Surya symbolizes the Sun God.
In Hindu mythology, Surya represents the Sun god. Surya is depicted as a red man with three eyes and four arms, riding in a chariot drawn by seven mares. The seven horses yoked to the sun-god’s chariot are named Gayatri, Brhati, Usnik, Jagati, Tristup, Anustup and Pankti. These names of various Vedic meters designate the seven horses that carry the sun-god’s chariot
Although Arunadeva sits in front of the sun-god and is engaged in driving the chariot and controlling the horses, he looks backward toward the sun-god.
There are sixty thousand saintly persons named Valikhilyas, each the size of a thumb, who are located in front of the sun-god and who offer him eloquent prayers of glorification.
Similarly, fourteen other saints, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Nagas, Yaksas, Raksasas and demigods, who are divided into groups of two, assume different names every month and continuously perform different ritualistic ceremonies to worship the Supreme Lord as the most powerful demigod Suryadeva, who holds many names.
Worshiping the most powerful demigod Surya, the Gandharvas sing in front of him, the Apsaras dance before the chariot, the Nisacaras follow the chariot, the Pannagas decorate the chariot, the Yaksas guard the chariot, and the saints called the Valikhilyas surround the sun-god and offer prayers. The seven groups of fourteen associates arrange the proper times for regular snow, heat and rain throughout the universe
The entire kala-cakra, or wheel of time, is established on the wheel of the sun-god's chariot. This wheel is known as Samvatsara. They are harnessed by a demigod known as Arunadeva to a yoke 900,000 yojanas wide.
Seven seems to be an important number in many religions. Seven may be significant because there are seven visible celestial bodies that wander across the sky, the Sun, Moon, and the five planets visible to the naked eye, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Because they are all wanders we can call them planets, even though today we normally do not think of the Sun and Moon as planets. "Planets" is a word which comes from the Greek "planet" which means "wander." As is found in the Greco-Roman Calendar the days of the week in the modern Hindu calendar are named for the seven visible planets, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn and they are ordered exactly as they are in the Greco-Roman Calendar, a vestige of the ordering by ancient Babylonians. Before the Gupta period (about 300 A.D.) the Hindu calendar was a lunar calendar
Surya is sometime depicted as holding water lilies with two of his hands. With his third hand he encourages his worshipers whom he blesses with his fourth hand. In India, Surya is believed to be a benevolent deity capable of healing sick people. Even today, people place the symbol of the Sun over shops because they think it would bring good fortune
Sometimes Surya is depicted with two hands holding a lotus in both; sometimes he has four hands holding a lotus, chakra, a conch, and a mace.
Surya is considered as the only visible form of God that can be seen every day.
Sometimes the sun-god is also called Surya-Narayana. The sun-god has expanded himself in twelve divisions, and thus he controls the six seasonal changes and causes winter, summer, rain and so on
Surya - The God of Light
Surya forms the major God of the Navgraha (nine planets).Surya is the God of light as per the Vedic texts.
The sun is situated [vertically] in the middle of the universe, in the area between Bhurloka and Bhuvarloka, which is called antariksha, outer space. The distance between the sun and the circumference of the universe is twenty-five koti yojanas [two billion miles].
Surya is the literal source of life. According to the scientific fact, the
whole universe is based on the process of photosynthesis which takes
place due to the presence of Surya (the sun).
God Surya - The worship
It is believed that Surya has been worshipped since ages to receive the kind blessings of God.
A simple namaskaar (folding hands) to the lord makes him happy. Offering
water to the God is too considered to receive the mercy
Surya is believed to be a generous deity capable of curing sick people, in India.
It is also proved in Science that sunlight is a rich source of Vitamin-D.
Surya is usually remembered for the brilliance and light in one's life.
Symbol of Surya is also regarded as one of the auspicious signs of the Hindu
religion.
People place the sign of the Sun over main doors as they think
it would bring them good luck.
Aadhitya Hrudhaya Punyam
Sarva Sathru Vinaasanam
Jayaavaham Jabe nithyam
Akshayam Paramam Shivam"
It is said that Sun, called Surya, was born of Kashyap and Aditi; hence another name for Sun is Aaditya, meaning Aditi’s son.
In the beginning, the Sun was a dazzling orb of light, so dazzling in fact that his wife, Sanjana, could not stand his heat and went to complain to her father about this. Her father was Vishwakarma, the divine sculptor. He caught hold of Sun, placed him on his wheel and smoothened his jagged, fiery edges, which dimmed Sun’s radiance somewhat. Vishwakarma then gathered up the remnants of the fiery energy of Sun’s outer edges and fashioned the Sudarshan Chakra, the discus-weapon of Vishnu.
Many scholars take this Sudarshan Chakra to mean the ecliptic plane.
Sun and Sanjana had three children: Manu, Yama and Yami.
The daughter, Yami, later became the Yamuna River on Earth.
Yama is the god of death,
while Manu is the father of mankind.
Human beings are called Manuj because they have descended from Manu.
Thus, Sun is the progenitor of the human race, through Manu, and also its destroyer, through Yama.
Sun also fathered Shani (Saturn) by Chhaya, whose name literally means “shadow” and who was the shadow of his wife, Sanjana.
Once, Sanjana took the form of a mare and came to Earth to perform penance.
Sun could not bear to be separated from his wife for long, so he took the
form of a horse, descended upon Earth and soon located her.
A pair of twins was born of this union. Known as the Ashwini Kumars, they are divine physicians who are ever youthful.
They rule the month of Ashwin
(October 15 to November 15) and it is said that anyone who performs
oblations - makes ceremonial offerings - with ghee (clarified butter)
during this month attains physical beauty, courtesy of these ever-young
healers.
The most beloved of all Hindu mantras, which is the Gayatri, is dedicated to Sun and speaks of the RigVed praising Sun at dawn, the YajurVed praising him at noon and
the SamaVed praising him at dusk.
In this form, Sun is said to manifest in the trinity of
Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh, signifying birth, sustenance and dissolution at
morning, noon and evening.
The idea of Sun as the giver of food is connected with his role as a sustainer
In Mahabharata, Surya is referred to as father of Karna, as he begot the latter on Kunti when she was virgin. With his grace and in order that Kunti is not spoken of badly in the world, Kunti could retain virginhood even after delivering a child.
Sun God worship by Egyptians
Re was known as the sun-god and the creator in ancient Egypt. He took on many forms, each depending on where he was. Usually Re was portrayed with a hawk head, wearing a fiery disk like the Sun on his head. In the Underworld, the god took the form of a ram-head. Re was the creator of our world.
http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSc.../extsungod.htm
SURYA GAYATHRI
Om Bhaskaraya Vidmahe
Divakaraya Dhimahi
Tanno Suryah Prachodayat
Let The Power of Lord Surya protect you and give you strength and happiness throughout your life.
In Hindu mythology, Surya represents the Sun god. Surya is depicted as a red man with three eyes and four arms, riding in a chariot drawn by seven mares. The seven horses yoked to the sun-god’s chariot are named Gayatri, Brhati, Usnik, Jagati, Tristup, Anustup and Pankti. These names of various Vedic meters designate the seven horses that carry the sun-god’s chariot
Although Arunadeva sits in front of the sun-god and is engaged in driving the chariot and controlling the horses, he looks backward toward the sun-god.
There are sixty thousand saintly persons named Valikhilyas, each the size of a thumb, who are located in front of the sun-god and who offer him eloquent prayers of glorification.
Similarly, fourteen other saints, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Nagas, Yaksas, Raksasas and demigods, who are divided into groups of two, assume different names every month and continuously perform different ritualistic ceremonies to worship the Supreme Lord as the most powerful demigod Suryadeva, who holds many names.
Worshiping the most powerful demigod Surya, the Gandharvas sing in front of him, the Apsaras dance before the chariot, the Nisacaras follow the chariot, the Pannagas decorate the chariot, the Yaksas guard the chariot, and the saints called the Valikhilyas surround the sun-god and offer prayers. The seven groups of fourteen associates arrange the proper times for regular snow, heat and rain throughout the universe
The entire kala-cakra, or wheel of time, is established on the wheel of the sun-god's chariot. This wheel is known as Samvatsara. They are harnessed by a demigod known as Arunadeva to a yoke 900,000 yojanas wide.
Seven seems to be an important number in many religions. Seven may be significant because there are seven visible celestial bodies that wander across the sky, the Sun, Moon, and the five planets visible to the naked eye, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Because they are all wanders we can call them planets, even though today we normally do not think of the Sun and Moon as planets. "Planets" is a word which comes from the Greek "planet" which means "wander." As is found in the Greco-Roman Calendar the days of the week in the modern Hindu calendar are named for the seven visible planets, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn and they are ordered exactly as they are in the Greco-Roman Calendar, a vestige of the ordering by ancient Babylonians. Before the Gupta period (about 300 A.D.) the Hindu calendar was a lunar calendar
Surya is sometime depicted as holding water lilies with two of his hands. With his third hand he encourages his worshipers whom he blesses with his fourth hand. In India, Surya is believed to be a benevolent deity capable of healing sick people. Even today, people place the symbol of the Sun over shops because they think it would bring good fortune
Sometimes Surya is depicted with two hands holding a lotus in both; sometimes he has four hands holding a lotus, chakra, a conch, and a mace.
Surya is considered as the only visible form of God that can be seen every day.
Sometimes the sun-god is also called Surya-Narayana. The sun-god has expanded himself in twelve divisions, and thus he controls the six seasonal changes and causes winter, summer, rain and so on
Surya - The God of Light
Surya forms the major God of the Navgraha (nine planets).Surya is the God of light as per the Vedic texts.
The sun is situated [vertically] in the middle of the universe, in the area between Bhurloka and Bhuvarloka, which is called antariksha, outer space. The distance between the sun and the circumference of the universe is twenty-five koti yojanas [two billion miles].
Surya is the literal source of life. According to the scientific fact, the
whole universe is based on the process of photosynthesis which takes
place due to the presence of Surya (the sun).
God Surya - The worship
It is believed that Surya has been worshipped since ages to receive the kind blessings of God.
A simple namaskaar (folding hands) to the lord makes him happy. Offering
water to the God is too considered to receive the mercy
Surya is believed to be a generous deity capable of curing sick people, in India.
It is also proved in Science that sunlight is a rich source of Vitamin-D.
Surya is usually remembered for the brilliance and light in one's life.
Symbol of Surya is also regarded as one of the auspicious signs of the Hindu
religion.
People place the sign of the Sun over main doors as they think
it would bring them good luck.
Aadhitya Hrudhaya Punyam
Sarva Sathru Vinaasanam
Jayaavaham Jabe nithyam
Akshayam Paramam Shivam"
It is said that Sun, called Surya, was born of Kashyap and Aditi; hence another name for Sun is Aaditya, meaning Aditi’s son.
In the beginning, the Sun was a dazzling orb of light, so dazzling in fact that his wife, Sanjana, could not stand his heat and went to complain to her father about this. Her father was Vishwakarma, the divine sculptor. He caught hold of Sun, placed him on his wheel and smoothened his jagged, fiery edges, which dimmed Sun’s radiance somewhat. Vishwakarma then gathered up the remnants of the fiery energy of Sun’s outer edges and fashioned the Sudarshan Chakra, the discus-weapon of Vishnu.
Many scholars take this Sudarshan Chakra to mean the ecliptic plane.
Sun and Sanjana had three children: Manu, Yama and Yami.
The daughter, Yami, later became the Yamuna River on Earth.
Yama is the god of death,
while Manu is the father of mankind.
Human beings are called Manuj because they have descended from Manu.
Thus, Sun is the progenitor of the human race, through Manu, and also its destroyer, through Yama.
Sun also fathered Shani (Saturn) by Chhaya, whose name literally means “shadow” and who was the shadow of his wife, Sanjana.
Once, Sanjana took the form of a mare and came to Earth to perform penance.
Sun could not bear to be separated from his wife for long, so he took the
form of a horse, descended upon Earth and soon located her.
A pair of twins was born of this union. Known as the Ashwini Kumars, they are divine physicians who are ever youthful.
They rule the month of Ashwin
(October 15 to November 15) and it is said that anyone who performs
oblations - makes ceremonial offerings - with ghee (clarified butter)
during this month attains physical beauty, courtesy of these ever-young
healers.
The most beloved of all Hindu mantras, which is the Gayatri, is dedicated to Sun and speaks of the RigVed praising Sun at dawn, the YajurVed praising him at noon and
the SamaVed praising him at dusk.
In this form, Sun is said to manifest in the trinity of
Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh, signifying birth, sustenance and dissolution at
morning, noon and evening.
The idea of Sun as the giver of food is connected with his role as a sustainer
In Mahabharata, Surya is referred to as father of Karna, as he begot the latter on Kunti when she was virgin. With his grace and in order that Kunti is not spoken of badly in the world, Kunti could retain virginhood even after delivering a child.
Sun God worship by Egyptians
Re was known as the sun-god and the creator in ancient Egypt. He took on many forms, each depending on where he was. Usually Re was portrayed with a hawk head, wearing a fiery disk like the Sun on his head. In the Underworld, the god took the form of a ram-head. Re was the creator of our world.
http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSc.../extsungod.htm
SURYA GAYATHRI
Om Bhaskaraya Vidmahe
Divakaraya Dhimahi
Tanno Suryah Prachodayat
Let The Power of Lord Surya protect you and give you strength and happiness throughout your life.