The Nine Planets

Surya
Surya (Devanagari: , srya) is the chief solar deity SUN, one of the Adityas, son of
Kasyapa and one of his wife Aditi, of Indra, or of Dyaus Pitar (depending by the versions).
He has hair and arms of gold. His chariot is pulled by seven horses, which represent the
seven chakras. He presides as "Ravi" over "Ravi-war" or Sunday.

In Hindu religious literature, Surya is notably mentioned as the visible form of God that
one can see every day. Furthermore, Shaivites and Vaishnavas often regard Surya as an
aspect of Shiva and Vishnu, respectively. For example, the sun is called Surya Narayana
by Vaishnavas. In Shaivite theology, Surya is said to be one of eight forms of Shiva,
named the Astamurti.

He is said to be of Sattva Guna and represents the Soul,the King, highly placed persons
or Father.

Chandra
Chandra (Devanagari: ) is a lunar deity. Chandra (moon) is also known as Soma and

identified with the Vedic Lunar deity Soma. He is described as young, beautiful, fair; two-
armed and having in his hands a club and a lotus. He rides his chariot (the moon) across
the sky every night, pulled by ten white horses or an antelope. He is connected with dew,
and as such, is one of the gods of fertility. He is also called Nishadipati (Nisha=night;
Adipathi=Lord) and Kshuparaka (one who illuminates the night). He as Soma, presides
over Somvarm or Monday. He is of Sattva Guna and represents the Mind, the Queen or
Mother.

He is married to daughters of Daksha Prajapathi. He has therefore 27 wives, representing

twenty seven Nakshatras (constellations). Budha (the planet Mercury) was born to Soma
and Taraka.

Mangala
Mangala (Devanagari: ) is the god of Mars, the red planet. Mars is also called

Angaraka ('one who is red in colour') or Bhauma ('son of Bhumi') in Sanskrit. He is the
god of war and is celibate. He is considered the son of Prithvi or Bhumi, the Earth
Goddess. He is the owner of the Ares and Scorpio signs, and a teacher of the occult
sciences (Ruchaka Mahapurusha Yoga). He is of Tamas Guna in nature and represents
Energetic action, confidence and ego.

He is painted red or flame colour, four-armed, carrying a trident, club, lotus and a spear.
His Vahana (mount) is a ram. He presides over 'Mangal-war' or Tuesday.

Budha
Budha (Devanagari:
) is the god of the planet Mercury and the son of Chandra (the
moon) with Tara (Taraka). He is also the god of merchandize and protector of Merchants.
He is of Rajas Guna and represents Communication.

He is represented as being mild, eloquent and of greenish colour. He is represented

holding a scimitar, a club and a shield, riding a winged lion in Ramghur temple. In other
illustrations , he holds a sceptre and lotus and rides a carpet or an eagle or a chariot
drawn by lions.

Budha presides over 'Budh-war' or Wednesday. In modern Hindi, Telugu, Bengali,

Marathi,Kannada and Gujarati, Wednesday is called Budhvara; in Tamil and Malayalam it
is Budhan.

Brihaspati
Brihaspati (Devanagari:
) is the name of a Vedic deity, personification of piety
and religion, the chief offerer of prayers and sacrifices, represented as the Purohita of
the gods with whom he intercedes for men. He is the Lord of planet Jupiter. He is of
Sattva Guna and represents knowledge and teaching.

In later Hindu mythology, he is the guru of the Devas and the arch-nemesis of
Shukracharya, the guru of the Danavas. He is also known Guru, the god of wisdom and
eloquence, to whom various works are ascribed, such as the "atheistic" Barhaspatya
sutras.
He is described of yellow or golden colour and holding a stick, a lotus and his beads. He
presides over 'Guru-war' or Thursday.

Shukra
Shukra (Devanagari: ), the Sanskrit for "clear, pure" or "brightness, clearness", is
the name the son of Bhrigu and Ushana, and preceptor of the Daityas, and the guru of
the Asuras, identified with the planet Venus (with honorific, Shukracharya). He
presides over 'Shukra-war' or Friday. He is Rajas in nature and represents wealth,
pleasure and reproduction.

He is of white complexion, middle-aged and of agreeable countenance. He is described

variously mounted, on a camel or a horse or a crocodile. He holds a stick, beads and a
lotus and sometimes a bow and arrow.

In Astrology, there is a dasha or planetary period known as Shukra Dasha which remains
active in a person's horoscope for 20 years. This dasha is believed to give more wealth,
fortune and luxury to one's living if a person has Shukra positioned well in his horoscope
as well as Shukra being an important benefic planet in his/her horoscope.

Shani
Shani (Devanagari: , ani) is one of the nine primary celestial beings in Hindu

astrology (that is, Vedic astrology). Shani is embodied in the planet Saturn. Shani is the
Lord of Saturday. He is Tamas in nature and represents learning the hard way, Career
and Longevity.

The origin of word Shani() comes from the following: Shanaye Kramati Sa: (
) i.e. the one who moves slowly. Saturn takes about 30 years to revolve around the
Sun, thus it moves slowly compared to other planets, thus the Sanskrit name . Shani

is actually a demi-god and is a son of Surya (the Hindu Sun God) and his wife Chhaya. It
is said that when he opened his eyes as a baby for the very first time, the sun went into
an eclipse, which clearly denotes the impact of Shani on astrological charts (horoscope).
He is depicted dark in colour, clothed in black; holding a sword, arrows and two daggers
and variously mounted on a black crow or a raven. He is depicted at other times as ugly,
old, lame and having long hair, teeth and nails. He presides over 'Shani-war' or Saturday.

Rahu
Rahu (Devanagari: ) is God of the Ascending / North lunar node. Rahu is the Head of
Demon Snake that swallows the sun or the moon causing eclipses according to Hindu
mythology. He is depicted in art as a dragon with no body riding a chariot drawn by eight
black horses. He is an Tamas Asura who does his best to plunge any area of one's life he
controls into chaos. The rahu kala is considered inauspicious.

According to legend, during the Samudra manthan, the asura Rahu drank some of the
divine nectar. But before the nectar could pass his throat, Mohini (the female avatar of
Vishnu) cut off his head. The head, however, remained immortal and is called Rahu ,
while the rest of the body became Ketu. It is believed that this immortal head occasionally
swallows the sun or the moon, causing eclipses. Then, the sun or moon passes through
the opening at the neck, ending the eclipse.

Ketu
Ketu (Devanagari: ) is the Lord of Descending/South lunar node. Ketu is generally

referred to as a "shadow" planet. He is considered as Tail of the Demon Snake. It is

believed to have a tremendous impact on human lives and also the whole creation. In
some special circumstances it helps someone achieve the zenith of fame. He is Tamas in
nature and represents supernatural influences.

Astronomically, Ketu and Rahu denote the points of intersection of the paths of the Sun
and the Moon as they move on the celestial sphere. Therefore, Rahu and Ketu are
respectively called the north and the south lunar nodes. The fact that eclipses occur when
Sun and Moon are at one of these points gives rise to the mythology of the swallowing of
the Sun by the Moon.

Nava Graha Murtis Installed in Temples

It is common to see the Nava Grahas installed as murtis in Hindu temples and people will
perform pujas to these grahas in order to propitiate these influences. It is often the case
that a Hindu will consult an astrologer and be told that one of the grahas is exerting a
negative influence over his life and that he should perform a puja in order to diminish the
negative influence. Occasionally, even the reverse is true, someone may be told that a
particular graha is exerting a positive influence and so the person may perform a puja to
increase the positive influence. There is a popular puja called Graha Shanti to make
peace with the grahas (shanti means peace) that is often performed before weddings and
other important times. You can think of a Nava Graha puja as paying the cosmic utility
bill. Indeed, the Nava Grahas still play an important role in Hinduism.