Ananda Kanda — Chakra 17 of 114

Ananda Kanda (आनन्द कन्द) is counted as chakra 17 in the 114-chakra map of the Shaiva Siddha tradition, seated at two finger-widths to the right of the heart centre. Governed by the tattva of bliss substance, it radiates the hue of wish-fulfilling ruby red and is sealed by the bija mantra KLIM. Its lotus form is described as having eight petals with kalpataru and kalpa jewel, and it is presided over by Kalpataru-rooted Shakti of bliss. Within the subtle body this chakra functions as a node where prana, mind, and consciousness interweave, regulating the flow of shakti along the sushumna and its adjoining nadis. Siddha yogis regard it as a threshold: when dormant it maintains ordinary physiological and psychological function, but when awakened through mantra, mudra, and dhyana it becomes a doorway to subtler states of awareness, dissolving the sense of a bounded, separate self. Tantric and hatha-yogic lineages within Shaiva Siddha describe this centre as storing latent samskaras related to its element and function, and its purification is said to remove specific obstacles — whether physical rigidity, emotional turbulence, or mental dullness — associated with that node. Advanced sadhakas use this chakra as a resting point for kundalini during her ascent, pausing here to stabilize breath and absorb the qualities of its presiding deity before continuing toward the crown. In ritual worship this chakra is also visualized during nyasa, where the practitioner mentally installs mantra and deity into the body to sanctify it as a temple of consciousness.

The yantra of Ananda Kanda is drawn as a lotus with eight petals with kalpataru and kalpa jewel, inscribed with Sanskrit letters proportional to its petals, encircling a central geometric seed-form appropriate to its element — a square for earth, a crescent for water, a triangle for fire, a hexagram for air, or a circle for ether/space centres. At the very centre sits the bija mantra KLIM in Devanagari, often accompanied by the seed symbol or vahana of Kalpataru-rooted Shakti of bliss, rendered in wish-fulfilling ruby red against a contrasting field, used as a focal support for dharana and japa.