Mudras

Mudras are basically a ritual gesture in Hindus and Buddhist. Some mudras include the gesture of the whole body, mostly performed by hands and fingers. There are mainly four types of mudras, namely,
Hasta Abhinaya
Asamyukta Hasta Mudra
Samyukta Hasta Mudra
Devata Hastas

1) Hasta Abhinaya: The Sanskrit meaning of Hasta Abhinaya is leading towards or guiding towards. According to Natya Shastra, it is divided into four types
a) Angika Abhinaya means Expression of the limbs
b) Vachika Abhinaya means Expression of speech
c) Aharya Abhinaya means Costume and scene
d) Sattvika Abhinaya means true expression.

2) Asamyukta Hasta Mudra: This mudra is performed in Bharatanatyam with a single hand gesture with shloka. There are basically 28 mudras which are divided into 3 groups. Group I is Pataka Hasta which represent the wind, a year, the abode of the gods, a river, and various other actions and objects. Group II is the Musti and Group III is the Padmakosa.



3) Samyukata Hasta Mudra: This mudra is performed in Bharatanatyam with a double hand gesture which consists of 24 mudras (a combination of 13 single hand mudras.)



4) Devata Hasta: This mudra is represented by hand gesture for praising the Lord Bramha, who is the creation of Hindu god. The left hand represents the Chatura Hasta and the right hand represents the Hansasya Hasta, to depict the Lord Brahma. Similarly, Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu are praised using the hand gestures. To represent Lord Shiva, the left hand is used for Mrugashirsha Hasta and right hand is for Tripataka Hasta. Also, Lord Vishnu is praised with Tripataka Hasta using both the hands.

Goddess Saraswati is also known as the goddess of knowledge, music, art, and science. The right hand represents the Suchi Hasta and the left hand raised on the level with shoulders like holding Veena represents the Kapitha Hasta.

Goddess Parvati is a form of Shakti. She is also known as the goddess Durga or Adi Parashakti. The right hand represents the Ardhachandra Hasta with fingers facing upwards and the left hand represents the Ardhachandra Hasta with fingers facing downwards.

Goddess Lakshmi is also known as the goddess of wealth, prosperity materials, and spirituals, fortune, and the embodiment beauty. Goddess Lakshmi brings the good luck and protects from money-related sorrows. The Kapitha Hasta is represented with both the hands held near about the shoulders.

Lord Ganesha is the god of wisdom and success. Lord Ganesha is also known as Vighanaharta, Ganpati, Lambodara, and many more. The Kapitha Hasta is represented with both the hands near the naval area, but the left hand of Kapitha Hasta should face downwards.

Lord Karthikeya is the god of war and victory and also known as Murugan. The Shikara Hasta is denoted by the right-hand help upwards and the left hand as Trishula Hasta.

Lord Manmatha is the god of human love. He is also named as Kamadeva. The left hand is represented as Shikara Hasta and right hand is represented as Katakamukha Hasta.

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