Introduction
Hara, "the remover or the taker away", is one of the eleven Rudras, a group of deities who are aspects or manifestations of Shiva in the Puranic tradition.
The eleven Rudras (Ekadasha Rudras) are a group of deities who are aspects or manifestations of Shiva. The idea goes back to the Vedic Rudra and the Maruts, who are sometimes called the sons of Rudra. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (3.9.4) says that the eleven Rudras are the ten vital breaths and the mind, and are called Rudras because when they leave the body at death, they make people weep (the verb rud, "to weep"). In the Puranas, the eleven Rudras are sons of Kashyapa and Surabhi, or of Kashyapa and Aditi, or manifestations of Shiva. The lists of the eleven names differ between the Mahabharata, the Harivamsha and the Puranas. This article follows one Puranic list: Ajaikapada, Ahirbudhnya, Pinakin, Ritadhvaja, Tryambaka, Maheshvara, Vrishakapi, Shambhu, Hara, Ishvara and Kapardin.
The Rudras are worshipped together in the Ekadasha Rudra rites, in which the Rudram hymn is recited eleven times over an abhisheka of Shiva. A tradition regards Hanuman as the eleventh Rudra, an incarnation of Shiva.
Name and early references
Hara means "the remover" or "the one who takes away", and is understood as the one who removes sin and suffering and, in the end, the world. It is one of the common names of Shiva, used in the Puranas and in the compound Harihara, the combined form of Shiva (Hara) and Vishnu (Hari).
In the Puranic tradition
The cry "Har Har Mahadev" is a traditional invocation of Shiva, used by pilgrims, and famously as a battle cry of the Maratha army. In Tamil, "Haro Hara" is a devotional cry, especially to Murugan. In the Puranic lists, Hara is one of the eleven Rudras.