Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Reading Notes: "Heroes of Hampi: The Mythology of Kishkindha" Comic

Characters

  • Hakka
  • Bukka
  • Shiva
  • Sati - Shiva's wife
  • Daksha - Sati's father
  • Pampa - Sati's rebirth as a river goddess
  • Vali - king of Kishkindha, monkey, gains half the strength of every opponent he fights
  • Jambavan - bear king
  • Surya - sun god
  • Sugriva - Surya's son, Vali's brother
  • Mayavi - demon

Setting

  • Hampi - ancient town on Tungabahdra river
  • Kishkindha - monkey kingdom
  • Rishyamukha Hill - hill in Hampi region
  • Vijayanagara - city/empire created by Bukka and Hakka

Plot

  • Hampi is attacked where Hakka and Bukka must defend themselves
    • Hakka and Bukka go hunting and see a very brave rabbit which is a sign that they will become kings
    • Mysterious old man tells Hakka and Bukka the story of Hampi
  • Sati's father, Daksha, does not want Sati to be married to Shiva and Sati is aware of this
    • Sati sacrifices herself to spite her father
    • Shiva is angry and summons a warrior named Veerbhadra to kill Daksha
      • Gods are scared of Veerbhadra
      • Vishnu calms Veerbhadra with lotuses and Veerbhadra gives him the Sudarshana Chakra in return
        • Sudarshana Chakra is a very powerful weapon created by Vishvakarma
          • Different stories depending on where you look as to how the Sudarshana Chakra was created
          • Some say Vishvakarma wanted his daughter to be able to hug the sun, and he collected stardust to make three inventions, including the Sudarshana Chakra
          • Some say Vishnu killed Hayagriva on Chakravana Mountain (constructed by Vishvakarma) and stole the Sudarshana Chakra from Hayagriva
        • Sudarshana Chakra is a disk weapon that has 108 edges
  • Sati becomes the River Goddess Pampa
    • Shiva falls into the river and is saved by Pampa
      • Pampa and Shiva marry and gold is rained down creating Hemakuta
  • Old man now tells about Kishkindha
    • Vali is king of Kishkindha
    • Anjana, who was cursed to live as a monkey, gives birth to Hanuman who Vali wishes to kill
      • In this comic, Hanuman is the child of Shiva
      • Anjana gives Hanuman to Jambavan for protection
    • Hanuman ties a lion and elephant together by the tails and is cursed to forget his powers
    • Surya teaches Hanuman the Vedas and Shastras
      • Hanuman then agrees to protect Sugriva
      • Vali wants to kill Sugriva
  • Mayavi wants to fight Vali
    • Vali agrees, follows Mayavi into a hole, and Sugriva sees blood coming out of the hole and closes it, returning to Kishkindha as king
      • Turns out that Vali was not actually dead
        • Vali chases Sugriva and Hanuman out of Kishkinda to Rishyamukha Hill where they hide away in a cave that Vali cannot get to
      • While in the cave, Sugriva and Hanuman see Lakshmana and Rama searching for Sita and decide to talk to Lakshmana and Rama
  • Rama and Lakshmana help Sugriva take down Vali, and Sugriva becomes king of Kishkindha
    • In return, Sugriva and Hanuman help search for Sita
    • Sugriva, Hanuman, and Jambavan at southern tip of India and learn of Sita's location in Lanka
      • Jambavan reminds Hanuman of his powers that he was cursed to forget
      • Hanuman jumps to Lanka and finds Sita
      • Sita is rescued by Rama
  • Rama helps Hanuman receive a reward for helping save Sita by having Hanuman pray to Shiva to ask for a favor
    • Shiva has Veerbhadra give Hanuman an idol that grows into a temple
    • Temple is named Uddana Veerbhadra Temple
  • Old man leaves Hakka and Bukka and they decide to start an empire
    • Track down old man, whose name was Vidyaranya, and name city Vijayanagara
      • Vijayanagara was the second largest city in the world as of 1500
      • Very established trading center with Europeans and other Asian/Middle Eastern countries
      • Empire spanned entirety of Southern India
Image of temples in Vijayanagara from Wikimedia

Bibliography

"Heroes of Hampi: The Mythology of Kishkindha" published by Amar Chitra Katha
"Vijayanagara" from Wikipedia
"Sudarshana Chakra" from Wikipedia



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