List of Hindu deities
This list of Hindu deities is abridged, as a complete list would be too long.
Aspects
Avatars
- Matsya, the fish
- Kurma, the tortoise
- Varaha, the boar
- Narasimha, the Man-Lion (Nara = man, simha = lion)
- Vamana, the Dwarf
- Parashurama, Rama with the axe
- Rama, Sri Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya
- Krishna
- Buddha, the wise one
- Kalki ("Eternity", or "Time", or "The Destroyer of foulness"), who is expected to appear at the end of Kali Yuga, the time period in which we currently exist, which will end in the year 428899 CE.
Balarama is considered by some to be one of the Dashavataras, instead of Buddha.
The inclusion of Buddha as an Avatara of Vishnu is of late tradition, probably 10th century or later, and was a political/opportunistic move by mainstream Hinduism, that was losing followers and believers who were embracing the Buddhist philosophy at the expenses of the other religion.
List in alphabetical order
A
B
C
D
E
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
P
R
S
T
U
V
Y
* - major deities
See also
References
- Jeffrey Brodd (2003), World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery, Saint Mary's Press, p. 45, ISBN 9780884897255, http://books.google.com/?id=vOzNo4MVlgMC&pg=PA45&dq=%22330+million%22 : '[..] many gods and goddesses (traditionally 330 million!) [...] Hinduism generally regards its 330 million as deities as extensions of one ultimate reality, many names for one ocean, many "masks" for one God.'
- Joe David Brown; Time-Life Books (1961), Joe David Brown, ed., India, Time, Inc., http://books.google.com/?id=2XRuAAAAMAAJ&q=%22popular+figure%22 : "Though the popular figure of 330 million is not the result of an actual count but intended to suggest infinity, the Hindu pantheon in fact contains literally hundreds of different deities [...]"