Tulasi Jasmine Garland with Parrot -- Dark Background Devotional HD Wallpaper
Free download • HD quality • 2.5 MB
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About this image
Against the deep darkness of the background, the greens and whites of tulasi and jasmine seem to glow with their own inner light -- a sacred garland arranged in the circular form that recalls the garlands hung around the neck of temple deities, with a small parrot keeping watch over the offering. Dewdrops cling to the tulasi leaves like tiny crystal prayers. The significance of flowers in Hindu worship cannot be overstated. The Agama texts -- the ritual manuals of temple worship -- specify which flowers are appropriate for which deity, in what season, and in what quantity. Tulasi is exclusive to Vishnu; bilva leaves belong to Shiva; hibiscus is offered to Kali and Ganesha. To offer the wrong flower to a deity is considered inauspicious. But Andal transcended even these rules. By wearing the god's garland and making it her own, she declared that the boundary between devotee and deity is permeable -- that love dissolves the distinction between the one who offers and the one who receives. The parrot in Andal iconography is not merely decorative. In Tamil poetic convention (the Sangam tradition dating back to the first centuries CE), the parrot is the confidant of the lovesick heroine -- the one to whom she whispers her secret love. Andal's parrot knows the verses of the Thiruppavai before anyone else. It has heard them composed, revised, and perfected in the garden where Andal sat and dreamed of Ranganatha. Download this HD wallpaper for personal devotional use.
