Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
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Goddess name "Nirrti (destruction)" | Hindu / Vedic / Puranic | (1) Destructive goddess of darkness. Known chiefly from the Rg-veda, Nirrti has a generally malignant aspect and is åśśociated with pain, misfortune and death. She is believed to live in the south (the land of the dead). She is dark-skinned, wears dark dress and receives the dark husks of sacrifice. She is feared by many Hindus, whose offerings are frequent and repeated. In later Hinduism, Nirrti changes sex and becomes a dikpala god of terrifying appearance, guarding the southwestern quarter; he has various consorts including Davi, Kalika and Krsnangi. He stands upon a lion, a man or a corpse. Attributes: javelin, shield, staff, sword and teeth.(2) God. Buddhist. A dikpala or guardian. Color: blue. Stands upon a corpse. Attributes: shield and sword.... |
Goddess name "Padma (lotus)" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | (1) Snake god. One of a group of seven MAHANAGAS. Attributes: rosary and water jar. Three-eyed.(2) Goddess. An incarnation of LAKSMI, the consort of an avatara of VIS NU. She is depicted as emanating from the padma or lotus (Nelumbium speciosum) which is the symbol of creation and one of the most important iconographic devices in Hinduism. Also KAMALA.... |
Goddess name "Pansahi Mata" | Hindu | Mother goddess. A SAKTI and one of seven SAPTAMATARAS (mothers) who in later Hinduism became regarded as of evil intent, inflicting sickness on children under the age of seven. Particularly known from Bengal.... |
God name "Parjanya (rain giver)" | Hindu / Vedic | God of Rain. Became replaced by, or syncretized with, INDRA in later Hinduism, but in the Vedas he is seen as a god of gentle, fructifying Rain. May be regarded as an ADITYA.... |
Goddess name "Phul Mata" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Mother goddess. A SAKTI who in later Hinduism became one of the SAPTAMATARAS regarded as of evil intent, inflicting sickness on children under seven years old. Particularly known from Bengal.... |
God name "Prajapati (lord of creatures)" | Hindu / Vedic, Epic / Puranic | Primordial being. In the Vedic legends he is described variously as the creator of the world and the creator of heaven and earth. He is an androgynous being who impregnated himself by fusing elements of mind and speech. In later epics he is the guardian deity of the sexual organ. Prajapati is also a name of the god BRAHMA in later Hinduism.... |
God name "Prthu (broad)" | Hindu / Vedic | Creator god. The head of the solar pantheon who introduced Agriculture to the human race and who, in later Hinduism, is identified as an avatara of VIS'NU.... |
God name "Purusa" | Hindu / Vedic | Primeval creator god. Described as the primordial being from whom the cosmos was formed, possibly the male component of the great mother, MATA. In later Hinduism regarded as an avatara of VIS'NU.... |
Goddess name "Saraswati" | Hinduism | The first of the three prominent goddesses of Hinduism, the other two being Lakshmi and Durga. Saraswati is the consort of Lord Brahma, the creator. |
Goddess name "Sitala(mata) (possibly meaning mother cold')" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Mother goddess. One of seven SAKTIS who in later Hinduism became regarded as of evil intent, inflicting sickness. Particularly known from Bengal where she may be identified with the goddess KALI. Usually standing naked upon a lotus or riding an åśś. Alternatively symbolized by a stone on which a face is painted. Attribute: waterjar.... |
Deities name "Soma (essence)" | Hindu / Vedic, Epic / Puranic | Minor god. The deification of the sacred yellow drink soma. Also the consort of SURYA. Regarded in later Hinduism as the dikpala of the northern direction and as one of a group of VASU deities answering to the god INDRA. Attributes: hook, lotus and prayer wheel.See also CANDRA.... |
God name "Tirumal (the excellent black one)" | Early Dravidian / Tamil | Creator god. Thought to reside in trees and equating with VISNU. In later Hinduism used as an epithet of Vis nu.... |
Deities name "Trayastrinsa (the thirty-three)" | Hindu / Vedic | Collective name for the group of deva gods. One of the many lists of deities in Hinduism, this one is contained in the Rg Veda and includes thirty-three names divided into three groups of eleven in each of the three worlds. Subsequently, the DEVAS were separated into eight VASUS, twelve ADITYAS, eleven RUDRAS and two ASVINS. In later Hinduism the number thirty-three is increased hyperbolically to 330 million and deva refers to gods excluding the major triad of BRAHMA, V ISNU and SIVA.... |
God name "Triglav" | Slavic | A god or complex of gods similar in nature to the Trinity in Christianity or Trimurti in Hinduism. Slavic |
Goddess name "Tripura (lady of the three cities)" | Hindu / Jain | Mother goddess. In Jainism regarded as one of the ASTAMATARAS. In Hinduism the SAKTI of Tripurantaka, an ugra (terrible) representation of the god SIVA, alternatively a form of the goddess PARVATI. The three cities are the cities of gold, silver and iron, one in heaven, one in the air and one on earth, which Siva destroyed in his form as Tripurantaka. Tripura is depicted attended by vultures. Attributes: Book, hook, noose and rosary.... |
Goddess name "Usas" | Hindu / Vedic | Goddess of the dawn. The daughter of Dyaus and, according to some texts, the consort of the Sun god SURYA. An auspicious deity, Usas brings the dawn, heralding Surya, and drives away darkness. She is the all-seeing eye of the gods. In the Rg Veda she is depicted as a beautiful young virginal figure who rides in a hundred chariots. She sets all things in motion and can render strength and fame to her devotees. In addition to being perceived as a sky goddess, she is also drawn as a mother goddess in the guise of a cow. Epithets include mother of the gods and mother of cows. She is invoked to give the boon of longevity, but a more malignant aspect reveals her as a huntress who wastes human life. Usas sometimes enjoys a domestic worship as a guardian hearth goddess who drives away darkness and evil spirits. She disappears, however, from the later traditions of Hinduism.... |
Goddess name "Vaisnavi" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Mother goddess. A SAKTI of V IS NU, also regarded as a form of LAKSMI. In later Hinduism she became one of a group of MATARAS regarded as of evil intent. Also one of a group of eight ASTAMATARAS. In another grouping one of nine NAVASAKTIS who, in southern India, rank higher than the SAPTAMATARAS. Her vehicle is the hybrid beast GARUDA. Attributes: child, club, conch, lotus and prayer wheel.... |
"Vamana" | Hinduism | A personality described in the Puranic texts of Hinduism as the Fifth Avatara of Vishnu, and the first incarnation of the Second Age, or Treta yuga. Also he is the first Avatar of Vishnu which appears with a completely human form, though it was that of a dwarf brahmin. He is also sometimes known as Upendra. |