Indra.

King of the Gods
God of Lightning, Thunder, Rains and River flows
King of Heaven

Painting of Indra on his elephant mount, Airavata.
Devanagari
Sanskrit transliteration
Affiliation Deva (Hinduism, Jainism)
Abode Amarvati in Svarga, Indraloka, Mount Meru
Weapon Vajra (Thunderbolt)
Symbols Vajra
Mount Airavata (White elephant), Uchchaihshravas (White horse)
Texts Vedas, Puranas, Epics
Personal Information
Consort Shachi (Indrani)
Children Vali (Ramayana), Arjuna and others
Greek equivalent Zeus
Roman equivalent Jupiter
Norse equivalent Thor or Odin
Slavic equivalent Perun

In the Vedas, Indra is the king of Svarga (Heaven) and the Devas. He is the god of lightning, thunder, storms, rains and river flows.[6] Indra is the most referred to deity in the Rigveda.[7] He is celebrated for his powers, and the one who kills the great symbolic evil (Asura) named Vritra who obstructs human prosperity and happiness. Indra destroys Vritra and his "deceiving forces", and thereby brings rains and the sunshine as the friend of mankind.[1][8] His importance diminishes in the post-Vedic Indian literature where he is depicted as a powerful hero but one who is getting in trouble with his drunken, hedonistic and adulterous ways, and the god who disturbs Hindu monks as they meditate because he fears self-realized human beings may become more powerful than him.

In Buddhism, Indra has been a popular deity, referred by many names and particularly Shakra (Pali: Sakka). He is featured in Buddhism somewhat differently than Hinduism, such as being shown as less war oriented and one paying homage to the Buddha.[10] Indra rules over the much sought Devas realm of rebirth within the Samsara doctrine of Buddhist traditions.[10] However, like the Hindu texts, Indra also is a subject of ridicule and reduced to a figurehead status in Buddhist texts,[11] shown as a god that suffers rebirth and redeath.[10] In the Jainism traditions, like Buddhism and Hinduism, Indra is the king of gods and a part of Jain rebirth cosmology.[12] He is also the god who appears with his wife Indrani to celebrate the auspicious moments in the life of a Jain Tirthankara, an iconography that suggests the king and queen of gods reverentially marking the spiritual journey of a Jina.

Indra's iconography shows him wielding a lightning thunderbolt known as Vajra, riding on a white elephant known as Airavata.[9][15] In Buddhist iconography the elephant sometimes features three heads, while Jaina icons sometimes show the elephant with five heads. Sometimes a single elephant is shown with four symbolic tusks.[9] Indra's heavenly home is on or near Mount Meru (also called Sumeru).

In the Hindu religion, he is married to Shachi, also known as Indrani or Pulomaja.[60]

Indra and Shachi have a son, Jayanta, and daughters called Jayanti and Devasena. Goddess Jayanti is the spouse of Shukra, while goddess Devasena marries the war-god Kartikeya.

In Rigveda, Indra is described as strong willed, armed with a thunderbolt, riding a chariot:

May the strong Heaven make thee the Strong wax stronger: Strong, for thou art borne by thy two strong Bay Horses. So, fair of cheek, with mighty chariot, mighty, uphold us, strong-willed, thunder armed, in battle.

RigVeda, Book 5, Hymn XXXVI: Griffith[63]
Indra's weapon, which he used to kill evil Vritra, is the Vajra or thunderbolt. Other alternate iconographic symbolism for him includes a bow (sometimes as a colorful rainbow), a sword, a net, a noose, a hook, or a conch.[64] The thunderbolt of Indra is called Bhaudhara.[65]

In the post-Vedic period, he rides a large, four-tusked white elephant called Airavata.[9] In sculpture and relief artworks in temples, he typically sits on an elephant or is near one. When he is shown to have two, he holds the Vajra and a bow.

In the Shatapatha Brahmana and in Shaktism traditions, Indra is stated to be same as goddess Shodashi (Tripura Sundari), and her iconography is described similar to those of Indra.

The rainbow is called Indra's Bow (Sanskrit: indradhanusha)

Indra is a popular guardian deity in Buddhism, who protects Buddhist teachings and believers.[2] He is commonly found in the Buddhist art works in both the Theravada and Mahayana traditions all over South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia.[68][69] He also appears extensively in ancient and medieval Buddhist literature such as the Buddhacarita and the Mahavamsa.[2][68] Indra is the god who urges the Buddha to go teach mankind, after he had achieved his enlightenment under a bodhi tree but had doubts whether he should share his knowledge.[2] Other texts depict Indra as the most devoted of divine disciples of the Buddha, who listens and follows the Buddha, and the deity who renders assistance to the Buddha and his followers on numerous occasions.

Indra in Jain mythology always serves the Tirthankara teachers. Indra most commonly appears in stories related to Tirthankaras, in which Indra himself manages and celebrates the five auspicious events in that Tirthankara's life, such as Chavan kalyanak, Janma kalyanak, Diksha kalyanak, Kevala Jnana kalyanak, and moksha kalyanak.