Elgood’s entire first Indian book was about the connection between weapons and rituals. With multiple religious consultants working with him there is no way a feature that wide-spread would have escaped his investigative clutches.
I am with Jens and mross: just a pretty embellishment. In a way, this is a parallel development of European and Caucasian real and false filigrees.
India is a country filled with mysteries and hidden meanings. Because of that, we may be lured into futile searches for mysteries where there are none.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
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