Gate of the Gods Come from the Heavens

Gate of the Gods Come from the Heavens (天上より来たる神々の門) is a Indian-based magic cabal that uses Hindu mythology as basis for their magic. They are most notable for their methods of training their physical bodies to their limits through traditional physical methods.

At the end of Toaru Majutsu no Index: Road to Endymion, the cabal's membership has been halved due to the betrayal of Ureapaddy Exica.

Background
Not much is known about them but it is known that their Agni's Festival Fire spell has existed two years before, and was used by them to attack a gym in New Delhi.

By September 10, the magic cabal has obtained a membership of about 50 people.

Astra Reorganization project
Five years prior to the start of the series, the cabal gathered 15 people who had the greatest affinity to the Brahma Astra for the Astra Reorganization (アストラの再編), one of which was Ureapaddy Exica. The goal was to create a downsizes version of an Astra that a magician could safely use with no recoil, and draw out the full power of an Astra despite the great burden that would produce. Instead of an ordinary Astra that the cabal uses which only mimics the effects of what its supposed to represent, the experiment intended to create a pure Astra that was built up into the proper form of a weapon, just like the Astras the Hindu deities held. The experiment was to take the spirits of those 15 participants and have the spirits unified, and then redistributed back into the bodies of the 15. The Astra itself was a success. However, the reinjection of the unified spirit had little success even after optimization. Due to the physical discrepancies with the physical body that received ir caused the other's spirits to be rejected by their physical body. And in the end the project failed since the reinforcement of the magicians using it did not go well. Only Ureapaddy survived the experiment since she just happened to a close enough match for all the spirits, though badly injured, and every other participant were blown into pieces. The project was later frozen.

The event lead to Ureapaddy's body too messed up to have any proper defenses left. The experiment had a long lasting effect on Ureapaddy, feeling that she is no longer Ureapaddy Exica anymore but a mere existence brought about the combined spirits of 15 people. Ureapaddy could only use the Brahma Astra incompletely, and even then if she did, she needed to ignore any damage done to herself and others if she wished to use it. In the end due to the experiment failing, Ureapaddy switched to using Shiva-related Astras.

Principles
The characteristic trait of the magic cabal is their method of training their physical bodies to the limist using extreme exercises, fasting, and the like. Because of this principle they are against Academy City. The scientific training methods Academy City had developed, calculate out the optimal values for eating, exercising, and resting. To a magic cabal that views pain that exceeds one's limits as the path to a body that exceeds its limits, Academy City may look like a cowardly group taking the easy route to strength.

This principle of pain, is probably what drives them to do things such as the Astra Reorganization of their members.

Organization
At the beginning of the Toaru Majutsu no Index: Road to Endymion, there were about only 50 people in the organization. The small organization means that the individual members' pure ideologies will not throw the entire group into disarray. Because of this, negotiations with them for compromise are difficult and possibly quite dangerous.

Moreover, members who were not part of the decision-makers of the magic cabal apparently have the duty to protect their higher members if an attack was to befall upon them, by positioning themselves in order to let the decision-makers escape first.

Decision-makers

 * Aurodasa Ginzhana
 * Kereelty Tanabrook
 * Sumtalak Shandeva
 * Kipsila Endinia
 * Pancavani Uddasala
 * Slasoma Anruda

Other members

 * Ureapaddy Exica (defected)
 * Sozty Exica (defected)

Astra

 * Main article:Astra

Their magic is based on Hindu mythology, specifically it refers to all all powers and weapons that use symbols of the gods’ characteristics, which they call Astra. However, the version used by the cabal is different from those in legends, which are actual weapons. The cabal has to downsize the Astra quite a bit for humans to wield them. In the end, the Astras are nothing but the effects. For example: A spear Astra can create stab wounds, but the wielder cannot produce a spear itself.

Only the Brahma Astra wielded by Ureapaddy Exica is referred to as a pure Astra, having the form of a true weapon. However, it too can only be used incompletely, and causes a great burden to her.

Other magic

 * Spirit manipulation: It can be assumed that the cabal also has knowledge in the extraction, manipulation, and insertion of a human's spirit, as evidenced by their Astra Reorganization project.


 * Garuda (ガルダ): Is a spiritual item based from a being that is from both celebrated in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. He is a divine being and is usually the mount of the god Vishnu. As a spiritual item using the symbols of Garuda, it is seemingly made up of cloth and wooden sticks. It can be used remotely by the user for reconnaissance.