The provenance file on Indra
Provenance record 248 · Indra · one temple, fully accounted for.
Provenance
1. The attestation. इन्द्र, from the tradition's own record. On record: Rigveda 1.32 (the Vritra combat), Rigveda 8 (soma hymns to Indra), Rigveda 10.119 (the intoxication hymn), Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 1.6.3 (the Dadhichi legend).
2. The narrative record. The Slaying of Vritra — Vritra, the “Enveloper”, coiled about the world’s waters and held them fast in his mountain caves. Indra, armed with the vajra forged by Tvashtri from Dadhichi’s bones, struck the dragon on its flank; the waters burst free and flooded to the sea. The Drink of Soma — Before the combat, Indra drinks three lakes of soma pressed by the priests; filled with the draught, his strength is irresistible and his belly vast. The hymns taunt and flatter him by turns — the Vedic poets knew their storm-god was vain, and loved him for it.
3. The physical record. No Indra temples survive in India — the Vedic cult was fire and libation, not image. But his name is carved across Southeast Asia: the seventh-century Sanskrit inscriptions of Cambodia invoke him as royal ancestor, and Borobudur’s reliefs show Śakra attending the Buddha.
4. The current holding. The temple at /indra/, a temple of the restored name. aSCII-equivalent form
5. The documented resonances. Meteorology & Weather Intelligence, Wind & Atmospheric Energy, Defense, Military & Security — seats argued and weighted in the pattern atlas, read through the myths in this temple's Resonance File.
6. The primary sources. Rig Veda, Ramayana — the library this file answers to, open at the Sacred Texts collection.
7. The continuing record. He is embedded in the oldest Indo-European poetry extant — every study of dragon-slaying, thunder-gods, or soma/haoma ritual begins with him. The word ‘Indra’ entered Southeast Asian royal names (Indravarman, Indrapura) carried by Hindu expansion; and the Vajra passed east into Tibetan Buddhism as the thunderbolt-sceptre of the vajrayāna itself.
At a Glance
- Restored name: Indra
- ASCII form: indra
- Meaning: "the god of the atmosphere and sky"
- Domain of influence: Storms, War, Kingship
- Pantheon: Sanskrit
- Restoration: ASCII-equivalent form
- Original script: इन्द्र
- Series: The Restoration Files, No. 248 of 597
The File Continues
Read the founding dispatch for the name's full story, the Resonance File for the archetype at work — or the whole archive in one sitting.
Continue the series — previous file: Inari (read it here) · next file: Inti (read it here).
The Restoration Files are written from the same canonical record as the temples themselves: the lexicon, the lore catalog, the pattern atlas, and the cited scholarly sources. If a file ever disagrees with its temple, the temple is right — tell us, and the file will be corrected.