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Rider on a Bird Vahana




Agni's carrier is usually depicted as a ram, and sometimes he is carried on a chariot pulled by goats.


The Supreme Personality of Godhead said, "Of lordly elephants I am Airavata", thus Airavata is the king of all elephants. Airavata (Airaawat) is the vehicle of Lord Indra, king of the demigods.

The devotee demigods and the demons (asuras) once took a sea journey. On this journey, nectar and poison were produced, and Lord Siva drank the poison. From the nectar were produced many entities, one of which was the elephant Airavata. As a result of the devas and asuras churning, the king of elephants, named Airavata, was generated, being white, with four tusks. Airavata defied the glories of Kailasa Mountain, the glorious abode of Lord Siva.

On the top of the mountain called Udayagiri are large lakes from which water continuously pours in waterfalls. Similarly, Indra's carrier, Airavata, holds water and wine in reserve and showers it in the direction of Lord Indra. Thus Indra, King of heaven, sitting on the back of Airavata, appeared like the brilliant sun rising above Udayagiri. Instructing Airavata to shower Lord Krsna with heavenly Ganges water, Indra coronated Lord Krsna the descendant of Dasarha, and gave Him the name Govinda.

Seated on his peacock vahana named Indranilaratha, Karttikeya is the symbol of youth, beauty and valour. The peacock, "mayura" in Sanskrit, symbolizes Karttikeya's effulgent beauty.

Karttikeya is the second son of Siva, the brother of Ganesha. A great Mahadeva worshiped in all parts of India and the world, he is also known as Murugan, Kumara, Skanda, Shanmukhanatha, Subramanya. All these forms are depicted as riding on or being associated with, the peacock.

Vayu, the god of wind, rides an antelope, and is sometimes transported in a shining chariot pulled by two, forty-nine, or a thousand horses.



Lord Yamaraja's vehicle is a water buffalo. Yama is usually depicted with green skin, two or four arms holding a gada (club) and riding on a black buffalo. Yama's Buddhist counterpart has the head of a buffalo and rides a blue bull.



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