Vayu
Vayu
(Madhya Pradesh, India)
Vayu (Sanskrit pronunciation: [ʋaːjʊ], Sanskrit: वायु, IAST: Vāyu), also known as Vata and Pavana, is the Hindu god of the winds as well as the divine messenger of the gods. In the Vedic scriptures, Vayu is an important deity and is closely associated with Indra, the king of gods. He is mentioned to be born from the breath of Supreme Being Vishvapurusha and also the first one to drink Soma. The Upanishads praise him as Prana or 'life breath of the world'. In the later Hindu scriptures, he is described as a Dikpala (guardians of the direction), who looks over the North-west direction. The Hindu epics describe him as the father of the god Hanuman and Bhima.The followers of the 13th-century saint Madhva believe their guru as an incarnation of Vayu. They worship the wind deity as Mukhyaprana and consider him as the son of the god Vishnu.