Sugriva

The son of the Hindu deity Surya in the epic Ramayana and the younger brother of Vali and successor to the throne of Kishkindha. He was instrumental in Rama’s quest to defeat Ravana and rescue Sita from Lanka.

More Definitions

Puranas

A genre of ancient and religious texts written in Sanskrit, Tamil and other languages. The texts are encyclopaedic and cover…

Yoni

It symbolises the goddess Shakti as well as the feminine procreative power within Hindu iconography. The word itself literally translates…

Taleju Bhawani

Mother goddess worshipped in Nepal and India. In Nepal, she has been worshipped since at least the twelfth century CE;…

Purusha

The conception of man according to Hindu philosophy as established in the Vedas and the Upanishads. The purusha is a…

madanika

Celestial figure of a young, beautiful woman in Indian art and mythology, often associated with nature. The Sanskrit term madanika…

Rati

In Hindu mythology, Rati is the goddess of love. She is the consort of Kama, the Hindu deity of love.

Mahavastu Avadana

A text of the Lokottaravada school of early Buddhism, it was written in Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit between the second…

Axis Mundi

A Latin phrase meaning “world axis” and referring to the centre of the earth or the point at which the…