Surya among the planets

A painting in The Met shows Surya in his chariot of seven horses, with the eight planetary deities around him: the Sun at the centre of the planets.

The painting

The Met dates Kitaharasa's Mandala of the Sun God Surya to likely 1379, in the Kathmandu Valley. Surya rides his chariot, two goddesses shoot arrows to drive away darkness, and the eight planetary deities encircle his mandala.

Why it was made

The inscription says it commemorates a donor's ceremony to expunge negative karma, shown in the lower register with a priest, musicians and the family watching. It is a record of what the planets meant in one household's religious life, not a reading for anyone today.

Astrology and myth are presented here as symbolic and historical traditions, not as predictions. The sky's positions and times on this site are calculated the same way in every lens.