Hindu deities and their symbols
The Hindu gods and goddesses worshipped today and the things that identify them in temple images: Shiva’s trident and drum, Vishnu’s conch and discus, Ganesha’s broken tusk and his mouse, Saraswati’s veena and swan.
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Shiva and his family
- ShivaShiva is the Supreme Being of Saivism, the Hindu tradition devoted to him. He is known by his trident with a small drum tied to it, the crescent moon at his brow, the snakes in his matted hair, and Nandi, the white bull he rides.
- ParvatiParvati, “the mountain’s daughter”, is the Hindu Mother Goddess as the wife of Shiva and the mother of Ganesha and Murugan. In wedding images she holds a blue water lily; Durga is her warrior form.
- GaneshaGanesha is the elephant-headed Hindu god of beginnings and the remover of obstacles, worshipped first before any undertaking. He holds his broken tusk and a sweet, and rides a mouse.
- MuruganMurugan, also called Kartikeya, Skanda and Subrahmanya, is the son of Shiva and Parvati, worshipped above all by Tamil Hindus. He holds the vel, a leaf-bladed spear, rides a peacock and has the rooster as his emblem.
Vishnu, Lakshmi and the avatars
- VishnuVishnu is the Supreme Deity of Vaishnavism and, for other Hindus, the preserver of the universe. He holds a conch, a discus, a mace and a lotus, rides the eagle Garuda, and comes to earth as avatars, among them Rama and Krishna.
- LakshmiLakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth and good fortune and the wife of Vishnu. She sits on a lotus, holds lotuses, lets gold coins fall from her palm, and is often flanked by elephants pouring water over her.
- RamaRama is the hero of the Ramayana and one of the two most popular incarnations of Vishnu. He carries a bow and arrow, and is shown with his wife Sita, his brother Lakshmana and his devotee Hanuman.
- KrishnaKrishna is one of the most popular Hindu gods: for most Vaishnavas the eighth avatar of Vishnu, and for Gaudiya Vaishnavas, including ISKCON, God himself. He plays the flute, wears a peacock feather in his hair, and speaks the Bhagavad Gita.
- HanumanHanuman is the monkey devotee of Rama in the Ramayana, worshipped by Hindus for strength and devotion. He carries a mace, and is shown flying, kneeling before Rama, or opening his chest to show Rama and Sita in his heart.
The Goddess
- DurgaDurga is the Hindu Mother Goddess as a warrior, worshipped at Navaratri and Durga Puja for her victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura. She rides a lion or a tiger and holds the gods’ weapons in her many hands.
- KaliKali, “the black one”, is the Hindu Mother Goddess in her fierce form: dark, with her tongue out, a garland of skulls, a sword in her hand, and in some images standing on Shiva. Her devotees know her as a protecting mother and the giver of liberation.
Brahma and Saraswati
- BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation, shown with four heads and four arms, holding a manuscript, prayer beads, a water pot and a lotus, and riding a swan. Few temples are his own, but he receives worship in the temples of Shiva and Vishnu.
- SaraswatiSaraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, learning, music and the arts, and the consort of Brahma. She is dressed in white, plays the veena, holds the Vedas and prayer beads, and sits on a lotus or a swan.
The sun and the river
- SuryaSurya is the Hindu sun god, worshipped since the Vedas. He holds a lotus in each hand and rides a one-wheeled chariot drawn by seven horses, and Hindus honour him at dawn and at the harvest festivals of Pongal and Makar Sankranti.
- GangaGanga is the river Ganges worshipped as a goddess. She stands on the makara, a crocodile-like river creature, and flows from Shiva’s hair, and Hindus bathe in her waters, keep them at home and give them to the dying.
About hindu deities and their symbols
Hindu deities and their symbols follows fifteen gods and goddesses whom Hindus worship today, and the things that identify each of them in temple images and paintings. The Himalayan Academy’s glossary explains the principle: each Hindu god is depicted riding an animal or bird, a vahana, which stands for one of the god’s functions, as Shiva rides the bull and Kartikeya the peacock. The images take many forms. A murti, the image of a deity used in worship, ranges in the Academy’s words from the aniconic, such as the Shivalinga, to fully human figures such as Nataraja, the dancing Shiva, with symbols and geometric designs in between. The Hindu American Foundation adds that Hindus may worship the Divine in male and female forms, in animal forms, or with no form at all, and that each deity’s form and the things they hold can be meditated on as symbols of spiritual truths.
The gods on these pages
Shiva, the Supreme Being of Saivism, is worshipped above all as the linga. His wife Parvati, whose name means “mountain’s daughter”, is one of the names of the Universal Mother, and their sons are the elephant-faced Ganesha, invoked first before any undertaking, and Murugan, who holds the vel, the spear. Vishnu, “all-pervasive”, is the Supreme Deity of Vaishnavism, who incarnates to re-establish dharma. Rama and Krishna are his two most popular incarnations, Hanuman is Rama’s devoted ally in the Ramayana, and Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity, is Vishnu’s wife. Brahma is God as Creator, and Saraswati, goddess of the arts and learning, is his consort. Durga and Kali are forms of Shakti, the Goddess, in her gracious and terrifying aspects. Surya, the sun, is one of the principal divinities of the Vedas, and Ganga is India’s most sacred river.
The emblems
Several of the things the gods hold have pages of their own among the Hindu symbols: Shiva’s trident and drum, Vishnu’s conch, discus and lotus, and the sacred syllable Om. Lakshmi’s lotus and coins and her painted footprints are among the Diwali symbols.
Whose words these are
The pages describe the gods as their devotees do, in the words of Hindu institutions: the Himalayan Academy, the Hindu American Foundation and, for Krishna, the translations used by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The images are described by museums, chiefly the Cleveland Museum of Art. Older works are quoted for what they say, with their dates: H. H. Wilson’s translation of the Vishnu Purana (1840) and T. A. Gopinatha Rao’s Elements of Hindu Iconography (1914–16).
Sources
- Dancing with Śiva: glossary (vāhana, Vishṇu), Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Dancing with Śiva: Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism, glossary, Himalayan Academy (Kauai’s Hindu Monastery), glossary, s.v. vāhana, Vishṇu
- Dancing with Śiva: glossary (mūrti, Kālī, Kārttikeya, Kṛishṇa), Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Dancing with Śiva: Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism, glossary, Himalayan Academy (Kauai’s Hindu Monastery), glossary, s.v. mūrti, Kālī, Kārttikeya, Kṛishṇa
- Dancing with Śiva: glossary (Brahmā, Durgā, Gaṇeśa, Ganges), Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Dancing with Śiva: Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism, glossary, Himalayan Academy (Kauai’s Hindu Monastery), glossary, s.v. Brahmā, Durgā, Gaṇeśa, Ganges
- Dancing with Śiva: glossary (Pārvatī, Rāma, Sarasvatī, Śiva, Śivaliṅga, Sūrya), Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Dancing with Śiva: Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism, glossary, Himalayan Academy (Kauai’s Hindu Monastery), glossary, s.v. Pārvatī, Rāma, Sarasvatī, Śiva, Śivaliṅga, Sūrya
- 9 things to know about Navaratri (Syama Allard, Hindu American Foundation), Syama Allard, “9 things to know about Navaratri”, Hindu American Foundation, 2020, Hindu American Foundation, article text
- 5 things to know about Ganesha (Syama Allard, Hindu American Foundation), Syama Allard, “5 things to know about Ganesha”, Hindu American Foundation, 2020, Hindu American Foundation, article text
- Lakshmi: Goddess of Prosperity (Hindu American Foundation), “Lakshmi: Goddess of Prosperity”, Hindu American Foundation, 2017, Hindu American Foundation, article text
- 5 things to know about Hanuman (Syama Allard, Hindu American Foundation), Syama Allard, “5 things to know about Hanuman”, Hindu American Foundation, 2021, Hindu American Foundation, article text
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 10, 2026. How we research