Names, Places, Events, Things: Ruminations and Essays on Hindu Mythology

While the world is under siege, and peering into an abyss of uncertainty; and while I am, like most of us, working on finishing a whole lot of backlog activities pending for ages (now that we have some time at hand); I also decided to come back to some of the activities that are quite dear to me but for which I usually find precious little time. Right on top of these is the act of storytelling, and so here we are, with one more story post on this blog after a really, really long hiatus. The day of Mahashivratri for this year has just passed a couple of weeks ago, an occasion which is celebrated in Nepal and India and some neighboring countries with a lot of fanfare. I managed to see the crowds gathering at Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu for the festival this year, and the scale of festivities is like on other in that little hill nation. This post is about the reasons of celebrating Mahashivratri , and the myths surrounding them. We will leave the metaphysical aspects o...

Yama and Yami ---------------------- Yama is the Hindu God of Death - Mrityu . But unlike other cultures, religions etc. it is interesting that he has precious little in the overall mind-scape of a religious Hindu. The apathy is intriguing. He is not worshiped, which may be understood at some level. But he is not even feared or dreaded - unlike other cultures where Death has a great deal to do with the doctrine of fear or retribution. Yama is not an object of terror. Now how is that? There are hardly any temples of Yama - except a few in South India. At least you don't find one in the famous teerthas or clusters of temples. There are no specific rituals, or pujas assigned to him. Apart from Vata-Savitri that is usually followed in Maharashtra and South India, Yama does not come in the top-of-mind recall in terms of deities. And all this, in spite of his prominent role in the epic Mahabharata. Not only is the main protagonist - Yudhishthira Dharmaraja - Yama's son, th...

6. Markandeya – Markandeya is an ancient rishi (sage) from the Hindu tradition, born in the clan of Brigu Rishi . He is celebrated as a devotee of both Shiva and Vishnu and is mentioned in a number of stories from the Puranas. He is known to be of great mental prowess and an exemplary narrator of stories (Markandeya Purana). His mention also appears in Mahabharata, where he meets the exiled Pandavas in forest and reduces their burden by telling them stories of earlier kings and gods and demons. One legend relates the story of how Shiva protected Markandeya from the clutches of death (Yama) and how he became a Chiranjeevi: It is said that Sage Mrikandu and his wife Marudmati worshipped Shiva and sought from him the boon of begetting a son. As a result they were given the choice of either a gifted son, but with a short life on earth or a child of low intelligence but with a long life. Mrikandu chose the former, and was blessed with Markandeya , an exemplary son, destined to die at ...