Dhatu-garbha

Last year, I accidentally came across Dagoba Dark Chocolate with Lavender and fell in love with it.

I am decidedly partial to dark chocolate.

I will try milk chocolate if it has an interesting flavor infused... but, I could easily pass, no regrets.

Anyway, they had some kind of raffle at D's work. He won a box of goodies with Dagoba chocolate bars, trail mix, coffee mug and such. To think that he was this close to getting a 3-month membership to Curves as the prize... Oh Well :)

Turns out the Dagoba bars were milk chocolate and I was about to release my claim to any portion of it when I spied one of them saying "Chai" on the wrapper. Hm. How could I resist?

The Chai flavored milk chocolate is certainly different from any I have tried before. It has a pronounced spiciness with ginger standing out, and some subtler flavors that I am not able to place easily.

What does "Dagoba" mean? Here's what they say:

Dagoba is a Sanskrit word for temple. Along with wise ancient cultures, we regard chocolate as a sacred food and wanted to impart that in the name. This was not chosen for religious reasons, as we are nondenominational.

The official definition is: "The Hemispherical Dome: The main mass of a stupa consists of a solid, hemispherical dome which early Buddhist refer to as a garbha ('womb' or 'container.') The stupa as a whole is called the 'dhatu-garbha.' Dhatu is Sanskrit for element.

'Dagoba,' is the short form of dhatu-garbha and the most usual designation of the stupa in Sri Lanka. This section of a stupa is an allusion to primordial, creative waters. In all the major cosmologies, life arose from the archetypal waters, a female symbol of formless potential. The dome represents the womb which issues all manifested existence and signifies this creative matrix."

Dhatu garbha I understand. Dagoba, I don't. But, who cares? Their dark chocolate is simply divine.

I should try talking D into making a trip down to Ashland to visit the Dagoba factory. Now, if I could plan it around Ashland Shakespeare Festival...