Hindu deities

Hindu deities are represented with various icons and anicons in sculptures and paintings, called and Pratimas.Klaus Klostermaier (2010), A Survey of Hinduism, State University of New York Press, , pp. 264-267PK Acharya, An Encyclopedia of Hindu Architecture, Oxford University Press, p. 426 Some Hindu traditions, such as ancient , rejected all deities and concept of god or goddess,V. V. Raman (2012), Hinduism and Science: Some Reflections, Zygon - Journal of Religion and Science, 47(3): 549–574, Quote (p. 557): "Aside from nontheistic schools like the Samkhya, there have also been explicitly atheistic schools in the Hindu tradition. One virulently anti-supernatural system is/was the so-called Charvaka school."John Clayton (2010), Religions, Reasons and Gods: Essays in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Religion, Cambridge University Press, , p. 150A Goel (1984), Indian philosophy: Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika and modern science, Sterling, , pages 149-151;
R. Collins (2000), The Sociology of Philosophies, Harvard University Press, , p. 836 while 19th-century British colonial era movements such as the Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj rejected deities and adopted monotheistic concepts similar to Abrahamic religions.

In ancient and medieval era texts of Hinduism, the human body is described as a temple,Jean Holm and John Bowker (1998), Sacred Place, Bloomsbury Academic, , pp. 76-78Michael Coogan (2003), The Illustrated Guide to World Religions, Oxford University Press, , p. 149 and deities are described to be parts residing within it,Alain Daniélou (2001), The Hindu Temple: Deification of Eroticism, , pp. 82-83Patrick Olivelle (1992), The Samnyasa Upanisads, Oxford University Press, , pp. 147-148 with footnotes 2 and 5 while the Brahman (Absolute Reality, God)For dualism school of Hinduism, see: Francis X. Clooney (2010), Hindu God, Christian God: How Reason Helps Break Down the Boundaries between Religions, Oxford University Press, , pp. 51-58, 111-115;
For monist school of Hinduism, see: B. Martinez-Bedard (2006), Types of Causes in Aristotle and Sankara, Thesis - Department of Religious Studies (Advisors: Kathryn McClymond and Sandra Dwyer), Georgia State University, pp. 18-35

In the earliest Vedic literature, all supernatural beings are called Asuras.Wash Edward Hale (1999), Ásura in Early Vedic Religion, Motilal Barnarsidass, , pp. 5-11, 22, 99-102Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary" Etymologically and Philologically Arranged to cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass, p. 121 By the late Vedic period (c. 500 BCE), benevolent supernatural beings are referred to as Deva-Asuras. In post-Vedic texts, such as the Puranas and the Itihasas of Hinduism, the Devas represent the good, and the Asuras the bad. In some medieval Indian literature, Devas are also referred to as Suras and contrasted with their equally powerful, but malevolent counterparts referred to as the Asuras. Encyclopædia Britannica

Hindu deities are part of Hindu mythology, both Devas and Devis feature in one of many cosmological theories in Hinduism.Don Handelman (2013), One God, Two Goddesses, Three Studies of South Indian Cosmology, Brill Academic, , pp. 23-29Wendy Doniger (1988), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, Manchester University Press, , p. 67

The most referred to Devas in the Rigveda are Indra, Agni (fire) and Soma, with "fire deity" called the friend of all humanity. Indra and Soma are two celebrated in a yajna fire ritual that marks major Hindu ceremonies. Savitr, Vishnu, Rudra (later given the exclusive epithet of Shiva), and Prajapati (later Brahma) are gods and hence Devas.Hajime Nakamura (1998), A Comparative History of Ideas, Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. 26-33

The Vedas describes a number of significant Devis such as Ushas (dawn), Prithvi (earth), Aditi (cosmic moral order), Saraswati (river, knowledge), Vāc (sound), Nirṛti (destruction), Ratri (night), Aranyani (forest), and bounty goddesses such as Dinsana, Raka, Puramdhi, Parendi, Bharati, Mahi, among others, mentioned in the Rigveda.David Kinsley (2005), Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions, University of California Press, , pp. 6-17, 55-64 Sri, also called Lakshmi, appears in late Vedic texts dated to be pre-Buddhist, but verses dedicated to her do not suggest that her characteristics were fully developed in the Vedic era.David Kinsley (2005), Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions, University of California Press, , pp. 18, 19 All gods and goddesses are distinguished in the Vedic times, but in the post-Vedic texts (c. 500 BCE to 200 CE), and particularly in the early medieval era literature, they are ultimately seen as aspects or manifestations of one Brahman, the Supreme power.Christopher John Fuller (2004), The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India, Princeton University Press, , p. 41

Ananda Coomaraswamy states that Devas and Asuras in the Vedic lore are similar to Twelve Olympians and Titans of Greek mythology, both are powerful but have different orientations and inclinations, the Devas representing the powers of Light and the Asuras representing the powers of Darkness in Hindu mythology.Wash Edward Hale (1999), Ásura in Early Vedic Religion, Motilal Barnarsidass, , p. 20 According to Coomaraswamy's interpretation of Devas and Asuras, both these natures exist in each human being, the tyrant and the angel is within each being, the best and the worst within each person struggles before choices and one's nature, and the Hindu formulation of Devas and Asuras is an eternal dance between these within each person.Ananda Coomaraswamy (1935), "Angel and Titan: An Essay in Vedic Ontology", Journal of the American Oriental Society, volume 55, pp. 373–418Nicholas Gier (1995), Hindu Titanism, Philosophy East and West, Volume 45, Number 1, p. 76, see also 73-96

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[[Batara Guru]] (Indonesia)Hariani Santiko (1997),
[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1178725 The Goddess Durgā in the East-Javanese Period], Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 209-226R. Ghose (1966), Saivism in Indonesia during the Hindu-Javanese period, The University of Hong Kong Press, pages 15-17
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