Hamsa bird

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A Hamsa sacred goose or swanreliquary, stupa 32 of the Gangu group, Babar Khana, Taxila, Gandhara, 1st century CE. This Hamsa was found inside a granite bowl, with an inscribed gold sheet stating "Shira deposited the relics of her departed parents in the Hamsa". It has a cavity in the middle for the insertion of the relics. British Museum.

The Hamsa bird (हंस, also romanized from Sanskrit as hansa, pronounced as "hənsə"; Burmese: ဟင္သာ; MLCTS: hangsa) is a swan, typically the mute swan (cygnus olor), used in ancient Indian religions as a symbol and a decorative element.

[edit] Identification with the swan

The word is cognate with Latin "anser", German "Gans" and English "goose" (all meaning a goose). Hansa also refers to a goose, flamingo or other water birds. This maybe so because today in India swans are never found in feral populations, domesticated flocks and hardly ever in zoos. But ornithological checklists about India like this clearly state that swans are a vagrant species in India, ie, wintering in India very rarely (as of now). The hamsa, in the sense of a swan, is said to reside in the Manasarovar lake in Tibet and would migrate to the Indian lakes in the winter. It is said to eat pearls and separate milk from water from a mixture of both. In many texts it is extolled as the king of birds. In one of the Upanishad, a swan is also said to possess the sacred knowledge of the Brahman. it is also the vehicle of goddess Saraswati.

[edit] Identification with Brahman

The Hamsa represent perfect union, balance and life. A constant repetition of the word "hamso" changes it to "Soaham", which means "That I am". Hence the hamsa is often identified with the Supreme Spirit or Brahman. The flight of the Hamsa also symbolizes the escape from the cycle of samsara. The bird also has special connotations in the monistic philosophy of Advaita Vedanta - just as the swan lives on water but its feathers are not wetted by water, similarly an Advaitin tries to live in this material world full of Maya, but is unsoiled by its illusionary nature.

The Hamsa was also used extensively in the art of Gandhara, in conjunction with images of the Buddha. It is also deemed sacred in Buddhism.

Hamsa border on the Kanishka casket, 2nd century CE.

Hamsa birds between the architectural spires on the Bimaran casket, 1st century CE.

[edit] See also

Hinduism
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