What is "savitr"

Savitṛ ( Sanskrit: stem , nominative singular ) is a solar deity in the Rigveda, and possibly one of the Adityas i.e. off-spring of the female Vedic deity Aditi. His name in Vedic Sanskrit connotes "impeller, rouser, vivifier."

He is sometimes associated with - and at other times distinguished from - Surya, "the Sun." When considered distinct from the Sun proper, he is conceived of as the divine influence or vivifying power of the Sun. The Sun before sunrise is called Savitr, and after sunrise until sunset it is called Sūrya. Savitr is celebrated in eleven whole hymns of the Rig Veda and in parts of many others, his name being mentioned about 170 times in aggregate.

Savitr disappeared as an independent deity from the Hindu pantheon after the end of the Vedic period, but in modern Hinduism his name occurs in the well-known Gayatri mantra (taken from book three of the Rigveda; RV 3.62.10), which is therefore also known as the Sāvitrī.