Indra

Indra is counted as the eleventh Aditya and is linked with Margashirsha. He is best known as king of the gods, wielder of the thunderbolt and slayer of Vritra, whose defeat releases the waters in the great Vedic hymns. In the twelve-Aditya list he is included because he is a son of Aditi, and the Puranas speak of him alongside the other sons in the same breath, although his fame in story overshadows theirs.

As an Aditya his light is the flash of lightning, the sudden energy seen in the storm-cloud, which fits a god who brings the monsoon rain. Indra is also a figure of tradition's gentle irony: the Puranas often show him anxious about his throne, humbled by sages and corrected by Krishna, as in the lifting of Govardhana. These tales treat even the lord of heaven as someone who must learn restraint, and they show how devotional literature shifted its focus from Indra to Vishnu and Shiva.

Observances connected with Indra include the old Indra festival of raising a banner pole to ask for good rains, and the vows of Margashirsha. Because lists of the Adityas are not uniform, some give Indra a place in the twelve while others name Vishnu or Surya in his stead, so scholars treat his membership as one tradition among others. A rare shrine at Brahmapuri is sometimes mentioned, but he has few temples compared with other gods.