In the Balinese and Javanese retelling preserved in local Hindu-influenced myth, Dewi Ratih is a goddess of the Moon and beauty. When the giant Kala Rau attempted to enter the heaven of the gods, he disguised himself as Kuwera; Dewi Ratih warned Vishnu of the deception. Vishnu decapitated Kala Rau, but because Kala Rau had drunk the tirta amerta (the gods' elixir) and only his throat tasted it, his head survived. Kala Rau's floating head periodically chases and swallows the Moon (Dewi Ratih), but because Kala Rau lacks a body she emerges again from his neck — a sequence given in Balinese and Javanese accounts as the origin of lunar eclipses.
Sources emphasize Dewi Ratih's notable beauty and grace but provide no standardized iconography or detailed physical description. She is described in summaries of local tradition as the goddess of beauty and the Moon, and her appearance in narrative context is characterized by aesthetic qualities (beauty, grace) rather than fixed garments, colors, or attributes in the cited materials.
Dewi Ratih's principal role in the available sources is as a lunar deity: she is associated with the Moon and figures in the mythic explanation for lunar eclipses in which Kala Rau swallows her and she subsequently reappears. She is also the focus of devotional observance (notably the Balinese purnama full-moon ceremony). The provided materials do not ascribe additional powers such as control over weather or fertility.
Chandra
Chandra is the Hindu divine personification of the Moon, appearing in Vedic, epic and Purāṇic literature. He functions as the lunar luminary, a member of the Navagraha (planetary regents), and is closely associated with plants/vegetation and the Vedic Soma tradition. Myths about Chandra include his marriages to the 27 Nakshatra personifications and the Tara–Brihaspati episode, in which his liaison produces the deity Budha and provokes cosmic dispute resolved by Brahma.
Rakshasa (Himalayan variants)
A Himalayan reception of the pan-Indian rakshasa motif: hostile or disruptive non‑human beings known from Sanskrit epic and Puranic literature, here noted where Himalayan sources and discussions intersect with the broader epic tradition. The supplied sources do not document distinct, well‑attested Himalayan folklore variants; the entry therefore presents primarily the epic/legendary profile as transmitted into Himalayan contexts in general references.
*Péh₂usōn (reconstructed)
Péh₂usōn is a hypothetical Proto‑Indo‑European pastoral guardian reconstructed by comparative scholars from parallels in Greek and Vedic traditions. Proposed as a Graeco‑Aryan ancestor‑figure, the reconstruction describes a protector of flocks, roads, and travellers rather than an attested historical cultic personality.
Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu is a youthful Kuru/Pandava warrior-hero in the Sanskrit epic Mahābhārata. Son of Arjuna and Subhadra, he is famed for entering the Chakravyuha battle formation on the thirteenth day of the Kurukshetra War and dying at age sixteen; his posthumous son Parikshit continues the Kuru line.
Achyuta
Achyuta (Sanskrit: अच्युत, acyuta) is primarily an epithet/theonym in Vaishnava Hindu tradition applied to Vishnu and Krishna, signifying the divine quality of being 'not fallen' — immutable, infallible, and imperishable. It functions as a devotional name in scripture, liturgy, and Pancharatra lists of divine emanations rather than as an autonomous folkloric spirit.
Acintya
Acintya is an Indonesian Hindu theological-symbolic representation of the ineffable supreme divine principle. In Balinese and Javanese practice it functions as a way to make ultimate reality present in ritual and art—often aniconically as an empty throne (padmasana) or anthropomorphically as a naked, flame-surrounded figure—rather than as a narrative, intervening deity.
Adi (asura)
Adi is attested in modern reference works as the name of an Asura who 'appears in the Matsya Purāṇa.' Beyond this single-line citation in secondary sources, no descriptive material about the figure is provided in the supplied research notes.
Adi Shakti
Adi Shakti (also Adi Parashakti, Mahadevi, Adya Shakti) is the primordial feminine power in Hindu/Shakta theology, regarded as the ultimate reality (Para Brahman) and the source from which all goddesses and gods manifest. She is both an impersonal cosmic principle (Mulaprakriti) and a focus of devotional invocation in temples, mantras, and pilgrimage sites such as Shakti Peethas.
Adi Vinayaka
Adi Vinayaka (Ādi Vināyaka; also called Nara Mukha Vinayaka) is a named iconographic and devotional form of the Hindu god Ganesha portraying the deity with a human head, described in sources as the form before the episode of decapitation by Shiva. It is rarely worshipped and appears in a small number of South Indian shrines and in devotional/musical repertoires.
Aditi
Aditi is a major Vedic goddess in Hindu tradition who personifies the boundless, infinite cosmic principle and functions as the maternal matrix from which many celestial deities (the Ādityas and other groups) are born. In the Vedic hymns she is invoked as a protective liberator who guards petitioners, provides wealth and safety, and frees devotees from hindrances such as sin and sickness.
Agastya
Agastya (also Agathiyar/Agasti) is a revered Vedic and later-period Indian rishi (sage) figure credited in textual traditions as an inspired seer, ascetic, teacher, culture-founder, and attributed author of Vedic, Puranic and Tamil works; in South Indian tradition he is associated with origins of Tamil grammar and Siddha medicine and is identified astronomically with the star Canopus.
Aghasura
Aghasura is an asura from the Vaishnava/Hindu narrative tradition (notably the Srimad‑Bhāgavatam) who, at the command of Kamsa, assumed the form of a vast serpent to ambush Kṛṣṇa and the cowherd boys in Vṛndāvana. The episode demonstrates Kṛṣṇa’s protective, divine power as he enters and destroys the demon from within.
Agiya Baital
The fire-form of the Vetala — a cremation ground spirit of UP and Bihar that manifests as a wandering flame rather than a corpse-inhabitor, leading night travellers off roads and into marshland or flames with a dancing fire that seems always just ahead.
Agneya / Āgneyī
Āgneyī (feminine) or Āgneya (masculine adjective) is a Vedic–Puranic divine figure and ritual principle tied to the fire-god Agni and the southeastern direction. In textual traditions she appears both as a personified daughter/shakti of Agni and as an adjectival/technical term applied to fire-consecrated things (direction, astra, etc.). She also occurs as the name Agneya (or Anala) among items revealed in a Shaiva-Agamic list associated with the Aghora face of Sadashiva.
Community Record
- [1]Dewi Ratih (Wikipedia). Wikipedia contributors. "Dewi Ratih." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.wiki
- [2]Gamelan Semara Ratih - Performances. Gamelan Semara Ratih performance page (ensemble website).other