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Exploring Hindu Mythology: A Quiz on Ancient Beliefs and Texts

Test your knowledge of Hindu mythology with this engaging quiz that covers key concepts, deities, and texts from ancient Indian beliefs.

#Hinduism #mythology #Vedic texts #epics #deities #caste system #Puranas

1 All of this world, ________, is named Bharatavarsha, or The Land of Bharata, or The Cherished Land.

2 These weapons are most often gifted to semi-divine beings, human beings or the ________ by the Gods, sometimes as a result of penance.

3 Yama (the god of death and justice) is said to live in Kailash along with his master ________.

4 After the flood the Lord inspires the ________, largely based upon the Vedas, which details the moral code of conduct, of living and the division of society according to the caste system.

5 The roots of theology that evolved from classical ________ come from the times of the Vedic civilization, from the ancient Vedic religion.

6 Similarly, the Agneyastra (Agni) is used for setting the enemy ablaze, as the Varunastra (________) is used for extinguishing flames, or for invoking floods.

7 The two great Hindu Epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata tell the story of two specific incarnations of Vishnu (Rama and ________).

8 King Bharata's conquests are described to have stretched over all of modern India, and Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, as well as the ancient Gandhara region of ________.

9 The ________ deal with stories that are older than the epics (Purana is Sanskrit for "ancient").

10 It chronicles the story of the god Vishnu and his incarnations (________) on earth.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • according to Hindu mythology, the god Shiva assumed the form of a bull and his hump, arms, face, navel and hair are worshipped at the Panch Kedar temples (Kedarnath pictured) in Uttarakhand, India.
  • according to Hindu mythology, the five Pandava brothers followed a route to heaven alongside the Panch Prayag (Devprayag pictured) – five confluences which finally result in the holy Ganges river.
  • according to Hindu mythology, the deity Revanta (pictured) was born from the union of the sun-god Surya and his wife Saranya in the form of horse and mare.
  • according to Hindu mythology, the "first king" Prithu chased the Earth in the form of a cow (pictured), who eventually agreed to yield her milk as all the world's grain and vegetation.
  • in Hindu mythology, after Lakshmindara, son of Chand Sadagar, died of snakebite on his wedding night, his bride Behula accompanied his corpse on a raft floating in a river.
  • the legend of Sumbha and Nisumbha, demons from Hindu mythology, is used as a warning against the dangers of seduction in Shashi Tharoor's novel The Great Indian Novel.
  • the erotic Indian classical dance Mohiniattam is named after the "seductress supreme" of Hindu mythology – Mohini (pictured), the female avatar of the male god Vishnu.
  • in Hindu mythology, the demoness Putana (pictured, centre) tried to kill the infant-god Krishna by breastfeeding him poisoned milk.
  • according to Hindu mythology, the Tandava, a vigorous dance by Hindu god Shiva (pictured), is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution of the universe.
  • according to Hindu mythology, the "king of songs" Tumburu (pictured) performed severe austerities to get a horse-face.
  • Sarama is a bitch – in Hindu mythology – who snatches human foetuses from the womb.
  • Pampa Sarovar, the place in Hindu mythology where Shiva's consort Parvati performed penance to show her devotion to him, is a lake in Karnataka.
  • Paduka (pictured), a footwear, is generally worn by mendicants and saints of Hindu and Jain religions, with significance in Hindu mythology linked to the epic Ramayana.
  • Uchchaihshravas is declared the king of horses in Hindu mythology.
  • Vidyadharas, semi-gods of Hindu mythology, milked Mother Earth, who had assumed the form of a cow, to collect mystic powers and the art of flying as her milk.
  • according to Hindu mythology, goddess Savitri cursed her husband, the creator-god Brahma, only to be worshipped at Brahma temple (pictured).
  • according to Hindu mythology, god Shiva proposed to his consort Parvati at Guptakashi.
  • according to Hindu mythology, Balipratipada commemorates the victory of the god Vishnu in his dwarf incarnation Vamana (pictured), defeating demon king Bali, and pushing him to the nether world.
  • Navagunjara is a beast in Hindu mythology, composed of parts of nine different animals.
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