Balarama is a Hindu god and the elder brother of Krishna.
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Balarama is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities.
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Balarama is known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Baladeva, Balabhadra and Sankarshana.
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Balarama is an ancient deity, a prominent one by the epics era of Indian history as evidenced by archeological and numismatic evidence.
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Balarama's iconography appears with Naga, a plough and other farm artifacts such as a watering pot, possibly indicating his origins in a bucolic, agricultural culture.
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Narratives of Balarama are found in Mahabharata, Harivamsha, Bhagavata Purana and other Puranas.
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Balarama finds a mention in Kautilya's Arthashastra, where according to Hudson, his followers are described as "ascetic worshippers" with shaved heads or braided hair.
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Balarama, as Baladewa, is an important character in the 11th-century Javanese text Kakawin Bharatayuddha, the Kakawin poem based on the Mahabharata.
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Balarama was anciently a powerful local deity named Samkarshana, associated with the local cult of the Vrishni heroes in Mathura from around the 4th century BCE.
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Balarama-Samkarshana is typically shown standing with a gada in his right hand and holding a plough in his left.
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Balarama grew up with his younger brother Krishna with his foster parents, in the household of the head of cowherds Nanda and his wife Yashoda.
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Balarama spent his childhood as a cow herder with his brother Krishna.
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Balarama killed Dhenuka, an asura sent by Kamsa, as well as Pralamba and Mushtika wrestlers sent by the king.
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Balarama is the celebrated tiller, one of the embodiments of agriculture along with livestock with whom Krishna is associated with.
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Balarama taught both Duryodhana of the Kauravas and Bhima of the Pandavas the art of war with a mace.
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When war broke between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, Balarama carried obligations for both sides and so remained neutral.
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Balarama went for a pilgrimage with his nephew Pradyumna and other Yadavas during the war, and returned on the last day, to watch the fight between his disciples.
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Local people of Veraval believe about the cave near the temple place, that the white snake who came out of Balarama's mouth got into that cave and went back to Patala loka.
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Balarama was the constant companion of Krishna, ever watchful, leading to the epithet "Luk Luk Dauji" in the Pustimarga tradition of Vaishnavism.
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Balarama is a creative store of knowledge for the agriculturists: the knowledge that dug a water channel to bring Yamuna water to Vrindavan; that restored groves, farms and forests; that produced goods and drinks.
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Balarama often wears blue garments and a garland of forest flowers.
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Further, Balarama's face is white, Jagannath's icon is dark, and Subhadra icon is yellow.
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