Shri Yantra

 She has been called the most fascinating of all yantras and is also referred to as Shri Chakra or Lalita Chakra. This yantra is done to worship the third of the ten Mahavidyas, known as Shodashi, Sundari, Lalita, Tripurasundari and Baal. As a diagram, Shri yantra is most eye catching and powerful, made of 9intersecfing triangles representing the Union of Shiva ( the upward triangles) and Shakti ( the downward triangles).  Shri yantra is the only assymetrica design, and as Harish Johari says, that’s the beauty of it:  Even though it looks symmetrical it is in fact imbalanced because of the addition of the final triangle that makes the yantra dynamic and more powerful. 

Shri Yantra represents the body of the goddess Tripurasundari, although some scriptures refer to it as the navel of the Divine Mother. In fact, sculpted forms of the Divine Mother are available in which the Shri Yantra is inscribed in the navel.

Shri Yantra is also known as the yantra of

cosmos. In the Bhairavayamal Tantra it is

clearly said that the yantra of Tripurasundari is of the shape of the cosmos. In Kamkalavilas it is said that Shri Yantra is constructed on the same principles on which the human organism is constructed. Just as the body has nine chakras (psychic centers), so a Shri Yantra has nine chakras. 

The five downward pointing triangles are 

shakti triangIes, representing the 5 senses

(sound, touch, sight, taste, and smell), five

Elements  (akasha, air, fire, water, and earth), the five sense organs (ear, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose), and five organs of action (hands, feet, mouth, genitals, and anus). In the human body these five elements are skin, nerves, flesh, fat, and bones. 

The four upward-pointing triangles, which are Shiva triangles, represent the male energy and exist as chitta (being), buddhi (intellect), ahamkar (self-consciousness, or the feeling of "I," also known as ego), and manas-(mind). As the five downward-pointing and four upward-pointing triangles are intersecting and overlapping one another, producing forty-three visible triangles, similarly the male and female forces intersect in the cosmos, producing various objects of the phenomenal world. As the bindu in the center represents the Divine Mother, so there is bindu in the Sahasrar Chakra representing the individual consciousness, which is the self (jiva) soul, spirit, or atman. 

Bindu

Bindu, the point inside the central triangle and the center of the yantra, is also known as Sarva Anandmayi Chakra, which means a chakra of total bliss. Bindu is the seed of the entire universe, and it is beyond time and space. In this bindu, Kameshwar (Lord of Kama, or Desire) and Kameshwari (the Shakti of the desire for final union) remain ever united. 

During meditation on the Shri Yantra, worship of Shiva and Shakti in eternal union is done by concentrating on the bindu. As a representation of the ultimate union of Shakti and Shiva in the cosmos, The meditation on this yantra is believed to help attract all sort of objects, powers and achievements! 

Here, I improvised with some new gates, which  look like steps. These were an inspiration from a post by Sarah Tomlinson.