| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| God name "Apedemak" | Sudanese / Meroe | war god. An Egyptianized deity, his main sanctuary was contained in a vast religious complex and center of pilgrimage at Musawwarat-es-Sufra, north of the sixth Nile cataract. Sacred animals include cattle and the African elephant. Depicted with the head of a lion and a human body, holding a scepter embellished with a seated lion at the tip.... |
| Goddess name "Armkis [Greek]" | Egypt / Upper | Birth goddess. Minor deity with cult centers in lower Nubia and at Elephantine. She is variously the daughter of RE, and of KHNUM and SATIS. Anukis lives in the cataracts of the Lower Nile. Her portrait appears in the Temple of Rameses II at Beit-et-Wali where she suckles the pharaoh, suggesting that she is connected with birth and midwifery, but she also demonstrates a malignant aspect as a strangler (see HATHOR). Her sacred animal is the gazelle. Depicted anthropomorphically wearing a turban (modius) with ostrich feathers. Also Anuket (Egyptian).... |
| Goddess name "Balarama (strength of Rama)" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Incarnation of the god VIS'NU. May have originated in Vedic times as an agricultural fertility deity. He is the son of VASUDEVA and DEVAKI, though born from the womb of ROHINI. Jointly with KRSNA (his brother), he is identified as the eighth avatara (incarnation) of Vis'nu, or, with RAMA, as the seventh. Legend describes how Vis'nu impregnated the belly of the goddess Devaki with two hairs, one black, one white. To ensure their safety against a demon king, they were transferred before birth to Rohini. Krsna grew to be dark-skinned, and Balarama light. The latter enjoys similar characteristics to Krsna but fails to attract the same popularity. He is usually depicted on the right side of Krsna, rarely standing alone. The consort of Balarama is REVATI and his sons are Nisatha and Ulmuka. Epithets included Ananda (joy). In Jainism he is known as Baladeva. Attributes: arrow, club, drinking cup, fan palm, honey pot, lotus, pestle, pitcher, plough, prayer wheel, shield and sword.... |
| Goddess name "Candra" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | (1) Planet god. Personified by the moon and also seen as a dikpala or guardian of the northern direction. Consorts include KAUMUDI, TARA and the NAKSATRAS or astral goddesses. His son is BUDHA. He drives in a chariot drawn by ten white horses. Color: white. Attributes: club, lotus, sacred rope and prayer wheel. The term candra usually refers to the cup containing the sacrificial yellow beverage SOMA, often a synonym for the deity. Candra is also the apotheosis of the pale yellow moon disc. 2. Planet god. Buddhist. Attended by a goose. Color: white. Attributes: moon disc on a lotus.... |
| Goddess name "Coyolxauhqui (golden bells)" | Aztec / Mesoamerican / Mexico | Astral goddess. A deification and incarnation (avatara) of the moon. According to tradition she is the half-sister of the Sun god HUITZILOPOCHTLI. The god sprang, fully armed, from his decapitated mother, COATLICUE, and engaged all his enemies who, by inference, are the 400 astral gods, his half-brothers. He slew his sister and hurled her from the top of a mountain. Alternative tradition suggests his sister was an ally whom he was unable to save, so he decapitated her and threw her head into the sky, where she became the moon. She was represented in the Great Temple at Tenochtitlan, where she was depicted in front of successive Huitzilopochtli pyramids. She is also a hearth deity within the group clåśśed as the XIUHTECUHTLI complex.... |
| God name "Dhanvantari (traveling through an arc)" | Hindu / Vedic, Epic / Puranic | Sun god. In later tradition a minor incarnation or avatara of the god VISNU, also closely åśśociated with Medicine. In Vedic mythology Dhanvantari carried the ambrosia created from the primeval ocean of milk. He brought medical science to mankind. Only as the religion evolved did he become identified as an avatara. As KANTATMAN (PRADYUMNA), he is thought to be Kama reincarnated after his death at the hands of SIVA. Various other epithets and existences are attributed to this deity. Offerings are due to him at dusk in the northeastern quarter. He is the guardian deity of hospitals which are usually in the vicinity of a sanctuary of Visnu. Attributes: two bowls containing ambrosia. Also Kantatman.... |
| Deities name "Kalki(n) (with white horse)" | Hindu / Vedic, Epic / Puranic | horse god. Possibly the tenth avatara of VIS'NU. He rewards the good and punishes evil. The counterpart of the Buddhist deity MAITREYA. horses became åśśociated with Divine kingship in ancient India because of their speed of movement. Solar deities were perceived to ride horses across the sky and horse sacrifice became highly significant. Kalki is depicted either anthropomorphically or with the head of a horse and has four arms. He is attended by a white horse. Attributes: arrow, conch, prayer wheel, shield and sword. Also Vis'nuyasas.... |
| Deities name "Krishna" | Indian | The modern deity Krishna is the most celebrated hero of Indian mythology, and the most popular of all the deities. He is said to be the eighth Avatara or incarnation of Vishnu, or rather a direct manifestation of Vishnu himself. This hero, around whom a vast måśś of legend and fable has been gathered, probably lived in the Epic age, when the Hindus had not advanced far beyond their early settlements in the north-west. |
| Goddess name "Ostara" | Germanic | Sun goddess. Associated with the coming of spring and one of the derivations of the term Easter, she equates with the Anglo-Saxon deity EOSTRE.... |
| Demon name "Rama (pleasing)" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Incarnation of the god VIS NU. The seventh avatara (sun aspect) of Vis nu. Rama began as a comparatively minor incarnation who became one of the great heroes of the Ramayana epic, as well as featuring in the Mahabharata. The son of Dasaratha and Kausalya, he was a king of Ayodhya who, in the Ramayana, slew the demon Ravana that had captured his consort SITA and was upheld as a deity par excellence in respect of manhood and honor, though his subsequent treatment of his wife might be regarded as cavalier (see Sita). The Ramayana epic was composed by the poet and sage Valmeeki during the reign of Ramachandra and it gave form to a story that had been in existence for many centuries as an oral tradition. Valmeeki portrayed Rama not as an incarnate deity but as a great mortal hero. The saga is strongly political and serves to unite a vast and fragmented people in a common focus, irrespective of caste and language. It defines the historical schism between the Hindu culture of India and the largely Buddhist tradition of Sri Lanka. Rama rides in a chariot and is depicted in human form with two arms, typically holding a sugar cane bow and with a quiver at his shoulder. Also Ramacandra.... |
| God name "Rsabha (the bull)" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | God. An unusual avatara of VIS'NU. Said to be similar to the Jain deity Rsabhanatha and therefore may represent an attempt to meld the two religions by absorbing Jainism locally.... |
| Supreme god name "Sudrem" | Kafir / Afghanistan | weather god. Little is known of this deity. He was created from the breath of the supreme god IMRA. Alternatively he sprang from a juniper branch. His wife is the goddess NangiWutr and he is the father of the major fertility goddess DISANI. He is depicted as a great golden buck with horns reaching to the sky. As a deity specifically concerned with Rain, he lives in a sacred lake, Sudrem Sur, at which all wild animals must drink once to survive. Also Sujum; Sudaram; Sataram.... |
| Goddess name "Ugratara (violent Tara)" | Hindu / Puranic | Goddess. A terrible deity who carries a cup and a corpse upon her head.... |
| Deity name "Vasya-Tara" | Java | The presiding deity of Candi Kalasan. Java |
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