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Showing posts with the label Mythology

A Veda Story, Legend of Hanuman

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 The Indian hindu myths holds a  plethora of  zoomorphic characters but only one of them have ever been equated with the status of a god today. Hanuman the monkey child is son of the wind god. Mythic texts speaks of Hanuman possessing enormous strength, keen intellect and a mastery over the Ancient Hindu scriptures, (the three vedas) and other branches of learning. Not to mention having an extremely pleasant visage, perfect diction, elegant speech, and perfectly pleasant manners.  He is also a loyal devotee of Rama, the hero of the epic Ramayana, and has the ability to take on any form he wishes and can increase and decrease his body size at will. Hanuman is renowned for his heroic deeds in the epic folklores. These include the epic Ramayana, epic Rama-Ravana battle, epic Mahabharat, and the epic Puranas.  The name Hanuman means "he of disfigured chin" as explained in the epic puranas in a duel with the sun god.  The Hanuman Chalisa hymn, continues to be recited today b

Ajana/Ala legend

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 Though not popularly known with the name Ajana in the IBO odinani pantheonological order. Her role and influence in IBO mythology is invaluable. Ala is her most revered name. she is the earth goddess of the IBOs. She is often associated with fertility, morality, death. Ala is not just the  goddess of earth but is earth herself. She is a primordial goddess created before the dawn of time by Chukwu, the all knowing and all powerful God. This bears an almost similar account of the Christian mythology and is in fact the same to the biblical creation. Ala is depicted in statue sculptures of mud colored in bright paints among the IBO tribes in Eastern Nigeria of the African continent. The sculpture shows Ala with a long torso and long thick neck. These are considered to the IBOs as signs of beauty. Sometimes, she is accompanied with other deities, human, and animals. She is also described as a mother with a child sitting on her lap. Other times, she wields a sword in her right hand.