#Hindu Gods

The third of the Hindu trinity is the most misunderstood. Shiva destroys, but what he destroys is whatever has stopped being alive.

The second of the Hindu trinity maintains the cosmos, and descends into it whenever the balance tips. His story is the story of help that arrives.

He made the universe, and yet only a handful of temples in the world are his. The strange story of the creator god is one of mythology's best riddles.

The elephant-headed god is the most beloved doorkeeper in world religion. His story explains why every Hindu venture begins with his name.

The monkey god who leapt an ocean is the tradition's portrait of devotion, humility, and power unlocked by love. His story is impossible not to love.

When no god could defeat the buffalo demon, they pooled their fire and a warrior goddess walked out of it. Durga is power with a calm face.

Black-skinned, wild-haired, garlanded with skulls, and adored by millions as the most tender of mothers. Kali is the great test of reading past appearances.

Fortune, beauty, and abundance personified, and famously restless. Lakshmi's mythology is a complete ethics of wealth in the form of a goddess.

Dressed in white, holding a veena, attended by a swan: Saraswati is learning, music, and speech made divine, and her rivalry with fortune is the best joke in the pantheon.

Butter thief, flute player, charioteer, philosopher: Krishna is the divine at its most intimate, and the tradition's boldest answer to what God is like.