Taraka

Tārakā (or Tārā) is the Hindu goddess of felicity and sanguineness. Taraka is also the second consort of Hindu God Brihaspati, God of planet Jupiter. According to the Puranas, Tara sired or mothered a child named Budha (God of Mercury) through Chandra (Soma).

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Tarakasur

Tārakāsur (Sanskrit: तारकासुर) or Tāraka (Sanskrit: तारक) was a powerful asura and the son of Vajranaka in Hindu belief. Tarakasur repeatedly defeated the gods until heaven was on the verge of collapse. Yet he had a clever boon that he could be defeated only by the son of Shiva, who was a complete yogi, given to severe austerities, far from any thoughts of marriage. Eventually, Kamadeva, the god of love, was sent in advance and created an untimely spring around Shiva and broke his dhyana with arrow of lust. On awakening, Shiva's fiery gaze burnt Kamdeva to ashes, and the disembodied spirit of love was disseminated across the universe. However, Parvati who was re-incarnation of Sati, Shiva's first wife and also incarnation of Aadi Shakti who was once a part of Shiva, in their Ardhanarishvara form. Eventually their son Kartikeya was born. Kartikeya killed Tarakasur and his brothers Simhamukhan and Surapadman at Thiruchendur - Tamil Nadu, who eventually became the mounts of Parvati and Kartikeya.

Taraka (butterfly)

Taraka is a genus of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae that inhabit the East Asian Palearctic ecozone and Indomalaya ecozone. It includes the species Taraka hamada.

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