Aryaki Tripathy

Period 2
Cultural Myth: Indian Gods/Goddesses
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India is a country that is swarming with myths that were believed to have influenced the

world as it is today. For example, the Gods and Goddesses are all meant for creating certain

things like the galaxy, water, and the earth itself. There are approximately 330 million Gods and

Goddesses in Hinduism. The basic philosophy of hinduism is that sages, rivers, rocks, animals,

and every human being in general is divine and hence God. The number 330 million comes

from Upanishads ( a collection of texts that contain some of the central philosophical concepts

of Hinduism). This would have been the approximate population at the time when Upanishads

were written, thus in-line with the above philosophy. Despite the large number of

Gods/Goddesses, there are the top Hindu deities that are the most popular such as Ganesha,

Krishna, Shiva, Vishnu and goddesses like Lakshmi, Durga, Kali and Saraswati.

Shiva is perhaps the most complex of Hindu deities. He is known by many names -

Mahadeva, Pashupati, Nataraja, Vishwanath, Bhole Nath- but all of them are just another name

for Shiva. He is the head of all of the Gods/Goddesses in the overworld and represents death

and dissolution. His skin is deep shade of blue, with the moon and the famous river Ganges

(The Goddess who creates the river, which is actually the sacred holy water of Hinduism)

resting in his tangled set of hair. He wears a snake around his neck, which indicates that Lord

Shiva is absolutely fearless and immortal. He has a 3rd eye in the center of his, which is closed

for now since he is mellow as they say. But if that eye opens, the whole universe as we know it

would come to an end, just like that. That is the reason he represents death and dissolution, and

also the reason why he is so powerful.

Shiva is married to another Goddess Parvati, and they both have a son named Ganesha.

Ganesh was originally known to be an extraordinary little boy. But in confusion on who he
actually was, to the horror of Parvati, he cut his head off. Shiva was devastated in who he just

killed and ordered his men to find the head of an elephant (of course cutting an elephants head

off). He cast the head onto the dead child, and once he was brought back to life, he was living

with the head of an elephant. Shiva chose the elephant to make him easy to identify, and so no

one would make Shivas mistake. Ganeshas playful, intelligent and gentle personality, he soon

became the lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshiped as the

god of knowledge, wisdom, and wealth. People in India believed this is why elephants were to

be so smart, and playful creatures.

The peace-loving deity Vishnu is the Preserver or Sustainer of life with his righteousness,

and truth. He is depicted as bluish-tinted man with four arms, and an eternal smile on his face.

In one hand, he holds a club, in another a conch shell (Shankha), in the third, a discus (Chakra),

and in the fourth, a lotus (Kamal). He is usually dressed in glossy robes and shiny yellow

garments, also known as Pitambara. The river Ganga is said to originate from Vishnu's feet. He

is also depicted as resting on a coiled serpent known as Seshnaga or Ananta which floats on

the cosmic ocean, where he watches over the universe making sure his values of righteousness

and truth are preserved. When these values are under threat, Vishnu emerges out of his form to

restore peace and order on earth. Vishnus earthly incarnations have 10 major avatars, each

having a strong impact on the world. His incarnations were a fish, turtle, boar, a lion-man hybrid,

a warrior, Rama the archer, Krishna the shepard, and Buddha the holy saint. His next

incarnation is to be believes a brave knight riding his celectial horse coming to vanquish all the

evil with a swipe of his sword. It is believed that his way of desending on Earth influenced the

world so much, it remains its neutral self today.

Krishna is the ninth and a complete avatar of Vishnu, but he is the most popular and

perhaps the one closest to the heart of the masses. He is depicted as a young eternal shepard
to mankind, with a head full of curls with a shimmering peacock feather on the top of his crown.

He is also represented as being the most mischevious and childish of all the Gods. He plays his

symbolic flute, which is supposed to be the most enchanting and heavenly music ever played.

This glorious deity has influenced the Indian thought, life, and culture in myriad ways - not only

its religion and philosophy, but also into its mysticism and literature, painting and sculpture,

dance and music, and all aspects of Indian folklore.

There are also Goddesses, one of them being Lakshmi. The word 'Lakshmi' is derived from

the Sanskrit word Laksya, meaning 'aim' or 'goal', and she is the goddess of wealth and

prosperity. Lakshmi is depicted as a beautiful woman of golden complexion, with four hands,

two of them holding beautiful lotus flowers and the other two either holding a palm-full of gold

coins or nothing. He can be sitting or standing on a full-bloomed lotus and holding a lotus bud,

which stands for beauty, purity, and fertility. She had the influence of being in every Hindu

household, representing that the house has good enough wealth and peace.

The Mother Goddess Durga, also known as Bhavani, Sherawali, Amba, Chandika, Gauri,

Parvati, Vaishno Devi represents the fiery powers of the gods and goddesses alike. Durga is

usually portrayed as riding a lion and carrying weapons in her many arms. She is the protector

of the people with good intensions, and destroyer of the evil. The name Durga means

inaccessible, and she is the personification of the active side of the divine energy (shakti) of

Shiva. She is also believed to be Shivas second wife. Believe it or not, it was iconic for Gods to

have multiple wives. For example, Krishna had more than 16000! She laid a huge influence

because, people in India always pray to her during a dangerous encounter. It may be a myth,

but it helps boost up the fiery confidence in most people.

 Kali is the fearful and ferocious form of the mother goddess Durga. Just like Shivas third

eye, Kali opens up her dangerous side when she really needs to, like during one of her battles

with the evil forces. Kali is depicted with her tongue protruding from her mouth, her eyes glowing

a ferocious red, and her face and breasts are sullied with blood from her slaughtered enemies.

In many pictures and murals in india, she stands with one foot on the thigh, and another on the

chest of her husband, Shiva. The tongue that she sticks out means that she was shocked to

discover who she was stepping on and with that, she fades back to her normal Goddess-like

self. Shiva purposely fell infront of Kalis rampage to stop her from destroying anything other

than the enemies, since she was so lost in her form of rage. The pictures that this story was

depicted influenced how husbands and their wives are always there for each other, despite all

the thunderstriking consequences they face together.

Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge and learning, and represents the free flow of

wisdom and consciousness. She is in some other parts of India believed to be the daughter of

Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga. She is depicted in a flowing dress called a sari, playing the

celestial banjo in 2 of her 4 hands. The other one holding a string of precious pearls, and the

other holding a conch shell. It is also believed that goddess Saraswati endows human beings

with the powers of speech, wisdom, and learning.

It is true there are millions of Gods and Goddesses, each with a creation of their very

own. All of them however create a huge influence on the world as we know it today, like whether

its helping boost peoples confidence, or tieing bonds between each other, or just being

devoted. Most people just devote their lives entirely to God, becoming saints or priests. Some

also leave everything to God, like when someone wants to pass an important exam, they pray to

Ganesh. If someone wants a successful marrage with a good househld, they pray to Lakshmi. If
someone wants to escape harm from a criminal, they pray to Durga. However, these are all

myths, which means nobody really knows if God actually existed back then, but people still

believe, because it influences their life with hope, and confidence for the futures in their lives.

Sources:
https://www.thoughtco.com/top-hindu-deities-1770309
https://www.quora.com/Where-does-the-count-of-330-million-Hindu-Gods-come-
from
https://www.britannica.com/place/Ganges-River
https://www.quora.com/How-did-Lord-Krishna-get-16-108-wives