Hindu deities | A Complete list of Hindu gods and goddesses

Hinduism is not a religion but a culture or a way of life. It is said to have almost 30 million gods for worship.

This is an amazing figure to read. But, it is interesting to know that these real gods and goddesses were born and lived in human form before they left.

So Hindus never worship non-existent or imaginative gods.

The term Hindu or Hinduism is coined to denote some name beside other religions.

So this religion or sect of people who follow this way of life worships many gods.

But most of them have one or rarely more than one god as their home deity.

And further, they are free to pray whomever they want.

Among Hindu gods, we can see males, females, and even animal forms. Even nature and mother earth is considered a god. So this religion gives great respect to even nature around.

Hindu deities: features of Hindu gods and goddesses

1. Shakti

• The mother of the universe and the actual god from whom the three fundamental gods representing life have emerged.

• These three gods are lord Bramha, Vishnu, and Shiva (Maheshwara). These three god make up trio that regulate all of the worldly deeds and considered as primary gods.

• She is the powerful goddess and is represented as a fierce kali with many arms (hands) seating over a lion.

• She is armed with weapons like a bow and arrow, sword, mace, etc.
• As per vedic astrology if one is affected by the Rahu (node) they can get relief by offering prayers to Godess Shakti.

2. Shiva

• Lord Shiva is considered the greatest among the gods for his saintly charector and helping nature.

• He is named maha dev (largest/ biggest god) and is married to goddess Parvathi who is a form of Goddess Shakti.

• Since Shakti is the mother of the universe, Lord Shiva is considered the universe’s father.

• Lord Shivas role is considered to be “destroyer/ end of existence” among the three major gods.

• The three gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwar ( Shiva), make up the trio of Hindu primary gods.

• Those with weak moon placement or those experiancing illeffects of moon can get benefits by praying to lord Shiva.

3. Vishnu

• He is said to be the supreme god and also the most peaceful one.

• He is the maintainer of universal exisance and hence the most famous and powerful of gods.
• As per hindu scripts he is the mainainer of parallel universes and corrects any abnormalities.

• He is the most peaceful of the Hindu gods and yields pleasant blessings to his devotees.

• He is said to be taking human forms on regular basis to guide humans and keep the society in the right path.

• He is the one who has come to earth as different avatars like Lord Ram, Krishna, Venkateshwara (Balaji), panduranga, Kalki, etc.

• He is worshiped by many people among Hindus for wealth, success, health and spiritual enlightenment.

• He is said to be a calm, pleasant, and luxurious god with his wife and Goddess Laxmi (divine mother).
• If one has his blessings, he can overcome obsacles and have a fluidic flow of life and do not come across dead end obstacles. So one can have a sense of freedom.

4. Bramha

• Lord Bramha is said to be the creator of the universe and living forms.

• He is said to have emerged from the navel of Lord Vishnu and is depicted as sitting over lotus.

• This god is said to be the creator and creates everything in the world.

• Since he is the creator, he is called the father.

• His wife is Goddess Saraswathi, who is also his creation.
• Interestingly he is least worshiped of major gods for different reasons like his failed test to overcome Ego and the sin for marrying his creation that is goddes saraswati.
• Hence, you can rarely find temples for him.

• There is an interesting story where lord bramha gives hints of time, age with respected to the theory of relativity.

• Once a king could not get his daughter married due to excess height issues. For this, he went to Lord Bramha’s abode. Lord admires the kind to have had his daughter accompany him as thousands of years have passed on the earth while he was in time travel.

5. Rama

• Lord Rama is said to be one of the prolific incarnations of Lord Vishnu.
• He is treated with great reverence and admiration for his impeccable charector as human.

• He married Sita (a form of godess laxmi) and was the son of king Dasaratha.

• He defeated the evil king Ravana who ruled Lanka at that time.

• Ravana is said to have carried away (kidnapped) goddess Sita in deceit.

• Lord Rama temple can be found in almost all the villages and towns with decent Hindu populations.

• He is regarded for his great values like devotion to parents, teachers, a noble king, and other excellent characters.

6. Krishna

• Lord Krishna, the next incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was the brother of Balaram with interesting story of being born and brought up by two different mothers.

• He is one of the most prayed gods to symbolize wisdom, romance, intelligence, and purity.

• His spiritual teachings and divine knowledge can be found in the Bhagavad Gita.

• It is believed that every human should read it once in a lifetime to gain deeper insights of life and its meaning.
• As per lord krishna, everything we see is just an illuision and the only real thing is our soul which intends to join him.

7. Sri Balaji

• Lord Balaji is quite famous and is another incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

• His temple in Tirupathi is said to be the richest in the world.

• He is married to the goddess Padmavati.

• Many people experiance divine miracles on visitng his shrine.

8. Narasimha

• The Avatar of Lord Vishnu emerged to kill the demon king hiranykashyap who used to torure his devotee.

• This avatar has a lion’s face with the human body.

• Devotees worship this form of Vishnu to overcome fear and develop courage.

• Many believe this form of Vishnu removes all evils in life and also make one debt free.

• One is even blessed with wealth and wisdom due to him.

Other forms of Lord Vishnu are

• Sri Sathyanaryana
• Lord Jagannath
• Pandu ranga
• Parashuram
• Tortoise form (kurma)
• Varaha Murthy (Boar form)

9. Laxmi

• She is the goddess of wealth, prosperity and luck. If one is an ardent devotee of this goddess, he will be rid of poverty and bad times.
• She is the wife of Lord Vishnu. She is also said to be the sister of the moon lord.

• If you wish to try and get her blessings, listen to this mantra of goddess mother Laxmi. Many viewers claim to have got wealth and opportunities.

10. Saraswathi

• Goddess Saraswathi is the deity of education and learning.

• As mentioned before, she is the wife of Lord Brahma.

• Anyone who worships with devotion gets the blessing of comprehension and memory.

• Students perceiving any sort of education should worship her for better performance.

11. Ganesh

• The son of Lord Shiva and Parvathi.

• He is said to have been given an elephant head by his father, Lord Shiva.

• Interestingly he is made out of clay by goddess Parvathi and given life.

• He is the God who can remove any obstacles in your path to success.

12. Hanuman

• The most powerful gods yet in monkey form are always near the foot of Lord Sri Ram.

• You will be amazed to see his temples in every nook and corner of villages and towns.

• Even one can find his statues and idols under trees, on hills and on mountains.

• He is said to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva to help Lord Rama.

• He is believed to be present even today in his physical form, and one can find him at places where there is a bhajan of Lord Shri Ram.

• Those experiencing illeffects of plant saturn, one need to pray lord hanuman for quick relief.

13. Murugan

• He is also another famed deity. He is the brother of Lord Ganesha.

• His other name is Kumara Swamy.

• His vehicle is a peacock. He is said to have been born to kill demons with exceptional powers.

14. Ayyappan

• He is born to two male gods. Mohini, an avatar of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva.

• He is born to kill a demon who had the blessing to be killed by one who is not born to a male and female parent.

• Hence, by combining the Mohini avatar of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva, he is born to two males.

• This god is quite famous and has a number of devotees growing every year.

15. Sai Baba

• He is a saint with a godly figure who lived in Shirdi, India, during British rule.

• He left his human form in the year 1918.

• Many British officers of that time were lucky to witness his miracles and hence did not restrict him.

• He has millions of devotees, and they experience his miracles even today.

Sun and other planets

• As per Hinduism, a person on earth is influenced by other celestial bodies neighboring the earth.

• These include the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Rahu, and Ketu.

• The Rahu and Ketu are shadow entities and related to the time of eclipses.

• All these planets are worshipped as gods, and these bodies seem to have an immense effect on humans.

• Even Hindu astrology also describes the personality traits based on these planets’ arrangement in the birth chart.

• One can foretell a person’s life course well by this chart.

Also, there are astrological remedies to overcome the ill effects of these plants in one’s life.

• Fire God (agni)
• Air or wind god (vayyu)
• God of Rain (varuna)

Rivers: In Hinduism, nature is also part of god. Hence, rivers and seas are considered gods. Only the difference is rivers are treated as female gods or goddesses. In comparison, the seas and oceans as male gods are, i.e., gods.

Trees and plants.

As per hinduism every living entity is a form of god.

Some plants are considered especially sacred and worshipped as gods. They are said to be dwelling places of certain gods like shakti or kali.

The list is not exhaustive and there are many gods who are worshiped in different places and have many devotees.

Frequently asked questions and answers

References:

• The life of Sri Krishna
• Navagrahas: the planets of Vedic astrology