Ekapada
Encyclopedia
Ekapada refers to a one-footed aspect of the Hindu god Shiva
. This aspect is primarily found in South India
and Orissa
, but also occasionally in Rajasthan
and Nepal
. The Ekapada is primarily represented in three iconographical forms. In the Ekapada-murti ("one-footed icon") form, he is depicted as one-legged and four-armed. In the Ekapada-Trimurti ("one-footed Trinity") form, he is depicted with the torsos of the deities Vishnu
and Brahma
, which together with Shiva form the Hindu Trinity (Trimurti
) emanating from his sides, waist upwards and with one leg; however, sometimes, besides the central one leg of Shiva, two smaller legs of Vishnu and Brahma emerge from the sides. While some scriptures also call the latter configuration Ekapada-Trimurti, some refer it to as Tripada-Trimurti ("three-footed Trinity"). In Orissa, where Ekapada is considered an aspect of Bhairava
—the fearsome aspect of Shiva—the iconography of Ekapada-murti becomes more fierce, with motifs of blood sacrifice. This aspect is called Ekapada Bhairava ("one-footed Bhairava" or "the one-footed fierce one").
The Ekapada form of Shiva originated from the Vedic
deity Aja Ekapada or Ajaikapada, a name that Ekapada Bhairava still inherits. Ekapada represents the cosmic pillar of the universe
and portrays Shiva as the Supreme Lord, from whom Vishnu and Brahma originate. Ekapada is often accompanied by ascetic attendants, whose presence emphasizes his connection to severe penance.
text Amsumadbhedagama mentions that Ekapada-Trimurti is similar to the Ekanetra and Ekarudra aspects of Shiva and is one of the Vidyeshvara aspects. He wears a jata-mukuta (a headdress formed of piled, matted hair) and white silken garments. He has three eyes and a pacific appearance. He holds a trishula
(trident) and a tanka (small hammer) in two of his four arms and gestures in varada mudra
(the boon-giving gesture) and abhaya mudra (the gesture of reassurance).
Another Agama text, the Uttara-Karanagama, also describes Ekapada-Trimurti as one of the Vidyeshvaras. He stands erect (the samabhanga posture) on his one leg on a lotus pedestal (padma pitha). He has three eyes and four arms and is clear as crystal in color. His back hands carry a trisula or mriga (deer) and a tanka and his four hands gesture in varada mudra and abhaya mudra. He wears ordinary kundala earrings or pearl ones and the jata-mukuta. From the right and left of his body emerge Brahma
and Vishnu
respectively. They are shown from the waist up and have one of their legs bent held above the ground. Brahma and Vishnu are both four-armed and hold their front hands folded (in anjali mudra
). In his back hands, the four-headed Brahma holds a sruk (a large wooden ladle used to offer ghee
in fire-sacrifice) and a kamandalu
(water-pot), while Vishnu—who is adorned with a kirita-mukuta (conical crown)—holds a shankha
(conch) and chakra. Ekapada is surrounded by a huge halo, encompassing all his three torsos. A third Agama text, the Uttara-Kanikagama, mentions that the figures of Brahma and Vishnu are proportionally smaller, similar to the size prescribed for female deities. It also associates the one leg of the divinity with the Linga, Shiva's aniconic symbol. The Linga Purana
describes Shiva as "the lord who has one foot, four arms, three eyes and a trident ... who is stationed after creating Vishnu from his left side and four-headed Brahma from his right side." In South Indian temples, the icon may be accompanied by yogi
s or ascetics worshipping it and by the vahana
s of the Trinity: Brahma's hamsa (swan/goose), Vishnu's garuda
(eagle-man), and Shiva's Nandi bull
.
Sometimes, when the legs of Vishnu and Shiva are seen, the icon is called Tripada-Trimurti ("three-legged trinity") as opposed to the icon when the legs of Vishnu and Shiva are not shown, when it is called Ekapada-Trimurti ("one-legged trinity"), although the Uttara-Karanagama refers to the former as Ekapada-Trimurti. When the icon is shown without the torsos of Vishnu and Brahma, it is simply called Ekapada-murti ("one-legged icon"). Another variation of Ekapada, called Mahesha-Ekapada, appears in an 8th-century relief in Mahabalipuram, where he is one-legged and four-armed but also has three visible heads plus a head assumed at the back and top, making it a five-headed icon, resembling the five-headed form called Mahesha or Sadashiva.
In Orissa, the iconography of Ekapada is quite different from that in South India. Though he has his characteristic one leg, matted hair and crescent moon headgear, and ascetic attendants, here Ekapada is never depicted with the torsos of Vishnu and Brahma. He may be four-armed or two-armed and is considered a form of Bhairava
, the fearsome aspect of Shiva. He sports a short beard and moustache, an open mouth with fangs, and bulging eyes with a wrathful expression. He is ithyphallic (with an erect phallus
) and wears a tiger skin around his waist. He wears various ornaments and a long yagnopavita (sacred thread) across his chest. In later images, Ekapada tends to be more terrifying, with a garland of skulls, serpentine ornaments and yagnopavita, and a corpse beneath his foot. Early images depict him with a varada mudra gesture and kamandalu; however, in later ones these are replaced by a damaru and a kapala. His other attributes may be an akshamala
(rosary), a trishula, a serpent, a deer. His ascetic attendants may hold a trishula and sometimes he is accompanied by a female attendant and his vahana Nandi.
The Vishwakarma-shilpa mentions Ekapada as one of the Rudras
and describes his iconography as having 16 arms and holding in his left arms a khatvanga
, an arrow, a chakra
, a damaru
, a mudgara (a mallet-like weapon), an akshamala, and a trisula (trident), with one hand held in varada mudra, and with his right hands holding a bow, a ghanta (bell), a kapala
, a kaumudi (crescent moon), a ghata (pot), a parashu (battle-axe), and shakti
(power), with one hand in Tarjani mudra
(with raised or threatening forefinger symbolizing wrath). However, no representation of a sixteen-armed Ekapada is found.
of Aja and Ekapada). The first mention of Aja Ekapada ("the one-footed goat" or "the one-footed unborn one") is found in the Vedas
, Hinduism's earliest scriptures. Aja Ekapada is closely associated with Ahi Budhnya ("serpent of the deep ocean"), appearing in juxtaposition with the latter in five Rig Vedic hymns and once without him. According to V. S. Agrawala, Aja Ekapada and Ahi Budhnya appear to be twin aspects of the same deity. According to another interpretation, Aja Ekapada appears to be an aerial deity since he is invoked as the supporter of the sky and the thundering flood. In Yaska
's Naighantuka (a thesaurus), Aja Ekapada is mentioned with the deities of the celestial realms. The Atharvaveda
describes him as made of two worlds. The Taittiriya Brahmana describes him as rising from the east. The commentator of this text interprets Aja Ekapada as a form of the fire-god Agni
, as does the modern scholar V. S. Agrawala. Durga on the Nirukta
interprets him to be the sun, and some scholars also consider him a solar deity. Some scholars associate him with storms and interpret Aja Ekapada as a lighting strike coming down on earth in a single streak. In the Hindu epics, Aja Ekapada, spelled Ajaikapada, is described as one of the 11 Rudras
and an epithet of Shiva, an identification that still is in vogue and is reflected in most of his representations. In the epic Mahabharata
, both Ajaikapada and Ahi Budhnya are described as Rudras. The twin deities are characterized as guardians of the gold, with Kubera
, the treasurer of the gods. Some Puranas
describe Aja, Ekapada (Ekapat), and Ahirbudhnya as three different Rudras. Ajaikapada is described as a Rudra in the Linga Purana
too. In most cases Shiva is the governing deity of the Rudras, including Aja-Ekapada.
Ekapada icons are found in most of the important Shiva temples in South India
, "in some place or the other", at least carved on a pillar. The Ekapada-Trimurti, found in South India, demonstrates the sectarian mission of the Shaivas (sect of Shiva) to establish their Lord Shiva as the Supreme God and to illustrate that Vishnu and Brahma evolved from him. A similar Vaishnava (sect of Vishnu) icon depicts Vishnu in the central position and Shiva and Vishnu emerging from his body. According to another interpretation, the Ekapada icon is that of Shiva in severe penance. Two ascetic attendants, who bow in reverence, emphasize his ascetic nature. In this view, Ekapada is regarded as symbolizing "severe asceticism, the granting of wishes or boons, and absolution." The Vishwakarma-shilpa describes the worship of Ekapada as giving material joys.
The Ekapada appears as a secondary deity (avarana-devata) in the northern side niche of temples in Orissa
, often next to the central niche depicting the goddess Mahishasuramardini
. In Orissa, these icons are known as Aja-Ekapada or Ajaikapada. The earliest Ekapada icons in Orissa date back to the 8th century CE and are also found at the entrance of a caitya or as a guardian-attendant of the Saptamatrika goddesses, as an aspect of Bhairava. He remains the most popular aspect of Bhairava in Orissa, and was also worshipped by the Kapalika
sect. The Ekapada-murti icons found in the Kalinga-era temples of Andhra Pradesh
mirror those in neighbouring Orissa. In Orissa, Ekapada-Bhairava is essentially a Tantric
deity. Tantric texts explicitly associate him with the Vedic Aja Ekapada, fire/Agni, sacrifice, the cosmic pillar of the universe
, and the Yogini
goddesses, who are also linked to the Saptamatrikas. As a guardian of the Saptamatrikas, Ekapada became more terrible in appearance, with motifs of blood-sacrifice and his depictions limited to Tantric goddess temples. As Vaishnavism rose in Orissa, depictions of him became increasingly rare. According to one theory, Ekapada may have inspired the popular Vaishnava icon of Jagannath
, a deity depicted without legs but a single stump below the waist.
Besides in South India and Orissa, images of Ekapada are also found in Rajasthan
and Nepal
, though rarely.
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. This aspect is primarily found in South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
and Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
, but also occasionally in Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. The Ekapada is primarily represented in three iconographical forms. In the Ekapada-murti ("one-footed icon") form, he is depicted as one-legged and four-armed. In the Ekapada-Trimurti ("one-footed Trinity") form, he is depicted with the torsos of the deities Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
and Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, which together with Shiva form the Hindu Trinity (Trimurti
Trimurti
The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer," These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or...
) emanating from his sides, waist upwards and with one leg; however, sometimes, besides the central one leg of Shiva, two smaller legs of Vishnu and Brahma emerge from the sides. While some scriptures also call the latter configuration Ekapada-Trimurti, some refer it to as Tripada-Trimurti ("three-footed Trinity"). In Orissa, where Ekapada is considered an aspect of Bhairava
Bhairava
Bhairava , sometimes known as Bhairo or Bhairon or Bhairadya or Bheruji , Kaala Bhairavar or Vairavar , is the fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva associated with annihilation...
—the fearsome aspect of Shiva—the iconography of Ekapada-murti becomes more fierce, with motifs of blood sacrifice. This aspect is called Ekapada Bhairava ("one-footed Bhairava" or "the one-footed fierce one").
The Ekapada form of Shiva originated from the Vedic
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
deity Aja Ekapada or Ajaikapada, a name that Ekapada Bhairava still inherits. Ekapada represents the cosmic pillar of the universe
Axis mundi
The axis mundi , in religion or mythology, is the world center and/or the connection between heaven and Earth. As the celestial pole and geographic pole, it expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet...
and portrays Shiva as the Supreme Lord, from whom Vishnu and Brahma originate. Ekapada is often accompanied by ascetic attendants, whose presence emphasizes his connection to severe penance.
Iconography
The AgamaĀgama (Hinduism)
Agama means, in the Hindu context, "a traditional doctrine, or system which commands faith".In Hinduism, the Agamas are a collection of Sanskrit scriptures which are revered and followed by millions of Hindus.-Significance:...
text Amsumadbhedagama mentions that Ekapada-Trimurti is similar to the Ekanetra and Ekarudra aspects of Shiva and is one of the Vidyeshvara aspects. He wears a jata-mukuta (a headdress formed of piled, matted hair) and white silken garments. He has three eyes and a pacific appearance. He holds a trishula
Trishula
A trishula is a type of Indian trident but also found in Southeast Asia. It is commonly used as a Hindu-Buddhist religious symbol. The word means "three spear" in Sanskrit and Pali....
(trident) and a tanka (small hammer) in two of his four arms and gestures in varada mudra
Varadamudra
Varadamudra is a mudra, and it indicates a gesture by the hand and symbolizes dispensing of boons. For varadamudra, left hand is used. It is held out, with palm uppermost and the fingers pointing downwards...
(the boon-giving gesture) and abhaya mudra (the gesture of reassurance).
Another Agama text, the Uttara-Karanagama, also describes Ekapada-Trimurti as one of the Vidyeshvaras. He stands erect (the samabhanga posture) on his one leg on a lotus pedestal (padma pitha). He has three eyes and four arms and is clear as crystal in color. His back hands carry a trisula or mriga (deer) and a tanka and his four hands gesture in varada mudra and abhaya mudra. He wears ordinary kundala earrings or pearl ones and the jata-mukuta. From the right and left of his body emerge Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
and Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
respectively. They are shown from the waist up and have one of their legs bent held above the ground. Brahma and Vishnu are both four-armed and hold their front hands folded (in anjali mudra
Añjali Mudrā
Añjali Mudrā or Pranamasana is a hand gesture which is practiced throughout Asia. It is used as a sign of respect and a greeting in India and amongst yoga practitioners and adherents of similar traditions...
). In his back hands, the four-headed Brahma holds a sruk (a large wooden ladle used to offer ghee
Ghee
Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine....
in fire-sacrifice) and a kamandalu
Kamandalu
Kamandalu or Kamandal or Kamandalam is an oblong water pot made of a dry gourd or coconut shell or metal or wood of Kamandalataru tree or from clay, usually with a handle and sometimes with a spout. Hindu ascetics or yogis often use it for storing drinking water...
(water-pot), while Vishnu—who is adorned with a kirita-mukuta (conical crown)—holds a shankha
Shankha
Shankha bhasam , also spelled and pronounced as Shankh and Sankha, is a conch shell of ritual and religious importance in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is the shell of a large predatory sea snail,Turbinella pyrum found in the Indian Ocean....
(conch) and chakra. Ekapada is surrounded by a huge halo, encompassing all his three torsos. A third Agama text, the Uttara-Kanikagama, mentions that the figures of Brahma and Vishnu are proportionally smaller, similar to the size prescribed for female deities. It also associates the one leg of the divinity with the Linga, Shiva's aniconic symbol. The Linga Purana
Linga Purana
The Linga Purana is one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text. The extant text is divided into two parts, comprising 108 and 55 chapters respectively. These parts contain the description regarding the origin of universe, origin of the linga, and emergence of Brahma and Vishnu, and...
describes Shiva as "the lord who has one foot, four arms, three eyes and a trident ... who is stationed after creating Vishnu from his left side and four-headed Brahma from his right side." In South Indian temples, the icon may be accompanied by yogi
Yogi
A Yogi is a practitioner of Yoga. The word is also used to refer to ascetic practitioners of meditation in a number of South Asian Religions including Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.-Etymology:...
s or ascetics worshipping it and by the vahana
Vahana
Vāhana denotes the being, typically an animal or mythical entity, a particular deva is said to use as a vehicle. In this capacity, the vāhana is often called the deity's mount. Upon the partnership between the deva and his vāhana is woven much iconography and mythology...
s of the Trinity: Brahma's hamsa (swan/goose), Vishnu's garuda
Garuda
The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
(eagle-man), and Shiva's Nandi bull
Nandi bull
Nandi or Nandin , is now universally supposed to be the name for the bull which serves as the mount of Shiva and as the gate keeper of Shiva and Parvati in Hindu mythology. Temples venerating Shiva and Parvati display stone images of a seated Nandi, generally facing the main shrine...
.
Sometimes, when the legs of Vishnu and Shiva are seen, the icon is called Tripada-Trimurti ("three-legged trinity") as opposed to the icon when the legs of Vishnu and Shiva are not shown, when it is called Ekapada-Trimurti ("one-legged trinity"), although the Uttara-Karanagama refers to the former as Ekapada-Trimurti. When the icon is shown without the torsos of Vishnu and Brahma, it is simply called Ekapada-murti ("one-legged icon"). Another variation of Ekapada, called Mahesha-Ekapada, appears in an 8th-century relief in Mahabalipuram, where he is one-legged and four-armed but also has three visible heads plus a head assumed at the back and top, making it a five-headed icon, resembling the five-headed form called Mahesha or Sadashiva.
In Orissa, the iconography of Ekapada is quite different from that in South India. Though he has his characteristic one leg, matted hair and crescent moon headgear, and ascetic attendants, here Ekapada is never depicted with the torsos of Vishnu and Brahma. He may be four-armed or two-armed and is considered a form of Bhairava
Bhairava
Bhairava , sometimes known as Bhairo or Bhairon or Bhairadya or Bheruji , Kaala Bhairavar or Vairavar , is the fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva associated with annihilation...
, the fearsome aspect of Shiva. He sports a short beard and moustache, an open mouth with fangs, and bulging eyes with a wrathful expression. He is ithyphallic (with an erect phallus
Phallus
A phallus is an erect penis, a penis-shaped object such as a dildo, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. Any object that symbolically resembles a penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic...
) and wears a tiger skin around his waist. He wears various ornaments and a long yagnopavita (sacred thread) across his chest. In later images, Ekapada tends to be more terrifying, with a garland of skulls, serpentine ornaments and yagnopavita, and a corpse beneath his foot. Early images depict him with a varada mudra gesture and kamandalu; however, in later ones these are replaced by a damaru and a kapala. His other attributes may be an akshamala
Akshamala
Akshamala, is a garland of beads, made of pearls, bones, shalagram shila, dried seeds, berries, or sometimes of skulls. It is the attribute of many gods and deities in Hinduism. In general, an Akshamala is composed of fifty beads, corresponding to the characters of Sanskrit alphabet, the 'garland...
(rosary), a trishula, a serpent, a deer. His ascetic attendants may hold a trishula and sometimes he is accompanied by a female attendant and his vahana Nandi.
The Vishwakarma-shilpa mentions Ekapada as one of the Rudras
Rudras
Rudras are forms and followers of the god Rudra-Shiva and make eleven of the Thirty-three gods in the Hindu pantheon. They are at times identified with the Maruts - sons of Rudra; while at other times, considered distinct from them.-Birth and names:...
and describes his iconography as having 16 arms and holding in his left arms a khatvanga
Khatvanga
Khatvanga is a long, club-like instrument originally created to be used as a weapon. It is a divine weapon of polysemic significance and accoutrement of chthonic deities and 'left-handed path' holy people in Dharmic Traditions such as Shaivism and Esoteric Buddhism...
, an arrow, a chakra
Chakram
The chakram , sometimes called a war quoit, is a throwing weapon from India. Its shape is of a flat metal hoop with a sharp outer edge from in diameter...
, a damaru
Damaru
A damaru or damru is a small two-headed drum shaped like an hourglass. The drum is typically made of wood, with leather drum heads at both ends; the damaru might also be made entirely out of human skulls...
, a mudgara (a mallet-like weapon), an akshamala, and a trisula (trident), with one hand held in varada mudra, and with his right hands holding a bow, a ghanta (bell), a kapala
Kapala
A kapala or skullcup is a cup made from a human skull used as a ritual implement in both Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Tantra...
, a kaumudi (crescent moon), a ghata (pot), a parashu (battle-axe), and shakti
Shakti
Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
(power), with one hand in Tarjani mudra
Mudra
A mudrā is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudrās involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers...
(with raised or threatening forefinger symbolizing wrath). However, no representation of a sixteen-armed Ekapada is found.
Development and worship
The evolution of Ekapada is unclear; however, most scholars agree that he emerged from the Vedic deity Aja Ekapada or Ajaikapada (a sandhiSandhi
Sandhi is a cover term for a wide variety of phonological processes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries . Examples include the fusion of sounds across word boundaries and the alteration of sounds due to neighboring sounds or due to the grammatical function of adjacent words...
of Aja and Ekapada). The first mention of Aja Ekapada ("the one-footed goat" or "the one-footed unborn one") is found in the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
, Hinduism's earliest scriptures. Aja Ekapada is closely associated with Ahi Budhnya ("serpent of the deep ocean"), appearing in juxtaposition with the latter in five Rig Vedic hymns and once without him. According to V. S. Agrawala, Aja Ekapada and Ahi Budhnya appear to be twin aspects of the same deity. According to another interpretation, Aja Ekapada appears to be an aerial deity since he is invoked as the supporter of the sky and the thundering flood. In Yaska
Yaska
' ) was a Sanskrit grammarian who preceded Pāṇini , assumed to have been active in the 5th or 6th century BC.He is the author of the Nirukta, a technical treatise on etymology, lexical category and the semantics of words...
's Naighantuka (a thesaurus), Aja Ekapada is mentioned with the deities of the celestial realms. The Atharvaveda
Atharvaveda
The Atharvaveda is a sacred text of Hinduism and one of the four Vedas, often called the "fourth Veda"....
describes him as made of two worlds. The Taittiriya Brahmana describes him as rising from the east. The commentator of this text interprets Aja Ekapada as a form of the fire-god Agni
Agni
Agni is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices. The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods...
, as does the modern scholar V. S. Agrawala. Durga on the Nirukta
Nirukta
Nirukta is one of the six disciplines of Hinduism, treating etymology, particularly of obscure words, especially those occurring in the Vedas. The discipline is traditionally attributed to , an ancient Sanskrit grammarian...
interprets him to be the sun, and some scholars also consider him a solar deity. Some scholars associate him with storms and interpret Aja Ekapada as a lighting strike coming down on earth in a single streak. In the Hindu epics, Aja Ekapada, spelled Ajaikapada, is described as one of the 11 Rudras
Rudras
Rudras are forms and followers of the god Rudra-Shiva and make eleven of the Thirty-three gods in the Hindu pantheon. They are at times identified with the Maruts - sons of Rudra; while at other times, considered distinct from them.-Birth and names:...
and an epithet of Shiva, an identification that still is in vogue and is reflected in most of his representations. In the epic Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, both Ajaikapada and Ahi Budhnya are described as Rudras. The twin deities are characterized as guardians of the gold, with Kubera
Kubera
Kubera , also spelt Kuber, is the Lord of wealth and the god-king of the semi-divine Yakshas in Hindu mythology. He is regarded as the regent of the North , and a protector of the world His many epithets extol him as the overlord of numerous semi-divine species and the owner of the treasures of...
, the treasurer of the gods. Some Puranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
describe Aja, Ekapada (Ekapat), and Ahirbudhnya as three different Rudras. Ajaikapada is described as a Rudra in the Linga Purana
Linga Purana
The Linga Purana is one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text. The extant text is divided into two parts, comprising 108 and 55 chapters respectively. These parts contain the description regarding the origin of universe, origin of the linga, and emergence of Brahma and Vishnu, and...
too. In most cases Shiva is the governing deity of the Rudras, including Aja-Ekapada.
Ekapada icons are found in most of the important Shiva temples in South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
, "in some place or the other", at least carved on a pillar. The Ekapada-Trimurti, found in South India, demonstrates the sectarian mission of the Shaivas (sect of Shiva) to establish their Lord Shiva as the Supreme God and to illustrate that Vishnu and Brahma evolved from him. A similar Vaishnava (sect of Vishnu) icon depicts Vishnu in the central position and Shiva and Vishnu emerging from his body. According to another interpretation, the Ekapada icon is that of Shiva in severe penance. Two ascetic attendants, who bow in reverence, emphasize his ascetic nature. In this view, Ekapada is regarded as symbolizing "severe asceticism, the granting of wishes or boons, and absolution." The Vishwakarma-shilpa describes the worship of Ekapada as giving material joys.
The Ekapada appears as a secondary deity (avarana-devata) in the northern side niche of temples in Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
, often next to the central niche depicting the goddess Mahishasuramardini
Durga
For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...
. In Orissa, these icons are known as Aja-Ekapada or Ajaikapada. The earliest Ekapada icons in Orissa date back to the 8th century CE and are also found at the entrance of a caitya or as a guardian-attendant of the Saptamatrika goddesses, as an aspect of Bhairava. He remains the most popular aspect of Bhairava in Orissa, and was also worshipped by the Kapalika
Kapalika
In Hindu culture, Kapalika means bearer of the skull-bowl, and refers to Lord Bhairava taking the kapala vow. As penance for cutting off one of the heads of Brahma, Lord Bhairava became Bhikshatana, an outcast and a beggar...
sect. The Ekapada-murti icons found in the Kalinga-era temples of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
mirror those in neighbouring Orissa. In Orissa, Ekapada-Bhairava is essentially a Tantric
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
deity. Tantric texts explicitly associate him with the Vedic Aja Ekapada, fire/Agni, sacrifice, the cosmic pillar of the universe
Axis mundi
The axis mundi , in religion or mythology, is the world center and/or the connection between heaven and Earth. As the celestial pole and geographic pole, it expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet...
, and the Yogini
Yogini
Yogini is the complete form source word of the masculine yogi- and neutral/plural "yogin." Far from being merely a gender tag to the all things yogi, "Yogini" represents both a female master practitioner of Yoga, and a formal term of respect for a category of modern female spiritual teachers in...
goddesses, who are also linked to the Saptamatrikas. As a guardian of the Saptamatrikas, Ekapada became more terrible in appearance, with motifs of blood-sacrifice and his depictions limited to Tantric goddess temples. As Vaishnavism rose in Orissa, depictions of him became increasingly rare. According to one theory, Ekapada may have inspired the popular Vaishnava icon of Jagannath
Jagannath
Jagannath is a transcendental non-anthropotheistic Hindu god worshiped primarily by the people of Indian state of Orissa, and, to a great extent, West Bengal...
, a deity depicted without legs but a single stump below the waist.
Besides in South India and Orissa, images of Ekapada are also found in Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, though rarely.