The Puffin Book of Hindu Gods and Goddesses - 3 of 23

With Illustrations by Priyankar Gupta, The Puffin Book of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, presents a range of tales and characters from Hindu mythology with zany, full-colour. 

Hinduism was never really a religion until outsiders came and saw all these different rituals that people had and decided these constituted a religion. Everyone doesn't even worship the same god!

Hinduism is often called a way of life. The main idea that runs through all the different types of Hinduism is that of Karma (action), phala (fruits of action) and samsara (rebirt/reincarnation). Everyone is born with the choice of doing good or bad deeds. Your good or bad deeds will decide what the fruits of your action will be. 

There is no single leader of God who is above everyone else. In Greek and Roman mythology Zeus or Jupiter has control over lightning and thunder, in Norse mythology he is Odin, and his son Thor is the god who controls thunder and lightning. In Hinduism, that guy is Indra, and while he is the king of the devas he is not exactly the boss. Hinduism has a council - like the Trinity made of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu - Father/Son/Holy Spirit in Christianity. 

VEDIC GODS AND GODDESSES

Like every religion, Hinduism has also evolved over the years. Earlier people believed that if they prayed to these forces of nature that were unknown and unexplained - such as thunder and lightning, the vastness of the sky, the heat of the fire, the swiftness of the wind and the finality of death - they would be protected by them. These are what were then worshipped as gods and goddesses. Here is a list of few: 

1. Dyaus/Akash - The Indian equivalent of the Greek god Zeus, perhaps Dyaus or Akash (sky) is considered to be the father of the chief deities, hence the name Father sky or Dyaus Pita. 
2. Pritvi - Our planet, Earth, is the only one known to support life so far, hence she is worshipped as Mother Earth and is called Prithvi. 
3. Ashwins/Ashwini Kumaras - The Ashwini Kumaras are twin deities who are considered to be the doctors of the gods. They are devas of Ayurvedic medicine and represent the light at sunrise and sunset, which is supposed to ward off sickness and bad luck. 
4. Vishwakarma - God of artisans and craftsmen. He is considered to be the architect of the universe. He is also the god who created the weapons, palaces and chariots of all the gods. 
5. Kama & Rati - Kama is the god of love and is accompanied by his partner Rati, who represents lust. Kama quite like cupid uses his bow and arrow to make people fall in love with each other. 
6. Aditi & Diti - Aditi is the mother of all devas and Diti is the mother of all asuras. They are both wives of Sage Kashyapa. 

POPULAR GODS AND GODDESSES

Whom do you pray to in your homes and when you visit temples?

Long ago, there were three known sects of Hinduism - Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism. Shaivism is the worship of Shiva ; Vaishnavism of Vishnu and Shaktism is the worship of Adishakti, who is more popularly depicted as Parvati and her many forms. It represents the power of all the goddesses put together, primarily, Saraswati, Parvati and Lakshmi. Powers, symbols, names, locations are associated with each of these deities. 

1. Brahma - Also known as Nabhija, Chaturmukha , Hansavahana, is worshiped only and Pushkar and nowhere else because of the curse from his wife Saraswathi also known as Savitri, when he let Gayathri sit next to him for vagna when she was late. His superpower is creation and is belived to be residing at Mount Meru. Narada and The kumaras are belived to be his children. His symbol is lotus, and water pot, the vedas, rosary are his tools/weapons. Hansa, Brahma's Vahana helps him decide between right and wrong. 
2. Shiva - Shiva also known as Shankar, Nataraja , Trinayana is the ascetic form of the once Vedic God Rudra, who is untamed and harsh. One time, when Kama, the god of love, struck Shiva with an arrow to make him fall in love with Parvati, Shiva had opened his third eye and reduced Kama to ashes. Shiva's superpower is Destruction. His partner is Parvati and children are Ganesha and Kartikeya. His Vahana is Nandi the bull and Home is Mount Kailasa. Damru, Ganga, Crescent moon, rudraksha are his symbols, and Trishul (Trident) and Third eye are his tool/weapon. 
3. Vishnu - Also known as Narayana, Vitthala, Sheshananda, Padmanabha because of the lotus that grows from his navel. This lotus symbolizes creation and purity and is also the seat of Brahma, which is the reason Brahma is known as Nabhija - from the nabhi (navel) he is a problem solver, Garuda the eagle is his Vahana, and he resides in Vaikunttha with his partner Lakshmi. His symbols are conch, chakra, lotus and Tools/weapon is Chakra, mace. 
4. Saraswati - Also known as Sharada, Veenapani, Vani, Vagadevata, the goddess of speech, her super power is arts and knowledge. It is said that once a day, Saraswati resides on the tip of your tongue and makes what you unknowingly say come true. Sometimes, she takes the form of Vikatasaraswati and mischievously makes the opposite of what you say come true! Her partner is Brahma which whom she resided at Mount Meru. Her Vahana is Peacock and Hansa. Her symbols are Veena, rosary, book/scriptures, white lotus. 
5. Parvati - Also known as Shakti, Devi, Bhavani and Chamundi, she is worshiped in may forms - Uma as wife, Durga as warrior and Kali when angry. She is usually shown with two arms when with Shiva but four arms when alone. Her Superpower is Fertility. She resides as Mount Kailasa with Shiva, her Vahana is Tiger, lion, Nandi. Her tools/weapon is sword, bow and arrow. Her Symbol is Yoni, Lotus, conch and mirror. 
6. Lakshmi - Padmini, Kamala, Vishnupriya is the goddess of wealth - material and spiritual. She is often represented with gold coins falling from her palms, showing both prosperity and charity. Her superpower is wealth. Residing at Vaikunttha with vishnu, her Vahana is Elephant, owl and symbols are Lotus and gold coin. 
7. Ganga - Also known as Bhagirathi, Jahnavi, Ganga is associated with each of the Gods in the Holy Trinity. She resides in Brahma's Kamandalu (water pot), emanates from Vishnu's feet and resides in Shiva's hair and flows from there on to Earth. She is belived to be the only river that flows through all three worlds - swarga (Heaven), Prithvi (Earth) and Patala (Hell). Her Superpower is purificaiton, Shiva and Shantanu are her partners and Bhishma her child. Brahmaloka, the Himalayas is her home, river is her symbol and Makara is her Vahana. Makara is a mythical creature that mostly lives in water. It is usually a combination of a land anaimal and an aquatic animal. Most often, it is represented with the head of a crocodile or an elephant and the body and tail of a fish. 
8. Yamuna - Kalindi, Yami, Yamini is Yama's twin. When Yama died, Yami cried so much that her tears formed the Yamuna river. Seeing her grief, the gods made her the goddess of the night and she became the link between the darkness of despire and the light of hope. Her superpower is Night, partner is Krishna, Children are Shruta, Kavi, Vira, Bhadra, Purnamasa; Vahana is Tortoise; Home is The Himalayas. 
9. Ganesha - Ekadanta, Vinayaka, Ganapati, Vighneshwara has the power to remove as well as create bumps in your path. Which is why he is known as both Vighnaharta and Vighnakarta. His superpower is removing obtacles. His Partners are Buddhi, Riddhi and siddhi and they reside in Ganeshaloka. Their children are kshema and Labha. His Vahana is Mooshika the mouse, tool/Weapon is Tusk and Symbol is Modak, axe. 
10. Karthikeya - Skanda, Murugan, Kumaran, Subramanyan, was born as 6 children and then adopted by Parvati, who joined the six and made them one. That is why he is represented as having six heads and twelve arms, and so is also known as Shanmugha. His superpower if Warcraft, his partners are Devasena and Valli; Vahana is Peacock, home is Arupadaiveedu, tool is Vel, the divine spear and Symbol is Flag with a rooster on it, bow and arrow, serpant. 
11. Ayyappa - When Vishnu took the form of Mohine during the samudra manthan, Shiva had a crush on her. From their union was born Ayyappa. He was brought up by the king of Pandalam, Raja Rajasekhara Pandiyan, who found him on the banks of the river Pampa and adopted him. His superpower is Military strategy. His partners are Vavar, Poorna and Pushkala; Vahana is Tiger and Home is Sabarimala. His tools are bow and arrow.
12. Hanuman - Bajrangbali, Anjaneya's superpower is Strength, resides at Mount Gandhamadhana. His tool or weapon is Mace and symbol is Sanjeevani Hill. 

AVATARS

Every time evil threatens the balance of the universe, the gods and goddesses gear up to fight it. Sometimes, though, the monsters prove to be too powerful for them because of the tapasya (penance) they may have observed for years together. At this point, the devas and devis either power up and become super-gods and goddsses or they take birth as beings who can bring an end to the evil at hand. These forms or incarnations of the gods and goddesses are called avatars. 

FORMS OF SHAKTI/SATI

1. Durga -Mahisasura , was half mahisa-buffalo and have a asura. He was blessed by shiva with the boon that no man , beast , demon and all god would ever be able to keep him . Confident that no one could harm him , he started war against the gods dethroned Indra and conquered Devloka . What he did not realise was that he could  be killed by a goddess. Parvati took the form of the warrior Goddess Durga, armed with weapons gifted by all the Gods and riding her tiger she pinned Mahishasura down with her leg and killed him with Trishul
2. Kali - the Asura Raktabija was one-of-a-kind . It was almost impossible to kill him because every time he was wounded and drop off his blood fell on the earth a new Raktabija would be born , and thus he kept multiplying . Goddess Durga battled with him for a bit and she realised that she needed to up her power to Kill him. She drank up all blood that fell from them so that no new clones were formed. She danced on the corpses till she ad put to death every last form of the evil avatar
3. Meenakshi - the rulers of Madurai , Malayadhwaja and his wife Kanchanamala , could not have Children . Through lots of prayers , they were finally blessed with the child born from the fire of Yagna. This child were slightly different , though she was at 3 year old with 3 breasts the king who wanted a sun was upset but the gods proclaim to him that she was no less than a man and at the moment she met the one she would marry her the breast would disappear. Meenakshi the one with eyes shaped like fish, was also named Thadatangai Meenakshi trained as a warrior and made many conquest she even went to Mount Kailash and challenged Shiva but  as she saw him she fell in love with him and her third breast vanished Meenakshi was None other than Parvati

FORMS OF VISHNU

1. Matsya - first of the 10 avatara's. When a great flood threating to destroy Earth Vishnu went to Manu, the first man, in the form of a fish to warn him. He advised Manu to gather all kinds of animals and seedlings of all the plants on earth along with his family on a giant ship and steer them to the highest point of the Himalayas. Manu waited until the waters recided and set about Re populating Earth. Matsya  also defeated Hayagreeva and Asura who had escape from one of brahma's nostrils and thought it was a good idea to steal the Vedas while the great creator was sleeping
2. Kurma - the second Avatara the Devas lost their powers because of a curse so they went to Vishnu for help. He told them that the only way to regain there abilities was to drink the nectre of immortality Amrit. But the Amrit lay at the bottom of the ocean of milk, which they would have to turn. To make matters worse, they found that they couldn't do it without the help of the asuras, their arch Enemies. Using Mount Mandara as the staff and The Serpent Vasuki as the Rope the two teams begin to churn the ocean. Despite the best efforts the mountain started sinking. So Vishnu soon took the form of Kurma the tortoise and balance the mountain on his back so they could finish turning
3. Varaha - the demon Hiranyaksha one's kidnapped Bhudevi the Goddess of earth and hid her deep under the sea. Hiranyaksha had done years of Tapasya to receive boons from the Gods she had made the long list of animals who would be powerless against him. But for some reason he had left the bore out. So Visnu took the form of Varaha, the boar. With huge tusk. He shot out of Brahma's nostril as a tiny speck but grew larger and larger and plunged into the waters to rescue Bhudevi. The battle between Varaha and Hirnayaksha lasted for a thousand years. Finally, Varaha emerged from the  water, victorious, carrying Bhudevi on his tusk. 
4. Narasimha - Hiranyaksha brother Hiranyakashyapu, also performed rigorous Tapasya, forcing Brahma to Grand him a rather special boon. He could be killed neither inside his home nor outside, neither during the day nor at night, neither by a weapon nor by a human or animal. But Vishnu found a way out. When the asura was about to kill his son instead of him the Gods prank from the threshold of home at twilight in the form of Narasimha and toar him apart with his nails thus Killing him without any weapon.
5. Vamana - Mahabali, the grandson of Prahlada was a benevolent king. He was so well loved in the three worlds that the residence of Heaven felt threatened. Like most powerful Kings Mahabali held the Ashwamedha Yagna one day. Knowing that the king wouldn't refuse anyone who asked him for arms Vishnu went to him in the form of Brahmin asking for three steps. First step he covered all of Swarg. In his second step he conquered heaven on asking where to keep thr third, King showed his head. But the king asked for one wish before he departed to be able to visit his people once a year which Vishnu granted
6. Parashurama - Parshuram the 6th Avatar of Vishnu Vasu Warrior Brahmin and the devotee of Shiva. Pleased by his worship gave him his parasu so the name. One day asuras killed cow that belonged to Parshurams father. They also vandalised his Ashram for good measure. This ranged  Parshuram, after performing penins for many years and training hard, went to conquer kshetriyas, all that he tool he distributed to brahmins for their betterment
7. Rama - Rama Vishnu 7th Avatara is the hero of the Ramayana one of the two great Indian epics. The oldest son of Dashrath the king of Ayodhya, gave up the Throne and goes into Exile with his wife, Sita, and his brother so that his father doesn't have to go back on a promise he made to his wife. King Ravana and Rama had to journey across the sea to Lanka thus creating double opponent to defeat him in an epic battle with the help of Hanuman his  greatest devotee and the vanaras the monkey people
8. Krishna - one of the most popular Gods worship by Hindus Krishna is the avatar of Vishnu who appears in the other great Indian Epic the Mahabharata. Krishna's parents Vasudeva and Devaki had to give him up for fear of him being killed by his own uncle. Heard who could play the flute beautifully charming all the girls around him. And when the Kurukshetra war took place he choose to be on Pandavas side as Arjuna's charioteer when Arjun faltered at the thought of killing his own family, Krishna spoke to him about faith and duty. The dialogue between them became the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most secret text of Hinduism.
9. Balarama - Balram is Krishna's brother, it is said that Balram is actually Avatar of Sheshnaga on whom Vishnu rests since he is considered to be both a sidekick as well as a representation of Vishnu himself Bal Rama is skilled at using the mace. It was he who trained both Duryodhana  and Bhima with the mace and hence did not take sides in the Kurukshetra battle. He is often seen as the god of agriculture and fertility and the plough he holds his symbol of that.
10. Kalki - Kalki is the last of Vishnu's avatars, and his time is yet to come. In the future when the world is as corrupt as it is going to get, Kalki will come on his White Horse and Cleanse the world of all that is evil immoral and dirty. His coming will be the end of KaliYuga, the current age we are in and only after his purge will the next yuga begin.
11. Venkateshwara - Venkateswara is a form of Vishnu like Rudra is of Shiva. The story goes that sage Birgu, angry because Brahma  and Shiva had not paid him attention came to Vishnu who was resting and kicked him on his chest. Vishnu grabbed and excused out the extra Eyes in Birgu's foot a symbol of his arrogance. He immediately apologized and thank Vishnu for curing him. Lakshmi was upset, as Birgu had kicked him at the spot where she recided and Vishnu instead of punishing him had healed him.  Remorseful, Vishnu came to Earth and lived in an anthill in Tirumala and swore that he would go back only with Lakshmi this is where the greatest temple to him stands today the Tirupati temple he is also called Srinivasa and Balaji
12. Jagannatha - King Indradyumna  once had a dream that a beautiful form of Vishnu was worshipped in the jungles of utkala. He sent his priest Vidyapati to see it, who found that the chieftain of the Savara tribe worshiped a form of Vishnu called Nila Madhava. But he was not allowed to see the shrine. He, however managed to persuade the chieftain to take him there and marked the trail with mustard seeds. When he returned with the king, though the diety had vanished still determine to find it, the king observed penance. He divined that he would find a red log on the sea shore of Puri, which would have to be carved into Vishnu's form. Vishwakarma offered to sculpt it but warned the king against disturbing him before the work was done. The king was impatient, and the result was an incomplete statue, which is worshipped even today at Jagannath temple in Puri.
13. Mohini -  when the part of Amrit finally emerged after the ocean of milk was churned the God's felt that they should be allowed to have it first. But asuras were not happy with that after all they had worked equally hard. What if the Gods finished all the nectar before they got even a sip? To put an end to the argument Vishnu took the form of Mohini, a beautiful women and started handling out the Amrit to the Devas first, by the time she reached Asura's none was left as per plan. 

FORMS OF SHIVA

1. Rudra - Rudra came out of  Shiva's head screaming. He is the wild and reckless form of Shiva. Early Hindus  believed that he caused storms and  tidal waves and what not - sort of like a god of natural disasters. Rudra is one of the scariest versions of Shiva, who is pretty scary himself, so you can just imagine how terrifying he must be.
2. Bhairava - Shiva is mostly known as the destroyer. But in the form of Bhairava he is a protector. He looks fierce because he is the one who guards the weak as well as those who need protection from greed and anger. He is always accompanied by a dog. Rudra is also known as Kalabhairava the keeper of time. In one version, it is said that Shiva took this form because he was angry with the Brahma, who had claimed that he and not Vishnu was the supreme creator. To punish Brama, Shiva appeared as Bhairava and cut off his fifth head. There is Brahma's skull in Bhairav's hand. 
3. Nataraja - Nataraja is the lord of dance. He has one leg raised while standing on a dwarf demon named Apasmara  like he is dancing on the Demons head. The Story Goes that the arrogant Apasmara challenge Shiva to a fight. Now it is said that the universe hangs in the balance of knowledge and ignorance. Apasmara was the embodiment of ignorance. Shiva took the form of Nataraja and stepped on the demon to suppress ignorance but did not kill him so the balance would be maintained. The cosmic dance that Natraja does is called tandava or the tandava nritya and it depicts the cycle of creation, Preservation and dissolution of the universe.
4. Sarabeshwara/Sharabha - when Vishnu took the form of Narasimha to slay hiranyakashyapu his range became uncontrollable. Shiva sent in Veerabhadra but Narasimha over powered him. Shiva then took a fears form with the lions head, 4 human arms, Eagle wings and deer legs known as a Sarabeshwara/Sharabha. This form is also depicted at times as a two headed lion with 8 legs.  There are stories which says, both kept upgrading their ferocious forms. Narasimha became Gandaberunda - a two headed bird with thousand arms. 
5. Lingam - The Lingam is the most common representation of Shiva. It is a vertical rounded column that is seen as a symbol of auspiciousness. Shiva has so many manifestations some pretty scary that people started using a very simple stone as a symbol he is worshipped in this form even today. The Lingam is often surrounded by a little pole which symbol is a Shakti or Parvati the divine energy that complete Shiva

ARDHANARESHWARI (SHIVA+SHAKTI) 

Ardhanarishwari is the joint form of Shiva and Shakti. To become one Shiva shed a part of himself and Shakti a part of herself. There is a story of how this came to be. Sage Bhringi was a devotee of Shiva and blankly refuse to worship Parvati. So Parvati sat on shivas lap trying to trick the sage into worshipping her too. So Bhringi took the form of bee and flew in between them so he would circle only Shiva. The exasperated Parvati then asked to be merged with Shiva so that there would be no way the sage could only worship one and not the other. This joining is also a symbol of how both Shiva and Shakti are after all one and the same

HARIHARA (SHIVA+VISHNU) 

Harihara is a very cool God because he is the combination of Shiva and Vishnu so he is kind of a super God. His right half represents Shiva with mattered hair and tiger skin around his waste holding the trishul.  His left represents Vishnu with the Chakra and the mace and his various adorments. The great battle between Sarabeshwara and Narsimha and then between Sarabeshwara and Gandaberunda was perhaps a depiction of the conflict that existed between Shiva and Vishnu believers . On the other hand Harihara is a representation of both sides joining forces and becoming more powerful as one. 

ASHTA DIKPALA (EIGHT DIRECTIONS) 

While certain Gods and Goddesses gained more popularity over the vedic Gods and had more temples of worship build in their name a few Vedic God's still found there place in these temples. The Lokpala also known Ashta Dikpala are the Guardians Of the eight directions. In some temples they can be found on the ceiling and in others on the outer walls of the temple Tower. Each direction has a guardian and each guardian has a duty and a graha assigned to them. 

1. Indra (East) - God of thunder & lightning - On white Elephant
2. Agni (South-East) - God of fire - On Ram
3. Yama(South)- God of death - On Water buffalo
4. Nairuti/Nirrti (South-west)-  Goddess of pain and sorrow on crow.
5. Varuna (West)- God of the oceans, with Makara as the Vahana
6. Vayu (North-west) - God of wind on Gazelle
7. Kubera (North) - God of wealth - Vahana is Man, Elephant, Mongoose
8. Ishana (North-East - God of prosperity and Knowledge

NAVAGRAHA 

There are 9 grahas according to the ancient Hindu texts. Though they are considered planets for the most part, they are, in fact, a combination of celestial bodies, Demi Gods and Shadow planets. Each of this grahas has its own story. The Navagraha are often worshipped together unless you are worshiping a specific quality attributed to one of them. There are very few Navagraha temples but they are often placed in rows of 3 at the entrance of temples that worship other major deities.

1. Surya
2. Chandra
3. Rahu*
4. Ketu*
5. Mangala (Mars)
6. Guru (Jupiter)
7. Shukra (Venus)
8. Shani (Saturn)
9. Budh (Mercury)

* Rahu and Ketu are initially the asura Svarbhanu, who was beheaded by Vishnu's chakra for deceitfully consuming Amrit. As a result, Rahu became the head that causes eclipses by trying to eat  Surya and Chandra for tattling on him, and Ketu, the tail, the comet that shoots across the sky. 

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