सूर्य
Surya
The visible deity — time, health and the one everyone can see
Who is this?
Trimurti
Devi
Family of Shiva
Avatara
Vedic
Regional & planetary
Darshan
Vahana · vehicle
Chariot of seven horsesसप्ताश्व
Seven horses for the seven colours or the seven metres of Vedic chant, driven by Aruna, the dawn, who has no legs.
Ayudha · weapons & attributes
Padmaपद्म
A lotus in each hand — he carries no weapon at all.
Sudarshana (in later forms)सुदर्शन
Some Puranic forms add the discus, aligning him with Vishnu.
Forms · रूप
Savitrसवितृ
The Vedic impeller, invoked in the Gayatri mantra.
Martandaमार्तण्ड
The Aditya form of the older layer.
Konark formकोणार्क
The Odisha temple built as the chariot itself, wheels as sundials.
What the tradition does
- Temples
- Konark · Modhera · Martand, Kashmir · Dakshinaarka, Gaya
- Festivals
- Makar Sankranti · Chhath Puja · Ratha Saptami · Pongal
- Mantra
- ॐ सूर्याय नमः — Om Suryaya Namah / Gayatri Mantra
- Scriptures
- Rigveda (Gayatri, Surya Sukta) · Aditya Hridayam (Ramayana) · Samba Purana
The reasoning
Surya worship is timed to the sky, not to a calendar of stories: sunrise arghya, the solstice at Makar Sankranti, the equinox in ritual. The astronomy is the rite.
Chhath in Bihar, Pongal in Tamil Nadu and Sankranti in the west mark the same sun in unrelated ways.
Related
The symbol opens a question
You have seen Surya's forms. But why are these symbols used in worship?
Follow the thread from sacred image to tradition, scripture, reasoning and living practice.