page_title: Deer in mythology
section_title: Hinduism
hierarchical_section_title: Deer in mythology / Hinduism
caption_attribution_description: Tulsi Ramayan Tej Kumar Book Depo by MahaMuni Usage https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Topics Sanskrit, "महामुनि का संग्रह", "Tej Kumar Book Depot" Collection opensource Language Sanskrit Indological Books , 'Tulsi Ramayan - Tej Kumar Book Depo.pdf' Identifier TulsiRamayanTejKumarBookDepo Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t2t49xm76 Ocr language not currently OCRable Ppi 600 Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.3
context_page_description: Deer have significant roles in the mythology of various peoples located all over the world, such as object of worship, the incarnation of deities, the object of heroic quests and deeds, or as magical disguise or enchantment/curse for princesses and princes in many folk and fairy tales.
  The deer also symbolizes a connection to the supernatural, the Otherworld or to the fairy realm, e.g., being a messenger or an entity's familiar.
context_section_description: In Hindu mythology, the Aitareya Upanishad tells us that the goddess Saraswati takes the form of a red deer called Rohit. Saraswati is the goddess of learning, so learned men use deer skin as clothing and mats to sit upon. A golden deer plays an important role in the epic Ramayana. While in exile in the forest, Rama's wife Sita sees a golden deer and asks Rama and Lakshmana to get it for her. The deer is actually a rakshasa called Maricha in disguise. Maricha takes this form to lure Rama and Lakshmana away from Sita so his nephew Ravana can kidnap her.
  In the Hindu epic mahabharata, the rishi Kindama dons the disguise of a male deer.
caption: Magical Deer in Ramayana
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