Guardians of the Directions

A collection of eight deities, each
associated with one of the four cardinal and intermediate directions. In
their traditional order, the deities are
as follows: Indra for the east; Agni for
the southeast; Yama for the south;
Nirriti for the southwest; Varuna for
the west; Vayu for the northwest;
Kubera for the north; and Shiva for
the northeast. Most of these are
deities who were important in the
Vedas, the earliest Hindu religious
texts. Except for Shiva, they were
replaced as traditions changed and
have become minor deities in modern
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Grhastha
Hindu religious life. These eight
deities protect the directions with
which they are associated. Each direction also carries certain associations
because of its presiding deity. For
example, south is generally considered an inauspicious direction
because it is associated with Yama, the
god of death.