1. Hindu Deities and Heroes Himavath Jois

2. Trimurti – Brahma  “The Creator”  Has four heads  Few people worship him – due to curse from his wife

3. Trimurti – Shiva  “The Destroyer”  Rides the bull Nandi  When third eye opens, universe is destroyed and regenerated  Carries a trident

4. Trimurti – Vishnu  “The Preserver”  Descends to Earth as an “avatar” when the universe needs preserving  Sits on the snake Shesha with goddess Parvati  Holds a conch, mace, and lotus

5. Ganesha  Elephant headed son of Shiva  Rides a mouse  Parvati creates Ganesha after scrubbing saffron off of her  Head was cut off by Shiva, replaced with an elephant head  Worshipped for removal of life’s obstacles

7. Avatars - Rama  Son of Dasharatha and Kaushalya  Royal prince forced to live in exile  Uses exile to kill the demon Ravana and preserves the world from destruction

8. Avatars - Krishna  Vishnu uses two hairs from him to impregnate Devaki, a prince’s wife on Earth  Krishna is born (rain story)  Krishna kills demon Kamsa  Serves as charioteer for Arjuna, recites the Bhagavad Gita

10. Indra  King of the Gods  God of rain, thunder, and lightning, wields thunderbolt – Vajra  Defeats the dragon Vritra

11. Lakshmi  Goddess of wealth  Sits on lotus flower next to Vishnu  Appears in avatars as well  Epitome of female beauty

12. Parvati  Shiva’s consort, has many incarnations  Durga – rides a lion, carries many weapons  Kali – demon slayer, Shiva postrates himself before her, turning her into Parvati

13. Hanuman  “The monkey god” – Vanara  Son of wind god Vaayu and Anjana  As a child, swallows the sun and is cursed by Indra  Vaayu refuses to breathe air into the world, Indra therefore apologizes  Serves next to Rama during his exile period

14. Agni  God of fire  In Mahabharata, his grandfather is a great sage serving Krishna  Agni burns the Khandav forest during the epic

15. Arjuna  Chief hero in Mahabharata, a fight between cousins (good vs. evil)  The son of Indra  Krishna preaches to him in Bhagavad Gita to be devoted and fight for a just cause