Surya, the sun god, plays an important role in Indian mythology. In some of the earliest images of Hindu and Buddhist mythology, Surya rides on a chariot with his wives or female archers, who shoot arrows, driving away the darkness of the night. In Vedic mythology, he is not just the god of light but also the god of knowledge. He is invoked with the Gayatri mantra. In Upanishads, he is the teacher of Yajnavalkya.

Every morning people worship him by facing him and pouring water as offering, perhaps to quench his fiery thirst. He is visualised as riding a chariot with seven horses depicting the seven days of the week, with 12 wheels representing the 12 months of the year, with each wheel containing 24 spokes, indicating the 24 hours of a day — some say, eight spokes, indicating the traditional eight divisions of the day. Surya's charioteer is the dawn god, who is visualised as being sometimes a male (Aruna of Puranic mythology) and sometimes a female (Usha of Vedic mythology).