OTHER POPULAR GODS, GODDESSES

OTHER POPULAR GODS, GODDESSES,

DEITIES AND MYTHILOGICAL EVENTS

Airawat

The King of elephants. Emerged during Samudra Manthan, It is the mount of god Indr.

Agni Dev

The Vedic god of fire, Instrumental in establishing contact between worshipped and the sordhipper, carries man’s offerings to gods as it rises from earth towards heaven. Son of Brahma Ji, he brings gods to the altar of worship and is invoked as a witness in all Hindu rituals like havan, marriage etc. Agni Pariksha (ordeal by fire) is considered an ultimate test to prove truth or purity of a person.

Ardhnarishwar

Half-man Half-woman image of Shiv Ji & Parvati Ji (read under Annapurna devi).

Annapurna Devi

Goddess of plenty of grains, a benevolent form of Parvati Ji. Worshipped alongwith SHiv Ji & Parvati Ji in many temples since she is understood to be an incarnation of Parvati Ji when she followed Shiv Ji, (to serve him) who was wandering as a mendicant, repenting the killing of a Brahman by him. By her service, Annapurna Devi pleased Shiv Ji so much that he embrace her to fiercely that they both merged to form a single personality of Arhnarishwar.

Chitragupt Ji

The record keeper in heaven for deeds of persons to facilitate decision about sending him/her to heaven or hell, after death. He is understood to have come into existence from Brahma Ji’s body. He is known to be progenitor of Kayasth clan, predominantly in the North.

Dhanvantri

Physician of gods and originator of Ayurveda, the Indian science of medicine. He appeared during Samudra Manthan, carrying vessel filled with medicines and amrit

Ganga

The goddess representing holy river Ganga. According to legend, goddess Ganga was produced from the sweat of Vishnu ji’s feet which Brahma Ji collected in his Kamandal (water container) and later released it to gall on earth. To avoid disaster from the impact of its fall, Shiv Ji received her on his matted hair and subsequently released it on earth.

Ganga is considered very holy and a bath in its water absolves the bather of sins and opens doors of heaven for him. Ganga water is considered very sacred by Hindus. With this water in his Palm,  Hindu is not expected to say any untruth. Also Ganga water remains so good & pure permanently, it does not deteriorate on keeping for any period of time

Garud

The vehicle of Vishnu Ji and the bird god. He is said to have released Ram Chandr Ji and his brother Lakshman from snake bind (Nagpash) during their fight against Ravan. His son Jatayu was also involved in fighting Ravan when he was running away after abducting Sita Ji.

Hanuman Ji

The monkey god who helped Ram Chandra Ji during his fight against Ravan and is therefore considered as god of power & strength. He is worshipped in temples all over the country. Tuesdays are special days for his worship. In the tale of Ramayan, following incidents are specially relevant to Hanuman Ji.

·         Crossing the sea in one leap to reach Ashok Vatika, the garden in the Kingdom of Ravan where Sita Ji was was confined. There he gave her the message about arrival of Tam Chandr Ji to rescue her.

·         Bringing a whole mountain for one herb (Sanjivini) to revive Lakshman from unconsciousness during a battle.

·         Burning Lanka with the fire put on his tail by Ravan’s men.

This monkey god is considered so holy that one can see lots of monkeys in Hindu temples and no one wishes to do the sin go harming a monkey. Hanuman has been blessed with immortality by Brahma Ji as well as Ram Chandr Ji.

Hanuman Ji is also called Maruti & Pawan Putr. He is considered antidote to possible ill effects of Shani Dev.

Indr Dev

A Vedic god, chief among smaller gods and King of Amaravati (heavern). Lots of interesting mythological tales are associated with the rise and fall of Indr, He is also considered as the rain god and worshipped specially in case of draughts.

In post Vedic era, his stature got lowered as also his character. Myth has it that he tried to seduce Ahilya, wife of sage Gautam, who cursed Indra’s downfall and Ahalya to become a rock, to be reinstated as a female, later by Ram Chandr Ji during his exile days in the forests.

Another myth has it that Indr was slighted by Krishn Ji by asking people not to worship Indr. As a revenge, Indr caused heavy downpour on Brijbhoomi (in U.P.around Mathura) but Krishn I took Gaverdhan mountain up on his finger, under which all the people of Brijbhomi were protected from the heavy downpour, Indr then recognized Krishn Ji’s supremacy.

Jagannath

A special form of Krishn Ji without hands and legs. Main temple of Jagannath in Puri (Orissa) where, also installed are images of his brother Balram and sister Subhadra. Jagannath literally means Lord of the Universe.

According to a legend, there was a king named Indradyuman who prayed to Vishnu Ji for his own salvation. Vishnu ji told him to raise image of Jagannath an put into its belly, the remains of Krishn Ji. It may be noted that Krishn Ji was earlier killed by a hunter and, some people had put the remains of his body into a box. To help king Indradyman, Vishnu ji deputed Vishwakarma, the celestial architect, to make the image of Jagannath, Vishwakarma agreed to do so on the condition that while on the job, he should not be disturbed at al. After some days the king’s curiosity overtook him and he peeped into the workshop when Vishwakarma was working on the images. This annoyed VIshwakarma greatly and he legt the job incomplete, that is images without hands and feet which were yet to be made. The king felt ashamed and sought Brahma Ji’s help. Brahma Ji assured the King that the images would become famous for times to come and he himself would come and act as priest for installation. Although an yearly festival, every 12 years, as tradiotion now, these images are replaced with new ones as the old ones are buried. Snan (bath) Yatra and Rathyatra are conducted when these images are taken out, given bath with Ganga watet and later taken out in procession. Devotees throw themselves uner the wheels of the chatiots carrying these idols. This is one of the most popular festivals, held in the month of Ashadh ((June-july) in several parts of the country.

It is interesting to note that the English word JUGGERNAUT originates from Krishn Ji’s  this Jagannath and is attributed to institutins/concept to which persons blindly sacrifice themselves. Lateer the word juggernaut also cam to mean person in a particular field who is extremely accomplished- a guru.

Kamdhenu

Also called Surabhi, the celestial cow of plenty which emerged during Samudra Manthan. It is believed that Brahma Ji created Vedas for Brahamans to recite and Kamdhenu cow to provide ghee (Hydroginated oil of natural origin) for burning sacrificial itmes during sacred ceremonies like havan etc. For this reasin, cows are highly revered by Hindus who call her ‘Gaumata’- mother cow.

Kuber

The god of money. He is devotee of Shiv Ji and king of Yakshas, the spitits that reside in seluded forests supposedly guarding hidden treasures.

Nandi

The sacred bull and vehicle of Shiv Ji

Surya Dev

The sun god is one of the three most important Vedic gods, later superseded by the trinity of Brahma Ji, Vishnu Ji and Shiv Ji.

The vedic hymn Gayatri Mantra  is in honour of Surya Dev. He is worhsipped by Hindus by way of offering water to him at sunrise, A dynasty of powerful rulers called themselves Suryavanshi, being descendants of Surya Dev. Ram Chandr Ji was the 66^th during king in this dynast. Some other notable descendants of Surya Dev are Manu (progenitor of mankind and author of Dharm Shastra, the first book on law to guide and govern mankind), Yam (god of death), river Yamuna, Sugriv (who with his monkey army, assisted Ram Chandr Ji in his fight against Ravan), & Karn of Mahabharat (born illegitimately to Pandava’s mother Kunti). Solar eclipse (like lunar eclipse) has an interesting myth attached to it. During Samudra Manthan, when Vishnu Ji was deceitfully (appearing as beautiful dancer Mohini) distributing amrit (nectar/ambroisa) only to gods, one demon got suspicious and mingled with gods and got a share of amrit. Surya Dev & Chandra Dev saw this and braught this to Vishnu Ji’s (or Mohini’s) attention. At this point, Vishnu Ji threw his Sudershan Chakra at this demon and cut him into two. Since he had consumed amrit he would not die and thus , his two parts, head part named Rahu an lower part called Ketu continue to live. The demon’s animosity is reglected as solar eclipse when Ketu tries to swallow Sun and as lunar eclipse when Rahu tries to swallow Moon.

Narad

The celestial seer (rishi) as the messenger between gods but also responsible for making divine missions. His origin  is from the head of Brahma Ji. An interesting tale about Narad is that once through his determination, he defeated the god of lust Kamdev. This caused great pride in himself. To Teach Narad a lesson in humility, Vishnu Ji designed an act. He created an illusionary kingdom with a very beautiful Princess due to be married. Narad fell for her and requested Vishnu Ji  for help by way of giving him (Narad) the most beautiful face and personality. Instead Vishnu Ji gave him the face of a monkey. Obviously, Narad cursed Vishnu Ji who had also appeared there as a suitor. Realising  the trick played on him, Narad cursed Vishnu Ji that in one of his incarnations, he will suffer separation from his beloved wife and only a monkey will come to his rescue. Thus happened the tale of Ramayan, abduction of his wife Sita Ji by demon king Ravan and finally, the monkey god Hanuman coming to their rescue.

Narad’s  depiction is very typical, shown as a seer with long pointed tuft hain, veena in one hand and always wandering. His name is associated with any person who indulges in unnecessary mischief by way of communication gap.

SAMUDRA MANTHAN

Churning of the ocean by gods and demons to extract amrit (nectat/ambrosia) to achieve immortality. Legend has it that as powers of gods waned due to a curse by sage Durvasa, they approached Brahma Ji for guidance. He advised them to seek Vishnu Ji help who, in turn, advised them to seek Vishnu ji’s help  who, in turn, advised them to churn the ocean jointly with demons to extract amrit, using mount Mandara as the churning rod and the giant snake Vasuki as the rope. Vishnu Ji would himself incarnate as the giant tortoise Kurma (read under Vishnu Ji’s incarnations for details) and hold the mountain on his back.

Churning of the ocean resulted in extraction/appearance of things as listed below (not necessarily in original sequence).

1.      Saurabhi- The devine cow claimed by gods (also called Kamdhenu)

2.      Varuni- The goddess of wine.

3.      Parijaat- The celestial Tree taken by Indr Dev and transplanted in Amaravati.

4.      Rambha- The celestial dancer (Apsara).

5.      Chandra- The cool moon taken by Shiv Ji for adornment on his head.

6.      Vish- The poison consumed by Shiv Ji.

7.      Kastubha- The precious stone claimed by Vishnu Ji.

8.      Airawat- The elephant with wings, taken by Indr Dev as his vehicle.

9.      Uchchaisravas- The white horse having black tail, claimed by famous demon King Bali.

10.  Panchjanya- The conch (shankh) taken by Vishnu Ji.

11.  Lakshmi Ji- The goddess of wealth, taken by Vishnu Ji as hi wife.

12.  Saranga- The bow, taken by Vishnu Ji.

13.  Kaumodaki- The mace (gada) also taken by Vishnu Ji.

14.  Dhanvantri- The physician god, holding jar of medicines and amrit (nectar/ambrosia).

As the gods and demons started quarreling over the possession of amrit, Vishnu Ji appeared as a beautiful apsara Mohini to lure away demons and deceitfully distribute amrit only among the gods.

Shani Dev

The god of evil. Also known as Kroor Drishti (evil look). Evil happenings are attributed to this god. To appease him and prevent any harm, people pay obeisance to this god by dropping coins in oil pot (placed on roads in most Indian towns on Saturdays) bearing statue of Shani Dev as black coloured four arm figure with a protruding red tongue. Saturn, the planet, is supposed to represent this deity. Worship of Hanuman Ji is understood to offset evil of Shani Dev as Hanuman Ji is known to have defeated Shani on more than one occasion.

Shesh Naag

The serpent god providing itself as the reclining couch with its head as canopy, to Vishnu Ji when he relaxes on ocean surface. Sheshnag, also called Anantnag, does not die when universe is destroyed during parlay and remains Shesh(balance or left over). Shesh Nag is understood to have appeared as brother Balram when Vishnu Ji incarnated himself as Krishn Ji.

Vishwakarma

The celestial architect god and son of Brahma Ji. He is credited with building palaces in heaven, all vehicles of gods and their weaponry. He also Built Ravan’s golder city of Lanka.Vishwakarma is also known to be the originator of the concept of Vaastu Shastra, takn from Sthapatya ved, which is relevant to establishing relationship and good order between sweller/dwelling and the cosmos. Knowledge of Vaastu was passed on by Vishwakarma to sages who used it originally in designing of temples. To his credit also goes the fabrication of Vishnu Ji’s Sudershan Chakra and Shiv Ji’s Trishul. He was also engaged in bulding the image of Krishn Ji as Jagannat.

He is the god for all craftsmen and shop-floor workmen who worship him especially on Vishwakarma day by placing their tools before his image, after cleaning them.

Varun Dev

The Vedic god of waves and earlier considered as creator & controller of the unviverse. Much of the rhythm in the cosmos was said to be controlledby him. Gaandiv, the divine bow of Arjun (Pandav of Mahabharat) was given to him by Varun Dev.

He is particularly worshipped by fishermen. But he lost prominence because of curse by sage Utathya whose wife was abducted (and later returned) by Varun Dev.

Vayu Dev

The vedic god of wids, he purifies air. He is said to be the father of Hanuman Ji (of Ramayan) and Bheem (Pandav of Mahabharath).

Yam

The god of death. Depicted as riding a buffalo and holding a noose, he is responsible for taking away the spirit of a person whose time of death has come. Based on the quality of his/her Karm (deeds), decided by the records maintained by Chitragupt Ji, the person is finally sent to heaven or hell.

A legend associated with Yam is about Savitri & Satyawan in Mahabharat, where Savitri offers prayers to Yam and succeeds in prayers to Yam and succeeds in preventing her husband Satyawan from being taken away by Yam, when Satyawan dies. A rare of rarest cases when Yam is shown as being compassionate.