Know about Indian Gods ARYAN GODS BRAHMA VISHNU SHIVA RAMA KRISHNA GANESHA KARTIK HANUMAN Know about Indian Goddesses DURGA LAKSHMI SARASWATI PARVATI

The distant echoes of aboriginal devotion and the clamorous street worship of today, assert the idea of a god who has always lived in the mind of India. The early Hindus accepted the religions and rituals of the original inhabitants of India. Primitive spirits, godlings and animal totems of the tribal people of India, and the early Aryans worship of the elements were gathered into the fold of Hinduism. Initially revealed in the primal spiritual symbol Om, god appeared as an infinite pantheon of deities. The notion of god grew from a divine abstract into infinite manifestations. Each idol, avatar, and incarnation reflecting a divine aspect of god. Gods are heavenly beings who can descend to earth as avatars and limitless incarnations. As deities for every village and idols for individual families, each great god answers to a thousand names. Collectively this pantheon portrays the Hindu conception of the supreme being expressed as Om'. This mystic syllable encompasses all that is sacred in Hinduism. The thread of eternity, 'Om' carries reverberations of Hindu metaphysical thought and spiritual energy. Om is an evocation of the universal soul - The Brahman. The Upanishads (Hindu philosophical texts composed between 600 to 200 BC), explain the universe as creation of the Brahman. Every form of life is a revelation of the Brahman. Creator of life, the Brahman is our sole cosmic inspiration to which we return once our individual life ceases. The Brahman was known as Nirguna, without form, neither male nor female. Sages mediated on Om and sensed the presence of the Brahman in the world around them. Ordinary people wanting to express themselves to the creator were lost, the Brahman was abstract and intangible. They needed a semblance of The Brahman to whom they could offer their prayers Gradually the formless Nirguna Brahman evolved into Saguna Brahman(the Great God). The transformation bestowed a gender, The Brahman appeared as a male trinity, a three faced God called Trimurti. The Trimurti has a human form, one body with three heads that express the cycle of life. Trimurti epitomises birth, life and death. As Brahma he takes over the creation of the Universe. Vishnu maintains dharma (righteousness) and order. Shiva holds the power to destroy - Mahayogi (The great meditative ascetic) also the God of fertility and sexuality. Even the Trimurti evolved as each of the gods found celestial consorts (goddesses in their own right). Brahmas consort is Saraswati, the goddess of learning. Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth appeared from the ocean and married Vishnu. Parvati danced before Shiva and broke his meditation, an entranced Shiva married Parvati and their children Kartikeya and Ganesha joined the heavenly family. Gradually god grew from a primordial Om into a infinite pantheon of gods, worshipped devoutly by infinite believers.