Kamadeva: Encyclopedia - Kamadeva

Kamadeva

In Hinduism, Kamadeva (Kama - carnal pleasure, deva - god), also known just as Kama("The love") and Ananga (the bodyless), is the god of love and a son of Lakshmi. He is called Kama Ananga ("Kama the bodiless") as well. He is a young, winged man who uses a bow and arrows made of flowers. He is also called as Manmadha or Manmatha("God of lust or desire") or Madhana or Madana("God of love") or Kandarpa("God of amour"). His wife's name is Rati. His other incarniation as the son of Lord Krishna and Rukmini is Pradyumna.

His bow is made of sugarcane with honeybees on it and his arrows are decorated with five kinds of fragrant flowers. His companions are a cuckoo, a parrot, humming bees, spring and gentle breeze. All of these are symbols of spring season.

Kandarpa's body was destroyed when he shot his weapon at Shiva in order to disrupt his penance and help Parvati to marry Shiva. Shiva then opened his third eye, the gaze of which was so powerful that Kama's body was reduced to ashes. For the sake of Kama's wife Rati (passion), Shiva restored him, but only as a mental image, representing the true emotional and mental state of love rather than physical lust. The Indian festival Holi, festival of color and especially the bonfire on that day is believed by some as the commeration of this event.

Alternative spellings include:

• Chama
• Cama

See also

• Cupid
• Kama sutra

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Kamadeva", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki