Trishula is a spear or trident, a divine symbol used as one of the primary symbols in Hinduism. This symbol is associated with Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. Shiva’s trishula is the three-pointed spear or trident that he carries. In India and Thailand, the term “trishula” is also used to refer to a short-handled…
Looking for Hindu symbols and their meanings? Hinduism is the third largest religion with over 1 billion followers. Roughly over 95% of Hindu practioners live in India, but significant numbers of Hindus can also be found in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bali. It is also considered the world’s oldest and organized religion with traditions that…
Looking for Christian symbols and their meanings? Christianity is the world’s largest religion with over 2.4 billion followers from all over the world. It follows and revolves around the life of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Son of God. The religion was founded in the 1st century in the Roman province of Judea. As the…
Looking for Buddhist symbols and their meanings? Read on to find out what these symbols mean. Buddhism is a religion originated from India based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha. It originated from Sramana tradition between 4th and 6th centuries BCE. Buddhism is the 4th largest religion with over 500 million followers, mostly coming from…
The Star of David is also called the Shield of David, or Magen David in Hebrew. It is a recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism but it is also used as a Christian symbol. This hexagram shape has been called the Star of David since the 17th century. According to some researchers, the hexagram…
Padma is the Hindu name for the iconic lotus flower, which is a very important symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as Jainism and Sikhism. It generally represents the awakening of the spiritual consciousness—enlightenment and the connection to the divine. If you want to learn more about the Padma symbol, read on to find…
For Christians, the cross is the ultimate symbol of Christianity. During baptism, the priest makes the sign of the cross over the child because of the Christian belief that the said sign invokes God’s protection. The sign of the cross is paired with the oil at baptism, which is symbolic of bringing together the person…
The lamb is a harmless little animal that has become one of the most popularly used symbols in Christianity. It is present all throughout salvation history. A lamb is defenseless against any threat. It will likely pass on if you take it away from the flock. But there is a lot more to the lamb…
The bhavacakra is an intricate symbolic representation of samsara—the continuous cycle of birth, life, and death—in the form of a circle. It is the wheel that is commonly featured on the entrance wall of Buddhist temples and monasteries. The symbol has been around since the time of Buddha. This “wheel of becoming” or the “wheel…
A red lotus with four petals bearing the Sanskrit characters va, scha, sha, and sa is the symbol for Muladhara. LAM, the syllable at the center encompassed by a yellow square, is its corresponding mantra. This yellow square represents the prithvi tattva or earth tattva. The Muladhara symbol represents the root chakra, one of the…