Tibetan Singing Bowl for the Solar Plexus Chakra

According to tradition, Manipura is located above the navel and below the ribs, in the pit of the stomach. However, texts differ on its exact location: some place it two fingers above the navel, others four, while ancient texts such as the 10th-century Kubjikamatatantra place it at the navel itself.

The name “solar plexus” comes from anatomy, where it refers to a network of nerves behind the stomach. Tradition places this chakra there, but your bowl does not claim to have any effect on those nerves.

In Hindu Tantra and Hatha Yoga, Manipura is the third chakra among the principal chakras, following the root and sacral chakras and preceding the heart chakra. Hindu tradition also associates Manipura with the note E, and every Tibetan singing bowl for the solar plexus chakra in our selection is available in that note.

In the chakra system most widely used today, Manipura is yellow or sometimes yellow and gold, reflecting the sun with which tradition associates this chakra. Ancient texts do not all give it this colour, however: in classical Tantra, it is blue. Its symbol is a ten-petalled lotus. Each petal bears a Sanskrit syllable ranging from ḍaṃ to phaṃ. The petals’ colour varies by text, which explains why some depictions show them in yellow while others show them in a dark blue like rain clouds. At the centre is a red triangle representing fire, this chakra’s element.

In Tantra, these petals also represent ten afflictions of the mind that the texts call vrittis. Examples include spiritual ignorance, jealousy, betrayal, shame, fear, and sadness. Some also see them as the ten pranas, currents of vital energy that flow through the body. At the centre, you will often see the syllable RAM written in Devanagari script. Tradition also places a ram inside the triangle. It symbolises vitality and is the mount of Agni, the god of fire.

The solar plexus mantra is RAM, a seed syllable known in tradition as a bija mantra and used to awaken this centre.

If you’d like to pair it with your bowl, you can chant or modulate the RAM mantra during meditation over the sound of the instrument. Some sound baths dedicated to this chakra also include chanting with the bowls. Some practitioners say they feel warmth or a vibration in the upper abdomen when they chant it, but this is a reported experience, not a guaranteed effect.

Tradition associates Manipura with the sun and assigns it the element of fire, which the texts call agni. It also links Manipura to the stomach and digestion, where the body transforms what it absorbs.

Tradition likewise considers the solar plexus the seat of willpower and self-confidence, as well as the ability to make decisions and take action. This is a traditional association: your bowl does not claim to affect digestion in any way.

The word Manipura comes from Sanskrit and combines mani, meaning “jewel,” and pura, meaning “city.” It can therefore be translated as “city of jewels” or “abundant in jewels.” Another translation is “resplendent jewel,” though it is no more definitive.