SmartSurat  #  Hinduism

Surya and Savitri: the solar deities

Surya and Savitri are two prominent solar deities. Surya is the sun who drives across the sky in his flaming chariot. Savitri is the sun in its nature as stimulator and life-giver in existence. The most sacred verse in the Vedas, the Gayatri mantra, is dedicated to this god:        May we attain that excellent glory of Savitr the God: So may he stimulate our prayers.        So sacred are these words that they can only be spoken by the twice-born classes (dvija). They are the words which devout Hindus say each morning as they rise and they are used in all religious ceremony. Another solar deity who should be mentioned in this context is Visnu. He was only a minor deity in the Vedic period, indeed he is mentioned in only six hymns. He was noted because he was able to cover the earth, air and heaven in three strides. But like Rudra he was destined to become one of the greatest deities of Hinduism.