haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering! 11th October 2025

haikaiTALKS: Five Senses & Tanmatras|a saturday gathering under the banyan tree

A Disclaimer

Responsibility for the originality of the haikai rests solely with the submitting poet. 

If anyone feels that it is similar to another haikai, they are encouraged to contact the relevant poet directly.

Triveni Haikai India will take any action as recommended by the submitting poet.

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Special Guest Poet: Lakshmi Iyer

host: Srinivasa Sambangi 11th October 2025

haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering under the banyan tree

Your Guest Poet for SEPTEMBER: Lakshmi Iyer

haikaiTALKS 

Five Senses & Tanmatras

The Upanishads, along with broader Vedic and Hindu philosophical texts, describe the five Jnanendriyas, or cognitive senses: hearing (ear), touch (skin), sight (eye), taste (tongue), and smell (nose).

These senses are considered the primary means by which an individual perceives the external world and gains knowledge about it. 

These five senses are often linked to the elements and their corresponding tanmatras:

Sound is associated with the ear and the element of space.

Touch is linked to the skin and the element of air.

Form/Sight is attributed to the eye and the element of fire.

Taste is associated with the tongue and the element of water.

Smell is linked to the nose and the element of earth. 

We have come across many poems connected to the five senses. We shall take each one of them and weave our senses! The given poems are my earthly experiences, published and presented here. Thank you so much, Kala Ramesh and the entire editorial board, for giving me this opportunity to present this feature in haikaiTALKS.

I'm looking forward to reading your poems, as I have come to understand how each one of you thinks differently. 

October 11, 2025

All the five senses are inter connected, inter woven and interactive!! We shall connect the senses and weave; it can be sight and sound, sound and smell, touch and taste, sound and touch… various combinations!!

ripened field −

an old scarecrow invites

birds to party

              Adjei Agyei-Baah, Ghana, (1977-2023)

Scaring Crow : a collection of 102 haiku

school for the blind . . .

a teacher rubs sunshine

between their palms

              Lakshmi Iyer, India 

              LEAF, Issue 6, March 2025

espresso coffee

what she knows

of my daily grind

             Milan Rajkumar, Imphal, India

Prune Juice 33, March 2021

The Interconnect, interaction and intermediary - how we allow our senses to gain awareness and win over our so-called defects.

“A Dictionary of Haiku Classified by Season Words with Traditional and Modern Methods,” by Jane Reichhold:

https://thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/files/original/7fb6654a1dfd1afef97369da920530f8.pdf

Indian subcontinent SAIJIKI:

https://www.trivenihaikai.in/indian-saijiki

The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words:

http://www.2hweb.net/haikai/renku/500ESWd.html

The World Kigo Database:

https://wkdkigodatabase03.blogspot.com/

The Yuki Teikei Haiku Season Word List:

https://yths.org/season-word-list/

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Thanks, Lakshmi. We are eagerly looking forward to how the next two months unfold. I love your examples.

Dear Members,

Waiting for your responses.

Please give your feedback on others' commentary and poems, too. _()_

We are continuing haikaiTALKS in a grand manner!

Keep writing and commenting! _kala