List of Hindu Gods and Goddesses

Hindu Deities - Gods and Goddesses Image

About Hindu Gods and Goddesses-Hindu Deities

India is the great country and one of the most religiously varied nation in the entire world. India has been playing a vital role with religion in the lives of most Indians. In India is considered as one of the oldest, most religious and idealistic systems in the world as there are 80% people who are Hindus.

The Hindu Pantheon of Gods and goddesses is so vast. In India, there are 330 millions or more Gods and Goddesses in Hindu religion. All the Hindu gods and goddesses have their own and extra ordinary images and deities to represent.

The Hindu sacred scriptures were eloquent or smooth-spoken while drawing the qualities of God and describing briefly. The all Hindu gods and goddesses are all powerful and all-knowing. They are very personification of love, beauty and justice. They are ever ready to show their mercy, grace and blessings on their creation.   

Indian Hindu Gods and Goddesses picture

The main Hindu Gods as we worship and accept today can be broadly classified as

Shiva Gods --  Siva including His consort, His sons, His other forms
Vaishnava Gods -- Vishnu including His consort, His various incarnations and
Sakthi or Saktha  --  Forms of Goddess Sakthi

According to the Rig Veda, we can know of the Vedic Gods

Eight Vasus,
Eleven Rudras,
Twelve Adityas,
Indra and Prajapathi,

Being the Gods of all -- the earth, the space and the heavens.   

But in reality, in Rig Veda - lore of the verses, counts numerous Vedic Gods.
Vedic priests believed in rituals and ceremonies which were mostly offered to appease these all Gods. It is true that no one Vedic God or particular one God has been considered as the Supreme God.

In fact, all different Gods and goddesses have been considered as Supreme and ultimate at different times, attributing the qualities and powers of one to another.

Apart from Gods and goddesses who have been attributed specific qualities, characteristics, several inanimate objects, emotions and the various forms of nature had also been sacred and worshipped most probably.  

All Hindu Gods and Goddesses Image

The earliest accepted Gods are


Dyaush-pita -- the sky father  
Prithivi mata -- the earth mother
Vayu -- the wind God
Parjanya -- the rain God
Surya -- the sun God
Varuna -- the God of oceans
Agni -- the fire God
Indra -- the war God
Soma -- the God of speech, deity of soma creeper
Ushas -- the Goddess of dawn  
Yama -- the God of death
Adityas -- a group of deities, who are six in number in the Rig Veda, eight in most of the Brahmanas and twelve in the Satapatha Brahmana
Aswini -- twin Deities
Rudras -- eight in number
Vasus -- eight in number 
Visvedevas -- ten in number
Nakshatra -- The Constellations or stars
Space -- Antariksha
Sky -- Dyaus

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But these all Gods are classified as under

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The great and chief Hindu Gods
Hindu Trinity Gods-Tridev

The names are
God Brahma –- creator of the entire universe
God Vishnu – The preserver of the Universe
God Shiva – The destroyer and has the power of his 3rd eye

The great and chief Hindu Goddesses
Hindu Trinity Goddesses –Tridevi

The names are
Goddess Saraswati -- The consort of God Brahma, the goddess for knowledge
Goddess Laxmi –- The Consort of God Vishnu and the goddess of wealth, delight, beauty     and love.
Goddess Parvati -- The consort of God Shiva and the goddess of transformation, power and destruction.

The God and Goddess incarnation

Sati Maa -- the form of Goddess Parvati
Durga Maa -- the form of Goddess Parvati and the energy of mother
Kali Mata -- having the destructive power and harmful energy
The Mahadevi -- the powerful form of Shakti
Sita Mata -- the consort of Lord Rama
Rukmani -- the consort of Lord Krishna
Radha -- the divine devotee and fan of Lord Krishna
Ganga Mata -- the holy river
Yamuna Maa -- the holy river
Gayatri Maa -- the goddess of learning
Santoshi Maa -- the goddess
Mata Vishnodevi -- the goddess
Maa Annpurna -- the goddess of Harvests
God Rama -- the seventh incarnation of God Vishnu
God Krishna -- the eighth incarnation of God Vishnu
God Bhirav -- the strong and powerful incarnation of God Shiva

The Most 10 Incarnation of God Vishnu

Matsya Avatar -- Vishnu as a fish
Kurma Avatar -- Vishnu as a tortoise
Varaha Avatar -- Vishnu as a boar
Narasimha Avatar –- Vishnu the half lion-half man)
Vamana Avatar –- Vishnu as in form of the dwarf
Parasurama Avatar –- Vishnu as brahaman’s son - Rama with an axe
Rama Avatar –- Vishnu as the prince of Ayodhya
Krishna Avatar  -- Vishnu as in black tribal
Buddha Avatar –- Vishnu as form of the completely enlightened one
Kalki Avatar –- Vishnu --  the incarnation to come in future

Sons and Relatives

Ganesh -- son of God Shiva and Goddess Parvati
Kartikeya  --  Subramaynan, Shanmuga -- son of Shiva and Parvati
Krishna -- son of Vasudeva and younger brother of Balarama
Balarama – Elder brother of Lord Krishna
Hanuman  -- son of Vayu
Vasudeva  -- The father of Lord Krishna


The Hindu Cosmic Trinity or Vedic Gods

Surya – The god of energy or life
Agni – The god of fire
Vayu – The god of air

The other Hindu Vedic or Lesser Gods

ARJUNA (the dew) : God of the dawn and the charioteer of the sun (son of Vinata and the wise Kasyapa.
Ganga- personification of the holy river
Gayatri- personification of the Vedic hymn
Hanuman- the monkey god - devotee of Rama
Indra- King of the abode of gods
Kamdeva- god of love
Kubera- god of wealth
Manu – the Hindu Noah
Narada- the wandering seer who features in almost all the Puranas
Rudra – the god of storms
Sanjna -  the god of conscience and the wife of SURYA (sun)
Soma- the moon god
Varuna- the god of oceans
Vishwakarma- the divine architect of the universe
Yama- the god of death

Celestial beings

Apsaras- beautiful ladies, who dance in the court of Indra and names RAMBHA,
URVASI and MENAKA
Gandharvas- celestial musicians who play in the court of Indra
Kinnaras- mythical beings, with a body of a man and head of a horse
Siddhas- classes of spirits of great purity and holiness
Yaksha- the guardians of wealth and attendants of Kubera

In Hindu mythology, Animals have also a special place.

Main Animal Deities

SHESHNAG or ANANTA -- the infinite - the king of Nagas, vehicle of Vishnu or the
bed on which Vishnu rests
KAMADHENU --- the cow of plenty
GARUDA -- the king of birds - half man and half eagle or vulture, vehicle of Vishnu
AIRAVATA -- the elephant - vehicle of Indra

The other various Animal Deities in Hindu Mythology

AKUPARA-the tortoise - on which Earth or Prithvi rests
ANTELOPE--- vehicle of Vayu and Chandra
ARVA --- mythical being half horse and half bird - one of the horses of the moon
BUFFALO --- vehicle of Yama
CERBURA --- the three headed infernal dog of the Krishna legend
CROW --- vehicle of Shani
DOG and HORSE --- vehicle of Shiva as Bhairava
JAMBAVANT ---  the king of bears - ally of Rama
MAKARA or JALAMPA --- the mythical sea monster - vehicle of Varuna (god of water)
MOUSE --- vehicle of Ganesha
NANDI --- the bull - vehicle of Shiva and Parvati
PARAVANI --- the peacock - vehicle of Kartikeya
PARROT --- vehicle of Kamadeva
RAM --- the he-goat - vehicle of Agni
SARAMA --- dog of Indra
SWAN --- vehicle of Saraswati and Brahma
TARKSHYA --- winged horse personifying the sun
TIGER and LION --- vehicle of Parvati as Kali and Durga
UCHCHAIH-SRAVAS --- the eight headed king of horses produced during the churning
of oceans

It is less to describe about the list of Hindu Gods Goddesses but here most of all has been covered.