A kinnara (Sanskrit: किन्नर, Kiṃnara) is a mythological being featured in Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Described as part human and part bird, kinnaras are strongly associated with music and love, and are believed to dwell in the Himalayas. According to traditional accounts, they watch over the well-being of humans in times of trouble or danger. An ancient Indian string instrument, the Kinnari veena, takes its name from these beings.
The character of the kinnaras is elaborated in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, where they describe themselves as everlasting lovers who never separate, eternally husband and wife, without offspring, and ever-embracing. They permit no third creature to come between them and are portrayed as living a life of perpetual pleasure, devoted entirely to one another.
Kinnaras also appear in several Buddhist texts, including the Jataka tales and the Lotus Sutra. In Southeast Asian Buddhist mythology, the female counterparts, known as kinnaris, are depicted as half-bird, half-woman creatures with the head, torso and arms of a woman, and the wings, tail and feet of a swan. They are among the many creatures said to inhabit the mythical forest of Himavanta. Renowned for their dance, song and poetry, kinnaris serve as a traditional symbol of feminine beauty, grace and accomplishment.
The scholar Edward H. Schafer has noted that in East Asian religious art the kinnara is often confused with the Kalaviṅka, another half-human, half-bird hybrid creature, although the two are in fact distinct and unrelated.