incorporated into Hindu esoteric rituals and ceremonies where it is said to assist in achieving a* *transcendental state. It is associated with several Hindu deities and also the Kapalikas, an extinct sect who worshipped the god Shiva (Mountain /* *CC BY-SA 3.0*)

4. Kumbha, the Clay of the Womb

*The above picture is of a depiction of the goddess Ganga carrying a Kumbha pot. This simple, turned vessel with its distinctive pottery is a symbol of* *fertility*, life and birth. This is a literal description in Hindu traditions, where there are several stories of humans being born from Kumbha. The legendary Hindu sage and scholar Agastya was said to have been born from such a pot (Fowler & Fowler / *Public Domain*)

5. Akshaya Patra, the Pot that would Never Empty

Unlike the previous pots on this list, Akshaya Patra is just a single vessel. Given by Krishna to the beautiful Draupadi in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, it was said to always contain more food to ensure those who held it would never go *hungry. As to what became of the pot after the epic tale’s conclusion, that is unknown (BP Banerjee /* *Public Domain*)

Top Image: A Kapala skull cup, one of the sacred pots of Hindu mythology. Source: Suyash.dwivedi / CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Joseph Green

Joseph Green is editor for Historic Mysteries, which combines his background in English Literature with a lifelong fascination for the strange and the unexplained. Read More