Return to the womb: feminine creative imagery of arghya in a Tantric ritual

This paper examines the Tantric ritual of the pouring of water from an arghyapatra from cultural, philosophical, and religious perspectives. The authors argue that the range of symbolic meanings within this ritual for multiple reasons goes far beyond its purely physical representation. On the part of the sadhaka there is indeed fertile ground for creatively perceiving the key elements of the ritual, which include water taking on a variety of new and expanded meanings, and the arghyapatra device itself representing the yoni and womb of the Goddess, to which the practitioner attempts a sacred return.