[INDOLOGY] Information sought regarding Telugu "Saccra" (cakra)

[jacob at fabularasa.dk]

Dear list,

Bornholms Museum, located on the eponymous rock island in the Baltic 
Sea, asked me for clarification about the attached object. According to 
the registration notes, which probably date back about a hundred years, 
it is a Telugu "Saccra" (cakra) used to ward off disease and spirits of 
possession. It is also stated that cakras are generally installed below 
temple deities to empower the deity and attract people to the temple.

If anybody knows the specific name of the cakra and any other details of 
its application, I would be happy to convey the information to the 
museum. I would also be interested to know what the distinction between 
a cakra and a yantra is in this context, and whether the installation of 
cakras/yantras to empower deities, attract people, or otherwise is 
indeed a general practice in Indian temples.

Kind regards,
Jacob

Jacob Schmidt-Madsen
PhD Fellow (Indology)
Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
University of Copenhagen
Denmark
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Saccra_BornholmsMuseum_small.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 291610 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20161011/627dd565/attachment.jpg>