Hindu Deities

Agni is the God of fire, he begeted the Gods, organised the world, produces and preserves universal life, and throughout never ceases to be the embodiment of fire.^[1]

Bhaga is the god of wealth and marriage.

Relief sculpture of Vishnu and Lakshmi

Brahma is a major god in Hinduism and is said to be part of a trinity involving Shiva and Vishnu.

Budha in Hindu Mythology is the son of the moon goddess and the god of the planet Mercury, merchandise, and the guardian of merchants. Budha (Hinduism) is the consort of Ila, the daughter of Manu. (Not to be confused with Buddha)

Durga is a goddess of war as well as being the consort of Shiva.^[2]

Ganesha is a god with an elephant's head and four arms; the inspirer of cunning devices and good counsel, afterwards the patron of letters and learned men.^[3]

Hanuman is the monkey-god of the Hindus and is a friend of Rama, for whose benefit he reared a causeway across seas to Ceylon.^[4]

Indra is the king of heaven and national god of the Hindus he is said to give rise to victories to peoples, and is always ready to aid them; he is preeminently a warlike god, and as he stands on his war-chariot, drawn by five fawn-coloured horses, he is in a sort the type of an Indian chieftain; he is sometimes assisted by other gods, but he more frequently fights alone; he is the dispenser, moreover, of all good gifts, and the author and preserver of all living; his power extends over the heavens, and he holds the earth in the hollow of his hand.^[5]

Kala is the Hindu equivalent to Chronus, or the god of time, who, as in the Greek mythology, at once produces and devours all things.^[6]

Kali meaning the black one, is one of the names of the wife of Shiva, and of whom she is his female counterpart, and has been identified with the Greek Hecate; she is often represented with a necklace of human heads.^[7] She is also the fierce embodiment of Durga

Kama is the Hindu equivalent to Cupid, or the god of love, a potent god of the Hindu pantheon, able to subdue nearly all the rest of the gods except Shiva, who once with a single glance of his Cyclop eye reduced him to ashes for daring to bring trouble into his breast; he is one of the primitive gods of the Hindu pantheon, like the Eros of the Greeks.^[8] Kama is also the name of the Hindu force of love which is why Kama's name is in the title of the Kama Sutra.

Krishna, meaning the swarthy one, is a man-god, or god-man, and is viewed by Hindus as the 8th (or 9th depending on who you ask) incarnation or avatar of Vishnu, in whose manifestation the latter first reveals himself as supreme divinity;^[9] see Bhagavad Gita.

Kubera or Kuvera, is the Hindu equivalent to Plutus, or god of riches, he is represented as deformed and mounted on a vehicle drawn by hobgoblins.^[10]

Shakti the feminine consort of Shiva.

Lakshmi is in the Hindu mythology the wife of Vishnu and the goddess of beauty, pleasure, and victory; she is a favourite subject of Hindu painting and poetry.^[11]

Mitra is a solar deity worshiped by the Hindus, and is invoked by them when they take a vow.

Murugan is the son of Agni, and a god of war, he is especially worshiped among the Hindus who are part of the Tamil ethnicity and is the most popular deity amongst the Tamils.

Parvati is a Hindu goddess, and the mother of Ganesha, and Murugan. She is sometimes seen as the Godhead by the Shakta tradition.

Rama is an avatar of Vishnu, being the seventh, in the character of a hero, a destroyer of monsters and a bringer of joy, as the name signifies, the narrative of whose exploits are given in the Râmâyana.^[12]

Rudra is the old deity of the storm, and father of the Marutz.^[13]

Sarasvati is a Hindu goddess, and ultimately the wife of Brahma and goddess of music and eloquence.^[14]

Shiva is one of the three major gods in Hinduism, representing the destructiveness inherent in the world, and is the supreme god in Shaivism.

Surya, the sun goddess.^[15]

Varuna is the god of the luminous heavens, viewed as embracing all things and as the primary source of all life and every blessing. “In connection with no other god,” says M. Barth, “is the sense of the divine majesty and of the absolute dependence of the creature expressed with the same force. We must go to the psalms to find similar accents of adoration and supplication.” He was the prototype of the Greek Uranus, the primeval father of gods and men.^[16]

Vishnu is the supreme god of Vaishnavism and most commonly worshiped god of Hinduism. According to Hinduism, Vishnu is responsible for the upkeep of the universe.

Yama is the god and judge of the dead. He was the first mortal to die, and now rules over them as a god. He is subsurvient to Shiva and Vishnu. He is described as having green and red skin, fierce red eyes, and wears all red and holds an iron rod and a noose. His wife is Syamala.

See also[edit]

• Oriental art
• Hinduism

References[edit]