Kṛttika (कृत्तिका)

Pleiades (CC BY Kevin Gill from Los Angeles, CA, United States)

Krttika as depicted as asterism

Krttika and Rohini mapped to the stars, animated GIF, WGSN 2025.

Kṛttika (Krittika) is an Indian name, used by the Indian Vedic tradition. Most of these names are roughly 3000 years old. They pre-date Hinduism but were taken over by it.

Etymology and History

Name Variants

• Agni,
• Agnidaiva
• Hutabhuk

Origin of Constellation

Krttika is depicted as a group of six stars that form a cloudy asterism. The star lore associates the cluster of six stars with a group of seven damsels. They are personified as the nurses of Kārttikeya, a son of Shiva.

Religion/ Mythology

In Indian star lore, Kṛttika are the six sisters who are the nurses of the god Subramanya, a god of war and commander of the gods against the demons who was begotten by a god without a woman.

References

• References (general)