Saptrarshi Mandala - The Great Bear

When you gaze at the night sky, it is near impossible to miss what is called the Big Dipper - a group of seven bright stars. Astronomically they are in the upper-left corner of the constellation Ursa Major . And, this is how it looks if you want to do some star gazing tonight!

But the Hindu Mythology makes this more interesting. It is called it the Saptrarshi Mandala, or, a group of seven sages. So who are these sages? Where did they come from? Why did they get merged into the constellation?

Puranas have many fascinating stories about these seven celestial sages, who were created by Brahma from his mind. So they are also called his Manasa Putras, the mind-born sons. The belief is that these supreme sages guide us and protect us.

In my latest comic published by Amar Chitra Katha, I have collected stories from across Puranas about these sages. It is in fact a 7-in-1 mega comic with fascinating stories of these Rishis.