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{{Short description|Sanskrit work meaning "ode" or "eulogy"}}
{{Hindu scriptures}}
'''''Stotra''''' (Sanskrit: [[wikt:स्तोत्र|स्तोत्र]]) or '''''stotram''''' ([[wikt:स्तोत्रम्|स्तोत्रम्]]) is a [[Sanskrit]] word that means "ode, eulogy or a [[hymn]] of praise."<ref name=monierwilliamsstotra>Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on '''[http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/2014/web/webtc/indexcaller.php?input=HK&output=SktRomanUnicode&citation=stotra Stotra]'''</ref>{{Sfn|Apte|1965|p=1005}} It is a literary genre of Indian religious texts designed to be melodically sung, in contrast to a ''[[shastra]]'' which is composed to be recited.<ref name=monierwilliamsstotra/>

A stotra can be a prayer, a description, or a conversation, but always with a poetic structure. It may be a simple poem expressing praise and personal devotion to a deity for example, or poems with embedded spiritual and philosophical doctrines.<ref name="Nayar1992"/>

Many ''stotra'' hymns praise aspects of the divine, such as [[Devi]], [[Shiva]], or [[Vishnu]]. Relating to word "''stuti''", coming from the same Sanskrit root *''stu-'' ("to praise"), and basically both mean "praise". Notable stotras are ''[[Shiva Tandava Stotram]]'' in praise of Shiva and [[Ram Raksha Stotra|''Rama Raksha Stotra'']], a prayer for protection to [[Lord Rama|Rama]].

Stotras are a type of popular devotional literature. Among the early texts with Stotras are by Kuresha,{{Clarify|reason=|date=August 2018}} which combine [[Ramanuja]]'s Vedantic ideas on qualified [[monism]] about [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] and [[Brahman]] (ultimate, unchanging reality), with temple practices.<ref name="Nayar1992" />

==Etymology==
''Stotra'' comes from the Sanskrit root ''stu-'' which means "to praise, eulogize or laud".<ref name="Nayar1992">{{cite book| author=Nancy Ann Nayar| title=Poetry as Theology: The Śrīvaiṣṇava Stotra in the Age of Rāmānuja| year=1992| publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3447032551|pages=ix-xi}}</ref> Literally, the term refers to "poems of praise".<ref name=nayar1516>{{cite book| author=Nancy Ann Nayar| title=Poetry as Theology: The Śrīvaiṣṇava Stotra in the Age of Rāmānuja| year=1992| publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3447032551|pages=15–16}}</ref> The earliest trace of stotras are Vedic, particularly in the ''[[Samaveda]]''.<ref name=nayar1516/>

==Example==
[[File:God marriage AS.jpg|thumb|right|A seated Ardhanarishvara with both the vahanas]]
The following is a Peterson translation of a Stotra by the Tamil poet [[Appar]] for [[Ardhanarishvara]], the Hindu concept of a god who incorporates both the masculine and the feminine as inseparable halves.<ref name=goldberg94/>

{{Quote|
<poem>
An earring of bright new gold one ear,
a coiled conch shell sways on the other,
On one side he chants the [[Vedas|Vedic]] melodies,
on the other, he gently smiles,
Matted hair adorned with sweet [[Cassia fistula|konrai]] blossoms on one half of his head,
and a woman's curls on the other, he comes.
The one the nature of his form, the other of hers,
And both are the very essence of his beauty.
</poem>
|Appar, Ardhanarishvara Stotra|<ref name=goldberg94>{{cite book|author=Ellen Goldberg|title=Lord Who Is Half Woman, The: Ardhanarisvara in Indian and Feminist Perspective| year=2012| publisher=State University of New York Press| isbn=978-0791488850| pages=91–96}}</ref>}}

== Nama-stotra ==
The ''nama-stotra'' is based on chanting a litany of names for a deity. The [[Sahasranama]], a type of ''nama-stotra,'' is a litany of a thousand names for a particular deity. [[Sahasranama]] means "1000 names"; Sahasra means 1000 and nama means names. For example, [[Vishnu Sahasranama]] means 1000 names of Vishnu.<ref>[http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Vishnu_Sahasranamam Vishnu Sahasranamam] on Hindupedia, the Online Hindu Encyclopedia</ref> Other ''nama-stotra''s may include 100 or 108 epithets of the deity. According to Hinduism, the names of God are valuable tools for devotion.

==Notable stotras==
* ''[[Shiva Tandava Stotram]]''
* [[Dakshinamurthy Stotram|''Dakshinamurti Stotram'']]
* ''[[Shiv Mahimna Stotra]]''
* ''[[Panchakshara Stotra]]''
* ''[[Ram Raksha Stotra]]''
* ''[[Mahishasuramardini Stotra]]''
* ''[[Maruti Stotra]]''
* ''[[Agasti Lakshmi Stotra]]''
* [[Dvadasha stotra|''Dvadasha Stotra'']]
;Jainism
*''[[Bhaktamara Stotra]]''

==See also==
*''[[Khadgamala]]''
*[[List of suktas and stutis]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{Citation | last=Apte | first=Vaman Shivram | year=1965 | title=The Practical Sanskrit Dictionary | place=Delhi | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers | edition=Fourth revised and enlarged | isbn=81-208-0567-4}}

== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110514200843/http://stotra.teluguthesis.org/ Read Stotras in multiple languages]
*[http://www.dvaita.org/stotra/alphaList.html Alphabetical List of the Stotras]
{{Worship in Hinduism}}

[[Category:Hindu devotional texts]]
[[Category:Hindu texts]]
[[Category:Chants]]
[[Category:Hymns]]

Stotra - Revision history

ViolaCnr7137989: quick update

ImportMaster: robot: Add missing article in Category:Mahabharata