Rama Lord Rama is the seventh and the most popular avataar of Lord Vishnu. He is known as the ideal man and ideal son. The epic Ramayana, which is composed by the great Sage Valmiki has all stories around his life. Lord Rama is shown as a standing figure, holding an arrow in his right hand and a bow in his left hand. His idols are usually accompanied by his wife, Sita Mata and his favourite brother, Lakshman and his favourite devotee, Lord Hanuman. Rama is the son of King Dasharatha and Kaushalya and is from Ayodhya. King Dasharatha had three wives and four children- Rama, Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrugan. While all the four sons were dear to King Dasharatha, Rama was his favourite. Sita, his wife is also known as the ideal wife. Mythological stories say that Lord Shiva had granted a boon to a very powerful demon king Ravana that he will be invincible and cannot die at the hands of Gods. He also had the boon of 10 heads and was the ruler of the Golden Lanka which was an extremely rich land. Hence the Gods went to Lord Brahma to seek a solution from Ravana’s menace. Lord Vishnu himself appeared and said he will take birth as Rama and kill Ravana. Rama was sent to exile by his father, King Dasharatha and stepmother, Kaikeyi for 14 years. He was accompanied by his wife, Sita and his brother, Lakshman. Queen Kaikeyi wanted her son, Bharat to be the King after her husband and hence made the plot. For 14 years, the exile continued in Panchavati which is present day Nashik city in Maharashtra, India. It is also believed that Lakshman did not sleep for all the 14 years of the exile to protect his sister-in-law and brother. He had requested Goddess of sleep, Nindra give him the blessing to stay awake for the 14 years. While the Goddess granted him the boon, she said that someone else had to sleep for these 14 years as a balancing act. Urmila who was Lakshman’s wife readily agreed and slept for these 14 years and sacrificed her life in the precious years. During the exile, Sita was kidnapped by Ravana who wanted to make her his wife. Rama along with his monkey army fought Ravana and his demon army and rescued Sita. After completing his exile, when Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya, he ruled the kingdom and this golden period was called “Ram Rajya”. The festival of Ram Navami is a festival to celebrate the virtues and ideal path of living as demonstrated by Lord Rama. Hindu Mythology Kaali Hindu Mythology Brahma Hindu Mythology Saraswati Hindu Mythology Vishnu Hindu Mythology Lakshmi Hindu Mythology Shiva Hindu Mythology Parvati Hindu Mythology Ganesha Hindu Mythology Durga Hindu Mythology Indra Hindu Mythology Rama Hindu Mythology Sita Hindu Mythology Hanuman Hindu Mythology Krishna Hindu Mythology Buddha Previous Next

Sita Goddess Sita is revered for her purity, dedication and sacrifice. She is Lord Rama’s wife and is considered to be Goddess Lakshmi’s form. She is the adopted daughter of King Janak, who was the ruler of Mithila. Sita is the daughter of Mother Earth. She was found on the land when King Janak was ploughing his field and hence is also called as the daughter of Bhoomi (earth). As a child, Sita was very strong and is said to have lifted the table on which Lord Shiva’s bow was kept. Due to this incident, King Janak had kept a competition during Sita’s Swayamvar (wedding), that Sita would marry only that person who would lift Shiva’s bow. This feat was performed by Prince Rama and hence he was selected as Sita’s lucky groom. The epic Ramayana is not only about the stories of Lord Rama but also called “Sita Charitra” as she is the Lord Rama’s strength. She is known as the ideal daughter, ideal wife and ideal mother to her twins- Luv and Kush. She was Lord Rama’s silent pillar of strength and support especially during his years of exile.   When Lord Rama was banished for 14 years, she voluntarily accompanied her husband and happily wanted to support him in the tough phase of life, despite living a life of luxury. In the forest of Panchavati, where they were staying during the exile, one day, Sita Mata spotted a Golden Deer who was actually the demon called Mareecha, who was Ravana’s uncle. On Sita’s insistence, Rama followed the golden deer deep into the forest and realised it was a ploy only after he killed the deer who then returned to its natural demonic form. Until then, Ravana had very cleverly disguised himself as a Sage and went to ask Sita for alms who innocently crossed the line, Lakshman had drawn to protect Sita from evil. Ravana kidnapped Sita and held her hostage in Ashokavan in Lanka and forced her to marry him. She was kept in captivity for one year, but she did not yield to Ravana’s pressure and continued to love Lord Rama who along-with his monkey army, his loyal devotee Lord Hanuman and Lakshman rescued her. After a huge battle between Rama and Ravana, Rama emerged victorious and rescued Sita. But Sita Mata had to undergo lot of trials by the people after being rescued by Lord Rama from the evil Ravana. She went through Agni Pariksha (trial by fire) and it is because of her courage that she emerged as the final winner. Some myths say that when Sita Mata gave Agni Pariksha, the coals on the fire automatically turned into soft lotus as soon as she stepped on them. This is how she remains the eternal representation of purity and divinity. Hindu Mythology Kaali Hindu Mythology Brahma Hindu Mythology Saraswati Hindu Mythology Vishnu Hindu Mythology Lakshmi Hindu Mythology Shiva Hindu Mythology Parvati Hindu Mythology Ganesha Hindu Mythology Durga Hindu Mythology Indra Hindu Mythology Rama Hindu Mythology Sita Hindu Mythology Hanuman Hindu Mythology Krishna Hindu Mythology Buddha Previous Next

Hanuman Lord Hanuman is the Monkey God renowned for his courage, power, strength, self-discipline and devotion. He is believed to remove all obstacles in life and protects all his devotees. He is half-monkey and half-human. Some say Hanuman was born as the son of the King Kesari who is the King of the monkeys and Queen Anjana, a female Apsara who had been transformed into a monkey by a curse. Both of them performed penance for 12 years and Lord Shiva granted them a child, Hanuman as a boon. Hence it is believed that Lord Hanuman is a reflection of Lord Shiva. He is fondly called Bajarangabali or Maruti by his devotees. Another legend mentions that Lord Hanuman is the son of Anjana and Vayu Dev, the wind god. The myth says that Vayu Dev delivered a sacred pudding to Anjana while she was praying to Lord Shiva, who steered Vayu Dev’s energy to Anjana’s womb. Hence Vayu Dev is known to be Hanuman’s spiritual father and Lord Hanuman is also addressed as Vayuputra (Vayu means wind and putra means son). Lord Hanuman received the ability to fly from Vayu Dev. As a child, Hanuman was very adventurous. One day, he mistook the Sun to be a ripe yellow mango and jumped at it to eat it. On the way, he met Rahu, a planet who was pursuing the Sun for an eclipse, but Lord Hanuman thrashed Rahu so he could eat his mango. Lord Indra saw this and got angry and stuck Hanuman with his thunderbolt. Hanuman fell on the ground in an unconscious state and the thunderbolt damaged his chin permanently. Seeing his son hurt, Vayu Dev got furious and sucked all the air from the Universe making humans, animals, birds to struggle for breath. Lord Indra withdrew his thunderbolt and all the Gods and Goddesses blessed Hanuman with multiple boons. This pacified Vayu Dev and he resumed the Universe to normal life. The thunderbolt is the reason for the round jaws of Lord Hanuman. Lord Hanuman is one of the key characters in the Ramayana and was the greatest devotee of Lord Rama. Once he saw Sita Mata apply vermilion on her forehead. He asked her why she was doing so. Sita Mata replied that she was applying vermilion to ensure a long life for Lord Rama. As soon as he heard this, Lord Hanuman applied the vermilion to his entire body. Lord Rama was pleased with the devotion and love and blessed him that people will fondly call him Bajrangbali (bajrang means orange). In Ramayana, there is one interesting story where Hanuman goes to visit Sita Mata in Lanka and give the good news to her that Lord Rama is coming to Lanka with his army to rescue her. He gets caught by Meghnad who was Ravana’s brave warrior son, while Hanuman was leaving Lanka. Meghnad had to use the powerful Brahmastra weapon to catch Hanuman.  Ravana’s guards bring him to the main hall where Ravana questions him and speaks negative of Lord Rama and Ravana’s younger brother, Vibhishana. The guards then wrapped Lord Hanuman’s tail in cloth and dipped it in oil to light fire to his tail. Using his power, the tail kept growing until all the cloth and oil in Lanka was finished. When the fire was lit, Lord Hanuman kept growing in size and eventually jumped all over Lanka and lit fire everywhere and burnt the streets. While leaving, he mentioned to Ravana that Lord Rama was soon to enter Lanka and kill Ravana. Such was the devotion of Lord Hanuman who was ready to risk his life, but not hear anything negative about his Lord Rama. Lord Hanuman’s Panchmukhi (five faces) avataar is said to be very powerful, representing five directions (east, west, north, south and heaven). The five faces are faces of a lion, eagle, horse, monkey and varaha form. Hindu Mythology Kaali Hindu Mythology Brahma Hindu Mythology Saraswati Hindu Mythology Vishnu Hindu Mythology Lakshmi Hindu Mythology Shiva Hindu Mythology Parvati Hindu Mythology Ganesha Hindu Mythology Durga Hindu Mythology Indra Hindu Mythology Rama Hindu Mythology Sita Hindu Mythology Hanuman Hindu Mythology Krishna Hindu Mythology Buddha Previous Next

Lord Krishna is one of the most powerful incarnations of Vishnu. He is the 8th avataar, and the most popular of all the Vishnu avataars. Lord Krishna is dark and extremely handsome. The word Krishna literally means ‘black’, and black also signifies mysteriousness. He is the God of protection, compassion and love. A peacock feather is an integral part of his crown. There are many portrayals of Lord Krishna. He is mostly depicted as an infant eating butter or a young boy playing the flute or a cowherd enjoying with his friends. He is shown with Radha who is his pure love. He is also shown blowing the conch and also a charioteer giving guidance to Arjun during the Mahabharata war. The birthday of Krishna is called Janmashtami, a special occasion for Hindus that is celebrated around the world. Krishna’s birth has a famous story. Krishna’s parents- Devaki and Vasudeva were imprisoned by the evil Kansa. Kansa was Devaki’s brother who had imprisoned his own father for the throne. According to a prophecy, Kansa came to know that he will be killed by Devaki’s eight son and hence he imprisoned his own sister and brother-in-law. The evil Kansa killed each of Devaki’s six children. When Devaki was pregnant with the seventh child, the fetus was miraculously transferred to another lady called Rohini in Vrindavan. This child was Balaram and was the Supreme Lord’s miracle.  Krishna, the eight child, was born at the stroke of midnight in the jail. As soon as he was born, all the guards fell into deep slumber and the locks opened automatically.  Vasudeva carried baby Krishna in a basket and crossed the flooded Yamuna River where the king serpent Adishesha protected baby Krishna from the torrential rains. This is how baby Krishna was miraculously transferred by his father Vasudeva to Gokul at Yashoda and Nand’s house. When Vasudeva reached Nand’s house, he saw that Yashoda had given birth to a baby girl. He picked the girl and returned to his prison, hoping that Kansa would spare the life of a girl and the prophecy had mentioned that Devaki’s eight son would kill him. But Kansa snatched the baby and attempted to kill by throwing her against the wall. Miraculously, the baby girl transformed to Goddess Durga and informed Kansa that Devaki’s eight son was alive and would soon come to kill him.   Lord Krishna has 108 names. Some of the popular names are Madhav, Gopal, Hari, Kanha, Keshav, Radhe and Achyuta. He rescued 16000 women from the clutches of the demon Narkasura who had kept them captive and later married them to protect their honour. Hindu Mythology Kaali Hindu Mythology Brahma Hindu Mythology Saraswati Hindu Mythology Vishnu Hindu Mythology Lakshmi Hindu Mythology Shiva Hindu Mythology Parvati Hindu Mythology Ganesha Hindu Mythology Durga Hindu Mythology Indra Hindu Mythology Rama Hindu Mythology Sita Hindu Mythology Hanuman Hindu Mythology Krishna Hindu Mythology Buddha Previous Next

Buddha Gautam Buddha or Siddhartha Gautam means ‘the awakened’. He was born in Lumbini, which is now in Nepal, to a royal family.⁠It is believed that Siddhartha Gautam’s mother, Maya Devi conceived him when she dreamt of a white elephant entering her right side. As soon as the prince was born, the holy saints and scholars predicted that he would be a great religious teacher. Hence his father kept him away from the real world to prevent him from becoming an ascetic. Prince Gautam grew up in luxury, not aware of the harsh world outside his palace, until one day, in the streets of Kapilavastu, he encountered a sick man, an old man and a dead man. This is when he realised the real world is different from his world and understood more details from his charioteer. When he returned to his palace, he had made his mind up and that night, he left the palace in search for answers to life’s realities and became a sage. He attained salvation in Bodh Gaya, India. He quit all the worldly pleasures as a prince to lead the life as a monk. He left his wife Yashodhara and his son Rahul in the palace as he did not want them to go through any hardship. It is believed that Yashodhra continued to stay in the palace but lived a lifestyle of a monk and living modestly. It is said that for six years, Lord Buddha along-with his five companions searched for the true meaning of life. His first sermon was at Sarnath. After some years, he was alone in his quest for truth until he attained enlightenment under a Bodhi tree. Lord Buddha founded Buddhism which says that human cycle is a continuous cycle of suffering and birth and only by achieving Nirvana (enlightenment) can one escape this cycle. It believes in the law of Karma. The Jataka stories have the most relevant stories of Buddhist preachings. The Buddha avataar is also said to be one of the Dashaavataars of Lord Vishnu in some mythological texts. Lord Buddha talked of the four truths which was called Arya Satya. This avataar promoted non-violence and was against sacrificing animals in Yagnas.    Hindu Mythology Kaali Hindu Mythology Brahma Hindu Mythology Saraswati Hindu Mythology Vishnu Hindu Mythology Lakshmi Hindu Mythology Shiva Hindu Mythology Parvati Hindu Mythology Ganesha Hindu Mythology Durga Hindu Mythology Indra Hindu Mythology Rama Hindu Mythology Sita Hindu Mythology Hanuman Hindu Mythology Krishna Hindu Mythology Buddha Previous Next