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ayudha

आयुध āyudha

An attribute or weapon held in a devata's hand, such as the shankha, the discus or the trishula; the primary identifier of who a murti represents.

Where this term appears

  • How to Read a Murti Deities

    The objects are called ayudhas , and they name the deity more surely than the face does.

  • Who is Saraswati? Deities

    She is honoured again in the autumn, during Navaratri, in the rite of Ayudha Puja , when the tools of every trade, the scholar's books, the musician's instruments, the artisan's implements, even the machines of…

  • The Court of Vishnu Treatise

    Vishnu, like Shiva, is never alone — but where Shiva's retinue is a wild cremation-ground host, Vishnu's is an ordered celestial court, and it carries the most…

  • Victory and Light Treatise

    In the south and the west the day takes another form, the Ayudha Puja , the worship of tools and weapons and instruments, when a craftsman honours his tools, a musician her instrument, a clerk his books, a driv…

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