Budh Ji (Mercury)

Budh, or Budha, personifies the planet Mercury as one of the Navagraha and gives his name to Wednesday (Budhavara). He is considered a generally benevolent graha associated with intellect, communication and memory.

His name, from Sanskrit budh, "to be awake" or "to know," reflects his association with a sharp, agile mind. Wednesday, Budhavara in Hindi and several other Indian languages, derives directly from him.

He is generally shown as a benevolent, green-bodied deity draped in yellow, riding a chariot drawn by eight yellow horses, or in some depictions a lion, and bearing a sword, club and shield alongside a hand raised in the varada mudra, the gesture of granting boons.

He is the son of Chandra, the Moon, and Tara, wife of his guru Brihaspati; his birth follows the Tarakamaya war, fought between the gods and Chandra over Tara's abduction. Grown, he married Ila and fathered Pururavas, the legendary founder of the lunar (Chandravanshi) dynasty of kings.

Son of Chandra and Tara. His marriage to Ila and fatherhood of Pururavas place him at the root of the lunar dynasty that runs through much of later Puranic and epic genealogy.

As one of the Navagraha he governs intellect, speech, trade and short-distance travel in Vedic astrology, worshipped particularly on Wednesdays. Indian astronomical treatises, from the fifth-century Aryabhatiya onward, record centuries of careful observation of Mercury under his name.

He is worshipped chiefly as part of the Navagraha set installed in temple courtyards across India rather than through dedicated standalone Budh temples, his role in personal worship being mostly astrological, seeking his blessing for clarity of mind and successful communication.