Kinnara Kingdom
Encyclopedia
In Indian epic literature, Kinnara Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Kinnaras who were one among the exotic tribes, mentioned along with others like Devas
(including Rudras
, Maruts
, Vasus and Adityas
), Asuras (including Daityas, Danavas and Kalakeyas
), Pisachas
, Gandharvas, Kimpurushas
, Vanaras, Suparnas, Rakshasas
, Bhutas and Yakshas
. They along with others, were inhabitants of the Himalaya mountains. The people of the Gangetic Plain looked upon them with wonder and considered them as super-human. The Kinnara tribe is identified to have lived in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh
state in India. A group of people living in this district still call themselves Kinnaurs. They could be the descendants of the ancient Kinnaras.
Kinnaras were mysteriously linked with horses. The Puranas
mention them as being horse-necked beings. The Puranas
mention an Asura
with a horse neck, who was known as Hayagrīva (which in Sanskrit
means the horse-necked one; Haya = horse and grīva = neck) This Asura was killed by an incarnation
of Lord Vishnu
, who took the similar form of a horse-necked human figure. In Egyptian
sculptures also we see horse headed-figures or warriors employing an elongated face-mask, which resemble the head of a horse.
The epic Mahabharata
, mentions Kinnaras, not as horse-headed beings but as beings who were half-man and half-horse. The epic Mahabharata
and the Puranas
describe, regions north of the Himalayas as the abode of Kinnaras. This region was also the abode of a tribe of people called Kambojas
. They were fierce warriors skilled in horse riding and horse warfare. Some of them were robber-tribes who invaded village-settlements, by raiding them using their skilled cavalry-forces. The myth of Kinnaras probably came from these horsemen. Another reference in the epic consider them as a sub-group of the Gandharvas
.
) is said to be the abode of the Kinnaras: There is a mountain called Mandara adorned with cloud-like peaks. It is covered all over with intertwining herbs. There countless birds pour forth their melodies, and beasts of prey roam about. The Devas, the Apsaras and the Kinnaras visit the place. (1,18)
Many Gandharva
territories were also territories of Kinnaras, like the forest where the Ganges
emerges into the plains (Gangadwara) (3,90), the mountain Gandhamadana in the territory of the Yaksha king Kubera (3,142) and mount Meru (13,102).
Kinnaras were mentioned as living on the high mountains of Sri Lanka along with Gandharvas, Yakshas
and Rakshasas
following their king Kubera
(Vaisravana) and finally settling in the high Himalaya mountains, due to a dispute between Yaksha king Kubera and his stepbrother Ravana
the king of the Rakshasas (3,273).
Kinnaras and Vidyadharas were mentioned as living in Krauncha mountain (in Himachal Pradesh
) in the Himalayas (9,16).
like the Rakshasas
, Yakshas
, Vanaras (these four were linked to the sage Pulastya
) and with Kimpurushas
(half-men, half-lion), Salabhas (butterfly-like beings - the angels or fairies in western mythologies
?) and Valikhilyas (the followers of the movements of the sun). The last three are also linked to the sage Pulaha.(1.66)
Kinnaras were mentioned as a sub-group of Gandharvas
at (2,10). Here they were mentioned as living in the territory of Yaksha
king Vaisravana (Kubera
).
The Gandharvas called Kinnaras, and others called Naras, and Manibhadra, and Dhanada, and Svetabhadra and Guhyaka; Kaseraka, Gandakandu, and the mighty Pradyota;
Kustumvuru, Pisacha
, Gajakarna, and Visalaka, Varaha-Karna, Tamraushtica, Falkaksha, and Falodaka; Hansachuda, Sikhavarta, Vibhishana, Pushpanana, Pingalaka, Sonitoda and Pravalaka; Vrikshavaspa-niketa, and Chiravasas—these and many other Yakshas by the hundred and thousands always wait upon Kubera
. Kinnaras by hundreds and innumerable kings with Bhagadatta
as their chief, and Druma the chief of the Kimpurushas
, and Mahendra the chief of the Rakshasas
, and Gandhamadana accompanied by many Yakshas and Gandharvas
and many Rakshasas wait upon Kubera
, the Yaksha
king. (2,10)
They were mentioned as a tribe under Yaksha
king Kubera at many places (2,10), (13-19). The gold-mines of the Himalayas
in the territory of Yaksha king Kubera, were protected by Kinnaras of fierce mien (14,63).
Kinnaras were mentioned along with other exotic tribes like the Nagas, Uragas, Pannagas, Suparnas, Vidyadharas, Siddhas, Charan
as, Valikhilyas, Pisachas, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Kimpurushas, Yakshas, Rakhsasas, Vanaras etc at various places. (1-18,66), (2-10), (3-82,84,104,108,139,200,223,273) (4-70), (5-12), (7-108,160), (8-11), (9-46), (12- 168,227,231,302,327,334,(13-58,83,87,140), (14-43,44,88,92).
, Apsaras and Vanaras. They were seen by the Puru
king Dushmantha (Dushyanta
) in a forest where his would-be wife Sakuntala
lived. In that forest on the banks of a river called Malini (Ganges?) he saw the habitations of Kinnaras. He also saw Yotis (Yati in the Himalayas) and the Valikhilyas.
Like the Gandharvas
and Apsaras, who were skilled in vocal and instrumental music and in cadence, Kinnaras also were well-versed in musical-measures and motions and could sing in divine-tunes in proper and charming voices. They are mentioned as performing at the new court of Pandava
king Yudhisthira
at Indraprastha, owing to the friendship of Arjuna
with the Gandhrarvas named Tumvuru and Chitrasena (a Gandharva king) (2,5).
This description is common to the ladies belonging to other exotic tribes also, like the Gandharvis and Apsaras (female Gandharvas), the Yakshis (female Yakshas), the Rakshasis (female Rakshasas), Pisachinis (female Pisachas), Naginis (female Nagas), Vidyadharis (female Vidyadharas), Devis (female Devas) and Danavis (female Danavas - a clan of Asuras).
Seeing the beauty of the Pandava
queen Draupadi
, though disguised as a maid-servant, in the court of the Matsya
king Virata
, the king's queen asks her thus:-
"Thou canst never be a maid-servant. Art thou a Yakshi, a Devi, a Gandharvi, or an Apsara? Art thou the daughter of a Deva, or art thou a female Naga? Art thou the guardian goddess of some city, a Vidyadhari, or a Kinnari, - or art thou Rohini herself? Or art thou Alamvusha, or Misrakesi, Pundarika, or Malini, or the queen of Indra
, or of Varuna
? Or, art thou the spouse of Visvakarma the creative Lord himself?"
Draupadi
replied:- "O auspicious lady, I am neither a Devi nor a Gandharvi, nor a Yakshi, nor a Rakshasi. I am a maid-servant of the Sairindhri (beautician) class. I tell thee this truly. I know how to dress the hair, to pound fragrant substances for preparing unguents, and also how to make beautiful and variegated garlands."
Kinnaris were mentioned along with Vidyadharis (female Vidyadharas) in the mountain Gandhamadana (3,157). Meru mountain is also said to echo with melodious voice of Kinnaris. (13,102).
Deva (Hinduism)
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
(including Rudras
Rudras
Rudras are forms and followers of the god Rudra-Shiva and make eleven of the Thirty-three gods in the Hindu pantheon. They are at times identified with the Maruts - sons of Rudra; while at other times, considered distinct from them.-Birth and names:...
, Maruts
Maruts
In Hinduism the Marutas , also known as the Marutagana and sometimes identified with Rudras, are storm deities and sons of Rudra and Diti and attendants of Indra. The number of Maruts varies from two to sixty . They are very violent and aggressive, described as armed with golden weapons i.e...
, Vasus and Adityas
Ādityas
In Hinduism, Āditya , meaning "of or related to Aditi", refers to the offsprings of Aditi. Adityas are solar class deities. In later Hinduism, Aditya is used in the singular to mean the sun.-Vedas:...
), Asuras (including Daityas, Danavas and Kalakeyas
Kalakeyas
In Hinduism the Kalakeyas or Kalakanjas were a powerful, ferocious and cruel clan of Danavas.-Kalaka and Puloma:The Kalakeyas were the descendants of Kalaka, daughter of Vaiswanara . Vaiswanara had three other beautiful daughters...
), Pisachas
Pisacha Kingdom
Pisacha kingdom refers to the territory of Pishachas who were a group of mountain dwellers who lived in the mountains around the Kashmir Valley. These tribes were mentioned in the epic Mahabharata along with other exotic tribes. The Kashmiri language is considered to be a language in the group of...
, Gandharvas, Kimpurushas
Kimpurusha Kingdom
Kimpurusha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Kimpurushas who were one among the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. These exotic tribes lived in inaccessible regions like the Himalaya mountains and had limited interaction with the Vedic civilization of ancient India...
, Vanaras, Suparnas, Rakshasas
Rakshasa Kingdom
Rakshasa Kingdom refers to the territory of Rakshasas who were a tribe, mentioned along with others like Devas , Asuras , Pisachas, Gandharvas, Kimpurushas, Vanaras, Suparnas, Kinnaras, Bhutas and Yakshas...
, Bhutas and Yakshas
Yaksha Kingdom
Yaksha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Yakshas who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They had kinship with another similar tribe, the Rakshasas. Yaksha king Vaisravana and Rakshasa king Ravana were both sons of the sage Visrava Paulastya. Kubera is sometimes...
. They along with others, were inhabitants of the Himalaya mountains. The people of the Gangetic Plain looked upon them with wonder and considered them as super-human. The Kinnara tribe is identified to have lived in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
state in India. A group of people living in this district still call themselves Kinnaurs. They could be the descendants of the ancient Kinnaras.
Kinnaras were mysteriously linked with horses. The Puranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
mention them as being horse-necked beings. The Puranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
mention an Asura
Asura
-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asuras constitute a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes considered sinful and materialistic. The Daityas and Danavas were combinedly known as Asuras. The Asura were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa...
with a horse neck, who was known as Hayagrīva (which in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
means the horse-necked one; Haya = horse and grīva = neck) This Asura was killed by an incarnation
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....
of Lord Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
, who took the similar form of a horse-necked human figure. In Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
sculptures also we see horse headed-figures or warriors employing an elongated face-mask, which resemble the head of a horse.
The epic Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, mentions Kinnaras, not as horse-headed beings but as beings who were half-man and half-horse. The epic Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
and the Puranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
describe, regions north of the Himalayas as the abode of Kinnaras. This region was also the abode of a tribe of people called Kambojas
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...
. They were fierce warriors skilled in horse riding and horse warfare. Some of them were robber-tribes who invaded village-settlements, by raiding them using their skilled cavalry-forces. The myth of Kinnaras probably came from these horsemen. Another reference in the epic consider them as a sub-group of the Gandharvas
Gandharva Kingdom
Gandharva Kingdom refers to the territory inhabited by a people called the Gandharvas, who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They were well versed in music and dance. Gandarvas were also powerful warriors who roamed in Indian kingdoms disregarding any Indian king or Kshatriya warrior...
.
Territories of Kinnaras
Mandara mountain (identified as the low-mountains of the Himalayas in Himachal PradeshHimachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
) is said to be the abode of the Kinnaras: There is a mountain called Mandara adorned with cloud-like peaks. It is covered all over with intertwining herbs. There countless birds pour forth their melodies, and beasts of prey roam about. The Devas, the Apsaras and the Kinnaras visit the place. (1,18)
Many Gandharva
Gandharva Kingdom
Gandharva Kingdom refers to the territory inhabited by a people called the Gandharvas, who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They were well versed in music and dance. Gandarvas were also powerful warriors who roamed in Indian kingdoms disregarding any Indian king or Kshatriya warrior...
territories were also territories of Kinnaras, like the forest where the Ganges
Ganges River
The Ganges or Ganga, , is a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. By discharge it...
emerges into the plains (Gangadwara) (3,90), the mountain Gandhamadana in the territory of the Yaksha king Kubera (3,142) and mount Meru (13,102).
Kinnaras were mentioned as living on the high mountains of Sri Lanka along with Gandharvas, Yakshas
Yaksha Kingdom
Yaksha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Yakshas who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They had kinship with another similar tribe, the Rakshasas. Yaksha king Vaisravana and Rakshasa king Ravana were both sons of the sage Visrava Paulastya. Kubera is sometimes...
and Rakshasas
Rakshasa Kingdom
Rakshasa Kingdom refers to the territory of Rakshasas who were a tribe, mentioned along with others like Devas , Asuras , Pisachas, Gandharvas, Kimpurushas, Vanaras, Suparnas, Kinnaras, Bhutas and Yakshas...
following their king Kubera
Kubera
Kubera , also spelt Kuber, is the Lord of wealth and the god-king of the semi-divine Yakshas in Hindu mythology. He is regarded as the regent of the North , and a protector of the world His many epithets extol him as the overlord of numerous semi-divine species and the owner of the treasures of...
(Vaisravana) and finally settling in the high Himalaya mountains, due to a dispute between Yaksha king Kubera and his stepbrother Ravana
Ravana
' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...
the king of the Rakshasas (3,273).
Kinnaras and Vidyadharas were mentioned as living in Krauncha mountain (in Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
) in the Himalayas (9,16).
Kinship with other exotic tribes
Kinnaras are mentioned as half-men and half-horses at (1.66) where they are described as kinsmen of other exotic tribesExotic tribes of ancient India
The classic Indian epics such as the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Puranas refer to many exotic tribes, describing them as superhuman or subhuman. Narrations about these tribes are often mixed with mythology and fiction...
like the Rakshasas
Rakshasa Kingdom
Rakshasa Kingdom refers to the territory of Rakshasas who were a tribe, mentioned along with others like Devas , Asuras , Pisachas, Gandharvas, Kimpurushas, Vanaras, Suparnas, Kinnaras, Bhutas and Yakshas...
, Yakshas
Yaksha Kingdom
Yaksha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Yakshas who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They had kinship with another similar tribe, the Rakshasas. Yaksha king Vaisravana and Rakshasa king Ravana were both sons of the sage Visrava Paulastya. Kubera is sometimes...
, Vanaras (these four were linked to the sage Pulastya
Pulastya
Pulatsya was one of the ten Prajapati or mind-born sons of Brahma, and one of the Saptarishis in the first Manvantara....
) and with Kimpurushas
Kimpurusha Kingdom
Kimpurusha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Kimpurushas who were one among the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. These exotic tribes lived in inaccessible regions like the Himalaya mountains and had limited interaction with the Vedic civilization of ancient India...
(half-men, half-lion), Salabhas (butterfly-like beings - the angels or fairies in western mythologies
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
?) and Valikhilyas (the followers of the movements of the sun). The last three are also linked to the sage Pulaha.(1.66)
Kinnaras were mentioned as a sub-group of Gandharvas
Gandharva Kingdom
Gandharva Kingdom refers to the territory inhabited by a people called the Gandharvas, who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They were well versed in music and dance. Gandarvas were also powerful warriors who roamed in Indian kingdoms disregarding any Indian king or Kshatriya warrior...
at (2,10). Here they were mentioned as living in the territory of Yaksha
Yaksha Kingdom
Yaksha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Yakshas who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They had kinship with another similar tribe, the Rakshasas. Yaksha king Vaisravana and Rakshasa king Ravana were both sons of the sage Visrava Paulastya. Kubera is sometimes...
king Vaisravana (Kubera
Kubera
Kubera , also spelt Kuber, is the Lord of wealth and the god-king of the semi-divine Yakshas in Hindu mythology. He is regarded as the regent of the North , and a protector of the world His many epithets extol him as the overlord of numerous semi-divine species and the owner of the treasures of...
).
The Gandharvas called Kinnaras, and others called Naras, and Manibhadra, and Dhanada, and Svetabhadra and Guhyaka; Kaseraka, Gandakandu, and the mighty Pradyota;
Kustumvuru, Pisacha
Pisacha Kingdom
Pisacha kingdom refers to the territory of Pishachas who were a group of mountain dwellers who lived in the mountains around the Kashmir Valley. These tribes were mentioned in the epic Mahabharata along with other exotic tribes. The Kashmiri language is considered to be a language in the group of...
, Gajakarna, and Visalaka, Varaha-Karna, Tamraushtica, Falkaksha, and Falodaka; Hansachuda, Sikhavarta, Vibhishana, Pushpanana, Pingalaka, Sonitoda and Pravalaka; Vrikshavaspa-niketa, and Chiravasas—these and many other Yakshas by the hundred and thousands always wait upon Kubera
Kubera
Kubera , also spelt Kuber, is the Lord of wealth and the god-king of the semi-divine Yakshas in Hindu mythology. He is regarded as the regent of the North , and a protector of the world His many epithets extol him as the overlord of numerous semi-divine species and the owner of the treasures of...
. Kinnaras by hundreds and innumerable kings with Bhagadatta
Bhagadatta
Bhagadatta, was the son of Narakasura. He was a king of the city Pragjyotisha in the epic Mahabharata. In the Battle of Kurukshetra, Bhagadatta fought on the side of the Kauravas. He was very well known to attack his enemies with his elephant in the warfare. In the Mahabharata war, he was...
as their chief, and Druma the chief of the Kimpurushas
Kimpurusha Kingdom
Kimpurusha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Kimpurushas who were one among the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. These exotic tribes lived in inaccessible regions like the Himalaya mountains and had limited interaction with the Vedic civilization of ancient India...
, and Mahendra the chief of the Rakshasas
Rakshasa Kingdom
Rakshasa Kingdom refers to the territory of Rakshasas who were a tribe, mentioned along with others like Devas , Asuras , Pisachas, Gandharvas, Kimpurushas, Vanaras, Suparnas, Kinnaras, Bhutas and Yakshas...
, and Gandhamadana accompanied by many Yakshas and Gandharvas
Gandharva Kingdom
Gandharva Kingdom refers to the territory inhabited by a people called the Gandharvas, who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They were well versed in music and dance. Gandarvas were also powerful warriors who roamed in Indian kingdoms disregarding any Indian king or Kshatriya warrior...
and many Rakshasas wait upon Kubera
Kubera
Kubera , also spelt Kuber, is the Lord of wealth and the god-king of the semi-divine Yakshas in Hindu mythology. He is regarded as the regent of the North , and a protector of the world His many epithets extol him as the overlord of numerous semi-divine species and the owner of the treasures of...
, the Yaksha
Yaksha Kingdom
Yaksha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Yakshas who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They had kinship with another similar tribe, the Rakshasas. Yaksha king Vaisravana and Rakshasa king Ravana were both sons of the sage Visrava Paulastya. Kubera is sometimes...
king. (2,10)
They were mentioned as a tribe under Yaksha
Yaksha Kingdom
Yaksha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Yakshas who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They had kinship with another similar tribe, the Rakshasas. Yaksha king Vaisravana and Rakshasa king Ravana were both sons of the sage Visrava Paulastya. Kubera is sometimes...
king Kubera at many places (2,10), (13-19). The gold-mines of the Himalayas
Himalaya Kingdom
Himalaya kingdom was a mountainous country in Himalayas mentioned in the Puranas. Himavan was probably its ruler and Parvati the wife of lord Siva was probably a princess from this kingdom...
in the territory of Yaksha king Kubera, were protected by Kinnaras of fierce mien (14,63).
Kinnaras were mentioned along with other exotic tribes like the Nagas, Uragas, Pannagas, Suparnas, Vidyadharas, Siddhas, Charan
Charan
Chāraṇ is the term for a caste living in the Gujarat and Rajasthan states of India. According to Shrimada Bhagwata Skand Charans were created along with other divine forms such as Yaksha, Gandharvas, Kinnara, Sidhdhas, Apsara, etc. and lived with them in Heaven...
as, Valikhilyas, Pisachas, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Kimpurushas, Yakshas, Rakhsasas, Vanaras etc at various places. (1-18,66), (2-10), (3-82,84,104,108,139,200,223,273) (4-70), (5-12), (7-108,160), (8-11), (9-46), (12- 168,227,231,302,327,334,(13-58,83,87,140), (14-43,44,88,92).
Culture and habits
Kinnaras are mentioned as having the habit of drinking (Soma ?) at (1,70). Here they were mentioned along with the Siddhas, Charanas, GandharvasGandharva Kingdom
Gandharva Kingdom refers to the territory inhabited by a people called the Gandharvas, who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They were well versed in music and dance. Gandarvas were also powerful warriors who roamed in Indian kingdoms disregarding any Indian king or Kshatriya warrior...
, Apsaras and Vanaras. They were seen by the Puru
Puru
The Purus were a tribe, or a confederation of tribes, mentioned many times in the Rigveda, formed around 3180 BCE. RV 7.96.2 locates them at the banks of the Sarasvati River. There were several factions of Purus, one being the Bharatas...
king Dushmantha (Dushyanta
Dushyanta
Dushyant or Dushyanta was a great king in classical Indian literature and mythology. He is the husband of Shakuntala and the father of the Emperor Bharatha. He appears in the Mahabarata and in Kalidasa's play The Recognition of Sakuntala .-Historical king:According to the Mahābhārata, Dushyanta is...
) in a forest where his would-be wife Sakuntala
Sakùntala
La leggenda di Sakùntala is a three-act opera by Franco Alfano, who wrote his own libretto, basing his work on Kalidasa's 5th-century BC drama Abhijñānaśākuntalam .-Première, Loss, Reconstruction, Rediscovery:...
lived. In that forest on the banks of a river called Malini (Ganges?) he saw the habitations of Kinnaras. He also saw Yotis (Yati in the Himalayas) and the Valikhilyas.
Like the Gandharvas
Gandharva Kingdom
Gandharva Kingdom refers to the territory inhabited by a people called the Gandharvas, who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They were well versed in music and dance. Gandarvas were also powerful warriors who roamed in Indian kingdoms disregarding any Indian king or Kshatriya warrior...
and Apsaras, who were skilled in vocal and instrumental music and in cadence, Kinnaras also were well-versed in musical-measures and motions and could sing in divine-tunes in proper and charming voices. They are mentioned as performing at the new court of Pandava
Pandava
In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...
king Yudhisthira
Yudhisthira
In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira , the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, was king of Indraprastha and later of Hastinapura. He was the leader of the Pandava side in the Kurukshetra War...
at Indraprastha, owing to the friendship of Arjuna
Arjuna
Arjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
with the Gandhrarvas named Tumvuru and Chitrasena (a Gandharva king) (2,5).
- The Songs of the Kinnaras can be heard at the Mandara mountains (7,78) and at the Himalayas (13,14)
- The forest owned by NaradaNaradaNarada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Vaisnava tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana...
and held dear by him, echoed with the melodious songs of the prince of Kinnaras, and are the eternal abode of Gandharvas and Apsaras. (13,102)
Kinnaris, the female Kinnaras
Kinnara women were mentioned as very beautiful, who wander freely in the forests (3,136).This description is common to the ladies belonging to other exotic tribes also, like the Gandharvis and Apsaras (female Gandharvas), the Yakshis (female Yakshas), the Rakshasis (female Rakshasas), Pisachinis (female Pisachas), Naginis (female Nagas), Vidyadharis (female Vidyadharas), Devis (female Devas) and Danavis (female Danavas - a clan of Asuras).
Seeing the beauty of the Pandava
Pandava
In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...
queen Draupadi
Draupadi
In the epic Mahābhārata, Draupadi, also known as ' is the "emerged" daughter of King Drupada of Panchāla and the wife of the five Pandavas. When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the war, Draupadi becomes the queen of Indraprastha...
, though disguised as a maid-servant, in the court of the Matsya
Matsya Kingdom
Matsya or Machcha , classically called the Mese , was the name of a tribe and the state of the Vedic civilization of India. It lay to south of the kingdom of Kurus and west of the Yamuna which separated it from the kingdom of Panchalas...
king Virata
Virata Kingdom
*Capital: Virata Nagari Virata was a kingdom ruled by the Matsya king by the name Virata. It was here that the Pandavas spent their 13th year of anonymity after their 12 years of forest-life in the forests of Kamyaka and Dwaita. Its capital was Virata Nagari, modern Bairat in the Jaipur district...
, the king's queen asks her thus:-
"Thou canst never be a maid-servant. Art thou a Yakshi, a Devi, a Gandharvi, or an Apsara? Art thou the daughter of a Deva, or art thou a female Naga? Art thou the guardian goddess of some city, a Vidyadhari, or a Kinnari, - or art thou Rohini herself? Or art thou Alamvusha, or Misrakesi, Pundarika, or Malini, or the queen of Indra
Indra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, or of Varuna
Varuna
In Vedic religion, Varuna is a god of the sky, of water and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld...
? Or, art thou the spouse of Visvakarma the creative Lord himself?"
Draupadi
Draupadi
In the epic Mahābhārata, Draupadi, also known as ' is the "emerged" daughter of King Drupada of Panchāla and the wife of the five Pandavas. When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the war, Draupadi becomes the queen of Indraprastha...
replied:- "O auspicious lady, I am neither a Devi nor a Gandharvi, nor a Yakshi, nor a Rakshasi. I am a maid-servant of the Sairindhri (beautician) class. I tell thee this truly. I know how to dress the hair, to pound fragrant substances for preparing unguents, and also how to make beautiful and variegated garlands."
Kinnaris were mentioned along with Vidyadharis (female Vidyadharas) in the mountain Gandhamadana (3,157). Meru mountain is also said to echo with melodious voice of Kinnaris. (13,102).
See also
- Kingdoms of Ancient IndiaKingdoms of Ancient IndiaEpic India is the geography of Greater India traditionally around early 10th century BC and later on from the Sanskrit epics, viz. the Mahabharata and the Ramayana as well as Puranic literature ....
- Exotic Tribes of Ancient IndiaExotic tribes of ancient IndiaThe classic Indian epics such as the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Puranas refer to many exotic tribes, describing them as superhuman or subhuman. Narrations about these tribes are often mixed with mythology and fiction...
- KambojasKambojasThe Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...
- Kamboja Kingdom
- Kimpurusha KingdomKimpurusha KingdomKimpurusha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Kimpurushas who were one among the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. These exotic tribes lived in inaccessible regions like the Himalaya mountains and had limited interaction with the Vedic civilization of ancient India...