Stories 7
How Shiva became half woman
Brahma makes a world of male beings that cannot multiply.
How Shri became Vishnu's inseparable consort
The Vedic Shri of prosperity rises from the churned ocean as Lakshmi, surveys every being and chooses Vishnu as her husband.
Jagannath and the Sabara chief
Tradition says Vishnu was first worshipped in the Odisha forest as the blue stone Nilamadhava by the Sabara chief Viswavasu, before returning as the wooden Jagannath; scholars argue over what that means.
Purusha and Narayana on the waters
The cosmic person of the Purusha Sukta and the Narayana who rests on the waters are fused into Vishnu's cosmic identity, pictured as Anantashayana.
Singbonga and the clay-divers
The Munda sun god sends a tortoise, a crab and an earthworm to fetch clay from under the waters; the smallest succeeds and the earth is made.
Thakur Jiu and the two birds
The Santal creator makes two water-birds over the primal sea; from their eggs come the first man and woman, and no Puranic god appears.
The birth of Ganesha
Parvati wants a guard of her own and shapes a boy from the paste on her body.