Adityas

Generally, Adityas are twelve in number and consist of Vivasvan (Surya), Aryaman, Tvashtr, Savitr, Bhaga, Dhatr, Mitra, Varuna, Amsha, Pushan, Indra and Vishnu (in the form of Vamana).

The Aditya have been described in the Rig Veda as bright and pure as streams of water, free from all guile and falsehood, blameless, perfect.

In the form of Mitra-Varuna, the Adityas are true to the eternal Law and act as the exactors of debt.

The Ādityas are one of the principal deities of the Vedic classical Hinduism belonging to the solar class.

The Gayatri mantra, which is regarded as one of the most sacred of the Vedic hymns is dedicated to Savitr, one of the principal Ādityas.

The ritual of Surya Namaskaram, performed by Hindus, is an elaborate set of hand gestures and body movements, designed to greet and revere the Sun.

In later Hindu usage, all the Vedic Ādityas lost identity and metamorphosed into one composite deity, Surya, the Sun.

The Ramayana has Rama as a direct descendant of the Surya, thus belonging to the Suryavamsha or the Solar dynasty.

The charioteer of Surya is Aruna, who is also personified as the redness that accompanies the sunlight in dawn and dusk.

The sun god is driven by a seven-horsed Chariot depicting the seven days of the week and the seven colours of rainbow which are seen due to the dispersion by Surya's rays.

The lists that composed the Adityas in religious texts are not always consistent, and vary greatly across iterations through a combination of factors.

[12]: 102  In the Chandogya Upanishad, Aditya is a name of Viṣṇu in his avatar as Vāmana, and his mother is Aditi.

(Bhagavata Purana) Adityas are responsible for proper functioning of the universe and in Hindu cosmology they are given lordship over celestial constellations, called nakshatras in Jyotish.

This makes Vedic Adityas not some conceptual, abstract, or mythological characters in a story book, but part of the visible cosmology and the everyday realities of our daily lives.