Moni is a deity in South Asian Folk folklore, from Nuristan (historical). Moni (also Mone, Mune; Mandi in Prasun) is a major pre-Islamic Nuristani deity described as second in importance after the creator Imra. Presented as a created divine being and a chosen prophet/agent of Imra, Moni had an institutional cult with temples in nearly every village and is etymologically linked to the Sanskrit title Mahādeva (Shiva).
According to the available account, Moni was created by the supreme creator Imra "with his breath" alongside another created figure, Gish. Moni is described as a divine prophet whom Imra selected to fulfill his behests, situating Moni as an appointed intermediary within the Nuristani pre-Islamic cosmology.
No detailed indigenous physical description is provided in the cited material. The available source notes an etymological and comparative link to the Sanskrit Mahādeva (Shiva), mentioning similarities "such as the bow [and] bull," but treats these as comparative iconographic attributes rather than documented native visual descriptions.
The source describes Moni as a created divine being and as a "divine prophet" or agent chosen by Imra to carry out divine commands. Comparative etymology connects Moni to Mahādeva (Shiva) and notes shared aspects in that comparison, including association with a bow, a bull, and the phrase "destroyer of the cattle of demons." Beyond these points, no additional powers or specific behaviors are attested in the supplied material.
Shiva
Shiva (Sanskrit: Śiva) is one of the principal deities of Hinduism, central to Shaivism and pan-Hindu worship. Portrayed as a paradoxical figure—ascetic yogi, householder, warrior and cosmic agent—he is described as the auspicious One who creates, protects and transforms the universe and is commonly associated with dissolution within the Trimurti framework.
Imra
Imra (Kati: Imro) is the chief creator deity in pre-Islamic Nuristani religion who was believed to have created the earth and, by his breath, the other main deities of the pantheon; he also functions as guardian of the subterranean gates of the dead, preventing the return of the dead to the living.
*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.
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Community Record
- [1]Moni (Wikipedia). Wikipedia contributors. "Moni." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moniwiki
- [2]Wikidata: Monika (Q18177153). Wikidata entry Q18177153.wiki