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The swastika is found all over Hindu temples, signs, altars, pictures and iconography in India and Nepal, both from the past and today.
In Hinduism, the two symbols represent the two forms of Brahma; clockwise it represents the evolution of the universe (Pravritti), anti-clockwise it represents the involution of the universe (Nivritti). It is also seen as pointing in all four direction (North, East, South and West) and thus signifies stability and groundedness. Its use as a sun symbol can first be seen in its representation of Surya, the Hindu lord of the Sun. It is used as a good-luck symbol. However, it is also seen as a power symbol, and alternate forms that reflect the shape of a man are popular. It is used in all Hindu yantras and religious designs till today. All over the subcontinent of India it can be seen on the sides of temples and on religious scripture to gift items and letterhead. The swastika is considered extremely holy and auspicious by all Hindus, and is regularly used to decorate all sorts of items to do with Hindu culture. The Hindu God Ganesh is closely associated with the symbol of the swastika. Its use is widespread in India and Nepal.
In Buddhism, the swastika is oriented horizontally. These two symbols are included, at least since the Liao dynasty, as part of the Chinese language, the symbolic sign for the character 萬 (wŕn) meaning "all", and "eternality" and as 卐 which is seldom used. The swastikas (in either direction) appear on the chest of some statues of Gautama Buddha. Because of the association with the right facing swastika with Nazism, Buddhist swastikas after the mid 20th century are almost universially left facing. This form of the swastika is often found on Chinese food packaging to signify that the product is vegetarian and can be consumed by strict Buddhists. Also this type of swastika is often sewn into the collars of Chinese children's clothing to protect them from evil spirits.
In Jainism, the swastika symbol is combined with that of a hand. It is considered to be one of the 24 auspicious marks and the emblem of the seventh arhat of the present age.
Although some Christian churches built in the Romanesque and Gothic eras are decorated with swastikas, carrying over earlier Roman designs, the swastika does not appear to have been given any special symbolism or significance. The floor of the synagogue at Ein Gedi, built during the Roman occupation of Judea, was decorated with a swastika mosaic [4].
In Japan, the swastika, called manji, is an ancient religious symbol. A manji appeared on a certain Pokémon playing card sold in Japan. Because of its resemblance to the Nazi swastika (see below), the card was altered for Western translations. On Japanese town plans, a swastika (left-facing and horizontal) is commonly used to mark the location of a Buddhist temple.
The ancient Chinese character 卐 has developed into the modern one 方, pronounced fāng in Standard Mandarin, and has the main meaning of "square". As part of the Chinese script, the swastika has Unicode encodings 534D 卍 (left bent) and 5350 卐 (right bent).
The swastika was a widely used Native American symbol. It has been found in excavations of Mississippian-era sites in the Ohio valley. It was widely used by many southwestern tribes, most notably the Navajo. Among different tribes the swastika carried various meanings. To the Hopi it represented the wandering Hopi clans; to the Navajo it represented a whirling log, a sacred image representing a legend that was used in healing rituals [5].
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