Tilottama

Tilottama
Tilottama by Raja Ravi Varma
Devanagari	तिलोत्तमा
Sanskrit transliteration	Tilottamā
Affiliation	Apsara
Abode	Svarga (heaven)

Tilottama (Sanskrit: तिलोत्तमा, romanized: Tilottamā), is an apsara (celestial nymph) described in Hindu mythology.

"Tila" is a Sanskrit word for a small particle and "uttama" means the ultimate. Tilottama, therefore, means the being whose smallest particle is the finest or one who is composed of the finest and highest qualities.^[1]

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Tilottama is described to have been created by the divine architect Vishvakarma, at Brahma's request, by taking the best quality of everything as the ingredients. She is responsible for bringing about the mutual destruction of the asuras (a class of malevolent beings), Sunda and Upasunda. Even devas (a class of benevolent beings) like Indra are described to be enamoured of Tilottama.

While a legend talks about a pre-birth as an ugly widow, another narrates how she was cursed to be born as a daitya princess Usha by sage Durvasa.