100 Fun Facts About Hindu Mythology

Which avatar of Vishnu slew Hiranyakashipu, whom neither man nor beast could kill, by day or night?

Narasimha, half man and half lion, struck at twilight on a palace threshold, tearing Hiranyakashipu apart with his claws on his lap so that no clause of the demon's boon was broken.

Which god took down the Mahabharata as Vyasa dictated it, on condition that the sage never paused?

Ganesha set that condition, and Vyasa answered with one of his own: write nothing you don't understand. The sage then composed knotty verses whenever he needed a rest.

Which asura, beheaded mid-sip of the gods' nectar of immortality, swallows the sun in eclipses?

Rahu's severed head lived on because the nectar had already passed his lips, and each eclipse is his recurring revenge on the sun and moon, who had informed on him.

In the popular telling, which brother of Ravana, tongue-tied as he asked a boon, wished for sleep by mistake?

Kumbhakarna, in that telling, meant to ask for Indrasana, the throne of Indra, and said Nidrasana, a bed for sleeping; the boon was later eased to six months of sleep at a time.

Which demoness, believing herself safe from fire, burned on a pyre while her nephew Prahlada survived on her lap?

Holika's death is re-enacted in the bonfires lit on the eve of Holi, the spring festival of colours, celebrating the victory of Prahlada's devotion over his father Hiranyakashipu.

Which great Hindu god has hardly any temples in India, the most famous being at Pushkar, Rajasthan?

Brahma, the creator in the Trimurti, is said in one legend to have been cursed by his own wife to be worshipped only at Pushkar, after he began a fire rite there with another bride in her place.

Which prophesied avatar of Vishnu rides a white horse with a fiery sword to end the current age?

Kalki's horse is named Devadatta, and his coming is said to close the Kali Yuga and restart the cycle with the Satya Yuga, an age of truth.

Which avatar of Vishnu warned Manu of a coming flood and towed his boat by its horn to safety?

Matsya first appeared as a tiny fish in Manu's cupped hands, and he moved it from a water jar to ever larger waters and finally the sea as it grew.

Which Mahabharata patriarch, able to choose his own hour of death, lay for weeks on a bed of arrows?

Bhishma earned that boon from his father Shantanu by vowing lifelong celibacy so the king could remarry, and he waited on the arrows until the winter solstice to die.

Who refused to enter heaven without the stray dog that had followed him up the Himalayas?

Yudhishthira's dog was his father, the god Dharma, in disguise; the refusal was the second of three tests, and in the last he chose hell with his brothers over heaven beside his cousin Duryodhana.

Which uprooted mountain served as the rod when gods and asuras churned the ocean of milk for nectar?

Mount Mandara was so heavy it sank to the ocean floor, so Vishnu became the tortoise Kurma and propped it on his back while the serpent Vasuki served as the rope.

Which female form of Vishnu tricked the asuras into surrendering the nectar of immortality?

Mohini later captivated Shiva himself, and their union is said to have produced the god Shasta; she also tricked the ash-demon Bhasmasura into destroying himself.

Which goddess rose from the ocean of milk as gods and asuras churned it for the nectar of immortality?

Lakshmi chose Vishnu as her consort as soon as she rose, and is held to follow him in each descent to earth, as Sita beside Rama and as Rukmini beside Krishna.

Which divine bird stole the amrita from Indra's heaven to free his mother Vinata from slavery?

Garuda's mother had lost a rigged bet to her co-wife Kadru, mother of the serpents, who named the amrita as her ransom; Vishnu then asked the victorious bird to be his mount.

Whose stone image sits facing the main shrine in nearly every Shiva temple?

Nandi, the bull, is not always shown as a bull: as Shiva's gatekeeper and chief attendant he also appears in human form, three-eyed and four-armed like the god himself.

Which white elephant, king of his kind, carries the storm god Indra into battle?

Airavata once threw to the ground a garland the sage Durvasa had presented to Indra, a slight whose curse robbed the gods of their vigour and forced the churning of the ocean.

Which six-headed war god, raised by six nursemaids and fused into one by Parvati, rides a peacock?

Kartikeya's name means 'of the Krittikas', and his peacock mount and the rooster on his banner are said to be the two halves of a demon-turned-mango-tree he split with his spear.

Which autumn festival marks Rama's return to Ayodhya with Sita after fourteen years of exile?

Diwali is marked in northern India with rows of clay lamps for Rama's homecoming, while much of the south instead celebrates Krishna's defeat of the demon Narakasura.

What did King Vishvamitra try to seize from the sage Vasishtha, only to be routed by its army?

Kamadhenu, the cow of plenty, brought forth whole armies that crushed Vishvamitra's troops, a humiliation that drove the king to give up his throne and become a sage himself.

Which sage drank up the ocean to expose demons hiding in it and stopped the Vindhya range growing?

Agastya drained the sea so the gods could reach the demons hiding in it, and asked the Vindhyas to stay low until he came back from the south; he never returned.

Which queen of Ayodhya used two old boons from King Dasharatha to demand Rama's exile to the forest?

Kaikeyi had earned the boons years earlier on a battlefield where she accompanied Dasharatha against the asuras, and her hunchbacked nurse Manthara talked her into cashing them in.

Which rakshasa took the form of a golden deer with silver spots to lure Rama away from Sita?

Maricha, dying from Rama's arrow, cried out in Rama's own voice so that Sita would send Lakshmana after him, leaving her alone for Ravana to seize.

Who lost her nose to Lakshmana's blade after lunging at Sita in the forest?

Shurpanakha, Ravana's sister, had first proposed marriage to Rama; her humiliation sent Ravana after Sita, the spark for the whole war of the Ramayana.

Which part of Hanuman did Ravana's guards wrap in oil-soaked cloth and set alight in Lanka?

His tail, in a popular telling, grew longer each time more cloth was added; once it was lit, Hanuman leapt from roof to roof and set Lanka itself ablaze.

Which bow of Shiva did Rama break to win Sita's hand at her svayamvara in the court of King Janaka?

Pinaka was so heavy that no other suitor could even lift it, let alone string it; Rama drew the string so taut that the great bow snapped in two.

Which flying chariot did Ravana steal from his half-brother Kubera, and Rama later fly home in?

Pushpaka was built by the divine architect Vishvakarma and seized along with Lanka itself; after the war Rama handed the craft back to Kubera.

Which festival burns towering effigies of Ravana, packed with fireworks, to mark Rama's victory?

Dussehra, or Vijayadashami, also closes Durga Puja in eastern and southern India, where clay images of the goddess are carried in procession and immersed in rivers.

Which festival marks Krishna's midnight birth in a Mathura prison where his parents were captives?

Janmashtami fasts are broken at midnight, the hour of the birth, and the newborn was carried across the Yamuna that same night to foster parents on the far bank.

Which Kerala festival welcomes the generous asura king Mahabali back from the netherworld each year?

Onam's returning king was banished by Vishnu's dwarf avatar Vamana, who asked Mahabali for three steps of land and then covered the universe in three strides.

Which princess followed Yama, god of death, arguing until he released her husband Satyavan's soul?

Savitri wrung boon after boon from Yama as they walked, the last a hundred sons of her own, a promise he could keep only by restoring her husband to life.

Which Mahabharata hero, born with divine armour and earrings, was cast adrift in a basket by Kunti?

Karna was fostered by the charioteer Adhiratha and his wife Radha; years later Indra, disguised as a Brahmin, begged the armour and earrings from him and gave a charmed spear in return.

Which self-taught archer gave Drona his right thumb as a fee, though the guru had refused him?

Ekalavya had trained before a clay statue of Drona and surpassed the guru's star pupil Arjuna, which is exactly why the thumb was demanded.

Which uncle of the Kauravas ran the dice game that cost the Pandavas their kingdom and freedom?

Shakuni threw the dice for his nephew Duryodhana and won by foul play; the youngest Pandava, Sahadeva, vowed on the spot to kill him, and did so in the great war.

Which son of Arjuna is said to have learned in the womb how to enter the chakravyuha, but not how to exit?

Abhimanyu broke into the formation alone at sixteen and was killed when the Kaurava champions fell on him together, breaking the codes of single combat.

Which queen blindfolded herself for life after marrying the blind Kuru prince Dhritarashtra?

Gandhari's hundred sons, the Kauravas, came from a single hard lump of flesh that the sage Vyasa had divided into pieces and sealed in jars of ghee.

Which princess of Panchala, born from her father's fire sacrifice, married all five Pandava brothers at once?

Draupadi, in one telling, had prayed to Shiva for a husband five times over in a previous life, so the god promised her five in her next birth.

Which warrior did Krishna curse to wander the earth for 3,000 years after a night massacre in the Pandava camp?

Ashwatthama, Drona's son, had aimed a celestial weapon at the unborn Parikshit in his mother's womb, and was made to surrender the divine gem he wore on his forehead.

Which tyrant of Mathura jailed Devaki after a heavenly voice foretold her eighth son would kill him?

Kamsa killed six of Devaki's newborns, but the seventh was moved to another womb and the eighth, Krishna, was smuggled out at birth and came back as a youth to kill him.

Who looked into the boy Krishna's mouth for the mud he had eaten and saw the whole universe inside?

Yashoda, his foster mother, also once tied the naughty child to a heavy grinding mortar as punishment, only for him to drag it off and topple two trees.

Which many-headed serpent poisoning the Yamuna did the boy Krishna subdue by dancing on its heads?

Kaliya was spared when his wives pleaded for him, and Krishna banished the serpent from the river instead of killing him.

Which hill did Krishna lift on his little finger to shelter cowherds and cattle from Indra's storms?

Govardhan was lifted because Krishna had talked the villagers out of their yearly offering to Indra, whose wounded pride unleashed the deluge; pilgrims still walk a circuit around the hill today.

Which hunter shot the arrow that killed Krishna, having mistaken the sleeping god's foot for a deer?

Jara was forgiven by the dying god, and the pilgrimage site of Bhalka in Gujarat marks the spot where Krishna is believed to have died.

Which shape-shifting demon, boasting a boon that no man could kill him, fell to Durga's trident?

Mahishasura's boon covered only men, so the gods pooled their powers to form the goddess Durga; the city of Mysuru is said to take its name from the tale of the buffalo demon.

Which asura sprang anew from every drop of spilled blood, until Kali drank it before it could fall?

Raktabija means 'blood seed'; with Kali swallowing every drop before it could touch the ground, Durga was at last able to cut him down.

Which sage gave up his life so that Indra's thunderbolt, the Vajra, could be forged from his bones?

Dadhichi's bones were shaped by the divine architect Vishvakarma into the Vajra, the weapon with which Indra finally killed the demon Vritra.

Which prajapati snubbed Shiva at a great fire sacrifice, lost his head for it and was revived with a goat's?

Daksha was beheaded by Virabhadra, a fearsome being Shiva created in his fury after Sati, Daksha's daughter and Shiva's wife, took her own life at the sacrifice.

Which king's penance drew the Ganga from heaven, with Shiva's matted hair breaking the river's fall?

Bhagiratha wanted the river to wash the ashes of his 60,000 ancestors, burned by the glare of the sage Kapila when they disturbed his meditation.

In which form does Shiva dance inside a ring of flames, one foot pinning the dwarf of ignorance?

Nataraja, 'lord of the dance', tramples the dwarf Apasmara, who stands for ignorance, while the ring of flames around him marks the endless cycle of creation and destruction.

Which king, turned away from heaven for arriving alive, hangs in mid-air by Vishvamitra's power?

Trishanku was so named by Vasishtha for his three sins; when Indra hurled him back out of heaven, Vishvamitra halted the fall, leaving him hanging head-down among the stars.

Which divine clerk reads out each dead soul's deeds so that Yama can send it to heaven or hell?

Chitragupta was created when Yama complained that he alone could not keep track of every being's deeds, and he appeared holding a pen and an ink-pot.

Which object did the infant Hanuman leap towards, mistaking it for a fruit, before Indra struck him down?

The sun cost the child dearly: Indra's blow wounded his jaw, and one reading of the name Hanuman is 'one having a disfigured jaw'.

Which food did the child Krishna steal so often that its thief became one of his best-loved nicknames?

Butter made him Makhan Chor, the butter thief, and in parts of India revellers build human pyramids to smash a clay pot of curd and butter hung high overhead.

What did Shiva drink during the churning of the ocean of milk, leaving his throat stained blue for ever?

A deadly poison called halahala rose before the nectar did, choking gods and asuras alike with its fumes, until Shiva drank it and gained the name Nilakantha, 'blue throat'.

What belonging of the exiled Rama did his brother Bharata set on the throne of Ayodhya to rule in his name?

His sandals stood in for Rama for fourteen years, while Bharata lived as an ascetic in a village outside the capital and governed only as regent.

How does Sita finally leave the world, years after Rama sent her away to the forest?

The earth swallows her at her own plea: the earth goddess Bhumi, her mother, rises to take her back, an echo of Sita's discovery as a baby in a ploughed furrow.

Which modern Indian city is traditionally identified with Indraprastha, the Pandavas' capital in the Mahabharata?

Delhi's old fort, Purana Qila, is the spot most often named, though digs there turned up only a little Iron Age pottery and no sign of the epic's grand city.

Which 700-verse scripture records Krishna's advice to Arjuna as the warrior hesitates before a battle against his kin?

Bhagavad Gita is often translated 'the song of God', and its 18 chapters are not a separate work at all: they sit inside the sixth book of the Mahabharata.

The warrior goddess Durga, armed by the gods to kill a buffalo demon, rides into battle on which animal?

A lion was the gift of Himavan, the Himalayas in person, and many artists paint a tiger in its place.

Which pilgrimage fair rotates between four river sites where drops of immortal nectar are said to have fallen?

Kumbh Mela is named after the kumbha, the pot the gods and demons fought over, yet the spilling episode is missing from the oldest versions of the churning story.

The boy prince Dhruva, rewarded by Vishnu for his fierce penance, became which fixture of the night sky?

The Pole Star never seems to move, which suits a boy whose name means 'fixed' and who took to the forest at five after a jealous stepmother kept him off his father's lap.

Which aged king of vultures, a friend of Rama's father, died trying to stop Ravana carrying off Sita?

Jatayu lived just long enough to tell Rama that Ravana had headed south, and Rama performed the old bird's funeral rites himself.

Which sage, revered as the first poet, is credited with composing the Ramayana and sheltering the banished Sita?

Valmiki means 'from an anthill': in one legend he was a thief who sat reciting a mantra for so long that ant-hills rose around his body.

Which younger brother of Ravana defected to Rama's side and was anointed king of Lanka after the war?

Vibhishana is counted among the Chiranjivis, the immortals, and Sinhalese tradition has honoured him as one of the island's four guardian deities.

Which exiled monkey prince promised Rama his army in return for help winning the throne of Kishkindha?

Sugriva and his brother Vali looked so alike as they fought that Rama could not risk a shot until Sugriva wore a flower garland to mark him out.

What token from Rama did Hanuman hand to the captive Sita in Lanka to prove he was a true messenger?

A signet ring won her trust, yet she turned down Hanuman's offer to carry her home, wanting no rescuer but her husband.

Which life-restoring herb did Hanuman fetch for the fallen Lakshmana by flying back with a whole mountain?

Sanjeevani has been hunted in earnest: in 2016 the state of Uttarakhand set aside 250 million rupees to search the Dronagiri range of the Himalayas for it.

Which son of Ravana, born Meghanada, won a new name by defeating the king of the gods in battle?

Indrajit means 'conqueror of Indra', and he could fight unseen from behind the clouds until Lakshmana finally killed him.

In popular tellings, which sage's wife is turned to stone by a curse and freed by the touch of Rama's foot?

Ahalya is not petrified in the oldest texts: there she must do penance unseen by the world, and is purified by offering Rama hospitality.

In the popular telling, which fruit did the devotee Shabari taste one by one before offering the sweet ones to Rama?

Berries she had bitten were, by custom, unfit to offer, and in this telling Lakshmana objects while Rama eats them anyway.

Which bear warrior of Rama's army made Hanuman realise he had the power to leap the sea to Lanka?

Jambavan is one of the few figures who meets both Rama and Krishna, an age apart: in the later story his daughter Jambavati becomes one of Krishna's wives.

Which Pandava strongman kept a vow by smashing the thigh of his cousin Duryodhana with a mace?

Bhima threw the mace as Duryodhana leapt into the air, after Arjuna slapped his own thigh to remind him of the oath.

At which place in present-day Haryana is the great war between the Pandavas and Kauravas said to have been fought?

Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor both armies shared, which made the war a fight between cousins.

Which divine bow, handed over by the sea god Varuna, did Arjuna wield in the Mahabharata's great war?

Gandiva came with two quivers that never ran out of arrows, and at the end of his life Arjuna was asked to hand the bow back because it belonged to the gods.

What kind of weapon is the Sudarshana Chakra, carried by Vishnu and used in battle by Krishna?

A spinning disc that the Ramayana credits to the divine architect Vishvakarma, it is what Krishna uses in popular retellings to darken the sky on the fourteenth day of the great war.

Which king of Chedi did Krishna slay only after forgiving him a promised hundred offences?

Shishupala was Krishna's own cousin, and the pardon was a promise made to the boy's mother, who was Krishna's aunt.

Which Panchala warrior, a wronged princess reborn, was the one foe the Kuru grandsire refused to fight?

Shikhandi had been the princess Amba in an earlier life, so the old commander lowered his weapons, and Arjuna, riding behind Shikhandi, could bring him down.

Which flammable material was used to build the palace where Duryodhana planned to burn the Pandavas alive?

Lacquer gives the palace its name, Lakshagriha, and the family got out through a tunnel a miner had dug from the middle of the house to the riverbank.

During the Pandavas' year in hiding at King Virata's court, which job did the archer Arjuna take?

Dance teacher to the princess Uttara, he lived as Brihannala, and the epic explains the change of gender as a year-long curse from the spurned Urvashi.

Which charioteer, given divine sight by Vyasa, described the whole war to the blind king Dhritarashtra?

Sanjaya could watch far-off events as if seeing them in person, and he is known for the frankness with which he told the king how the battle was going.

Which sacred city of Krishna do the Pandavas find drowned beneath the sea near the end of the Mahabharata?

Dwarka means 'the gated city', a name Krishna himself is said to have given it, and it is counted among the seven sacred cities of Hinduism.

Which elder brother of Krishna, shown holding a plough, is counted in some traditions as an avatar of Vishnu?

Balarama began as a god of farming, which explains the plough, and he is said to have turned farm tools into weapons whenever a fight called for it.

Which milkmaid of Braj, the beloved of Krishna, became the heroine of Jayadeva's 12th-century love poem?

Radha is not named in the Bhagavata Purana, the great scripture of Krishna's youth; a later commentator read her into an unnamed favourite gopi.

Which poor boyhood friend brought Krishna a gift of parched rice and returned home to find palaces?

Sudama kept his poverty to himself during the visit, but Krishna discerned it and raised luxurious palaces where his friend's hut had stood.

Which demoness, disguised as a lovely young woman, tried to kill the infant Krishna with tainted breast milk?

Putana died as the baby sucked out her life along with the milk, yet she is also counted a foster-mother of Krishna because she had nursed him.

Which dwarf avatar of Vishnu asked King Mahabali for three paces of land, then grew to span the worlds?

Vamana covered everything there was in two strides, so the king, determined to keep his word, offered his own head for the third.

In the form of which animal did Vishnu hold up the sinking mountain as gods and demons churned the ocean?

A tortoise named Kurma took the mountain on his back, and one text blames the ocean's tides on his drowsy breathing as the rock scratched him.

Parashurama, the warrior sage counted as Vishnu's sixth avatar, is named after which weapon he carries?

An axe flung into the sea is how, in one legend, he won the coastal land of Kerala back from the waves.

Which thousand-headed serpent forms the floating bed on which Vishnu rests upon the cosmic ocean?

Shesha means 'remainder' and his other name, Ananta, means 'without end'; in the Puranas he also holds the planets up on his hoods.

Which peak in Tibet, never known to have been climbed, is revered by Hindus as the home of Shiva?

Mount Kailash is holy to Jains, Buddhists and followers of Bon as well, and China bans any attempt on the summit because of its religious significance.

Which god of love, armed with a sugarcane bow and flower arrows, was burned to ash by Shiva's third eye?

Kamadeva survived in a way: he lives on without a body, which is why one of his names is Ananga, 'the bodiless one'.

Which goddess of learning, shown with a veena and a white swan, is honoured by students on Vasant Panchami?

Saraswati was first praised as a mighty river: the Rigveda calls her the best of mothers, of rivers and of goddesses.

Which age of the Hindu time cycle, the fourth and worst of the set, is believed to be the present one?

Kali Yuga is also the shortest of the four ages, though short is relative: it is reckoned to last 432,000 years.

Which autumn festival of fasting and dance honours the goddess Durga's defeat of a buffalo demon?

Navaratri in Gujarat means garba, danced through the late nights around a pierced clay pot that serves as a lantern.

Which deity of Puri, a wooden figure with large round eyes, rides a towering chariot through the streets each year?

Jagannath reached English as 'juggernaut', a word for an unstoppable force, thanks to early European accounts of the chariot procession.

Which heroine of a famous play by Kalidasa is forgotten by King Dushyanta because of a sage's curse?

Shakuntala had only failed to greet the irascible sage Durvasa, lost as she was in thoughts of the king; their son Bharata grew up to be a celebrated emperor.

Urvashi, Menaka and Rambha belong to which class of celestial dancers at the court of Indra?

Apsaras had a second job besides dancing: enticing the hearts of sages who were deep in rigid austerities.

Which legendary king, famed for never telling a lie, ended up working at a cremation ground to keep a promise?

Harishchandra gave away his kingdom, sold his own family and became a slave, all to honour one promise made to the sage Vishvamitra.

Which demon, granted the power to burn to ash any head under his hand, was tricked into touching his own?

Bhasmasura wanted to test the gift on Shiva, who had granted it; Vishnu, in the guise of a dancer, then led him through steps that put his hand on his own head.

Which queen of Lanka, the wife of Ravana, kept urging him to send Sita back to Rama?

Mandodari is praised as one of the Panchakanya, five women whose names are recited to dispel sin, despite being married to the epic's villain.

Which boy, sent to the house of Death by his angry father, questions Yama in the Katha Upanishad?

Nachiketa found Yama away and waited three days without food or water, so the god of death offered him three boons to make up for the poor welcome.