Saura (Hinduism)

In the contemporary period, the Sauras are a very small movement, much smaller than other larger denominations such as Vaishnavism or Shaivism.

The theology of the sect appears in a number of documents like the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Markandeya Purana, and a fifth century inscription.

[5] In the Saura sect, the god Surya is the lord of the Trimurti, the eternal Brahman, and the supreme spirit, the soul of all creatures, self-existent, unborn, the cause of all things and the foundation of the world.

The worship of the Sun is prescribed to be performed by its adoration during various periods (just-risen, the meridian, and setting), chanting the deity's prayers, and the wearing of his marks in the form of a circular red tilaka on the forehead.

The poem was composed in the sragdhara meter and written in the gaudi style by Mayurbhatta, a poet in the court of Harshavardhana and a rival of Banabhatta.