Antique Brass Oil Lamps (Diya)

Vishnu Symbol- Forehead mark
In the center of Vishnu diya, you will find The Mark of Vishnu represented by three lines, the outer two lines curved and joined at the bottom and the middle line straight.Vishnu followers will wear this mark on their foreheads.This symbol or mark is called Sricharanam(Sri-auspicious, Charanam-feet).Members of the Sri Vaishnava tradition form a tilak with two lines representing the feet of Narayana with a red line in the middle which represents Lakshmidevi.A small line under the Sricharanam represents that the wearer belongs to the Thenkalai subsect of Vaishnavism.

Surya symbol
Surya is the god of light and fire. There is no life without light of the sun. In the trinity, the role of Vishnu is described as life sustainer and preserver of the universe .It is believed that the Sun god is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. In the form of Surya, Lord Vishnu is usually worshipped on the festival of Ratha Saptami that falls on the seventh day (saptami) of the bright half of Hindu month of Magha. A Surya symbol is also carved on the brass oil lamp to indicate that this lamp also gives the light the way Surya gives. This light dispels darkness ignorance and illuminates the area (enlightenment)

Antique Oil Diya showing Surya symbol from YK’s Collection

The Moon symbol
You will find the moon symbol to the right side of Tilak mark. The equivalent word for moon in Sanskrit language is Chandra. The meaning of Chandra in Sanskrit is “bright and shining”. In Hindu mythology, the moon god is known as Chandra. When the gods and demons churned the Ocean of Milk (Chandra was born in this ocean) for Amrita (nectar), the gods were nearly blinded with his lustrous body. Hence the gods sent him into the cosmos to provide light to the creation with his glowing body. Goddess Lakshmi was also born from the same ocean of milk and hence Chandra is considered as her brother. Lakshmi is married to Vishnu .Thus Chandra becomes the brother -in-law of Vishnu. Vishnu in his avatar as Rama takes the name of Rama Chandra signifying his relationship with moon god. This is the reason for moon to appear in the Vishnu diya.

Brass Oil Lamp showing the Moon symbol from YK’s Collection

The fire symbol
The flames of fire surrounding the back side of the antique oil diya depict Vishnu as the embodiment of the ever burning, shining and gleaming cosmic fire. He fills the whole universe. He is surrounded by the glowing and flickering groups of galaxies. The entire aspect is to be visualized as dynamism, radiance and glow of the cosmic fire around Lord Vishnu and the same thing is depicted on the outer ring of the brass oil lamp. In his Vishwaroopam, Vishnu is depicted showing the entire universe within him.

A lighted Vishnu Diya showing the Fire symbol from YK’s Collection

Parrot figures
The Vishnu diya has 4 figures of the bird parrot. Two parrots joining the base with the back panel and two parrots joining the flames with Garuda figure. The reason for giving such a prominence to parrot is that it is the vehicle of Kamadeva, who is the son of Lakshmi and Vishnu. Kamadeva is also known as Manmadha,Ananga, Madana and Kāma.Thus, parrot or suka (in Sanskrit) has very strong romantic connotations. The beak of the parrot is red indicating desire and passion and its wings and body in green color indicating satisfied desire and full of joy. The red beak and green body are also related to fertility and prosperity. The red indicating the earth before the rains and green indicating the green earth after the rains. Thus the symbol of parrot is very closely associated with Vishnu and Vaishnavism.