Matanga

In Jaina religious art, a yaksha (nature spirit) who is an attendant of Mahavira, the twenty-fourth Tirthankara. His iconographical attributes include an elephant, which is his vahana or mount.

More Definitions

Bharthari

Also known as Jogi Sant Bharthari, he is a popular king from the folk legends of northern and central India.…

Vaishnavism

A major Hindu tradition which worships Vishnu and his ten avatars (dashavatara). Early forms of Vaishnava worship emerged from later…

Mahasiddha

A term used in Tibetan and Tantric Buddhism for someone who embodied the perfect siddhi (psychic or supernatural abilities) through…

Devadushya

Meaning “divine cloth” in Sanskrit, it is an upper body garment. In Jainism, it is believed that the deity Indra…

Tantra

Heterodox spiritual doctrine and body of knowledge that originated around the sixth and seventh centuries CE in the Indian subcontinent,…

Vedas

A body of religious texts composed in Sanskrit and considered the oldest scriptures in Hinduism. There are four primary texts…

Hamsa

An aquatic migratory bird associated with geese or swans in Sanskrit literature, and the mount of the Hindu goddess Saraswati.…

Amoghasiddhi

Within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism, Amoghasiddhi is one of the five Dhyani Buddhas and presides over the…