MANGALA

Mangala (मङ्गल, Maṅgala), also known as Lohit (लोहित /meaning: red), is the name for Mars, the red planet, in Hindu texts.
Mangala (मङ्गल) is the God of War, celibate and sometimes linked to god Karttikeya (कार्तिकेय / स्कंद, Skanda).
Mangala (मङ्गल) is also called: Angāraka (अङ्गारक / one who is red in colour), Raktavarna (रक्तवर्ण / whose color is like blood), Bhauma (भौम /son of Bhumi), Lohitānga (लोहिताङ्ग / red bodied - Loha also means Iron, so could also mean Iron Bodied), Kuja (कुज / he who is born from Earth), Bha (भ / shining).

His origins vary with different mythological texts; in some, he is the son of Bhumi (भूमि / the Earth Goddess) and Vishnu (विष्णू), born when he raised her from the depths of water in Varaha avatar (वराह, Varāha, 'boar').
In other myths, he is born from Shiva's (शिव) sweat or blood drop.

In Hindu Astrology (हिंदू ज्योतिष), Mangala (मङ्गल) refers to the planet Mars, one of the Navagrahas (नवग्रह).
- Navagrahas (नवग्रह) means "Nine Celestial Bodies" in Sanskrit (संस्कृत) and are Nine Astronomical Bodies or Nine Realms or Nine Planets in Hindu and Vedic Astrology (ज्योतिष, Jyotiṣa or Jyotisha / ज्योतिश्या, Jyotishya) as well as Mythical Deities of Hinduism.

Mangala (मङ्गल) as a planet appears in various Hindu Astronomical texts in Sanskrit (संस्कृत), such as:
- Aryabhatiya (आर्यभटीय, 5th Century) by the major mathematician-astronomer from the classical age of Indian Mathematics and Indian Astronomy, Aryabhata (आर्यभट).
- Romaka (रोमाका, 6th Century) by the astronomer, Latadeva (लतादेव), based in Byzantine Astronomy.
- Pancasiddhantika (पैनकासिधांटिका, 6th Century) by the polymath astronomer, Varahamihira (वराहमिहिर).
- Khandakhadyaka (खण्डखाद्यक, 665 AD) by the mathematician and astronomer, Brahmagupta (ब्रह्मगुप्त).
- Sisyadhivrddida (सिसियादहिर्डिडा, 8th Century) by the mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, Lalla (लल्ल).
These texts present Mangala (मङ्गल) as one of the planets and estimate the characteristics of the respective planetary motion.
Other texts such as Surya Siddhanta (सूर्यसिद्धान्त), dated to have been complete sometime between the 5th Century and 10th Century, present their chapters on various planets with Deity Mythologies.

The weekday Mangalavara (मंगल) in Hindu Calendar, or Tuesday, has roots in Mangala (मङ्गल).
Mangalavara (मंगल) is found in most Indian languages, and Mangala Graha (मङ्गल ग्राहा) is driven by the planet Mars in Hindu Astrology (ज्योतिष, Jyotiṣa or Jyotisha / ज्योतिश्या, Jyotishya).

The word "Tuesday" in the Greco-Roman and other Indo-European Calendars is also based on the planet Mars.
The zodiac and naming system of Hindu Astrology (ज्योतिष, Jyotiṣa or Jyotisha / ज्योतिश्या, Jyotishya) likely developed in the Centuries after the arrival of Greek Astrology with Alexander the Great (शानदार अलेक्जेंडर), their zodiac signs being nearly identical.