Sri Chakra is a geometric representation of the cosmic forces in Hinduism. It has deep symbolism and meaning. Chakra is a round wheel, which is the symbol of constant motion so recognized from the ancient days of primitive man. The words used as synonyms for chakra are yantra, chakraraja, yantraraja,etc., all referring to the same yet with shades of differences in connotation.
Yantra is a device or an instrument, a storehouse of power, which can convert one form of energy into other desired forms. Yantra contains in itself, in controlled form, the uncontrolled form of the Almighty. The chakra limits the illimitable by giving it a form, the uncontrolled form of the Almighty. The chakra limits the illimitable by giving it a form, and its criss-cross lines, angles, circles and squares bind and channelize in a cognizable form the deity, the vast ocean of consciousness.
The chakra indicates the dynamics of the Divine and stands for a transmission of the Divine puissance. The particular form of the Sri Chakra depicts the total energy of the Ultimate Reality, concentrated in the cutting points of different lines enclosed in multi-petalled circles and a set of squares and triangles.
The term Sri used in Sri Chakra is a fixed adjective with the name Chakra denotes everything good and auspicious that the human mind can conceive of. The common noun ‘Chakra’ prefixed with the attribute ‘Sri’, is a geometric representation of cosmic forces. The ways in which they form concentrations are portrayed in the Sri Chakra.
A full and clear description of the Sri Chakra is given in Saundaryalahari (a devotional work of Sri Adi Shankara) – The angles of thy abode (the Sri Chakra), which is made up of the nine mulaprakritis or basic triangles (the nine primary causative forces of the Universe) consisting of the four distinct Shiva triangles (with apex pointing upwards), and the five distinct shakti triangles (with apex pointing downwards) kept apart from the former by the bindu, with the eight-petalled lotus, the lotus with sixteen petals with the three circles around and the three lines, are counted as forty four.
Another version of the Sri Chakra is in Yamala (another work dealing with Shakti worship) – The point, the triangle, the eight-cornered figure, the two ten-cornered figures, a fourteen cornered figure, an eight-petalled lotus, a sixteen petalled lotus, the surrounding circles and the quadrangular ramparts all round called the Bhupuras. This is said to be the Sri Chakra of the Supreme Devi.