Vayu Origin and History Vāyu (Sanskrit: वाय$) is a primary Hindu deity, the Lord of the winds, the father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman. He is also known as Vāta (वात), Pavana (पवन, the Purifier), and sometimes Prāna ((ाण, the breath). As the word for air, (Vāyu) or wind (Pavana) is one of the Panchamahābhuta or five great elements. The Sanskrit word 'Vāta' literally means "blown", 'Vāyu' "blower", and 'Prāna' "breathing". Hence, the primary referent of the word is the "deity of Life", who is sometimes for clarity referred to as "Mukhya-Vāyu" (the chief Vāyu) or "Mukhya Prāna" (the chief of Life). Sometimes the word "vayu," which is more generally used in the sense of the physical air or wind, is used as a synonym for "prāna".[3] There is however a separate set of five deities of Prāna (vital breath), Mukhya-Prāna being chief among them, so that, in Hindi and other Indian languages, someone's death is stated as "his lives departed" (uske prān nikal gaye) rather than "his life departed." These five Vāyu deities, Prāna, Apāna, Vyāna, Udāna, and Samāna, control life (and the vital breath), the wind, touch/sensation, digestion, and excretion. Vayu is a wind god in the early Hindu pantheon. He is one of the major elemental gods, and was revered as one of the most important deities. He is often put into a smaller pantheon with Akasha, the god of Aether, Jala, the god of Water, Agni, the god of Fire, and Prithvi, the god of Earth. His name was also sometimes given as Prana, or Pavana, the Purifier. Vayu is usually represented as a most beautiful man, often with slightly purple skin. He is carried around in a stunning coach, pulled by a thousand purple and white horses. He is usually adorned in beautiful jewelry, and is often depicted with four arms, sometimes with two arms holding small flags. When not being carried in a carriage, Vayu rides an antelope. Vayu is often portrayed as a tempestuous god, and is shown having fits of rage which he does not...