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What we learned about the Indian deities and all their complexities!

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Throughout our journey in the huge country that is India, we noticed how important Hindu deities were to the Indian population. Indeed, most Indians are affiliated to one or more temples in which they go worship and make demands to these all powerful gods. These deities are also often celebrated during holy days occurring each and every year and where rituals are performed by devotees. It is thus essential for people traveling to those countries to be able to recognize them and to know who they are and what their functions are in the religious and social life of the indigenous population.

Although this article contains general knowledge about these deities, it is important to note that there some regional specifities: some gods are more represented in certain regions and all deities have different representations and depictions that are specific to different regions.

Here are some of most important ones painted with a broad brush.

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Shiva. Shiva or Śiva is the most important god in Hinduism. He is a supreme being and protects the earth from evil forces which he sees thanks to his third eye. Along with the destruction of evil forces, he also has the power to create the good. Hence is also the god of creation. He is the god of all yogis, the practitioners of yoga. He is often represented with a blue skin so as not to mistake him for a normal human being and has a trident and a little drum that serve his as weapons against evil forces. His mount and his guardian is Nandi, the sacred bull that is often depicted with him.

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Vishnu. Vishnu is one of main deities in the Hindu pantheon. He is the supreme being and the archetype of wisdom. In most depictions we can see him standing up and holding the attributes of Hindu warriors: the lotus flower, the gada (Indian mace), a discus (symbol of the wheel of time) and a sword. He also wears a golden crown as well as a flower necklace (mala). These are the artefacts that help him fight the evil forces threatening this world. His skin is always dark blue so as to not mistake him for a human being. He is the all-encompassing being creator of matter and souls, he is thus the one that created the universe according to sacred scriptures.

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Ganesha. Son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha is easily recognizable thanks to his elephant head although he has a human body. Ganesha is most commonly known as the remover of obstacles and the benefactor granting wishes. He is most commonly depicted with only one tusk (left), while the right one has been cut. His vehicle and mount is a rat, which also symbolizes that is he always there to help those in need. He is the most revered god in Hinduism and can be seen in many countries such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Indonesia.

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Krishna. Krishna is most commonly known as the god of love and compassion in the ancient Hindu scriptures. Often represent as a child, he also known to play pranks on people. His name is synonymous with “all attractive” in the Sanskrit scriptures. In popular depictions, he is seen playing the flute to a cohort of women devotees. Like Shiva, his skin is dark blue in order to differentiate him from normal human beings. He is also often seen with a peacock feather in his hair that was gifted to him by the animal of the forest to thank him flute. Hence, the peacock is his avatar in nature.

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Lakshmi. Laskmi or Laxmi is the goddess of wealth, good fortune and prosperity. She is often depicted as impeccably dressed in a toga and sprouting from a lotus flower, holding lotus flowers in her 4 hands. As she is the goddess of good fortune, she is often represented showering with gold coins. Her head also has a golden halo to represent her aura. Her vehicle is an owl and she is also most commonly represented as revered by elephants in her background. Indians pay tribute to laxmi every October or November in the festival of Diwali (festival of lights) which symbolizes the victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.

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Saraswati. Saraswati si the goddess of music. Often represented with a sitar in her hands. The sitar is a traditional Indian instrument that looks like a guitar except it is much taller and has more strings. She is also the patron saint of artists in all genres and the goddess of education, without which there is no possibility of spiritual elevation. Her vehicle is white swan often depicted in her representations. She is also credited as the inventor of the Sanskrit letters.

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Durga. Durga is the goddess of war although she has a dual nature: she is also considered to be the goddess of peace in that she wages war against the forces of evil. Often represented mounting a tiger, she holds all the attributes of Indian warriors in her multiple hands: a sword, a trident, a gada (traditional Indian mace with a round head) and a shield. The tiger she is riding is an attribute of her almighty power and serves to scare her opponents. Each year, she is celebrated during the Navratri festival for 9 days (navratri literally means 9 days).

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Kali. Kali is considered as the goddess of death although a more exact definition would be the goddess of destruction and preservation. Her name comes from the Sanskrit word “kala”, meaning “time”; she is indeed the goddess of time that destroys all things in the material world. Legends say she is an avatar of Parvati, Shiva’s wife. Often represented with a blue skin and a fierce look in her eyes, she has a nose ring and lolls her tongue to her opponents. She also wears a long necklace made of human skulls and a skirt made of human arms. In her most popular depiction, she is seen standing on Shiva’s corpse holding a sword in one hand, a human head in another and a plate to collect to blood falling from the cut head in another. There are more than one interpretations of this iconographic scene.

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This concludes our articles on the Indian pantheon but those are the main ones you will encounter during your journey across the beautiful and sometimes puzzling country that is India! Furthermore, depending on the regions you visit, there might be a few variations in how they are portrayed like skin color, the artefacts they are holding in their hands or even the postures they are depicted in but when wondering, do not hesitate to ask the devotees that are going to those temples and sacred places! Most of them will be proud to inform you.

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