How To Start Learning about Hindu Gods and Goddesses

Hinduism is not just a religion. It is known as 'Sanatana Dharma' - a righteous way of life. Hinduism has multiple facets, multiple schools of philosophies and multiple sub-sects, but all ultimately lead to one highest truth. Hinduism is not a religion of multiple gods, as some non-Hindus wrongly believe. Hinduism actually accepts worshipping and adoring varying forms of the One God - called Brahman, Parabrahman or Paramatman. Hinduism recognizes the fact that different people have different tastes, temperaments and capacity of intake in the matter of religion. Hence it offers 'different strokes for different folks.'

One essential feature of Hinduism is yogs - meaning Union. The purpose of human birth is to attain this yoga - union of the individual soul with the supreme soul. One of the paths for this yoga is the emotion-laden - the path of love towards God - which is Known as Bhakthi Yoga (path of devotion). It is the path most suited for the majority of people. The other approach is intellectual - the path of inquiry - known as Gnyana Yoga (path of knowledge). Only in the former path, worship of gods in various forms is involved. In the latter path, God is perceived as formless and the ultimate goal is to realize by experience that the individual soul and the supreme soul are one and the same.

Both the paths are not strictly compartmentalized; they can co-exist in an earnest aspirant and one path can lead to another. One can be more predominant than the other.

Now let us know more about the popular forms of Hindu Gods worshipped by the followers of Bhakti - devotees of God. These Godheads have their Origin in Veda (The Supreme Holy Book of Hinduism) and also are found elaborated in Puranas and Itihas (holy mythological stories).

1. The Holy Trinity - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva: In Hinduism, God is the omnipresent and the omnipotent who creates, protects and destroys the worlds and the beings. The ‘creation' function of God is worshipped as Brahma; The ‘protection/sustenance' aspect of God is worshipped as Vishnu and the ‘destruction' aspect of God is worshipped as Shiva. These 3 are male Gods. They are endowed with human form conducive to loving worship.
2. Brahma the Creator: He is described as three-headed. Worship of Brahma as a popular deity is not widely in practice. Worshippers of Vishnu treat Brahma as one who was created by Vishnu, coming out from his navel. The female aspect of Brahma (his wife) is Saraswati and she is the goddess of learning and art. Seeking the blessings of Saraswati is normally practiced for getting success in education and fine arts.
3. Vishnu the Protector: Worshipping of Vishnu as Prime God is very widely practiced in Hinduism. Followers of this sect are known as Vaishnavaites. Vaishnavaite believers will consider Brahma and Shiva either as "part of the whole" or as "gods of lesser significance." Vishnu, the protector is worshipped along with his divine female counterpart (wife), Lakshmi or Sri. Vishnu's abode is Vaikunta. Vishnu, the dark-skinned and handsome god with 6 hands, carries Sangu Chakra and Gatha (conch, wheel and a maze) and he lies in the bed of a 5-headed snake. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity, and she is the holy mother who is very compassionate. She is the one who recommends to Vishnu to bless his devotees irrespective of their limitations and sins. Goddess Laksmi resides in the lotus heart of Vishnu. Vishnu, in association with Lakshmi, is called Sriman Narayana. Vaishanavaite temples have a separate Sannadhi (sanctum) for Goddess Lakshmi. Worshipping Goddess Lakshmi alone as a ‘stand-alone deity' is not generally very prevalent (except in some specific holy places and occasions). Vishnu is a god of a thousand names and every name of him is holy.
4. Avatars of Vishnu, too, are worshipped as gods: A fundamental belief in Hinduism is that God descends to earth to take birth as human (or other) forms whenever the good and pious suffer and the evil ones have an upper hand. God protects the good, destroys the evil and restores Dharma (righteousness). Such a person is known as an avatar. Lord Vishnu is attributed with taking 10 such avatars. Rama, Krishna, Narasimha and other such divine personalities are Vishnu's avatars and they are worshipped as varying forms of Vishnu. All forms of Vishnu or his avatars can be worshipped in idols and each of the idols is treated as Archavatar - God's descended form for the purpose of worship.
5. Shiva the Destroyer: Everything in the universe is subject to birth/evolution, growth, decay and finally destruction, and these keep repeating in cycles. The destruction, too, is part of divine play and the Lord Shiva is the one attributed with it. Lord Shiva is associated with the most profound religious knowledge - Gnyana. Worship of Shiva as the prime deity is also very widely prevalent. Worshippers of Shiva are known as Saivaites. Shiva is a God with the color of flame, wears a tiger skin, has smeared his body with ash and he carries a Trisul (3-pronged weapon). The holy river Ganges flows from his head.
   
   Shiva's divine consort is Shakti (also known as Parvati, Maya, Kali, Jagadamba and so on). She occupies the left-half-side of the body of Shiva. Shiva and Shakti are like matter and energy. Shiva is the unfathomable, all-pervading, passive representation of God while Shakti is associated with the primordial power without which no activity can ever take place. Puranas and hymns associated with Shiva will declare that he is the prime God, the one above Vishnu and Brahma who has delegated the powers of creation and protection.
6. Shakti is Worshipped as a separate identity: Unlike Vaishnavism, where Lakshmi is mostly worshipped as associated with Vishnu, Shiva's divine consort, on the other hand, is also worshipped as a separate deity - as Para Sakthi, the Universal Mother. Worshippers of Shakti are known as Shaktas. Worship of Shakti as Divine Mother in innumerable names and forms (like the Kali, Parvati, Bhavani, Kamakshi and so on) is very widely prevalent all over India. Puranas and hymns associated with Shakti will hail her as the Supreme God for whom all other gods like Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma are subservient.
7. Sons of Shiva-Shakti viz. Ganesha and Subramanya are also worshipped: According to Puranas, Ganapathi (or Ganesha) and Lord Subramanya (or Muruga) are the sons of Shiva-Shakthi. Ganesha is a God with the head of an elephant; he represents ‘Om,' the primordial sound. He is hailed as the lord who removes obstacles in our endeavors. Subramanya is the knower of the supreme spiritual knowledge hidden behind Om. The sect worshipping Ganapathi as the Prime God is known as Ganapatyam. The sect worshipping Subramanya as the Prime God is known as Koumaram. Worship of Ganapathi in the beginning of any new venture (seeking his blessings) is very common across believers of other God forms, too. Worship of Ganapathi is very popular in the Maharashtra region in India. Worship of Muruga (Subramanya) is quite popular in Tamil Nadu region of India.
8. Lord Aiyappa (Harihara Putra) is another popular God: Aiyappa, according to a Purana, is born by the union of Shiva and Vishnu (who once took a female form) and he is a popular godhead in Kerala and Tamil Nadu of South India. He is an extremely benevolent God who fullfils wishes of his followers who are willing to undertake take a physically taxing journey to his abode in the hills after practicing austerities in a prescribed manner.
9. Anjaneya, the servant of Lord Rama, is another popular godhead: Anjaneya, (or Hanuman), according to Ramayana (the Holy life history of Lord Rama), is a monkey (or a monkey-faced native clan) who was an extremely powerful being, fully devoted to Rama and ever ready in serving his Lord. He is humility personified. He is a Nitya-suri (a deathless person), who loves all the devotees of his lord dearly and melts in emotion hearing the name, "Rama." He is a combination of power, knowledge, humility and devotion. Though he is not a god per se, he is one of the most widely worshipped ones in India, cutting across the various followers of gods.
10. There are other Avatara Purushas worshipped, not limited to the ten of Vaishnavaities: Any human being, extremely endowed with divine qualities, who has realized God or attained the Supreme Knowledge of the Brahman, who has transcended birth and death, who continues to live in a human body - a Jivan Mukta, who has the power to guide or initiate his followers to the attainment of the supreme bliss, is treated as Avatara Purusha or a Sat Guru (religious guide of the Supreme Order). Hinduism permits worship of these great souls (as though gods) by the respective believers. Hinduism abounds with such great masters - Chaitanya Deva, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Ramana Maharshi, Saibaba, Ramanuja, Shankara, Madhva, Shivananda and so on.
11. With so many gods around, where to start? Every Hindu family invariably worships a ‘family deity,' based on their tradition and the sect they normally belong to. Thus a Vaishnavaite family traditionally worships the form of Vishnu or any of his avatars and a Saivaite family member worships Shiva. There is (again) scope for finer focusing - the idea of ‘Ishta Devata' - the divine form most attractive and adorable to one's heart. If you are lured by Rama, you can worship Rama with all your focus on him, without really bothering about Krishna, Vamana or Narasimha, who are none other than the Supreme Lord Vishnu! Likewise, a Saivaite can choose the form of Nataraja (Shiva the cosmic Dancer) for worship. A Saivaite can also worship Linga, which symbolically represents the form (as well as formless) aspect of Shiva. Though elders generally expect their offspring to follow their traditional God, there is really no bar for a Saivaite to worship Vishnu or any other God of his choice or vice versa.
12. What if one is not sure? If an earnest seeker is not sure about his path, or if he is not charmed by a particular path of Hinduism that his family practices, the prescribed way is that he should go and surrender to a Satguru of his liking and seek guidance. The Satguru will guide him appropriately. A true Satguru will use his inner vision to judge the capacity of the seeker and put him on a path most suited to him. A Satguru may even recommend a person who seeks Bhakthi to follow the path of knowledge; he may divert a person most keen in the path of knowledge to go and worship a specific godhead.

Hinduism, basically, is built on the fact that name and form cannot be dispensed with for a vast majority of people in the worship of God. Every form of God is only a representation of the one ultimate truth. The more a seeker progresses in his path, the better he grasps this fact. But those who are at the lower levels of spirituality are the ones who get sentimentally attached to their chosen idol and argue or fight with believers of other forms of God.