Scientific name

Strix leptogrammica Temminck

Common name

Brown Wood Owl

Hindi

Ullu

Sanskrit 

Ulukaha

Distribution

Throughout India

Religious association

 Goddess Lakshmi

The owl is very sacred in Bengal, where the white owl is described as the vehicle of goddess Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity. The owl is also the vehicle of Chamunda, a form of Durga.

The Zoroastrians of India, who leave their dead bodies in the Towers of Silence to be consumed by vultures, consider that if the owl eats the dead body, the soul will rest in heaven.