Yantra

Tib., srung-'khor
instrument, aid

Shown here is a form of the Kali Yantra, a diagram embodying the energy of the goddess Kali.

A symbolic diagram depicting, focusing and containing a certain field of energy. Traditionally, a yantra should be painted as a form of worship, and the worshipped deity - the energy it represents - is then imagined to reside within the diagram. Yantras are also used as aids for inner visualizations, providing a model or map for the images to be evoked on one's inner, mental "screen".

Creating a yantra is a serious, ritual task bound to a variety of regulations. The Tantraraja Tantra, for example, mentions that a yantra should be painted, drawn or engraved only on pieces of gold, silver, copper, cloth or birch-leaves. As painting material the text recommends sandal-paste, camphor, musk, saffron and many more materials.

Elsewhere it is said, about the famous and beautiful Shri Yantra, that one should never paint it during the dark hours of the day (i.e. at night), lest its energies become somehow corrupted.

In Tibet, yantra also signifies a protection amulet (talisman) worn around one's neck. It often contains mantras and/or images of deities and buddhas.