Mars or Mangal is taken to be the son of Earth, personified as Bhoomi Devi. When Earth was lying submerged under the cosmic ocean, stolen by the demon Hiranyaksha, Vishnu in his incarnation as Varaha brought it out on his tusks and placed it in orbit. He embraced Bhoomi Devi and gifted her a red coral as a token of their courtship. But Bhoomi Devi dropped the coral into the ocean. From the coral emerged a beautiful red child who got the name Lohitanga, which translates into red-limbed body. The child is also called Bhooma, meaning Bhoomi’s son.

The child was nurtured by the sage Bharadwaj, one of the Sapta Rishis, in his hermitage near the Narmada. After hearing of his origin from the sage, the child went to the forest and did penance for a long time. Pleased with his devotion, Brahma accorded him the position of a planet in the celestial sky.

A variant describes Mangal as the son of Shiva and Earth. According to this version, once when Shiva was engrossed in meditation on Mount Kailash, three drops of perspiration from his forehead fell on Earth. From those drops was born a beautiful infant with a reddish complexion and four arms. Shiva handed the child to Mother Earth for upbringing. Brought up by Bhoomi, the child was named Bhauma.

In astrology a person can be considered Manglik, such as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is, if Mangal is placed in the horoscope in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th, or 12th house of the ascendant (lagna) chart. This condition is astrologically believed to be unfavourable for marriage, the reason Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan performed special pujas before their wedding. In the film Lage Raho Munnabhai, Abhishek defies his father to marry a Manglik girl played by Dia Mirza.

Besides Mangal and Bhoomi Putra, Mars is also known as Kuja, Angaraka and Chevvai.

Mangal is the commander of the planets and is said to be of Kshatriya (warrior) caste.

It is bilious and represents the bitter taste.

The planet rules the signs of Aries and Scorpio.

Mangal controls bone marrow and hence the generation of red blood corpuscles in the body. When it occupies a strong, exalted position in one’s horoscope, it bestows courage, vitality, vigour, initiative and aggression. In an unfavourable position, it results in vices of anger, cruelty, dishonesty, jealousy and rash disposition. A weak Mars makes for lack of ambition, stamina and drive, including the sexual, in a person.

The planet is friendly to Sun, Moon and Jupiter. It is hostile to Mercury and neutral to Venus and Saturn.

Wearing a red coral gemstone is believed to nullify the malefic effects of Mangal graha.

Compiled by Sudeshna Banerjee