Aum Tattoos

Aum - is a mystical or sacred syllable in the Dharmic religions. It is placed at the beginning of most Hindu texts as a sacred exclamation to be uttered at the beginning and end of a reading of the Vedas or previously to any prayer or mantra. The Mandukya Upanishad is entirely devoted to the explanation of the syllable.

The syllable Aum is first described as all-encompassing mystical entity in the Upanishads. Today, in all Hindu art and all over India and Nepal, 'Aum' can be seen virtually everywhere, a standard sign[citation needed] for Hinduism and its philosophy and mythology.

Aum is not a word but rather an intonation, which, like music, transcends the barriers of age, race, culture and even species. It is made up of three Sanskrit letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined together, make the sound Aum or Om. It is believed to be the basic sound of the world and to contain all other sounds. If repeated with the correct intonation, it can resonate throughout the body so that the sound penetrates to the centre of one's being, the atman or soul.

In modern time, Aum tattoos have become very popular with the crowd, regardless of thier age, sex or even religion. It has become the most common design to my knowledge and seriously I have lost count on how many of my clients carry that sacred symbol.

Mother and Child

Guess who walked in again today? Its the same guy who had his tiger done the other day...Hehe!!

My returning customer within few days apart. How cool is that? Ok lets get back to what he wanted shall we?

This time, he didn't want a eagle that looks like a rooster or a dog looking like a wild boar, but instead, he wanted a tattoo of a mother carying her child...Sweet huh? But then again, his angular looking imagination came into discussion again...And what can I say?

Anyway, he did the tattoo out of his love for his mum and wanted his mum's name in Tamil. Staying true to his roots, I should say...

Tiger

I had a customer walk in today, wanting to get a tiger on his arm. Explaining to me that he wants his tiger to be fierce. Typical tattoo as always. Well, that is what I thought. He then goes on, saying that he wants the tiger's body to face a certain angle and the facial expression to be in a certain angle, which of course, will be near impossible for the tiger to be in an awkward position in reality, unless its a tiger practising yoga, having its body to be so flexible...God !

After that is done and going through some of the designs, he said, "I want my tiger to look like a gorilla!" Come on !! How can you have a tiger that looks like a gorilla? Its either a tiger or a gorilla ! What a day to start my week with !!

At this point of time, I knew I had to step in and explain to him in my point of view, that what he is imagining is nowhere going to look like a tiger. He was on the darker skin tone, so colours won't work well. He did look kinda disappointed, but I assured him that it will turn out well.

And this is how it turned out...