Although the spear is Kartikeya’s favorite weapon, he also wields a club. Orion is generally shown in the star maps holding a club in his upraised right hand. He also possesses dazzling good looks like Orion, as indicated by his epithets such as Lalita (The beautiful), Kanta (The handsome), Diptavarna (The bright-complexioned), Subhanana (Of beautiful face) etc. Like Orion, Kartikeya is renowned for his enormous strength, for he is referred to as the “strong-armed god”. lunar asterism) in the Vedic nakshatra system. Incidentally, Rudra is also the “presiding deity” of the star Betelgeuse, which is known as the Ardra nakshatra (i.e. In the Mahabharata, one of the epithets of Kartikeya is Rudra, which indicates that this title – signifying a fearsome warrior and hunter - was applicable both to him and to his father Shiva. In the same story, Murugan adopts the guise of a handsome tribal hunter in order to court Valli (who becomes his second wife). Kartikeya’s identity as a hunter is best illustrated in the Tamil legend about Murugan (a popular name of Kartikeya in Southern India), in which the Vedars, an indigenous group of hunter-gatherers, worshiped Murugan as their ancestral “hunting god”. At the same time, Rudra-Shiva’s son Kartikeya – who is the leader of the celestial army - is also a great warrior and hunter. When we think of a “hunter” deity in the Indian tradition, the first name that comes to mind is that of Rudra (Shiva), who is described in the Rig Veda as a fearsome hunter, armed with a bow and fast flying arrows. It was of interest to me, therefore, to figure out who Orion might have represented in the Indian context. The Chinese called the constellation Shen (“Three Stars”) and knew it as “the hunter constellation”. Some recently discovered Hungarian legends associate him with Nimrod, a famous hunter. In Hungary, Orion is known as a magical "archer" or "scyther". Orion’s identity as a hunter and warrior was pervasive in the ancient world. What ancient story does this sky chart encode? Who really was Orion, the hunter? Although the sky chart shows Orion facing the charge of Taurus, the bull, there are no stories in Greek legends which describe such an event. Stellarium software.įor a long time, the star chart of this part of the night sky has been a subject of mysteries and speculations. Just below Orion is the constellation of Lepus, the hare, and behind Orion is his hunting dog, the Canis Major (Greater Dog) constellation, containing Sirius – the brightest star in the night sky.įigure 2: Orion facing the charge of Taurus, followed by his hunting dog Canis Major. The bright star Aldebaran marks the eye of the bull, while on the shoulder of the bull is the famous Pleiades star cluster – known to the Greeks as the Seven Sisters. Lion pelt in his left, facing the charge of Taurus, the bull. Visualized as a hunter, holding a club in his right hand and a shield or His shade is seen by Odysseus in the lower world, driving the wildīeasts with a great bronze club. Hunter of great beauty and enormous strength. Greek mythology, Orion - the son of the sea-god Poseidon – was a mighty
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