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 94
South India 66
West India 30
East India 22
North India 15
The Himalaya 12
Northeast India 5
Southeast Asia 4
Central India 4
✕ desire
devotionbooncreationdisguisesupremacycursemarriagepenancepridetestdancepilgrimagesacrificebirthemanationfirebeheadingdemon slayingiconographyausteritychurningcombined formcosmogonyhomecominglingapoisonrebirthriveratonement
Tradition: All traditions · clear
Legend · 4 tellings · contested
Kama burnt by the third eye
Taraka can die only to a son of Shiva, and Shiva sits in grief and meditation after Sati.
Origin · 6 tellings · contested
Saraswati: daughter, consort, or both
Brahma's body splits into a male and a female half.
Local story · 1 telling · contested
The Brahmaputra, son of Brahma
Brahma sees Amogha, wife of the sage Shantanu, and desires her.
Origin · 2 tellings · contested
Why Brahma has four heads
Brahma's four heads face the four directions and stand for the four Vedas.