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Surya Dev

In ancient times, Surya was worshipped and is still very important in many parts of India. He is referred to as Surya Dev, Surya Shakti, symbol of puja and so on. How did Surya worship start in India?

Surya is mentioned in the Vedas. He is hailed in the yagnas (rituals). He is a very important part of the Vedas. In fact, in the Rig Veda, the first sloka is of purohit or pandit who sits in the east, which is considered a holy (shubh) direction because of the sun. It’s natural. The first thing you see after the darkness and fears of the night is the sun. So the rising of the sun is considered auspicious.

The image of Surya is always a grand one. Can you tell us about it?

The illustration of Surya shows two hands, not four. Both hands hold lotus flowers. He sits on a chariot with seven horses to suggest the number of days of the week. This is interesting because the Vedas don’t count a seven-day week. This concept emerged 1800 years ago. The Vedas are 4000 years old. So probably the concept of seven horses emerged later. The chariot has twelve wheels signifying twelve months. This grand rath is called vimana. Today vimana means a plane.

The number of Surya Dev’s wives is sometimes three, four or five.

Surya is a romantic god. The folklore before the Puranas mentions one of Surya’s lovers as Suryamukhi (sunflower) who adores him so much that she keeps looking at him. He does not look at her. It’s a one-sided love. Another folk story talks of the Raat Rani (Queen of the Night) flower who lived in heaven and was in love with Surya who didn’t care much for anybody. She felt so bad that she said she would come to earth and bloom only at night so that Surya would never touch her. As a result the Raat Rani gives off a fragrance only at night when the sun is absent. So there is one who adores the sun unconditionally and another who is heartbroken. There’s a story in the Puranas about Saranya, the daughter of Vishwakarma, the architect. Saranya, Surya’s wife, is blinded by his radiance and cannot see him clearly. He too can’t see anything beyond his radiance. Their children are Manu, Yama and Yamini. Saranya gets frustrated in her marriage because she can’t handle Surya’s brightness and leaves, but keeps her double—Chhaya—in her place. Surya does not even realize this. He has two children with her too called Shanidev (the god of Saturn) and Revant. The children from his first wife want to tell their father that Chhaya is a false wife. Yama quarrels with his stepmother who curses him saying that his feet will be infested with insects. Surya realizes that a mother will never curse her children. Yama tells him the truth. Surya then goes to his father-in-law’s place but his wife runs away from there too. She takes the form of a mare. Surya then takes the form of a horse, chases her and appeases her. They then have twins—Ashwini Kumaras. Surya has quite a colourful life.

We know that Karna is Surya’s son. How else does he figure in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana?

In the Vedas, Surya and Indra are the main gods. Although there are more hymns in Indra’s name there’s some dispute about who is more important. But both are Adityas, sons of Aditi. The clouds and sun have a relationship. When there’s more sun and it is summer, we don’t like it and want the rains. But when there’s a lot of rain, and it’s all wet and dirty, we call back the sun. So there’s a tension there which shows up in stories. From Puranic times onwards, Surya and Indra start taking a back seat and Shiva, Vishnu and Durga attain importance. But the tension stays. In the Ramayana, Sugriva is a Suryaputra while Vali is an Indraputra. In the Mahabharata, Karna is a Suryaputra while Arjuna is an Indraputra.

Who is Surya’s sarathi (charioteer)?

His name is Arun, which means dawn. The Vedas don’t mention this name. There it’s Usha or Ushas; dawn is feminine. It’s the masculine Arun in the Puranas. Arun is Garud’s brother. Garud is the eagle who is with Vishnu. The eagle is associated with Surya in the Vedas. Arun and Garud’s mother, Vinata, had two eggs. Impatient for the children to be born she breaks one egg and a premature child—Arun—is born. Only the upper part of his body is formed. So you do not know whether he is a man or a woman. At dawn there’s light but you don’t see the sun. It’s unclear and that’s how his sexuality is too—Usha or Arun? A related story in the Ramayana is about Arun wanting to see dancing apsaras in the Indrasabha. The guards tell him that only women are allowed inside, so he takes a female form, goes inside and watches the apsaras dance. Indra asks about this woman whom he’s never seen before. He is attracted and sleeps with her. A child, Vali, is born. During the time of this romance, Surya is annoyed by Arun’s absence. When Arun explains, Surya is curious to see his female form, so Arun becomes female again. Surya also falls in love and they have a child, which is Sugriva. In the images of Surya, you’ll always see only the sarathi’s upper body. Some images show Surya carrying a bow. This is to suggest that he shoots away darkness with his arrows. So just as Indra eradicates drought, Surya does away with darkness. The two Adityas remove dryness and darkness.

Tell us about the sun temples. We know about the beautiful one in Konark.

There was a time when there were many sun temples in India. In the eighth century, there was the Martand Sun Temple in Jammu and Kashmir. In the fifteenth century, a central eastern king, Sikander Shaheen, demolished it, so it’s now in ruins. In Odisha, of course, there is the Konark Temple, which was apparently brought down even as it was being built. The idol in the garbhagriha (inner sanctorum) was never set down on the ground. It was kept floating with two magnets—one on the floor and another on the ceiling. So when the ceiling magnet was stolen, the whole structure collapsed. This is one theory for which there is no proof. There’s a sun temple in Modhera, Gujarat, which is also in ruins. At one time, there used to be huge temples dedicated to Surya. Not any more.

Is there a place for him in the existing temples?

Not really. Surya is worshipped among the navagraha (the nine astrological deities of time). In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, there are a couple of sun temples, but these aren’t as popular as they once used to be. The size of the Konark Temple—also called the Black Pagoda—is huge for one god. Now we have Rama and Krishna temples but not sun temples. Perhaps after the Vedic age, the Surya parampara (community of sun worshippers) became associated with Vishnu, and he started getting worshipped. There are some images of the sun wearing boots. These are from the Kushan era which was in between the Vedic and Puranic times. Kushan was a king in the Mathura area of the Gangetic plains about 1800 years ago. He was central Asian and the boots suggest a Kazakh, Turkmenistan influence but that was about the last of it. It’s not prevalent today.

Did Surya have any bhakts (devotees)?

The most famous one was Samba, Krishna’s son. There’s a festival called Samba Dashami during which Surya is worshipped.

Samba is falsely lured by his stepmother, Nandini. He rebuffs her advances. Krishna sees them and, despite Samba’s explanation, curses him with skin disease. A rishi tells him that only one god can help him—Surya. When Samba is cured by Surya, he builds the temples in Konark, Modhera and Kashmir. Interestingly, in science too, sunlight plays an important role in healing skin diseases. There’s vitamin D, of course. It seems that Ayurveda doctors knew that skin problems could be cured with sunlight.

What is Surya’s role in navagraha?

In astrology, Surya is the central deity. Around him are the moon and other planets. The stars—his wives—are behind him. You worship the sun and all the others get worshipped too since he is the head of all the grahas.

Is the surya namaskar connected with mythology?

It is believed that the surya namaskar was invented by Hanuman for his guru, Surya. Yoga is always done facing the east. The east is very important for any major task. So in India, we say left is vama, but right is dakshina. That’s because when you face the east, the south is to your right, the north is to your left and the west is behind.