Love2tellU

Maharishi Bhrigu was a son of Prajapati Brahma (Manas-putra or mind-born child). As per the Hindu religious sources, Bhrigu brought fire (Agni) to humans from the gods. His name is mentioned in Rig-Veda with veneration, and his descendants are known as Bhargavas. Maharishi Bhrigu had three wives: Khyati, Puloma, and Kavyamata. Rishi Chavana was the son of mata Puloma, Dhata and Vidhata were two sons of mata Khyati, and Sukracharya was the son of Kavyamata (or Usanas).  Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash M any, many years ago, a Maha Yagna (religious ritual) was being held on the bank of the Saraswati river. There was a large gathering of all the great sages, and they started an argument about who was the greatest among the Tri-devas, or Trimurti (Trinity). As there was no consent, Rishi Bhrigu was imposed with the task of finding out the answer.  Another version of the same story states that Rishi Bhrigu achieved divine power through many years of austerity, meditation, and introspe

Mention of Dadhichi can be traced to different ancient religious sources, including the Rig Veda, Bhagavata Puran, Shiva Puran, etc. There is a community of Dahima or Dadhich Brahmins in Rajasthan who claim to have been descended from Dadhichi, and their deity is Devi Dadhimati, who was the sister of Dadhichi.  Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash D adhichi, or Dadhyancha, was a wise and resourceful sage of ancient times. His name is mentioned in the Rig Veda with veneration. His father was Rishi Atharvan, and his mother was Chiti (daughter of a great sage, Rishi Kardam). Pippalada, son of Dadhichi, was another great sage and the originator of the Prashna Upanishad. Dadhichi was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. His ashram (a place for meditation, worship, and theological learning) was at Misrikh in Naimisharanya (now in Uttar Pradesh, India). [According to some other sources, it was Dudheshwara, on the bank of the Sabarmati river.] Dadhichi had the ancient vedic knowledge of  Madhuvid

Garuda deva is the mount of Lord Vishnu. The mention of Garuda is found in all the major Hindu mythological texts. Presence of Garuda is very much evident in Hindu and Buddhist sculptures from India, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal and Bali. Garuda Pancasila is t he National Emblem or Coat of Arms of Indonesia .  Image by   mssrusso0  from  Pixabay   O nce upon a time, there was a great sage, Maharishi Kashyapa. He had two wives, Kadru and Vinata. Although they were sisters, they were extremely jealous of each other. One day, the sage thought to fulfil their wish of having children. Kadru asked for a thousand powerful sons, while, Vinata asked for only two sons who would be more powerful than the thousand sons of Kadru. Kashyapa gave Kadru a thousand eggs from which a thousand Nagas (snakes) were born. Vinata got only two eggs and she kept the eggs in a safe warm place under constant observation. More than five hundred years had passed, but nothing came out of the eggs. Being impatient, V

The origin of this puranic tale can be traced to the Indian epic Mahabharata, and there are some places in south India, which may have some connection with the story. Lomosa muni narrated the story of Illava and Vatapi to Yudhisthir during their conversation in exile. According to the local tradition, it is believed that Badami (earlier name was Vatapi), the capital of the Chalukya dynasty, was the territory of those two demon brothers (in Karanataka). In Vilivakkam (Tamilnadu), there is a temple of Lord Shiva known as Agastheeswarar Temple. It is said that sage Agasthya killed two asura brothers Vilvalan and Vatapi in Vilivakkam (earlier name was Vilva aranyam) and then worshipped Lord Shiva to cleanse himself of the sin of blood spilling (Brahmmahati dosa).  The event of destroying the asuras by the sage Agasthya is celebrated every year on Vaikasi Brahmmotsavam at Vilivakkam.  There is another village, Arthamuru, in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Local people believe

There are multiple versions of this story. I do not know which was the actual one and when or where it originated. But this is one of the many stories that I heard from my grandmother and one of the very few that I can still remember clearly. Hence, I am narrating the same story that I heard from my grandma many years back. Image by  Anna Sulencka  from  Pixabay Once upon a time, there was a small kingdom in the northern part of India,  known as Champak Nagar. Champak Nagar was ruled by a benevolent ruler who was wise and brave. He ruled for many years and grew old. One day, he thought that the time had come to choose the next king.  The old king had three sons. So he decided to talk to all of his sons to find out which one was the worthiest among them. First, he called his elder son and conversed with him for hours. He talked about literature, history, politics, geography, battle strategies, and ethics. The king was utterly disappointed as his elder son was very lazy and used to spend

You can find the story of Bhasmasura in the Bhagvat Puran. But, another version of the same story exist in the Ganesh Puran as well. Image by   Tanuj Handa  from  Pixabay Many many years ago, there was an asura (demon) whose name was Vrik. He was not only very strong, but also very ambitious. One day, Narada muni was going somewhere when he came across Vrikasura on his way. Praising Vrikasura for his strength, Narada muni told him to worship any of the the tridevas for boon to fulfil his dream of winning over the three lokas (swarga, martya and patal). Vrik loved the idea a lot and decided to worship Lord Shiva as it was comparatively easy to please him.  So, he went to Kedarnath and started tapasya (worship) to please Shiva. He observed severe penance for many days without any result. Hence he decided to follow a harsh way to satisfy the great Lord. He started to cut his own body parts one by one in the name of Shiva. At last, when he was about to cut his head, Shiva appeared in front

The story of Chand Saudagar and Devi Manasa is very popular in West Bengal (a state of India) and Bangladesh. The story is well known as 'Manasa Mangal Kavya' or 'Padma Puran'. Although the story was based on Hindu mythological characters, it was probably a folk tale initially. It was written (in the form of a long poem) in the fourteenth to eighteenth centuries. There are many versions of the story, written by different poets/authors like Kana Haridas, Bipradas Pipilai, Bijoy Gupta, Ketakadas Kshemananda, etc. According to the scholars, Devi Manasa was an indigenous snake goddess who later was glorified to be included in the pantheon of Hindu deities.    Image by  WikiImages  from  Pixabay D evi Manasa, the daughter of Lord Shiva, is worshipped as the goddess of the snakes throughout Eastern India and is known as 'Bisahari' (one who can cure all the poisons in the world).  She lost one of her eyes during a quarrel and hand-to-hand fight with her stepmother, D

The main literary source of the the story of creation are Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, two eighth century compendium of Japanese (Shinto) mythological stories and folk tales. Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan. There are eight million Kamis (god or spirit) as per the Shinto religion.  Image by  peaksignal  from  Pixabay The Universe was in a state of silent chaos at the beginning. Then the movement of particles began and a shapeless cloud was formed. Three primal gods were born spontaneously at the time of creation of the Universe and they were known as Zokasanshin or creator gods. They were Ame-no-minakanushi, Takamimusubi and Kamimusubi. Later, two other gods were born, they were Umashiashikabihikoji and Ame-no-tokotachi. All of these five gods emerged on their own and they were altogether known as Kotomatsukami.  Slowly the cloud began to take a proper shape. Light moved to the top of the universe. The clear and lighter part of the cloud formed the next layer, named as Takamagaha

Lord Ayyappa is worshipped mainly in the southern part of India (particularly in the states of Kerala and Tamilnadu). As the legend goes, Lord Ayyappa liberated the gods from the demoness Mahisa in Kali Yog. Mention of Ayyappa Swamy or Sastha is found in Skanda Puran. Photo by Manyu Varma on Unsplash In a fierce battle, Mahisasur, the demon king, was slain by Devi Durga. This was a devastating loss for the asuras. Mahisa, the sister of Mahisasur, decided to take revenge for her brother's demise, and she started severe penance to please Lord Brahma for the boon.  Her austerity continued for ages till Brahma became compelled to appear in front of her to fulfil her wish. She pleaded that she should only be slain by the son of two men. She asked for the blessing of immortality in disguise, as it was impossible by nature's law for any two men to give birth to a child. Brahma fulfilled her wish without realising the after-effects. Mahisa, being virtually invincible, started a never-