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An idol installed by Brahma on the northern banks of the Saraswati. After Brahma created living beings, a beautiful maiden created herself and stood before him. Brahma was filled with lust and because of this sin, lost a head. He went to Sthanutheera to repent and installed his own idol there. Through this, he was released from the effects of the sin as per Vamanapurana Chapter 49.

An attendant of Subramanya. He was devoted to brahmins as per Mahabharata Shalyaparva Chapter 45 verse 62.

An offering made to Shiva for achieving whatever desired. See Kumudwati for details.

A vrat maintained to live happily for a year, earn Shivaloka, and to get whatever desired. It is done by praying to Ganesha on a specific day. The details are in Agnipurana Chapter 179.

The methods used by kings to achieve their means were called upayas. The chaturupayas were sama, dana, bheda, danda. Equally important were Indrajala, Maya, Upeksha. Together they were called Saptopaya. There are more too.

Sama is considered most useful for making people agree, using words that make the person feel really good. This is primarily used against brothers, friends, sons etc. There are five types of dana – Preetidana, Dravyadana, Swayamgraha, Deya, Pratimoksha. Used against commanders, soldiers and citizens. Bhedopaya is of three types – reducing harmony between people, causing a split among them and making them quarrel. Used against one praised falsely, one who has no lust for women, one who is invited and insulted, a highly taxed person, a traitor, an angry man, one who has a high sense of self worth, one who has been ignored for no fault of his own, one who has been consoled, one whose wife has been kidnapped, one who is worth respect but is not. Danda is of three types – murder, robbing of wealth and injury. There are two others too – praksha and aprakasha, the latter being used to kill someone whose murder might not be approved by the public. Used by kings who also know the other upayas. Other upayas include maya, which is beyond human understanding, upeksha, like what Hidimbi did to Hidimba, and indrajala, which is sorcery, as per Agnipurana Chapter 241.

A prostitute.

Once a poor brahmin got a gold bar as a gift. He didn’t know what to do with it, and was advised to sell it and use the money to travel. He didn’t even know how to do that and was told that nearby there lived a prostitute named Cahturika and she could teach him how to do it. He was also told to give the gold bar to her as soon as he went in, use some sama and she would manage the rest. He went there, and told Chaturika that he wanted to travel the world, and gave her the gold bar. Everyone there began to laugh. He held his palms in the shape of a cow’s ears and began reciting the Samaveda. The people continued to laugh and he ran out of there to the person who had advised him. After he told his tale, the person said that he had meant sama (calmness) and not samaveda. He took the brahmin back to Chaturika and told her to give him back the gold bar as per Kathasaritasagara Kathapeethakalambaka Taranga 6.

A rajarishi who lived in Yama’s court as per Mahabharata Sabhaparva Chapter 8 verse 11.

An Anga king, and son of Hemapada. His son was Pridhulaksha as per Agnipurana Chapter 277.

A fierce form of Parvati, which is worshiped as Chandikadevi in many temples, with twenty hands, each holding a specific object. Ten handed versions also exist. On one side of the idol lies the head of Mahishasura. From its severed neck, a man is shown to rise – with bloodshot eyes, holding a trident, and wearing a bloodstained garland. He is shown to be tied with a noose around his neck.

Her vehicle is the lion. She rides on it and her left leg is on top of the man. She is armed and has 3 eyes. She is to be worshiped in a mandala with 9 lotuses. On one lotus she is worshiped and on the others, Indra and the other devas. There  is another version of her with eighteen hands too. In addition, there are 9 Durgas including Rudrachanda, Prachanda, Ugrachanda, Chandanayika, Chanda, Chandavati, Chandarupa, Atichandika, Chandogra with 16 hands. They are all forms of Parvati as per Agnipurana Chapter 50.