Ganachakra

In Hindu Tantra, Ganachakra, Tantra Yoga plays a vital role. In Sanskrit gana means gathering and chakra means circle. Alternately, Ganachakra is also referred to as Ganapuja, Chakrapuja or Ganachakra puja. In Tantra Yoga, it is a generic term given to a variety of assemblies or feasts in which practitioners assemble to chant mantra. They also and enact mudras and practice various Tantra Yoga rituals. Part of the ritual involves making votive offerings as part of their sadhana (Spiritual Practice).

As a Tantra Yoga rite in Hindu Tantra, the Ganachakra often comprises a sacramental meal or Eucharistic feast. It consists of materials which were regarded as forbidden by ancient Vedic culture. These include meat, alcohol, and oftentimes sexual intercourse. These materials usually go through a ritual transubstantiation. That is, they are transformed into the Five Pure Lights. This is considered a sacrament analogous to, though not akin, the Roman Catholic Eucharist and Agape feasts. The Ganachakra is common to Hindu Tantra as well as Buddhist Tantra.

In Hindu Tantra, and in fact, in all of Tantra Yoga, Ganachakra stands for the power of sacred bonding in a temporary or virtual sacred space. The philosophy postulates it is an intrinsic, if normally invisible, component of a Vajrayana community experience. It is said that the whole community experiences to exist in fact comes to an end without it. To fully get the grasp of this sacredness one has to just perceive it. Then again to maintain that perception calls for discipline, faith and a deep sense of love and respect for all the members of the community. Surprisingly, that means, all living beings.

(P.S. Pavlov insists that the 5 Nectars of Tantra Yoga, Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Tantra traditions are directly related to the theory of the Mahabhuta or the 5 elements. He also states that the Pancha Makaras are actually a vulgar term for the Pancha tattwa)