Wikipedia Trail: Vahana to Puranas


Kamadeva.Wikimedia Commons
I commenced my Wikipedia trail by searching Vahana. This was inspired by Vahana Therapy: Ganesh's Guide to Happiness, a storybook featured on the announcements page. Vahana is the animal or vehicle that a deity rides when they appear in epics. Kartikeya's vahan was a peacock. Kartikeya's defeat of one of his enemies on a peacock led me to the next story, Tarkasura.  Tarakasura, a demon that comes from the epic Kumarasambhava, battled the gods until heaven nearly collapsed. This demon destroyed Kamadeva. Clicking on the hyperlinked name Kamadeva gave me the description that this Indian Epic character was the Hindu god of human love. Kamadeva immediately reminded me of the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite. There's a catch the Greek goddess of love was a female and the Indian god, Kamadeva is a male. Kamadeva resembles more of the modern day Cupid. Kamadeva is most often depicted in Puranas. I clicked on Puranas as my final article. This article expounded on the origins of Puranas and noted one of the most important Puranas, Mahapuranas.
Vahana
Tarkasura
Kamadeva
Puranas

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 3, 2017 at 1:23 AM

    I just love these Wikipedia trail stuff. I do this all the time on my own to the point that it seems a bit weird to my wife. Just to date myself, we used to do this same thing as children, but with world books. That was what we would call the encyclopedia. We would try to look for one topic but before one would reach their destination, inevitably, would be distracted by some other more interesting topic.

    I am interested in the Vahana. Seems like a spirit animal or perhaps their Patronas, if anyone is a Harry Potter fan.

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