Adityas

For other uses, see Aditya (disambiguation).

An 11th–century sculpture of Surya with eleven other Adityas depicted at the top

Adityas (Sanskrit: आदित्य, lit. 'of Aditi' IAST: Āditya Sanskrit pronunciation: [aːd̪ɪt̪jɐ]) refers to a class of Hindu deities. They are usually presented as solar deities, and the offspring of the Goddess Aditi. The name Aditya, in the singular, is taken to refer to the sun god Surya. They are first attested in the Rig Veda, where they are 6–8 in number, all male. The number increases to 12 in the Brahmanas. The epic Mahabharata and the Puranic scriptures mention the sage Kashyapa as their father, and in these texts, the group generally consist of Vivasvan (Surya), Aryaman, Tvashtr, Savitr, Bhaga, Dhatr, Mitra, Varuna, Amsha, Pushan, Indra and Vishnu (in the form of Vamana). In each month of the year a different Aditya is said to shine.