Religious deities

An overview of the deities of the Chola (not complete).

Aditi

Daughter of Daksha and mother of the Aditya’s and thus also of Vishnu. She is a mother, earth and sky goddess.

Agni

A Vedic deity; god of (the sacrificial) fire. Forms the Vedic triad of gods with Indra and Vayu.

Alingana Chandrasekhara

Shiva as Chandrasekhara; Embracing Uma.

Ananta-Shesha

Shesha ‘the abiding one, the rest’, who carries the earth, another word is Ananta ‘the infinite one’, the serpent lying on the water, on which Vishnu in his form as Narayan rests in cosmic sleep. See Vasuki.

Andhaka

Demon of darkness who was blind but believed he had sight; embodiment of spiritual blindness, sometimes identified as wayward son of Shiva, slain by Shiva with his trident.

Ardhanari

Shiva as Half-Woman, Half-Man

Aruna

God of the dawn and in some stories charioteer of the sun god Surya, in others a manifestation of Surya himself. Aruna is the son of Kashyapa and Vinata and brother of Garuda.

Bhadrakali

Probably a nature goddess adapted by Shivas into a sometimes wrathful form of Durga who bestows boons on children in return for sacrifice.

Bhairava

‘The horrible’ – fierce (ugraha) or destructive (samhara) incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva.

Bharata

Younger brother of Rama. Son of Kaikeyi.

Bhikshatana

‘Lord as Beggar’ – Shiva taking the form of a wandering ascetic in atonement for cutting of one of god Brahma‘s five heads.

Bhu

The goddess Earth.

Bhu Devi

Earth Goddess, personification of the earth and one of two consorts of Vishnu.

Bhu Lakshmi

Earth Lakshmi, consort of Vishnu.

Bhu Varaha

see description of Varaha

Brahma

A major god in Hinduism, responsible for the creation of the earth.

Chamunda

Chamunda is the fear-inspiring aspect of Devi or Mahadevi and is closely associated with the goddesses Kali, Durga but also with the benevolent Parvati. She helped Shiva in his battle against the demon Andhaka.

Andhaka had the power to create new demons from his blood dripping down to earth.

Chamunda drank Andhaka’s blood, which turned her body a blood-red colour.

Chandrasekhara

‘Lord Crowned with the Moon’ – benign form of Shiva, smiling and with crescent moon prominently displayed in his hair.

Dakini

She is a spirit being in the mythology of Tantra in Hinduism and Buddhism who brings the souls of the dead to heaven.

The Dakinis in Tibetan Buddhism are female beings with a very changeable, sometimes wild temperament. They can appear as peaceful, wrathful and mixed peaceful-wrathful figures.

Daksha

Goat-headed son of Brahma, killed and revived by Shiva. Father of Sati, Vinata, Aditi, Diti, Kadru and more.

Dakshinamurti

Shiva as great teacher.

Danu

Daughter of Daksha and mother of the demonic Danava’s, who belong to the Asura’s.

Devi

Goddess who is worshipped in many form, but principally associated with Shiva as Durga or Bhadrakali.

Diti

Daughter of Daksha and mother of the giant, titanic Daitya’s, who belong to the Asura’s.

Durga

‘Impassable One’ – the great goddess as warrior, destroyer of demon forces; composite of many local deities who assumed prominence as war-like expression of Uma–Parvati‘s personally.

Ganesha

‘Lord of the ganas’ – elephant-headed elder son of Shiva and Parvati (Uma), venerated as remover of obstacles and god of wisdom; lord of the ganas.

Ganga

The river Ganga (Ganges) personified as a goddess.

Garuda

Mythical eagle, typically represented as half-bird, half-human, who serves as Vishnu‘s mount (vahana).

Hanuman

Monkey chief and ally of Rama, son of the wind god Vayu, and subject of cult following for his martial prowess and loyal friendship.

Hara Vijaya

The missing information will be added soon.

Indra

A Vedic deity; god of war, rain. Forms the Vedic triad of gods with Agni and Vayu.

Jyestha

Jyestha is the goddess of misfortune and embodies all that is inauspicious. As the embodiment of illness and poverty, she is worshipped to prevent such misfortune.

In the south, a major cult developed, as witnessed by her depiction at the early eighth-century Pallava-period Kailashanatha temple in Kanchipuram. Her cult appears to have waned in the post-medieval era.

Kadru

Daughter of Daksha. She embodies the earth in contrast to Vinata, who stands for heaven. Kadru gave birth to a multitude of eggs from which hatched the various types of serpent-shaped Nagas, the Kadraveya.

Kaikeyi

She embodies the earth in contrast to Vinata, who stands for heaven.

Kali

Name of the great goddess in her fearsome aspect; the black one; power of time.

Kaliya

Five-headed demon-snake who terrorised villagers along River Yamuna (Jumna) but was subdued by Krishna.

Kalyanasundarar

Shiva as bridegroom with bride Uma.

Kartikeya

Younger son of Shiva and Parvati (Uma); also known by various other names, including Kumara, Skanda and Subrahmanya.

Kashyapa

One of the seven sages (saptarishi) in Hinduism. Father of many mythical beings: through Diti he is the father of the Daitya’s, with Danu he fathered the Danava’s, with Kadru the Nagas, with Vinata Garuda and Aruna.

According to some sources, through Aditi he is the father of the Aditya’s and thus also of the gods and humans.

Kaushalya

Mother of Rama.

Krishna

Worshipped as avatar of Vishnu, especially at his birth place near Mathura, originating as local pastoral deity and identified as hero of Mahabharata epic and expounder of Bhagavad Gita.

Kumara

‘young one’, used also for Skanda, younger son of Shiva and Parvati (Uma).

Lokeshvara

Lord of the world.

Lakshmana

Younger brother of Rama. Son of Sumitra. Incarnation of Ananta-Shesha, the thousand-headed Naga.

Lakshmi or Sri Lakshmi or Sri

Goddess of motherhood and fertility; regarded in early times as personification of the earth (Bhu Lakshmi) and later as goddess of wealth and fortune, riches and beauty, consort of Vishnu.

Lokeshvara

Lord of the world.

Mahadeva

‘The Great God’ – form of Shiva, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism.

Mahesha

A form of Shiva who manifests himself in three stages, moving from the abstract to the concrete – symbolised by the unadorned linga (shaft), the linga with one or more faces protruding from it, and finally Mahesha.

Naga/Nagi

Serpent creature or a serpent deity with a complete serpent form, as a human with a serpent head or with a human body ending in a serpent form. The archenemy of the Nagas is Garuda, the companion animal of Vishnu.

Nandi

‘joyful’ – calf-bull associated with Shiva form from earliest period, when he was probably also understood as a form of Shiva; later seen as Shivas mount but still worshipped in own right.

Narashimha

‘Man-lion’ – fourth appearance of Vishnu in wrathful half-man, half-lion form, to overcome tyranny of the demon ruler Hiranyakashipu.

Narayan

It encompasses the entire universe, both in the physical and metaphysical sense. Narayana is often interpreted as ‘the place that houses man’ or ‘the one that is the path for all beings’.

Nataraja

‘Lord of Dance’ – Shiva as cosmological dancer, typically represented in ananda-tandava posture; particularly associated with Chidambaram temple. (Adavallan, Tamil term for Dancing Shiva)

Nilakantha/Srikantha

‘Lord of the Auspicious Neck’ – Shiva as drinker of poison from the primordial ocean that threatened to destroy the universe.

Parameshvari

An aspect of Devi as Uma–Parvati.

Parvati

Wife of Shiva, connected with mountain tribes of Himalayas; referred to as Uma in south India, where she is said to be sister of Vishnu; gracious, friendly and maternal fertility deity.

Pashupati

The missing information will be added soon.

Rama

Seventh avatar of Vishnu, who appeared as king of Ayodhya to counter threat to world order posed by demon Ravana, as recounted in the Ramayana epic. Son of Kaushalya.

Ravana

Ten-headed demon king of Lanka (Sri Lanka) and Rama‘s main adversary in the Ramayana epic.

Rishabhavahana

Shiva with his bull vehicle.

Rudra

The missing information will be added soon.

Rukmini

‘wearer of golden ornaments’ – Krishna‘s senior queen, daughter of king of Kundinapura.

Sarasvati

The missing information will be added soon.

Sati

Daughter of Daksha and first wife of Shiva.

Shankara

The missing information will be added soon.

Shatrughna

Twin brother of Lakshmana and Son of Sumitra. Younger brother of Rama.

Shiva (Aran)

‘Auspicious One’ – complex, many-faced deity, creator and destroyer, both auspicious and dangerous; along with Vishnu and Devi, principal cult deity of Hindu India. Major Hindu deity, who holds battle ax and trident, carries the crescent moon in his locks, and whose vehicle is the bull.

Sita

Wife of Rama and heroine of the Ramayana epic. Older sister of Urmila

Skanda

Younger son of Shiva and Parvati (Uma); also known by various other names, including Kumara, Kartikeya and Subrahmanya.

Somanatha

The missing information will be added soon.

Somaskanda

Shiva with Uma and infant Skanda (sa-uma-skanda).

Subrahmanya

Younger son of Shiva and Parvati (Uma); also known by various other names, including Kumara, Kartikeya and Skanda.

Sumitra

Mother of Lakshmana and his twin brother Shatrughna.

Surya/Aditya

God of sun. (Aditya, another name of Surya)

Tripura Sundari

Uma as Beauty of the Three Cities/Forts, as consort of Tripura Vijaya.

Tripura Vijaya

‘Victor of the Three Cities’ – Shiva as destroyer of three powerful demons and their three cities, shown with the arrow that he used to slay them.

Uma

Mother aspect of Parvati and preferred terms for this goddess in south India. Consort of Shiva; known in north India as Parvati.

Urmila

Wife of Lakshmana and younger sister of Sita

Varaha

Third avatar of Vishnu as giant boar who rescued the Earth Goddess from waters of the cosmic ocean, also known as Bhu Varaha.

Vasuki

King of the snakes (Nagas). Vasuki is also an attribute of Shiva, around whose neck it is depicted hanging.

Vayu

A Vedic deity; god of wind, air and the breath of life and its personification. Forms the Vedic triad of gods with Agni and Indra. His son is Hanuman.

Vinata

She is the daughter of Daksha, wife of Kashyapa and mother of Aruna and of Garuda.

Vishnu (Ayan)

Major Hindu god with many avatars, his principal forms being Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narashimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kali. He holds conch shell and discus and whose vehicle is the divine eagle Garuda.

Vishwanatha

The missing information will be added soon.

Vrishabhavana

Shiva as ‘Rider of the Bull’ shown with his mount, Nandi, sometimes accompanied by Uma–Parvati.

Yama

God of death.