Renuka

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Renuka Mata at Mahur

In ancient Cylanese, Renuka was the name of a minor goddess of wanton death and destruction, although at certain times was also a symbol of creativity and vibrancy.

In Hindi, Renuka is derived from the sanskrit for fine grains of sand.

[edit] Hindu Mythology

In Hindu mythology, Renuka was the wife of sage Jamadagni and the mother of Parashurama. She was a princess as well as the wife of Sage Jamadagni. Parashurama (called Ram) was her eldest son, an Avatar of Vishnu who decided to take this earthly incarnation to destroy the evil king Sacharjun. Sahastrarjun objected to the advisory powers of the sages and felt that they were just trying to usurp his rule, so he set out to burn down the ashrams and drive them all away. He became enchanted with the beautiful Renuka on one of these forays, and vowed to have her for his own one day. He told her, much to the indignation of Sage Jamadagni, that she should come to his court if she wanted him to stop burning down the ashrams. Meanwhile, young Ram learns to hate King Sahastrarjun for his deeds, and goes to the Himalayas to find the god Shiva to ask to be his disciple, so that Shiva can teach him the ways of warfare and the use of weapons. Shiva tells him he will accept him, because killing Sahastrarjun will be a necessary and noble deed, as he's been continuously pillaging and raping, and terrorizing his people wherever he goes. Shiva tells Ram that he must do a hard penance to become the master of the bow and arrow: he must stand waist deep in freezing mountain water for ten years as he practices his archery, until he becomes an expert at it. Ram amazingly fulfills this penance, and is now a grown man; Shiva rewards him with a 'brand new weapon' too, a long-handled axe, and tells him that this weapon will always be associated with Ram down through history.