Saura — the worship of the Sun
सौर
Also written: saura · surya worship · sun temple konark · gayatri mantra · chhath puja · सूर्य
The sun is the one deity everyone can see. Saura is the path that takes that literally — the visible sun as the manifest form of the supreme, the eye of the world, the source of time, health and knowledge.
The Gāyatrī
ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः। तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि। धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात्॥
oṁ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ | tat savitur vareṇyaṁ bhargo devasya dhīmahi | dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt
We meditate on the excellent radiance of the divine Savitṛ; may he impel our understanding.
The most recited verse in the tradition is addressed to the sun — and note what it asks for. Not wealth, not protection, not salvation: the quickening of the understanding. It is a prayer for clear thinking.
Where it survives
- The Gāyatrī, recited daily by millions, and the sandhyā-vandana at dawn, noon and dusk.
- Sūrya Namaskāra, the twelve-posture salutation with its twelve names of the sun.
- Chhath, kept in Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern UP — one of the few festivals in the world addressed to the setting as well as the rising sun.
- Makara Saṅkrānti, Pongal and Bihu — the sun's northward turn, kept across the subcontinent under different names.
- The great temples: Koṇārka in Odisha built as the sun's chariot with twelve pairs of wheels, Modherā in Gujarat, Martand in Kashmir.
- Āditya Hṛdayam, the hymn Agastya gives Rāma before the final battle.
The Āgama traditions and the six paths
Śaiva, Śākta, Vaiṣṇava, Gāṇapatya, Saura and Kaumāra — the ṣaṇmata, the six classical paths of worship, their …
Śaiva traditions
Śiva as the supreme: Śaiva Siddhānta, Kashmir Śaivism (Trika), Pāśupata, Kāpālika and Kālāmukha, Vīraśaiva-Liṅ…
Śākta traditions — the Goddess as supreme
Devī as the ultimate reality: Śrīkula and Kālīkula, Śrīvidyā and the Śrī Yantra, the ten Mahāvidyās, the Devī …
Vaiṣṇava traditions
Viṣṇu and His descents: the four sampradāyas, Pāñcarātra and Vaikhānasa, the Ālvārs, the great ācāryas, the Ga…
Gāṇapatya — Gaṇeśa as the supreme
The tradition that holds Gaṇeśa to be the ultimate reality: the Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa, the aṣṭavināyaka, the s…
Kaumāra — Skanda, Murugan, Kārttikeya
The sixth path: the youth who commands the divine armies and teaches his own father, the six abodes in Tamil N…
Last revised 2026-08-16. Corrections are welcome — see how this site is written.