pleasure must be transcended to attain
the divine. For further information see
Benjamin Rowland, The Art and
Architecture of India, 1971.
Khandava Forest
In the Mahabharata, the later of the two
great Hindu epics, the Khandava forest
is consumed by Agni, a god whose mate-
rial form is fireitself. According to the
story, Agni becomes sick and is advised
that he can only be healed by eating the
creatures in the Khandava forest, many
of whom are enemies of the gods. Agni
makes seven attempts to “eat” the forest,
but is always thwarted by the storm-god
Indra, who rescues the forest by dousing
it with rain. Agni is perplexed and soli-
cits the help of the god Krishnaand his
companion Arjuna, the world’s greatest
archer. To help Agni, Arjuna is given the
Gandiva bow and an inexhaustible
quiver of arrows. When Agni again
begins to burn the forest, Arjuna keeps
off the rain by shooting a flight of
arrows so thick that it forms a canopy
over the forest. In this way Agni is cured
of his illness.
Khandoba
Regional deityworshiped in the central
Indian Deccanregion, particularly in
the states of Maharashtra and
Karnataka. Originally believed to be a
local deity, Khandoba is now considered
to be an avatar, or incarnation, of the
god Shiva; he takes this form to destroy
two demons named Mani and Malla.
After killing the demons he is persuaded
to reside at a temple in Jejuri,
Maharashtra, from where his worship
spread throughout the region.
Khandoba is an important popular deity
because he is believed to grant people’s
wishes, particularly in response to vows.
For further information see John M.
Stanley, “Special Time, Special Power:
The Fluidity of Power in a Popular Hindu
Festival,” in Journal of Asian Studies, Vol.
37, No. 1, 1977.
Khara
In the Ramayana, the earlier of the two
great Indian epics, Khara is one of the
brothers of the demon-king Ravana.
With his brother Dushana, Khara tries to
avenge the honor of their sister
Shurpanakha, whose ears and nose
have been cut off by Rama’s brother
Lakshmana. In a fierce battle, Rama
destroys the demon army, killing Khara
and Dushana. Seeing the failure of her
two brothers, Shurpanakha goes to their
brother Ravana to demand vengeance.
Ravana realizes he cannot kill Rama in
battle, but resolves to avenge his sister
by kidnapping Sita, an action which dri-
ves the plot for the latter part of the epic.Kharoshthi
(“ass-lip”) Name for one of the ancient
scripts used in the inscriptionsof the
emperor Ashoka(r. 269–232 B.C.E.), the
greatest figure in the Maurya dynasty.
Ashoka’s empire encompassed all of the
subcontinent (except the deepest parts
of southern India) and parts of modern
Afghanistan. Ashoka’s Rock Edictsand
Pillar Edictsare the earliest significant
Indian written documents, giving
invaluable information about contem-
porary social, political, and religious life.
The Kharoshthi script was used exclu-
sively in the northwestern part of
Ashoka’s empire and was clearly derived
from the Aramaic alphabet used in
Achaeminid Persia. Although the script
was modified to adapt it to the sounds of
Indian languages, it clearly shows
Persian cultural influence. It was far less
pervasive than Brahmiscript and had
virtually disappeared from India by the
early centuries of the common era.Khatvanga
A club or staff topped with a human
skull, it is one of the characteristic
objects in Hindu iconography. At times
the shaft of the staff was made from
another human bone, such as a thigh or
an arm bone. This symbol is most closely
associated with the god Shiva. Its useKhandava Forest