CPREEC - EIACP Programme Centre, Resource Partner on Ecological Heritage and Sacred Sites of India

Scientific name

Pavo cristatus Linn

Common name

Peacock or Blue Peafowl

Hindi

Mor or Mayur

Sanskrit 

Mayurah

Distribution

Throughout India                       

Religious association

 Lord Murugan

The peacock is very sacred to Hindus. The vehicle of Lord Kartikeya—also known as Skanda or Muruga—is a peacock named Paravani.

 Lord Krishna

The crown of Lord Krishna is usually adorned with a peacock feather, and is called the mormukuta (peacock crown).

The Mori clan of the Bhil tribe of central India and Jat community of north India worship the peacock as a totem. The bird is also sacred to the Ahir and Khand tribes, while the Koyis of the river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh tie peacock feathers to Sitalamata (also Mariamma), the goddess of smallpox. The Warli tribesmen of Maharashtra fix peacock feathers in a pot to represent their god Hirva, and dance around it.

Mahamayuri

According to the Jataka story of Mahamor, Buddha was a golden peacock in a previous birth. In Vajrayana (Mahayana) Buddhism, Mahamayuri, the ‘Great Peahen’ or Peacock Wisdom Queen—the Mother of Buddhas— is depicted riding a peacock.

In Jainism, it is believed that the feathers of the peacock ward off evil, so Jain sages carried fly whisks made of peacock feathers.