JKR and the Indian connection- a dose of Hindu mythology for you all

[Anita Sathe]

No: HPFGUIDX 58335

Hi all,

I have always found it quite interesting that there seem to be no foreign students at Hogwarts other than the Indian Patil sisters, apart from Seamus, who seems to be Irish - correct me if I'm wrong.
Also what about Justin Finch-Fletchley? Where does he come from?
 
Beauxbaton and Durmstrang are schools in different countries, so that's okay. I am talking about students from Hogwarts only.
 
The names she has picked for these two girls are quite interesting. I'm sure you all must have read about these origins but here's some more interesting info.
 
* Parvati: According to Hindu mythology, there are 3 main forces/Gods. Brahma: the Creator, Vishnu, the Protector and Mahesh/Shiva/Shankar: the Destroyer. These are the forces that keep the balance in the universe. 
Parvati, as a young woman, underwent very rigourous penance and starvation to win Shiva's heart, who eventually married her. The two are said to live in the Himalayan mountains and are parents to the elephant-headed god Ganesha.
 
If you've read David Colbert's 'The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter', on pages 145-146, he explains where the word 'Nagini' comes from.

It's interesting to note that Shiva, the destroyer and Parvati's husband, always has a snake wrapped around his neck, a cobra to be precise! And thats exactly what a 'naga' is, the male cobra.  'Nagini' is the female.

However, as opposed to snakes being Salazar Slytherin's symbol and connected to evil in the WW, they are part of many fascinating stories in Hindu mythology and are worshipped too. Stories of evil snakes are rare.
 
As Colbert explains, just like the Basilisk's enemy is the rooster, eagles are enemies of the snake and the King of Eagles, Garuda that he mentions, is the vehicle of Vishnu, the protector God.
The Ravenclaw symbol is the Eagle (Padma's house).
 
Colbert has very smartly pointed out this too:
Voldemort seeked immortality and snakes are a big part of this, as he needs Nagini's milk to survive (GoF). Snakes and the Elixir of Life, known as 'Amrita' also play a big role in Hindu mytholgy. According to myth, the Devas (Gods) and the Asuras (demons) churned the 'Milky Ocean' with the help of the king of snakes, 'Vasuki'. As the ocean was being churned a lot of articles came out, one of which was a deadly poison that started killing beings on Earth. This poison was swallowed by Shiva, the Destroyer who's colour since turned blue. But I digress..
 
* Padma: This is Sanskrit for 'lotus', another character named after a flower. A huge lotus is what Brahma, the Creator rests on. 
 
* Patil: 

Now, India is a land of so many cultural and ethnic diversities, it is actually overwhelming.
A terrific amount of different communities reside in this country, one of which is the Gujrathi community, from the state of Gujrath. A popular last name found in this community is 'Patel'. 

These people are primarily businessmen by profession and very good ones too. They also form a large part of the country's immigrants and it's become quite common to find them in the US and UK. I won't be surprised if any of you know more than one Patel. 

So if JKR had chosen the twins to be 'Patel' s and not Patils I wouldn't be surprised.
Now, Patil is a surname found commonly in the 'Marathi' community, from the state of Maharashtra, that's where I come from, many of my friends are Patils! It's interesting to note that Patils have belonged to one of old families esp. in rural India.

They are administrative heads of villages and quite powerful and influential people, though only the rural Patils. 
So they'd be the Weasley/Malfoy equivalent in Muggle-India.
Because of this, I wonder if the Patil sisters too come from an old wizarding family and may play a larger role in the future. I mean, of all the Indian last names- wonder why she picked Patil?
 
Now thats a big mail..hope you found the myths interesting enough to read through the whole thing.
Its amazing how much research JKR puts in these books..
 
-Anita