indu

Indu is a term of Sanskrit origin that means the moon or shining brightness. In classical Sanskrit, indu is used as a poetic or descriptive epithet for the Moon, and it appears in various literary contexts alongside other lunar references such as Soma and Chandra. While the Moon is more commonly personified as the deity Chandra or the mythic Soma in Hindu tradition, indu serves as a literary shorthand for lunar imagery.

In literature and scholarship, indu is encountered as a conventional noun for the Moon in poems and hymns, where it helps evoke night, illumination, and seasonal cycles. The word exemplifies how Sanskrit poets often used concise terms to conjure celestial phenomena without invoking specific gods. Its usage is primarily literary rather than religious in the sense of worship.

Indu is also a common given name in South Asia, especially for women, though it can be found in some contexts as a unisex or male name as well. It is used across India, Nepal, and among diaspora communities, with several transliterations such as Indu, Indhu, or Indoo. As a personal name, indu tends to carry associations with brightness and lunar imagery.

Variants and related terms include indu in compound formations and its cultural associations with the Moon. It should not be confused with Sindhu, the Sanskrit term for the Indus River, though the words share linguistic roots in Indo-Aryan language development.

See also: the Moon in Hindu literature; Indus River (Sindhu).