There are five elements in the universe, human beings have five senses, five fingers, five toes, five tastes that the tongue registers. The number 5 is significant in so many ways.
A net search reveals: “The number five is exceedingly important in terms of its symbolic qualities. It represents human perfection, because a man with outstretched arms and legs forms a pentagon with the head “dominating the four limbs, just as the spirit commands the quaternary of elements” (Julien, 155)…It has much Christian meaning as well: five wounds, letters of Jesus, desire, faith, hope, humility and love. In nature it is the four cardinal directions plus the middle. Can mean spring and growth in nature as well. In relation to the planets: Mercury – water, Venus – metal, Mars – fire, Jupiter – vegetable, Saturn – earth.”
In Christianity, the Ten Commandments were given in two sets, each with five commandments. One set was a guide on how the Israelites ought to interact with God, while the other set was a guide on how they ought to interact with each other. (Source: symbolsage.com)
During the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus, he suffered five wounds: on the chest, on each foot, and through each hand.
The Pentateuch, which is the name given to the books given to Moses, is composed of five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
Muslims pray five times a day. The faithful are required to follow five obligations, called the Five Pillars, which are Shahada (profession of faith), Salat (prayer), Zakat (alms), Sawm (fasting), and Haj (pilgrimage).
Caption: Amritdhari
Sikh Guru Gobind Singh established five Amritdhari or holy objects that believers should have on their person — kangha (comb), kara (steel bracelet), kirpan (dagger), kachhera (cotton undershirt), and kesh (uncut hair).
According to Tantric anatomy, humans are a composite of five bodies (pancha koshas): the physical body, the energetic body, the mental/emotional body, the inner-teacher or wisdom body, and the bliss body.
There are five virtues: truth, compassion, contentment, humility, and love; and also five evils: lust, rage, greed, attachment, and ego.
Mathematically, 5 is an odd number in the system as the only prime number that has a sum of two consecutive prime numbers which are 2 and 3.
The five-pointed star, Pentagram, is a sacred symbol in various religions.
In Indian mythology there were five Pandavas in the Mahabharat. Draupadi is also known as Panchali, because of her five husbands.
A village council—Panchayat—has five members.
A luxurious hotel is given a five star rating, as well as an excellent film of play. When friends connect, they give each other high fives.
The Olympic Rings feature five interlocked rings, each of a different colour, representing the five continents – Europe (Blue), Asia (Yellow), America (Red), Oceania (Green), and Africa (Black).
Caption: Panchamirit
At Hindu rituals, Panchamrit is offered as prasad, the holy drink is made with five ingredients-milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar.
Chinese philosophy lists five virtues that ought to be practised in the pursuit of perfection– generosity, gravity, kindness, sincerity, and earnestness.
In Indian cooking there is the panch phoron masala and dal panchamel.
A fun list of ways in which we have encountered the number 5:
The Panchatantra:
Kids all over the country grow up listening to or reading the simple morality tales of the Panchatantra. Legend has it that a king named Amarasakti commissioned Vishnu Sharma to teach his three sons the principles of wise governance, and he used these stories to impart moral and political lessons. The five books of the Panchatantra each have a different set of fables– Mitra-bheda (The Loss of Friends), Mitra-labha (The Winning of Friends), Kakolukiyam (On Crows and Owls), Labdhapranasam (Loss of Gains), and Apariksitakarakam (Ill-Considered Action).
The Famous Five:
Before Enid Blyton became persona non grata, generations of kids grew up reading her books, and the favourite series was the one that featured The Famous Five– Julian, Dick, Anne, George and their dog Timmy, who had adventures together, catching criminals or finding lost treasures.
Hum Paanch (1980):
A contemporary version of the Mahabharat set in a village, directed by Bapu, has five main characters played by Sanjeev Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty, Naseeruddin Shah, Raj Babbar and Gulshan Grover, get together to fight the tyranny of the zamindar.
Paanch (2003):
Anurag Kashyap’s debut film about five friends, was based on the horrific 1976 Joshi-Abhyankar murder case in Pune, in which the group kidnap their own friend, who is accidentally killed, leading to a spate of murders. The film starring Kay Kay Menon, Aditya Srivastava, Vijay Maurya, Joy Fernandes and Tejaswini Kolhapure, was not given a certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification, due to its extreme violence, drug use and profane language, but has, over the years, developed an underground following.
Hum Paanch (1995):
In the successful sitcom that is given credit for popularising Zee TV and launching the acting career of Vidya Balan, Ashok Saraf played the harassed father to five daughters — Meenakshi, Radhika, Sweety, Kajal, and Chhoti, who get up to crazy antics in every episode and drive their father up the wall.
Five (1951):
Directed by Arch Oboler, the film starring Willian Phipps, Susan Douglas Rubes, James Anderson, Charles Lampkin and Earl Lee, has an interesting plot about five survivors of a nuclear holocaust. The five come together at a remote location and try to figure out how to survive and cope with the future.
Five Easy Pieces (1970):
Directed by Bob Rafaelson and starring Jack Nicholson in the lead, the film tells the story of an oil rig worker Bobby Dupea, who is a rootless drifter, but used to be a piano prodigy. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards and in 2000 (source Wikipedia), was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures added to the United States National Film Registry of the Library of Congress being deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and recommended for preservation.
Fast Five (2011):
The Fast and Furious crew of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges and Matt Schulze appear in the Justin Lin film–the fifth installment of this dizzying action franchise about a group of street racers, who plan a heist which puts them in the sights of a powerful Brazilian drug lord and as well as a dangerous federal agent.
