Varuna

Varuna is the Vedic god of cosmic order, the oceans and the waters, shown holding a noose and riding a makara, a sea creature. In the Rigveda he watches over truth and oath, and in later tradition he guards the west as one of the eight Dikpalas and rules the sea. In Odisha, the sea at Puri, called Mahodadhi, is holy, and Odia coastal communities have long honoured the ocean. Boita Bandana on Kartik Purnima remembers the old sea trade of Kalinga and honours the waters.

In the Rigveda, Varuna is a sovereign god who upholds rta, the order of the world. He is said to have a thousand eyes, to know every lie and to bind the guilty with his noose. Hymns to Varuna and Mitra are among the most solemn in the Vedas. In the later Vedic and epic period his power moves to the...