Yezidis and Hindus make common cause
under Melek Ta'us or Skanda-Murugan,
the Peacock Angel-King
Yezidis' Baba Sheikh at Washington DC Murugan Temple
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Śrī Jñāna Pandita: Murugan as Expositor of Gnosis with His symbols the Vēl Āyudha or Spear of Wisdom and vehicle/totem the Peacock or Phoenix. Behind Him rises the morning Sun symbolising the awakened state (bodhi) of the Gñāni or Comprehensor.
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by Patrick Harrigan
(Washington DC) A delegation of top Yezidi spiritual and political leaders visited Washington DC October 24-31 seeking support for their threatened minority and sacred sites in northern Iraq that are currently surrounded by ISIS fighters, who aim to ‘cleanse the Islamic State’ of any trace of the ‘pagan’ ancient religious minority who worship Melek Ta’us, the ‘Peacock Angel’.
In a deeply symbolic act, the Baba Sheikh, spiritual leader of the Yezidis, visited the Washington temple of the pan-Indian war god Skanda-Murugan on October 29 to witness Soora Samhāram, the ritual conclusion of Skanda Sashti, ‘Skanda’s Six-Day War’ against demonic forces threatening the earth. It was the first time ever that the Yezidi spiritual leadership visited a temple of the peacock-mounted war god of India, whom Yezidis identify with Melek Ta’us, the ‘Peacock Angel’ whom they consider to be God’s regent on earth.
The Yezidi delegation attended soora samharam, the ritual conclusion of ‘Skanda’s Six-Day War’, after which gurukkals poured milk libation over Lord Murugan to cool His wrath.In the Yezidi faith, Melek Ta’us is regarded as the foremost among archangels and an emanation of God Himself. Yezidi religion is centered upon Melek Ta’us, who is depicted as a peacock. Peacocks, however, are not native to the lands where Melek Ta’us is worshipped, but to the Indian subcontinent.
According to their own oral traditions, Yezidis once lived in India thousands of years ago. Yezidis, moreover, still preserve a system of four castes that do not intermarry. And they also believe in karma and rebirth, which are core tenets of Hindu Dharma.
According to the Yezidi calendar, it is currently the year 6,764. Scholars of religion concede that the Yezidi faith has absorbed and preserved many elements from ancient faiths including Sanatana Dharma, Mithraism, and Zoroastrianism, as well as the influence of Sufis or Islamic mystics—all targets of hardline ISIS fundamentalism.
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The Baba Sheikh, spiritual leader of the Yezidi faithful, blesses a Yezidi girl. Like Hindus, the Yezidis place the tilak mark upon their foreheads.
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“The Yezidis are a very special religious community because they’re one of the only remaining religions in the Middle East with non-Abrahamic origins,” says Matthew Barber, a scholar at the University of Chicago’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.
"The Yezidi religion has absorbed elements from many religious traditions in the Near East, but within their religious framework are preserved some very ancient beliefs that no longer survive in any other religion. The reason that ISIS attacks the Yezidi community in this way is because they view them as pagan and polytheistic because they’re outside of the Abrahamic religions that have a written scripture.”
The Baba Sheikh and his entourage evinced a keen interest in the Hindu war god’s associations with the peacock. They were astonished to see tall standing brass oil lamps surmounted by peacocks, identical to the sanjaks or brass peacock lamps that play a central role in one of the most important events of the Yezidi New Year—the ‘Parade of the Sanjaks’ or ‘Parade of the Peacock’.
 The war god Skanda Kumara was among North India’s most popular deities during the Classical Age in the first millennium of the Common Era. He remains extremely popular in South India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and worldwide among the Tamil Hindu diaspora where he is known as Murugan, the ‘tender youth’ associated with poetry, love, and war.
The Baba Sheikh blessed Hindus who were observing the Skanda Sashti Soora Samhāram at the Washington temple, He remarked to them that this remarkable confluence of Yezidi and Hindu worship was also happening on a Wednesday, which is the Sabbath day of the Yezidis.
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Yazidis in Lalish celebrate Yazidi New Year marking the descent to earth at Lalish of Melek Taus (Kurdish: Tawusê Melek), the 'Peacock Angel'. Click on the above image or here to read the article "The Peacock King of the Vedic Yezidi People".
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The Baba Sheikh urged listeners to strive for peace worldwide and not to descend into bigotry and intolerance that are the hallmarks of religious fundamentalism. Hindus and Yezidis alike marveled at the uncanny convergence of two ancient faiths on Skanda Sashti, and all prayed that their Lord of the Peacock would answer the fervent prayers of Yezidis in Iraq and worldwide.
About the Author
Patrick Harrigan is an American indologist specializing since 1972 in the Sri Lankan shrine Kataragama, regarded as sacred by the island’s Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and indigenous communities.
Source: The article "Yezidis, Hindus make common cause under Peacock Angel" first appeared in The India Herald of 3 December 2014.scholar
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