Mrigashira

Mrigashira as drawn in historical sources consists of three stars.

The animated GIF shows thepositions of the Nakshatras on the Stellarium map.

Mṛgaśira (मृगशिर) 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. The asterism has three stars and, thus, refers to the group φ_1,2 and λ Orionis.

Etymology and History

Tibet nakshatra 03

『仏像図彙』による觜宿（Mṛgaśīrṣa）

Origin of Constellation

Mṛgaśira, Somya means "the deer's head"; it is a composite of two Sanskrit words, mṛga (मृग), deer, and śira (शिर), top of the head. The depiction in temples is here mapped to the three stars in Orion, but it may also be possible that The Deer as a constelllation had originally been larger and the three stars just formed a pattern on the top of its head (like they indicate the head of the Greek hero who is drawn in a larger star pattern).

Also known as āgrahāyaṇī.

The asterism is described in a Treatise on the Sun (Surya Siddhānta) that dates between the 4th and 9th century CE, but also (with all other nakshatras) in the Athavaveda from the early first millennium BCE. Yet, images are preserved in temples only from the past millennium.

Mythology

mnemonic tales and cultural significance

References

• References (general)