In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Jatayu (Sanskrit: जटायू, jatāyū) is the son of Aruna and nephew of Garuda. A demi-god who has the form of a vulture, he tries to rescue Sita from Ravana when Ravana is on his way to Lanka after kidnapping Sita. Jatayu fought valiantly with Ravana, but as Jatayu was very old Ravana soon got the better of him. As Rama and Lakshmana chanced upon the stricken and dying Jatayu in their search for Sita, he informs them of the fight between him and Ravana and the direction in which Ravana had gone (i.e., south).
In this context, the contribution of Jatayu's brother, Sampaati, is worth mentioning. Jatayu and Sampaati, when young, used to compete as to who could fly higher. On one such instance Jatayu flew so high that he was about to get seared by sun's flames. Sampaati saved his brother by spreading his own wings and thus shielding Jatayu from the hot flames. In the process, Sampaati himself got injured and lost his wings. As a result Sampaati lived wingless for the rest of his life. Another version of this story reverses their roles, saying that it was Jatayu who saved Sampaati from the flames of the sun.[citation needed] The place where Lord Rama found the dying Jatayu was named JatayuMangalam (now known as ChadayaMangalam) and is in the Kollam district of Kerala. A huge rock in this place is named after Jatayu as JatayuPara and is a place of attraction for tourists.
Parallel with Greek mythology
The above-mentioned story of Jatayu and his brother Sampaati has some elements in common with the story of Icarus and his father Daedalus in Greek Mythology, which also tells of two fliers of whom one got too near to the sun and lost his wings - though in the Greek version the flyers were humans who had fashioned wings for themselves, it has no element of self-sacrifice such as Sampaati's, and Icarus who lost his wings fell to his death.
The Ramayana is attributed to the poet Valmiki who lived about 400 B.C, a time contemporary with the Classical Greek culture in which the Icarus myth is attested. Prior to the time of Alexander the Great there was hardly any direct contact between Greeks and Indians, but both were in contact with the Persian Empire and enough trade existed for elements of myth to pass over great distances.
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