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Concept
Revanta
Summary
Revanta or Raivata (Sanskrit: रेवन्त, lit. "brilliant") is a minor Hindu deity. According to the Rig-Veda, Revanta is the youngest son of the sun-god Surya, and his wife Saranyu. Revanta is chief of the Guhyakas, semi-divine and demonic class entities – like the Yakshas – who are believed to live as forest dwellers in the Himalayas. Images and sculptures of Revanta often show him as a huntsman on a horse, with a bow and arrow.
The worship of Revanta was especially common in medieval Eastern India (Bihar and Bengal) with many archaeological finds indicating the existence of a cult dedicated to him that began in the 6th century A.D.
The tale of Revanta's birth is narrated in scriptures like the Vishnu Purana and the Markandeya Purana. Once, Sanjna (Saranyu), the daughter of celestial architect Vishvakarma and wife of Surya, unable to take the fervour of the Sun-god, repaired to the forests to engage in devout austerities in the form of a mare. She placed her shadow Chhaya, who looked just like Sanjna in her position as Surya's wife. When Surya realised that Chhaya was not the real Sanjna, he searched for Sanjna and finally found her in the forests of Uttar Kuru. There, Surya approached Sanjna disguised as a horse. Their union produced the twin-Ashvins and Revanta. In the Kurma Purana and the Matsya Purana, the mother of Revanta is named Ratri (Rajni), another wife of Surya. While in another chapter of the Markandeya Purana, he is son of Chhaya and his brothers are the Saturn-god Shani, Tapati and Savarni Manu.
The Markandeya Purana further adds he was assigned the duty as chief of Guhyakas by Surya and to protect mortals "amid the terrors of forests and other lonely places, of great conflagration, of enemies and robbers." Sometimes, Revanta is depicted as combating robbers in reliefs.
Another tale from the Devi Bhagavata Purana has a passing reference to Revanta. Once when Revanta – riding on the seven headed horse Uchaishravas – went to Vishnu's abode, Vishnu's wife Lakshmi was mesmerized with the horse and ignored a question asked by Vishnu.
Official source
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