[Advaita-l] Multiple coloured mandala-s in vedic karma-s

[Venkata sriram P]

Namaste,

The concept of "maNDala" is used in smArta yajnAs and is not a srauta paddhati.

The word "maNDala" originates from 

"mangaLatvAt cha DAkinyA yOginIgaNasamshrayAt 
lalitatvAt cha dEvEshI maNDalaM parikIrtitaM

Going by the above vyutpatti, the maNDala is the auspicious diagrammatical 
representation of dEvata where the entire parivAra dEvata, aSTa-digpAlaka, 
vAhana, patAka, dhwaja, yOgini gaNAs are invoked in that.

Generally, this maNDala is constructed at the northern side of alter 
(yajna vEdika) as the shArada tilaka tantra suggests:

maNDapasya uttarE bhAgE shAlAM pUrva parAyatAM
gUDAM kuryAt tatastasyAM maNDalaM rachayEt sudhIH

Now, during the maNDala nirmANa, various colour are used and AFAIK, only natural colours
should be used that are extracted from natural resources.

For sarvatObhadra maNDala, the following colours are used:

Yellow = should be the powder of turmeric root
Red = The powdered turmeric root, when mixed with lime, turns red
White = Rice Floor
Black = The ash of the burnt paddy husk should be used
Green = The bilva patra should be dried and used for green colour

And the maNDala nirmANa should be done with taNDulaM.

There are various methods of maNDala nirmANa like sarvatObhadra, lingatObhadra, rAmalingatObhadra,
bhadra, swastikabhadra etc.  

The basic concept behind this "bhadra-maNDala" is to seek auspiciousness as the name "bhadra" suggests.  The bhadra gives "bhadratva" and maNDala gives "mangaLatva".

Putting cherry fruits in the sarpa maNDala is a-shAstriya.

regs,
sriram