Gods, avatars and forms
Shiva
Mahadeva · Maheshvara · Parameshvara · Shankara · Neelakantha · Gangadhara · Pashupati · Adiyogi
The great god of the Shaiva traditions and one of the three of the Puranic Trimurti, where he is assigned dissolution…
Vishnu
Narayana · Hari · Perumal · Mayon · Trivikrama · Srinivasa
Vishnu begins as a minor god of the Rigveda, addressed in only a handful of hymns and remembered for pacing out the…
Brahma
Prajapati · Pitamaha · Svayambhu · Hiranyagarbha · Chaturmukha · Vidhi · Vethan (Ayyavazhi) · Phra Phrom (Thailand)
The creator of the Puranic triad, grandfather of the worlds, father of the mind-born sages and the giver of boons that…
Krishna
Vasudeva · Gopala · Govinda · Dwarkadhish
Born in Kamsa's prison at Mathura and carried across the Yamuna to Gokul; the cowherd of Braj, the king of Dwarka, the…
Rama
Ramachandra · Raghava
Prince of Ayodhya and hero of the Ramayana; born to Dasharatha and Kausalya on Chaitra shukla navami, exiled for…
Parvati
Uma · Gauri · Aparna · Shailaputri · Bhavani · Haimavati
Daughter of the mountain Himavat and Mena, the rebirth of Sati, who won Shiva as her husband by long austerity after…
Dattatreya
Datta · Avadhuta · Digambara
The son of the sage Atri and Anasuya in whom the natures of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are combined — the one widely…
Jagannath
Nila Madhava · Purushottama · Darubrahma
The wooden lord of Puri, worshipped with Balabhadra and Subhadra, whose bodies are carved anew from chosen neem trees…
Venkateswara
Srinivasa · Balaji · Venkatachalapati · Govinda
Vishnu as the lord of the Venkata hill, the temple tradition's answer to why the god left Vaikuntha: after Bhrigu's…
Mahadevi
Devi · Yoganidra · Mahamaya · Bhuvaneshvari · Adi Shakti
The Great Goddess of the Shakta frame. In the Devi Mahatmya she is the sleep in which Vishnu lies and must leave his…
Harihara
Shankaranarayana · Hari-Hara
Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara) as one body split down the middle, the ascetic Shiva half on the right and the crowned…
Kartikeya
Skanda · Murugan · Kumara · Subrahmanya · Shanmukha · Mahasena
The six-headed war-god born to slay Taraka, who could die only to Shiva's son. In the Mahabharata Shiva's fiery seed is…
Lakshmi
Shri · Padma · Kamala · Mahalakshmi
Goddess of fortune and radiance. The Rigveda speaks of Shri as prosperity and the Shri Sukta hymns her; the Shatapatha…
Ayyappa
Ayyappan · Manikandan · Manikantha · Dharma Shasta · Hariharaputra · Hariharasuta
The god of Sabarimala, held in Kerala to be the son of Shiva and Vishnu-as-Mohini, born to kill the buffalo-demoness…
Ganesha
Ganapati · Vinayaka · Gajanana · Vighneshvara
The elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, remover of obstacles, worshipped first in every rite. The Puranas give at…
Ranganatha
Sri Ranganathaswamy · Arangan · Periya Perumal
The reclining Vishnu of the Kaveri island, whose image faces south because it refused to move on from Srirangam when…
Vithoba
Vitthala · Panduranga · Pandharinath
The god who stands arms-akimbo on a brick at Pandharpur because the devotee Pundalik, busy serving his parents, tossed…
Narasimha
Nrisimha · the man-lion
The man-lion who bursts from a pillar to kill Hiranyakashipu in a way that slips past every clause of the king's boon…
Savitri
Brahma's wife in the Pushkar cycle. She arrives late to his yajna, finds he has married Gayatri to complete the rite…
Bhairava
Kala Bhairava · Mahakala Bhairava
Shiva's terrifying form. In the Lingodbhava cycle he cuts off Brahma's fifth head and wanders with the skull until…
Chandra
Soma
The moon god. In the Bhagavata's telling of Anasuya's sons he is Soma, the son who carries Brahma's portion.
Jaya and Vijaya
Jaya-Vijaya · dvarapalas of Vaikuntha
The two gatekeepers of Vaikuntha who barred the child-like Kumaras and were cursed to be born away from Vishnu; they…
Kamadeva
Kama · Manmatha · Ananga · Madana
The god of desire, sent by the gods to make the mourning ascetic Shiva love Parvati so that a son could be born to kill…
Meenakshi
Angayarkanni · Tadatagai
The fish-eyed goddess of Madurai, born with three breasts to the Pandya king Malayadhwaja and queen Kanchanamalai from…
Mohini
Mohini-avatara
The enchantress form Vishnu takes: in the Bhagavata to hand the nectar of the churning to the gods, and later to be…
Padmanabhaswamy
Ananta Padmanabha · Sree Padmanabha
The reclining Vishnu of Travancore, seen through three doors as face, body and feet. Two origin accounts: the Kerala…
Rudra
Rudra-Shiva · Kapardin
The Vedic layer of Shiva: a fierce, howling storm-god of the Rigveda with matted hair, tawny colour, bow and arrows…
Shrinathji
Nathji · Govardhannathji
The Pushtimarg's child Krishna lifting Govardhan, an image held to have emerged of itself from the hill near Mathura —…
Tulsi
Vrinda · Tulasi
Vrinda, wife of the asura Jalandhara, whose chastity shielded him until Vishnu deceived her in his form; she cursed…
Udupi Krishna
Udupi Sri Krishna · Kadagolu Krishna
The child Krishna with a churning rod, found by Madhvacharya inside a lump of gopichandana clay from a ship he had…
Vamana
Trivikrama · Vamanamoorthy
The dwarf brahmin who asks King Bali for three paces of land and then grows to cover heaven and earth in two strides…
Balabhadra (of Puri)
Jagannath's elder brother in the Puri triad, worshipped as Balarama; his chariot Taladhwaja leads the Rath Yatra, and…
Hanuman
Rama's monkey companion who fetched the Vishvalingam from Kailash for Rameswaram and returned with Rama to Ayodhya.
Narayana (Anantashayana)
Anantashayana · Padmanabha · Garbhodakashayi Vishnu · Sheshashayi
Vishnu as the cosmic being who rests on the waters. Manusmriti derives the name from the waters (nara) that were his…
Padmavati
Alamelu Manga · Alarmelmangai
Daughter of Akasha Raja and an incarnation of Lakshmi, married to Srinivasa at Narayanavanam; her shrine is at…
Phra Phrom
Thai Brahma · Four-faced Buddha
Thailand's four-faced Brahma, worshipped as a guardian spirit in Thai Buddhist and animist practice; the Erawan Shrine…
Saraswati
Vac · Sharada · Brahmani · Vagdevi
Goddess of speech, learning and the arts, and the most sensitive figure in Brahma's cycle: the Puranas make her his…
Sundareswarar
Sokkanathar · Chokkanathar
Shiva as the handsome lord of Madurai, Meenakshi's husband, who in the Tiruvilaiyadal Puranam walks into the city in…
Aiyanar
Ayyanar · Shasta · Hariharaputra · Ayyanayake
Guardian god of the Tamil village boundary, shown on horseback with a sword, with a shrine outside almost every…
Badrinarayan
Badri Vishal · Badrinath (deity)
The small black stone Vishnu of Badrinath, held to be self-manifested and, by tradition, recovered from the Tapt Kund…
Dakshinamurthy
Dakshinamurti · Adiyogi · Adinath (Nath usage)
Shiva as the silent teacher, seated under a banyan tree facing south, surrounded by sages, teaching yoga, music and the…
Ekadashi (Yogamaya)
The female power that rose from Vishnu while he slept and killed Murasura; he named her Ekadashi and blessed those who…
Guruvayurappan
Guruvayoorappan · Unnikrishnan
The four-armed Vishnu-Krishna of Guruvayur, whose image temple lore traces from Vishnu's own hands in Vaikuntha through…
Indra
King of the gods and Vishnu's partner in the Rigveda; in the churning story his slight to Durvasa's garland brings the…
Nataraja
Adavallan · Koothan · Sabesan
Shiva as lord of the dance, performing the Ananda Tandava, the dance of bliss, in the Tillai forest for the sages…
Parashurama
The axe-bearing brahmin warrior who humbles the kshatriya kings; Kerala and Konkan tradition credit him with raising…
Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa
Acintya · Sang Hyang Tunggal · Ida Sang Hyang Widhi
The one supreme being of Balinese Hinduism, described as an absolute source rather than a personal god, of whom Brahma…
Sankaranarayana
Sankara Narayanar · Shankaranarayana
The Tamil name and temple form of Harihara at Sankarankovil: Shiva as the right half and Vishnu as the left, appearing…
Sati
Dakshayani · Adi Shakti (in the yogic-fire telling)
Daksha's daughter and Shiva's first wife, who went uninvited to her father's sacrifice, was insulted, and gave up her…
Shatarupa
She of a hundred forms
The daughter of Brahma and, in the Brahma Purana, the first woman and the wife of Svayambhuva Manu; their children…
Sita
Rama's wife, found in a furrow and taken to Lanka by Ravana; returns with Rama to Ayodhya on the night the north keeps…
Subhadra (of Puri)
The sister in the Puri triad, riding the chariot Darpadalana between her brothers; her Nabakalebara tree is chosen by a…
Virabhadra
Veerabhadra
The warrior born from a lock of Shiva's hair dashed on the ground when Sati died; with Bhadrakali he wrecked Daksha's…
Agni
The Vedic fire god, present at Brahma's Pushkar sacrifice; in the temple telling Savitri's anger falls on him too…
Ardhanarishvara
Shiva as half woman: right half male, left half Parvati, stating that the two principles cannot be separated. The…
Balarama
Balabhadra · Baladeva
Krishna's elder brother, the plough-bearer, who takes the Buddha's place in the southern Sri Vaishnava and Smarta…
Ganga
Bhagirathi · Jahnavi · Tripathaga · Vishnupadi
The river goddess who fell from heaven at Bhagiratha's plea to redeem Sagara's sixty thousand sons and was caught in…
Jambavati
Krishna's queen, daughter of the bear-king Jambavan, whose wish for a son like Pradyumna sent Krishna to Upamanyu's…
Kalantaka
Kalasamhara · Mrityunjaya
Shiva as the ender of death, the form that burst from the linga to strike down Yama when his noose fell on the boy…
Kirata
Kiratamurti
Shiva disguised as a mountain hunter to test Arjuna, in the Mahabharata's Vana Parva and Bharavi's court epic…
Kubera
Lord of wealth; in the Tirumala telling he lends Srinivasa the money for his wedding to Padmavati, a debt pilgrims are…
Kurma
The tortoise avatar whose shell holds up Mount Mandara while gods and demons churn the ocean of milk. Its own cycle…
Lingo
Pahandi Kupar Lingo · Pari Kupar Lingo
The culture hero and first priest of the Gonds, who freed the Gond gods from the cave where Mahadeo had sealed them…
Mahakala
Mahakaleshwar · Kala
Shiva as great time and death, beyond time, with Mahakali as consort; the Shaktisamgama Tantra describes him and…
Manasa
Manasa Devi · Bishahari
The snake goddess of Bengal, called in the mangalkavya a neglected daughter of Shiva, who wins worship by force from…
Nilamadhava
Nila Madhava
The blue-stone image of Vishnu that tradition says the Sabara chief Viswavasu worshipped in secret in the forest before…
Sadashiva
Panchamukha · Maheshamurti (Elephanta)
Shiva with five faces and ten arms: Sadyojata (west, creation), Vamadeva (north, preservation), Aghora (south…
Sandhya
Arundhati (in a later birth, per the Shiva Purana)
Twilight personified, born of Brahma's mind; the Shiva Purana's Sati-khanda has her draw her father's and brothers'…
Vayu
The wind god who helped Brihaspati install the Guruvayur image, giving the town the second half of its name.
Baka Brahma
A Brahma of the form realm in the Pali canon who believes his world eternal and himself deathless until the Buddha…
Bhikshatana
The wandering mendicant
Shiva as the naked wandering beggar who carries Brahma's skull as his bowl to atone for cutting the fifth head. The…
Brahm Baba
Baraham Baba · Brahma Sthan
A village-protector deity of Mithila who lives in a peepal or banyan west of the village and is honoured with earthen…
Brahma Sahampati
The most senior of the great Brahmas in the Pali canon, who comes down to beg the newly awakened Buddha to teach the…
Brihaspati
Guru
Preceptor of the gods who, with Vayu, installed the Krishna image at Guruvayur, giving the town the first half of its…
Buddha (as avatar)
The Buddha was drawn into the Vaishnava avatar list by about the 8th century, usually in the ninth place. Sri Vaishnava…
Dhanvantari
The physician of the gods who rose from the churned ocean carrying the pot of nectar; the Bhagavata calls him a partial…
Durga
The warrior goddess of the Devi Mahatmya who slays the buffalo demon Mahishasura, the demon whose boon that no man…
Gayatri
The woman Brahma marries at Pushkar so that his yajna can go ahead when Savitri is late. In the temple telling she is a…
Hayagriva
The horse-headed form of Vishnu who, in the Mahabharata's Shanti Parva and the Bhagavata line, kills Madhu and Kaitabha…
Kali
Kalika · Dakshina Kali
The fierce goddess of Bengal, shown standing on a prostrate Shiva; declared here only as a stub for the folk record in…
Kalki
The future avatar on a white horse who closes the Kali Yuga; the thinnest of the ten in the sources, with the Kalki…
Malini
An elephant-headed goddess named in one Puranic account as Ganesha's birth-mother. Stub entity for that variant.
Matsya
The fish avatar who warns Manu of the deluge and tows his boat to safety; rooted in the Shatapatha Brahmana flood story…
Nanda Devi
Nanda · Gaura
The mountain goddess of Garhwal and Kumaon, honoured as the Himalaya's daughter and as a young bride leaving her…
Prajapati
Hiranyagarbha · Lord of creatures
The Vedic creator figure that later tradition equates with Brahma. In the Rigveda the name is applied to several gods…
Rati
Kama's wife, who mourned his burning and smeared his ashes on herself; the Puranas promise her his return as Pradyumna…
Surya
The sun god; in the Puranic account of the discus, radiance shaved from him so that his wife Sanjna could bear his…
Varaha
The boar avatar who lifts the earth goddess Bhumi from the cosmic waters and slays Hiranyaksha, the first hostile birth…
Vishnumoorthi Theyyam
Vishnumoorthy · Vishnumurti Theyyam
The most popular Vaishnava Theyyam of north Malabar: a possession-performance in which Vishnu's man-lion form and the…
Vishvakarma
The divine architect: maker of the Sudarshana in the Ramayana, builder of Sutala for Bali, and the carver of Puri's…
Vishvaksena
Vishnu's gatekeeper and commander. In the Shaiva Bhikshatana cycle he bars the skull-bearing Shiva from Vaikuntha, is…
Yama
Kala · Dharmaraja
God of death, whose noose fell on the linga together with the boy Markandeya; Shiva burst from the linga as Kalantaka…
Bhagavan (Baiga)
The high god of the Baiga tellings Elwin collected, who sends for Nanga Baiga to fix the earth; the name is the Hindi…
Bhagwan (Bhil)
The supreme deity of the Bhils as documented by Wilhelm Koppers, who in the flood tale makes the earth and the first…
Karuppasamy
Karuppu · Karuppanna Swamy
A dark-skinned Tamil village guardian who is worshipped beside Aiyanar and, in the Sanskritised telling, folded in as…
Madurai Veeran
Veeran
A deified Tamil folk hero of the Madurai region, worshipped as a guardian and counted among Aiyanar's attendants in the…
Mahamaya (Yoganidra)
Yoganidra · Devi
The Goddess as the sleep that holds Vishnu on the cosmic waters in the Devi Mahatmya; Brahma must praise her and ask…
Marang Buru
Great Mountain
'Great mountain', the Santal deity closest to people and leader of the bongas (spirits), invoked in the sacred grove.
Panjurli
Panjurli Daiva
A boar-spirit guardian of the Tulu-speaking coast, worshipped in Bhuta Kola; the paddanas tell how a piglet raised by…
Persa Pen
Bara Deo · Great God
The 'great god' of the Gond clans, established as an object of worship by Lingo after the gods were freed from the cave.
Shani
The planet-god Saturn whose sidelong glance, in the Brahmavaivarta Purana's telling, made the head of Parvati's newborn…
Singbonga
Sing Bonga · Sun God
The sun god and creator of Munda and Ho tradition, who brooded over the first waters, sent creatures diving for clay…
Thakur Jiu
Thakur · Marang Buru (leader of the bongas, distinct)
The creator in Santal tradition, who made the first water-birds over the primal ocean and, through their eggs, the…
The Krittikas
Pleiades · Karthigai stars
The six star-mothers who nursed the six infants that became Kartikeya, giving him his name; their star marks the day of…
The Matrikas
Saptamatrika · Carcika · Mangala
The mother-goddesses who drank the blood of Andhaka so that no new demon could spring from each fallen drop; the Vamana…
Varuna
God of the waters. In the Deoghar atmalinga legend Vishnu has him enter Ravana's stomach so that Ravana must stop on…