A visitor to Omniglot sent me the following photos today asking if anybody can decipher the writing on it, knows the significance of the numbers, or can provide any other details about this metal plate.
The numerals are Marathi, and it is a magic square (the sum of each horizontal, vertical and diagonal row is 33)
12 7 14
13 11 9
8 15 10
Can’t help on the writing – do you have any other details?
AdamOctober 6th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Well, the symbol on the left is the Hindu/Jain/Sikh/Buddist Aum or Om ligature, and I think the words at the bottom are part of a mantra, the right part ‘namah’ can be part of the shortened Jain Namokar Mantra ‘om namah’ (according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om ). I’m no expert at all, just piecing bits together!
I’d guess a prayer tablet with a holy (and rather surprised-looking) cow on one side and a mantra with a magic square to make it even more mystical on the other.
Ooh gosh i just wrote a big comment and as soon as i hit post it come up blank! Please tell me it worked properly? I do not want to write it again if i do not have to! Either the blog glitced out or i am an idiot, the second option doesnt surprise me lol.
Fuzu – I’m not sure why your comment disappeared. It didn’t turn up as spam. You could try again, or send me the information by email (feedback[at]omniglot[dot]com).
The numerals are Marathi, and it is a magic square (the sum of each horizontal, vertical and diagonal row is 33)
12 7 14
13 11 9
8 15 10
Can’t help on the writing – do you have any other details?
Well, the symbol on the left is the Hindu/Jain/Sikh/Buddist Aum or Om ligature, and I think the words at the bottom are part of a mantra, the right part ‘namah’ can be part of the shortened Jain Namokar Mantra ‘om namah’ (according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om ). I’m no expert at all, just piecing bits together!
I’d guess a prayer tablet with a holy (and rather surprised-looking) cow on one side and a mantra with a magic square to make it even more mystical on the other.
शनैश्चराय नम:
śanaiścarāya namaḥ (Shanaischaraya Namah)
Sanskrit śanaiścara relates to Saturn.
The numerals are in Devanagari
12 7 14
13 11 9
8 15 10
The writing is a mantra to Saturn, or something like that
More specifically, it seems to be a mantra to Śani (शनि), one of the Navagraha of Hindu astrology.
Or it could be a “magic square” for the powers of Saturn. Something related to that in the western wicca and astrology as well.
Ooh gosh i just wrote a big comment and as soon as i hit post it come up blank! Please tell me it worked properly? I do not want to write it again if i do not have to! Either the blog glitced out or i am an idiot, the second option doesnt surprise me lol.
Fuzu – I’m not sure why your comment disappeared. It didn’t turn up as spam. You could try again, or send me the information by email (feedback[at]omniglot[dot]com).