Sun Gods And Surya

Numerous ancient manuscripts contain hints or directone of the Adityas. His followers are called sAuram
ideas accentuating a belief in Sun God. For example,or Shaoram, but other names can be found too.
the Inca civilization worshipped Viracocha, but he wasWith growing expansion of vaishnavism some many
probably the same god known to the Mayas asyears before Christ, Surya lost his prominent place
Kukulkan, or Quetzalcoatl to the Aztecs. The origin ofamong the highest gods similarly like Brahma. Adityas,
sun god Viracocha had been much older than theof which Surya comes from, is a group of solar
Inca civilization itself. Viracocha was adopted fromdeities. Rig Veda speaks about seven of these gods
the culture of inhabitants living in the region before(Adityas):
the Incas took over. It was the Aymara culture. The1) Varuna,
Incan legend says that Viracocha had a son - Inti,2) Mitra,
and a daughter - Pachamama. Thus, the Incas also3) Aryaman,
worshiped Inti as their sun god, but Inti, contrary to4) Bhaga,
Viracocha, was believed to have a human form.5) Daksha,
We may also come across one of the oldest epic6) Ansha,
ever written, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Reading it we7) Surya. Yajur Veda speaks about eight solar deities.
will learn that the main hero, Gilgamesh, is underBig dynasties of Indian kings were convinced that
protection of the sun god Shamash.they had descended from this god. Thus, the Sun
Slavic people in Europe had worshiped their sun god,Dynasty or "Suryavanshi" is known in history; its
too, but Christian religion destroyed most of themembers believed that they had descended directly
pan-Slavic ancient manuscripts and artifacts. This didfrom Surya.
not happen in countries like India, where tradition hasSurya is a very powerful god and his omnipresent
preserved its bequests until today. Swarog (orburning glow was the cause of Sanjana's (his wife)
Svarog), the Slavic sun god, had been worshipped inescape. But Surya found her in the woods, where he
the region of present Poland, Slovakia, Serbia, andmade love with her.
probably Russia. In Russia and Poland, such a sun godSurya has several sons. He is the father of great
was also called Dazhbog, a Swarog's son. DazhbogSugriva - a chief of the monkey kingdom Kishkindha,
was believed to have had the Iranian origin.where Hanuman, a famous Hindu monkey god, has
The cult of sun god had also been well established inhis roots. Hanuman begged Surya to accept him as a
ancient Egypt (Ra), in Babylonia and Assyriapupil. Surya refused. Hanuman did not stop begging
(Shamash or Sama) too. In the Greek mythology, theand was very inventive in his attempts to become
god of sun was Helios. Some scholars maintain thataccepted by Surya as a disciple. After he enlarged his
the sun worship had been prevalent among people ofbody, Surya finally agreed.
the pre-Hellenic culture. The Roman sun deity was SolSanjana and Chhaya are two Surya's wives
and this deity's manifestation also surprisingly(consorts).
remained in the Roman Catholic Church's iconographySurya's father is Kashyapa. Kashyapa was an ancient
until today. Such a symbol of sun can be found onrishi, a father of the humankind. Surya is also the
the papal stole, but also on the St. Peter's Squarefather of Karna (an important person in the epic
right in its center. Some non-Catholic denominationsMahabharata). He conceived him (Karna) with Kunti,
criticize this, but the Catholic Church has manythe mother of the three Pandava brothers. Kunti was
similarities with the Roman Empire. There is no reasoncurious about one mantra and after speaking it out
for the Catholic Church to remove such masterpieceshe unwillingly evoked Surya, who, in turn, made love
works.with her (spiritually).
The Indian sun god Surya is the only sun god thatIn India, Surya has temples and in certain areas he is
has preserved in history with such a strong accent ofworshipped with equal popularity as any other Hindu
a very important solar deity of the Vedic religion.god, but globally he has less followers than Lord
Surya: The God of LightShiva, Lord Ganesh, or Lord Vishnu. One such a
Ancient races of Hindus and Persians had most likelytemple is in the Indian city Konarak in Orissa. An
formed one group of people and a term such asancient temple can also be seen in the Indian state
Mithraism appeared to denote the cult of the ancientBihar at Gaya, but there are more temples of the
Indo-Iranian sun god (Mitra).Sun.
Surya is the Hindu Sun God. Shaivists consider him toIf we suppose that Surya was (and is) the god
be an aspect of Lord Shiva. For vaishnavists, he is anwhose origin had not been interlinked with
aspect of Lord Vishnu. His followers consider him tomanifestations of other sun gods in our ancient
be Brahma in the morning, Vishnu during the day, andhistory, then we must study these other sun gods
Shiva at night. He is portrayed sitting on a chariotindependently. But if we hypothesize that Surya as
with seven horses.the Vedic god had radiated the same light of
In Sanatana Dharma, Surya represents anViracocha's, Ra's, or Swarog's energy, then we can
independent god and thus he has his own followersget closer to bequests of other sun gods and learn
contrary to the mainstream Shiva, Shakti, or Vishnu.more about our history and the excellence of light in
Surya is a Vedic God, which means that he isit.
mentioned in the Vedas. He is the chief solar deity,