Tilottama is an
ApsaraAn Apsara , Apsara or Tep Apsar in Khmer, Accharā or A Bố Sa La Tư , Bidadari , also known as Vidhya Dhari, is a female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hindu and Buddhist...
. "Tila" is the Sanskrit word for sesame seed and "uttama" means better or higher. Tilottama therefore means the being whose smallest particle is the finest or one who is composed of the finest and highest qualities. She is reputed to have been created by Vishwakarma, at
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. He is not to be confused with the Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hindu Vedanta philosophy known as Brahman. Brahmā's consort is Saraswati, the goddess of learning...
's request,
by taking the best quality of everything as the ingredients. She was responsible for bringing about the mutual destruction of the
Asura-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asura are a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes referred to as demons or sinful. They were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa. The views of Asuras in Hinduism vary due to the many deities who were Asuras then later became known as Devas...
s,
SundaSunda may refer to:In Indonesia:-* Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the western part of the Malay archipelago** Greater Sunda Islands** Lesser Sunda Islands* Sunda Strait, the strait between Java and Sumatra...
and
UpasundaA mythological character from the great epic Mahabharata, Upasunda was an asura prince and the brother of Sunda. The brothers grew up to be very powerful and were always of one mind. Together, they embarked on a campaign of world domination that began with a program of extreme asceticism in the...
.
Tilottama is an
ApsaraAn Apsara , Apsara or Tep Apsar in Khmer, Accharā or A Bố Sa La Tư , Bidadari , also known as Vidhya Dhari, is a female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hindu and Buddhist...
. "Tila" is the Sanskrit word for sesame seed and "uttama" means better or higher. Tilottama therefore means the being whose smallest particle is the finest or one who is composed of the finest and highest qualities. She is reputed to have been created by Vishwakarma, at
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. He is not to be confused with the Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hindu Vedanta philosophy known as Brahman. Brahmā's consort is Saraswati, the goddess of learning...
's request,
by taking the best quality of everything as the ingredients. She was responsible for bringing about the mutual destruction of the
Asura-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asura are a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes referred to as demons or sinful. They were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa. The views of Asuras in Hinduism vary due to the many deities who were Asuras then later became known as Devas...
s,
SundaSunda may refer to:In Indonesia:-* Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the western part of the Malay archipelago** Greater Sunda Islands** Lesser Sunda Islands* Sunda Strait, the strait between Java and Sumatra...
and
UpasundaA mythological character from the great epic Mahabharata, Upasunda was an asura prince and the brother of Sunda. The brothers grew up to be very powerful and were always of one mind. Together, they embarked on a campaign of world domination that began with a program of extreme asceticism in the...
. She was cursed to be born as a
DaityaIn Hinduism, the Daityas were the children of Diti and the sage Kashyapa. They were a race of giants who fought against the gods because they were jealous of their Deva half-brothers. Some known Daityas include Bali, Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha...
princess by
DurvasaIn Hinduism, Durvasa is an ancient sage, son of Atri and Anasuya. He is supposed to be an incarnation of Shiva. He is supposed to be the only rishi whose penance goes up whenever he curses somebody. He is known for his short temper. Maledictions or curses he gave in his rage ruined many lives...
muni. She was born as Usa, the daughter of
BanasuraBana , in Hindu mythology, was a thousand-armed asura and son of Bali. Banasura was a powerful and terrible asura. All people, even the king of earth and Devas of heaven, were afraid of him. Bana was a follower of Siva. Banasura ruled in present-day central Assam with his capital at Sonitpur...
.
Tilottama is now also used as a female name, which is abbreviated as "Tilo".