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A creation myth is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. While in popular usage the term myth often refers to false or fanciful stories, members of cultures often ascribe varying degrees of truth to their creation myths. In the society in which it is told, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profound truths – metaphorically, symbolically, historically, or literally. They are commonly, although not always, considered cosmogonical myths – that is, they describe the ordering of the cosmos from a state of chaos or amorphousness.
Christian mythology is the body of myths associated with Christianity. The term encompasses a broad variety of legends and narratives, especially those considered sacred narratives. Mythological themes and elements occur throughout Christian literature, including recurring myths such as ascending to a mountain, the axis mundi, myths of combat, descent into the Underworld, accounts of a dying-and-rising god, a flood myth, stories about the founding of a tribe or city, and myths about great heroes of the past, paradises, and self-sacrifice.
A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions. The feminine form, sometimes used in English, is yogini.
Hindu mythology is a body of myths found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana, the Puranas, and regional literature like the Tamil Periya Puranam and Naalayira Divya Prabandham, and the Mangal Kavya of Bengal. Hindu mythology is also found in widely translated popular texts such as the fables of the Panchatantra and the Hitopadesha, as well as in Southeast Asian texts.
Rati is the Hindu goddess of love, carnal desire, lust, passion and sexual pleasure. Usually described as the daughter of Prajapati Daksha, Rati is the female counterpart, the chief consort and the assistant of Kama (Kamadeva), the god of love. A constant companion of Kama, she is often depicted with him in legend and temple sculpture. She also enjoys worship along with Kama.
Mythopoeia is a narrative genre in modern literature and film where a fictional or artificial mythology is created by the writer of prose or other fiction. This meaning of the word mythopoeia follows its use by J. R. R. Tolkien in the 1930s. The authors in this genre integrate traditional mythological themes and archetypes into fiction.
Dattatreya, Dattā or Dattaguru, is a paradigmatic Sannyasi (monk) and one of the lords of Yoga, venerated as a Hindu god. In Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh he is a syncretic deity, considered to be an avatar of the three Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, collectively known as Trimurti. In other regions, and some versions of texts such as Garuda Purana, Brahma Purana and Sattvata Samhita, he is an avatar of Lord Vishnu. Several Upanishads are dedicated to him, as are texts of the Vedanta-Yoga tradition in Hinduism. One of the most important texts of Hinduism, namely Avadhuta Gita is attributed to Dattatreya. Over time, Dattatreya has inspired many monastic movements in Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism, particularly in the Deccan region of India, south India, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himalayan regions where Shiva tradition has been strong. His pursuit of simple life, kindness to all, sharing of his knowledge and the meaning of life during his travels is reverentially mentioned in the poems by Tukaram, a saint-poet of the Bhakti movement.
Somananda was one of the teachers of Kashmir Shaivism, in the lineage of Trayambaka, author of the first philosophical treatise of this school, Śivadṛṣṭi. A contemporary of Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa, the two formed the first wave of Kashmiri Shaivites to propose in a rigorous and logical way the concepts of nondual Shaivism. Somananda lived in Kashmir, most probably in Srinagar, where most of the later philosophers of the school lived, as a householder.
Nath, also called Natha, are a Shaiva sub-tradition within Hinduism in India and Nepal. A medieval movement, it combined ideas from Buddhism, Shaivism and Yoga traditions in India. The Naths have been a confederation of devotees who consider Shiva, as their first lord or guru, with varying lists of additional gurus. Of these, the 9th or 10th century Matsyendranath and the ideas and organization mainly developed by Gorakhnath are particularly important. Gorakhnath is considered the originator of the Nath Panth.
Mohini is a Hindu goddess. She is the only female avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. She is portrayed as a femme fatale, an enchantress, who maddens lovers and demons, sometimes leading them to their doom. Mohini is introduced into the Hindu mythology in the narrative epic of the Mahabharata. Here, she appears as a form of Vishnu, acquires the pot of Amrita from the thieving asuras (demons), and gives it back to the devas (gods), helping them retain their immortality.
Sati, also known as Dakshayani, is the Hindu goddess of marital felicity and longevity, and is worshipped as an aspect of the mother goddess Shakti. She is generally considered the first wife of Shiva, other being Parvati, who was Sati's reincarnation after her death.
Svātantrya is the Kashmiri Shaivite concept of divine sovereignty. Svātantrya is described as an energy that emanates from the Supreme (Paramaśiva), a wave of motion inside consciousness (spanda) that acts as the fundament of the world, or in another view, the original word. It does not use any external instrument as it itself is the first stage of creation.
Oggu Katha or Oggukatha is a traditional folklore singing, praising and narrating the stories of Hindu gods Mallana, Beerappa and Yellamma. It originated among the Kuruma (Kuruba)and Yadava communities, who devoted themselves to the singing of ballads in praise of Lord Shiva. These tradition-loving and ritual-performing community moves from place to place, narrating the stories of their caste gods. Oggus are the traditional priests of the Yadavas and perform the marriage of Mallanna with Bhramaramba.
Matsyendra, also known as Matsyendranātha, Macchindranāth, Mīnanātha and Minapa was a saint and yogi in a number of Buddhist and Hindu traditions. He is traditionally considered the revivalist of hatha yoga as well as the author of some of its earliest texts. He is also seen as the founder of the natha sampradaya, having received the teachings from Shiva. He is especially associated with kaula shaivism. He is also one of the eighty-four mahasiddhas and considered the guru of Gorakshanath, another important figure in early hatha yoga. He is revered by both Hindus and Buddhists and is sometimes regarded as an incarnation of Avalokiteśvara.
Gorakhnath was a Hindu yogi, saint who was the influential founder of the Nath Hindu monastic movement in India. He is considered one of the two notable disciples of Matsyendranath. His followers are found in India at the place known as Garbhagiri which is in Ahmednagar in the state of Maharashtra. These followers are called yogis, Gorakhnathi, Darshani or Kanphata.
The Jangam or Jangama are a Shaiva order of religious monks. They are the priests or gurus of the Hindu Shaiva sect. Jangamas are also gurus of Veerashaiva' sect Jangamas are disciples of Lord Shiva as mentioned in Basava Puranas. A visit of a jangam to a house is treated as the visit of Lord Shiva himself and the jangam shall be given good alms and the jangam blesses the natives. The Jangam is the wandering holy man in Virashaivism. The meaning of word Jangam is 'moving linga' and considered superioir to 'sthira linga'. Jangama is one who is endowed with true spirit of Agamic knowledge, and has sacrificed his life for giving Samskara or good character building practices in all sections of the society including all Sudra castes without any discrimination.
Harihara was a noted Kannada poet and writer in the 12th century. A native of Halebidu in modern Hassan district, he came from a family of accountants (Karnikas) and initially served in that capacity in the court of Hoysala King Narasimha I. Later, he moved to Hampi and authored many landmark classics. Among his important writings, the Girijakalyana written in champu metre is considered one of the enduring classics of Kannada language.
Aṣṭāvakra (2010) is a Hindi epic poem (Mahakavya) composed by Jagadguru Rambhadracharya (1950–) in the year 2009. It consists of 864 verses in 8 cantos (sargas) of 108 verses each. The poem presents the narrative of the Ṛṣi Aṣṭāvakra which is found in the Hindu scriptures of the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata. A copy of the epic was published by the Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University, Chitrakuta, Uttar Pradesh. The book was released on 14 January 2010, on the sixtieth birthday (Ṣaṣṭipūrti) of the poet.
It is not easy to trace out the origins of the Telugu folk literature, for that matter any folk literature. It is as difficult as tracing the origin of a language. In other words, one can argue that the origin and existence of any folk literature can be a parallel phenomenon along with that language, because the folk expressive traditions of any ethnic group are much earlier than the language of that particular ethnic group. Need not say about the developed literature in written tradition. The cave paintings and line drawings found in different archeological sites prove the ability of the creative expressions of prehistoric human beings even before they were not able to speak. The addition of verbal creativity in latter periods has widened the folk expressive tradition in another medium that is verbal folk arts or the folk literature. Therefore, the existence of any folk literature can go back to the time of the given language correspondingly.
In some adaptations of the Hindu epic Ramayana, Maya Sita or Chaya Sita is the illusionary duplicate of the goddess Sita, who is abducted by the demon-king Ravana of Lanka instead of the real Sita.