Hayagriva


Hayagriva is a Hindu deity, the horse-headed avatar of Vishnu. The purpose of this incarnation was to slay a danava also named Hayagriva, who had the head of a horse and the body of a human.

Iconography

Hayagriva is an avatar of the god Vishnu. He is worshipped as the god of knowledge and wisdom, with a human body and a horse's head, brilliant white in color, with white garments and seated on a white lotus. Symbolically, the story represents the triumph of pure knowledge, guided by the hand of Divinity, over the demonic forces of passion and darkness.
Vedanta Desika's dhyāna-śloka on Hayagriva typifies this deity's depiction in Hindu iconography:

He has four hands, with one in the mode of bestowing knowledge; another holds books of wisdom, and the other two hold the Conch and Discus. His beauty, like fresh cut crystal, is an auspicious brilliance that never decays. May this Lord of speech who showers such cooling rays of grace on me be forever manifest in my heart!

In several other sources he is a white horse who pulls the sun into the sky every morning. In others such as the great epic Taraka-battle where the other deities are fallen on and attacked by the Danavas , Vishnu appears as a great ferocious warrior called Hayagriva when he comes to their aid. It says: "Hayagriva appears in his chariot, drawn by 1,000 powerful steeds, crushing the enemies of the gods beneath him!" There are many other references to Hayagriva throughout the Mahabharata.
It is said that Vishnu comes from battle as a conqueror in the magnificent mystic form of the great and ferocious Hayagriva:
The great Hayagriva having been praised in this way by the different saints and ascetics, assumes a great white horse's head. The Vedas made up his shape, his body built of all the great other deities; in the middle of his head was Shiva, in his heart was Brahmā; the rays of sun were his mane, the sun and moon his eyes; the Vasus and Sadhyas were his legs, in all his bones were the other deities. Agni was his tongue, the goddess Satya his speech, while his knees were formed by the Maruts and Varuna. Having assumed this form, an awesome wonder to behold to the devas, he vanquished the asura, and cast them down, with eyes that were red with anger.

In Hindu contexts, Hayagriva is almost always depicted seated, most often with his right hand either blessing the supplicant or in the vyākhyā mudrā pose of teaching. The right hand also usually holds a akṣa-mālā, indicating his identification with meditative knowledge. His left holds a book, indicating his role as a teacher. His face is always serene and peaceful. Unlike his Buddhist counterpart, there is no hint of a fearsome side in the Hindu depictions of this deity.
Hayagriva is sometimes worshiped in a solitary pose of meditation, as in Thiruvanthipuram Devanathasvami Temple. This form is known as Yoga-Hayagriva. However, he is most commonly worshipped along with his consort Lakshmi and is known as Lakshmi-Hayagriva. Hayagriva in this form is the presiding deity of Mysuru's Parakala Matha, a significant Sri Vaishnavism monastic institution.

Legend

According to legend, during the period of creation, two demons Madhu and Kaitabha stole the Vedas from Brahma, and Vishnu assumed the Hayagriva form to recover them. Yet another legend has it that during the creation, Vishnu compiled the Vedas in the Hayagriva form.
Hayagriva is listed as one of the ten incarnations of Vishnu in canto 10, chapter 40 of the Bhagavata Purana. In the text, Akrura's prayer contains Hayagriva's name when he had a vision while bathing in the Yamuna.
The Mahabharata also features the legend of Hayagriva:

Worship

Origins about the worship of Hayagriva have been researched, some of the early evidences dates back to 100 BCE, when people worshipped the horse for its speed, strength, intelligence. Hayagriva is one of the prominent deities in Vaikhanasas, Sri Vaishnavism, and the Dvaita Vedanta traditions. His blessings are sought when beginning study of both sacred and secular subjects. Special worship is conducted on the day of the full moon in August and on Mahanavami, the ninth day of the Navaratri festival.
A verse originally from the Pancaratra Agama, but is now popularly prefixed to the Hayagriva Stotram of the 13th-century poet-philosopher Vedanta Desika is popular among devotees of Hayagriva:
According to legend, a Dvaita philosopher named Vadirajatirtha is regarded to have offer cooked horse gram to Hayagriva, and the deity is regarded to have appeared to consume his offerings. Vadirajatirtha would recite the following shloka:
Hayagriva is also amongst the deities present at the Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam.

Temples

[Andhra Pradesh]

Most of the major Vishnu temples in Tamil Nadu have a separate shrine for Lord Hayagriva.
  • Sri Lakshmi Hayagriva Temple, Thiruvaheendrapuram, Cuddalore
  • Sri Hayagreevar Temple, adjacent to Sri Koodal Alagar Perumal Koil, Madurai
  • Sri Hayagreevar Swamy, Sri Chidambara Vinayagar Thirukoil, A. Vellalapatti, Madurai.
  • Lakshmi hayagrivar temple in chithambara Nagar, near Ganapathi mill, at Tirunelveli
  • Sri Lakshmi Hayagreevar perumal, at Sri Kothandaramaswamy Devasthanam, Perumudivakkam, near Kannigaipair, Thiruvallur District
  • Yoga Hayagreevar and Gnana Saraswathi in Vaitheeswaran Koil, Munusamy St, Amrithammal Colony, Perambur, Chennai
  • Chettypunyam Hayagriva Temple, near Chengalpattu
  • Sri Lakshmi Hayagriva Temple, Nanganallur, Chennai
  • Lord Hayagriva Sannidhi in Thooppul Vilakoli Perumal Koil in Kanchipuram.
  • Vedanta Deshika Alayam, Mylapore
  • Lakshmi Hayagreeva Temple, Moovar Nagar, Pozhichalur, Chennai

    [Telangana]

  • Hayagriva Swami Temple, Beechupalli
  • Shri Lakshmi Hayagreeva Swamy Temple, Vangapalli Road, Yadagirigutta

    Influence on other cultures

In the 2015 documentary series, The Creatures of Philippine Mythology, the spread of Hinduism and the imagery of Hayagriva is tracked through Southeast Asia. It is speculated that Hayagriva influenced the present imagery of the horse-headed Philippine mythological spirit, the Tikbalang.
An extinct genus of basal neornithischian dinosaur known from Mongolia has been named Haya griva. This name refers to the elongate horse-like skull of Haya and the appearance of this deity in the Buddhist art of Mongolia.

Demon Hayagriva

The demon Hayagriva was a son of Kashyapa and Danu. He became the first ruler of the Danavas. In Hindu texts, it is stated that when Vishnu had created the Vedas and given them to Brahma, Shiva had decided to wipe out all of humanity except for Manu and his wife, as the rest of humanity was too corrupt to obtain the Vedas. When Hayagariva learnt that humans would be greater than the Danavas, he set out to stop the humans from obtaining the Vedas. Hayagriva visited the Satyaloka when Brahma was absent, and turned into a horse to get the attention of the Vedas. He asked them why Brahma has brought them to his realm rather than taking them to humanity. After hearing their tale, Hayagriva laughed and deceived them regarding the intentions of Brahma, stating that the deity wished to keep them for himself. The Vedas were then subsequently imprisoned by the demon. Soon, Vishnu assumed his Matsya avatar and instructed Manu the manner by which he should survive the oncoming flood that Shiva would shortly send to vanquish all evil. Vishnu then slew Hayagriva in his Matsya form and freed the Vedas to bequeath them to Manu after the passage of the flood.