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Hinduism - What Does The Cuckoo Bird Symbolize In India?

 

Cuckoo. 


 Indian songbird (Cuculus melanoleucus or jacobinus) associated with both love and monsoon showers. 

During the monsoon, the cuckoo's piercing cries are fancifully translated as piu, piu (“beloved, beloved”). 

These screams are believed to arouse human lovers' emotions, either to passion if they are together or to terrible sorrow if they are separated by the monsoon. 

During the rainy season, the cuckoo's behavior is said to represent its affection for the monsoon. 

The cuckoo, according to common belief, only drinks rainfall, which implies it is thirsty for most of the year. 

The cuckoo is often used as a symbol for the devotee (bhakta) who is afflicted by the deity's absence yet patiently waits for the divine presence in devotional (bhakti) poetry. 

This bird is known as the chataka in Sanskrit poetry and as the kokila or koil in contemporary languages.