Hindu Deities: Identify Images Of Gods And Goddesses (QUIZ)

The images of Hindu deities are colorful, sacred, dramatic -- and ubiquitous. They are depicted in Hindu calendars, worshipped in temples, have a place of honor in homes, and also stare at us from bags of rice and flour in the local Indian grocery store. For centuries, specially trained artisans have been sculpting stone images of Hindu divinities. Consecrated images of deities are known as murtis. Most Hindus believe that murtis are divine, and enable the worshipper to focus on the formless divine power, Brahman.

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Each image of a Hindu deity is unique, tells a story and is rich in symbolism. Some deities are represented in more than one form. Each form highlights a particular aspect of their personality. Hindu deities are generally represented in human form, and are either male or female. Two noteworthy exceptions are Narasimha (half-man, half-lion), the fourth avatar of Vishnu, and Ardhanarishvara (half-man, half-woman), a composite androgynous form of Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati. Typically, images of Hindu deities have multiple heads and arms (usually to denote invincibility), carry distinctive weapons, and are mounted on lotuses or particular animals. Hindu gods and goddesses are the patrons of knowledge, wealth, and artistic disciplines. Many are personifications of natural forces like Agni (the god of fire) and Bhudevi (Mother Earth).

Most Hindus believe that there are 330 million gods and goddesses and that each represents an attribute of the Supreme Truth, Brahman. While there are some sects of Hinduism that do not worship murtis (for e.g., Arya Samaj, Assamese Vaishnavism), they are loved and revered by the majority of Hindus, especially within devotional sects of Hinduism. In temples and homes, deities are regularly given a ritual bath (Abhisheka), dressed, offered food, flowers and other offerings, and put to sleep.

How many images of Hindu deities can you identify? Take this quiz to find out!

Hindu deities

Let's see how you do on the next question.

To get the highest score, get all the answers right in the fastest time!
The clock will start as soon as you submit your first answer.

 

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Question 1 of 10

Identify this deity

Krishna

Balarama

Kartikeya

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Comments

[fredaskribent]

08:19 PM on 03/15/2012

I got 8 out of 10 in 2:06. Not so bad for a Muslim. Eh? :) Actually, as a Sufi, I have learned a lot about how to increase my devotion and love for the Divine. And I have learned what Allah meant when SHe said in Quran, call upon the Divine with all the Beautiful Names. To me, Saraswati, Ganesh and Parvati are just beautiful ways of learning about God.

Peace be with all beings.

[kurusj]

05:16 AM on 03/05/2012

Does it really matter how MANY gods I know...? But I guess how MUCH of godly life, I live...

[CyndiSimpson]

10:41 PM on 03/03/2012

9 out of 10....had no idea Ganesha and Ganapati are the same.......sigh...

[Eagleman]

11:52 AM on 02/23/2012

it is an equal opportunity religion..

[Adamocrates]

01:15 PM on 03/21/2012

I'm not an expert but I though the religion was known for a pretty rigid caste system.

[yogini4]

04:23 AM on 02/14/2012

Meditate on them for a time and find out for yourself if they are "real".

[Ambidextre]

01:31 AM on 02/17/2012

Precise and excellent.

[invisbl]

11:34 AM on 02/03/2012

7 of 10, not too bad for the atheist :)

[navin1]

07:45 PM on 02/02/2012

Well, Judd and Wendy are clearing demonstrating their ignorance. The purpose of this article was to see how well people recognized images of the divine. Some people are so compelled to hate that in the images of the divine they can only see their own egos reflected. When a person worships an idol of an anthropomorphic god born of the rape of a married woman, or a meteor in a tent, and then decries the images of other groups, one can understand that they have closed their heart to Truth. But that is ok, Truth has not closed Its heart on them.

hariaum

[speedy evans]

09:41 AM on 02/02/2012

i wonder why the christian god has no goddess...

[Pradip Gangopadhyay]

12:16 PM on 02/02/2012

Your question should be asked to Christians.

[speedy evans]

01:30 PM on 02/02/2012

i did they don't know ..

[navin1]

07:47 PM on 02/02/2012

Mormons believe he is married. Some suggest he was married to the prostitute Mary. Whatever the myth may be based on, the writers of the bible felt that the accuracy of his life was not relevant to their message.

hariaum

[nikkitytom]

05:36 AM on 02/08/2012

Actually Mary Magdalene has been relatively recently identified as a wealthy woman who was one of Christ's most loyal disciples. Another Mary is referenced in the old texts and is believed to have been the possible source of the "prostitute" myth.

I cried when I read the popular novel "The Da Vinci Code" ... which was fiction. But the mere thought that perhaps Mary Magdelene had been so grieviously maligned and may have been one of two things. Christ's dearest disciple. Or Christ's wife.

The Bible was written 70 years after Christ's death and I have no doubt whatsoever that the MEN who were keen on this new cult, doctored it to suit their methods. That women have been so maligned under the guise of Christianity is one of the greatest tragedies in the history of human civilization.

I was born into a Canadian Christian (Protestant) family. I encountered the idea of reincarnation when I was barely a teenager. My questions about life were answered on the spot. When I married ( in Amritsar) over forty years ago, I was married as Arya Samadhj .... and have considered myself a Hindu ever since,

So was embarrassed to mistake Lord Shiva ....

[whenicyouucme]

10:46 PM on 02/01/2012

When Hindu's offer food to their statues, what happens with the food?

[Pradip Gangopadhyay]

10:40 AM on 02/02/2012

They don't offer food to their statues. They ask God to enter into the murthi. This is referred as prana pratistha. They then offer food to God. They later eat the consecrated offering.

[whenicyouucme]

10:55 AM on 02/02/2012

Thanks for that, I had no clue what they did with the food. Learn something new every day :)

[yogini4]

04:12 AM on 02/14/2012

In some traditions a ray of light shoots out of the temple picture or statue's third eye to "taste" the food. This turns the food into Prasad, blessed food that temple people may then eat or distribute.

[Rie Cummins]

07:02 PM on 02/01/2012

4 out of 10, better than I thought I would do. The Hindu pantheon fascinates me but I've not read enough to recognize all of them. I admit I got #2 wrong, second guessed myself. I knew it but then I suddnely wasn't sure, lol. That one and Kali I knew from articles in past Llewellyn Magical Almanacs.

[fleebitten]

10:40 AM on 02/01/2012

being involved with the hindu culture for over 25 years I thought I'd have done better than 5 out of 10. Oh well. I guess religious idolatry isn't my strong suit

[carmenalex]

11:09 PM on 01/31/2012

6 out of 10, Very interesting.

[Pradip Gangopadhyay]

09:52 AM on 01/31/2012

Ma Kali is seen as fierce in western literature. The Sakta poets take the exact opposite stance.
Here is an example of an English translation of a poem by the poet Kamalakanta:

The black bee of my mind is drawn into sheer delight
To the blue lotus flower of Mother Syama's feet,
The blue flower of the feet of Kali, Siva's Consort;
Tasteless, to the bee, are the blossoms of desire.
My Mother's feet are black, and black, too is the bee;
Black is made one with black! This much of the mystery
My mortal eyes behold, then hastily retreat.
But Kamalakanta's hopes are fulfilled in the end;
He swims in the sea of Bliss, unmoved by joy or pain.

[Judd23]

12:33 AM on 02/01/2012

“Ma Kali is seen as fierce in western literature” -Indeed, could it be because she is portrayed with a garland of skulls around her neck? Or maybe it has something to do with the severed head she holds in one hand and the bloody sword in the other? Who knows? Maybe it has also something to do with how hard the British had to fight to keep the Thugs from offering human sacrifices to your goddess...

[Pradip Gangopadhyay]

11:47 AM on 02/01/2012

A little knowledge can be dangerous as can be seen reading this comment. A non-Christian who is unfamiliar with Jesus becomes horrified when he sees Christians worshipping a portrait of an image of a person hanging on a cross, bleeding, in pain and agony. The clear evidence of cannibalism also clearly shows up in the eating of flesh and drinking of blood in Christian rituals. Similarly, a Christian who is unfamiliar with the Hindu Goddess Kali thinks Her image as dreadful and obnoxious. Ignorance is the mother of all evil. It creates misunderstanding, hatred, intolerance, and many other problems of life. So it is not wise to judge another’s tradition. It is better to study and try to understand it with sincerity and respect.

I give below the meaning of the severed head and the skull :

Necklace: It consist of fifty skulls that represent the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, the origin of sound. She is Shabda Brahman (Sound-Brahman), or Logos-the source of creation.

Two left arms: She holds a sword with the upper left arm and a severed head with the lower. She can cut human bondage with the sword of knowledge, and She imparts wisdom to the head, the receptacle of supreme wisdom.

The British spread the myth of fighting hard the Thugs. The British who did the fighting were the actual thugs. What were the British thugs doing in a far way land?

[DoesItMatter]

01:59 PM on 02/01/2012

Oh how hard was it for the Indians to keep the British off their lands, people and resources. All three were plundered by the British.

[Judd23]

09:15 PM on 01/30/2012

"For centuries, specially trained artisans have been sculpting stone images of Hindu divinities. Consecrated images of deities are known as murtis. Most Hindus believe that murtis are divine...” How interesting! In other cultures they call those murtis “idols”. For the sake of diversity and inclusiveness, here’s what the Bible has to say: “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them" -St-Paul: “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.”

[Aruna Sharan]

01:03 AM on 01/31/2012

Don't you see how ridiculous and arrogant it is to quote the Bible as a reprimand to Hindus?

As it is, you should know this: stone images, or idols as you prefer to call them, are not placed "before" God in Hinduism. There are no gods placed before God. The gods, or deities, of Hinduism are mere aspects of the One, forms and names that give devotees a concrete concept so as to focus their minds to guide them back to the One -- which is within.

[Judd23]

12:44 PM on 01/31/2012

“The gods, or deities, of Hinduism are mere aspects of the One” –You may believe this, but as the author rightly pointed out, for most Hindus those statues are not just ”mere aspects”, they are divine, non-different from the god they portray. This is why they are regularly given a ritual bath, dressed, offered food, flowers and other offerings, and put to sleep. I personally believe that the Indus are the most religious people in the world, but, deceived by the Evil One, they have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator. As St-Paul said: “Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. The sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?”

[SoldAmerican]

08:33 PM on 01/31/2012

He believes in this Bible

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOfjkl-3SNE&list=FL7ajHF5daiCUuy5OlIIxUAA&index=48&feature=plpp_video

[roshanmandal]

12:06 PM on 01/31/2012

Please atleast try to understand Hindu dharma before ranting like a fool.

[Judd23]

02:17 PM on 01/31/2012

Hindu dharma? What Hindu dharma? Are you speaking of the sanatan dharma of Sankaracarya, Ramanujacharya, Madhvācārya or of Deepak Chopra? The Hindu dharma is nothing but confusion. This is simply because the Hindu scriptures were composed by different men who had different ideas about many things. I personnaly offered puja to Hindu idols for 15 years until, by the grace of God, I realized what a fool I was. "God has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation” -Ps 147:20.

[RaviKiran1]

04:50 PM on 01/30/2012

330 million gods and goddesses...really? Looks like someone found God and counted his/her/its attributes. Even Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankara was not brave enough to suggest a number.

The 330 million number probably came out as an answer to some question indicating 330 million people in the country at that time and each person was a different attribute of same God.

Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) without any hesitation suggests that there is only one Supreme Energy and it manifests itself as everything in this universe and beyond.

[Jahnabi Barooah]

12:59 AM on 01/31/2012

Thanks for your comment, RaviKiran1. I appreciate it and of course, given that there is so much diversity within what is understood to be Hinduism today, people have different views on the matter. My take on this is derived is sort of explained in this website: http://www.hindu-blog.com/2008/05/330-million-gods-in-hindu-religion.html

It's definitely not to be taken literally. What's important is that it ultimately comes down to One, but still the 330 million has validity as aspects of the One.

[RaviKiran1]

04:06 PM on 01/31/2012

Namaste. How do you express yourself when you see someone drawing boundary to infinite?

[roshanmandal]

06:08 PM on 02/09/2012

I don't see why we keep on calling Sanatana Dharma "Hinduism." "Hinduism" is an umbrella-term, and for most philosophical purposes, it is meaningless. We might as well as try to categorize the Abrahamic religions as "Middle-Easternism" and try to figure out the different views on the matter.

In my opinion, we should stick with Sanatana Dharma, or call it Vedanta.