Stories 4
All kinds
Origin
Legend
Local story
Folk tale
From the epics
Festival story
Temple legend
In stone and bronze
How a tradition frames it
Everywhere
Pan-India 95
South India 67
West India 30
East India 22
North India 15
The Himalaya 12
Northeast India 5
Southeast Asia 4
Central India 4
✕ creation
devotionboondisguisesupremacycursemarriagepenancepridetestdancepilgrimagesacrificebirthemanationfirebeheadingdemon slayingdesireiconographyausteritychurningcombined formcosmogonyhomecominglingapoisonrebirthriveratonement
Tradition: All traditions · clear
Origin · 2 tellings · contested
Brahma is born in the golden egg
A golden egg forms in the waters and glows like the sun.
Origin · 6 tellings · contested
Saraswati: daughter, consort, or both
Brahma's body splits into a male and a female half.
Origin · 2 tellings · contested
The golden womb and Prajapati
Before the gods there are only the primordial waters.
Origin · 2 tellings · contested
The mind-born sons, Narada and Daksha
Brahma wishes for children and brings them out of his own mind.