Punarvasu

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann

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Punarvasu, in Tirupperunthurai (Athmanathaswamy temple) near Aranthangi, India, 10th century CE. (SMH 2025).

Punarvasu, 7th Nakshatra, mapped to the Stellarium star chart.

Punarvasu (पुनर्वसु), "the twin-restorers of goods", is an Indian name, used by the Indian Vedic tradition. Most of these names are roughly 3000 years old. They pre-date Hinduism but were taken over by it. It is an asterism consisting of four stars, the brightest ones being alpha and beta Geminorum.

Etymology and History

Name Variants

• Punarvasu (the two restorers),
• Yamakau ("the two chariots")
• Aditerbha

Origin of Constellation

The name of the constellations is grammatically a dual, so it points to two similar stars/ asterisms. This way, it equals the idea of the Greco-Roman and Mesopotamian Twin-constellation where two bright stars head two similar, parallel chains of stars.

4 stars: α, β Geminorum are certain; the other two might be ε, ζ Gem

Stars within the Constellation Area

id	Label	IAU design.	description	Vmag
1	Pollux	HIP 37826	Constellation lines (Vertex)	1.14
2	Castor	HIP 36850	Constellation lines (Vertex)	1.58
3	Wasat	HIP 35550	Constellation lines (Vertex)	3.53
4	κ Geminorum	HIP 37740	Constellation lines (Vertex)	3.57
5	Mekbuda	HIP 34088	Constellation lines (Vertex)	3.79
6	ι Geminorum	HIP 36046	Inside the hull	3.79
7	υ Geminorum	HIP 36962	Inside the hull	4.06
8	65 Gem	HIP 36429	Inside the hull	5.01
9	57 Gem	HIP 35846	Inside the hull	5.022
10	64 Gem	HIP 36393	Inside the hull	5.064
11	76 Gem	HIP 37704	Inside the hull	5.289
12	-	HIP 36896	Inside the hull	5.347
13	59 Gem	HIP 35941	Inside the hull	5.759
14	58 Gem	HIP 35842	Inside the hull	6.17
15	-	HIP 37269	Inside the hull	6.18
16	-	HIP 36325	Inside the hull	6.36
17	-	HIP 37165	Inside the hull	6.37
18	-	HIP 34608	Inside the hull	6.42

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

The pattern on the temple engraving is superposed on Castor and Pollux (Shylaja, 2026)

• 
  Punarvasu, 10th century CE
• 
  Display of all 28th nakshatras in silver arch with candles in Tirupperunthurai (Athmanathaswamy temple) near Aranthangi, India, 10th century CE. (SMH 2025).
• 
  Display of all 28th nakshatras in a door frame in Tirupperunthurai (Athmanathaswamy temple) near Aranthangi, India, 10th century CE. (SMH 2025).
• 
  Punarvasu, Tibetean
• 
  Punarvasu, Chinese
• 
• 
  Punarvasu as reconstructed by Jones (1720).

Mythology

mnemonic tales and cultural significance

References

• References (general)