13 gods & spirits
Hindu Mythology
“Hindu” is not one book or one age. Vedic hymns, epics, Puranas and living regional devotion lie millennia apart, and these thirteen sit in no single hierarchy: Vaishnava, Shaiva and Shakta traditions each place a different figure at the center. This is living religion, not a closed past.
Stories from this tradition
The Churning of the Ocean
Hindu · 9 min readA mountain as a churning staff, a serpent as a rope, and the ocean that yields both poison and the nectar of immortality.
Ganesha’s Seven Circles
Hindu · 9 min readTwo brothers, a journey around the earth, and a different understanding of where the whole world may be found.
13 gods & spirits
Shiva
the auspicious destroyer, lord of the dance
Vishnu
the preserver, sleeper on the cosmic sea
Brahmā
the four-faced maker, speaker of worlds
Kālī
the dark mother, devourer of time
Durgā
the invincible, rider of the lion
Lakshmī
the lotus-born, giver of fortune
Sarasvatī
the flowing one, muse of the word
Gaṇeśa
the elephant-headed, remover of obstacles
Hanumān
the devoted, leaper of oceans
Indra
the storm-king, wielder of the thunderbolt
Agni
the fire-messenger, mouth of the gods
Yama
the first-dead, keeper of the final road
Chandra
the moon-lord, cup of cool nectar