Hindu symbols

Sacred symbols of Hinduism and their place in worship and daily life.

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Sacred diagrams

Sri YantraA diagram of nine interlocking triangles around a central dot, surrounded by circles and petals. In the Sri Vidya tradition it is the form of the goddess Lalita Tripurasundari, and is worshipped as such.

Emblems of the deities

TrishulaThe trident of Shiva. The Himalayan Academy calls it the royal sceptre of Saivism, the Hindu tradition devoted to Shiva.
DamaruThe hand drum of Shiva as Nataraja, lord of the dance. Its beat is the first sound of creation and the rhythm of time.
ShankhaThe conch shell, the special emblem of Vishnu, and a trumpet still blown in Hindu worship.
Sudarshana ChakraThe spinning discus of Vishnu, a weapon against all evil forces. As Chakrattalwar it is worshipped in its own right.

Auspicious objects

OmA sacred sound and syllable in Hinduism, chanted at the start and end of prayers and recitations.

About hindu symbols

Many Hindu symbols are first of all the things the gods hold. In temple images Vishnu carries the conch and the discus, often with a lotus, and Shiva carries the trident and the drum. Worshippers meet the same objects in their own practice. In puja a Kalasha, a pot crowned with mango leaves and a husked coconut, can stand for any God, according to the Himalayan Academy, and in temple worship the conch marks important moments, such as the opening of the sanctum doors.

Emblems in the hands of the gods

The emblems tell the deities apart. T. A. Gopinatha Rao's Elements of Hindu Iconography (1914) calls the conch, discus and club peculiar to Vishnu, and the trident the favourite weapon of Shiva; the discus is carried by Durga too. Some emblems have stories of their own. In the Vishnu Purana, the divine craftsman Vishvakarma grinds some of the sun's brilliance off on his lathe and makes the discus and the trident of Shiva from what falls. The Mahabharata tells instead that Krishna received his discus from Pavaka.

Yantra and puja

Goddesses are worshipped with the Sri Yantra, or Sri Chakra: V. D. N. Rao's commentary on the Saundaryalahari names Durga at Tiruvannamalai and Sharadamba at Sringeri among them. Subhash Kak reads its central dot, the bindu, as the potential of Shiva and Shakti undivided. At a wedding the priest fills a copper kalash with water and invokes in it the water of all rivers and oceans, as the Hindu American Foundation describes, and many households keep a conch in a sacred space.

Sources

Elements of Hindu Iconography, Vol. I, Part I, T. A. Gopinatha Rao, 1914, Law Printing House, Madras (Internet Archive, Cornell University Library copy), Introduction: definition and description of terms
Vishnu Chaturanama, Victoria and Albert Museum, Summary
Sacred Symbols, Himalayan Academy
Conches: Ocean Depths to Temple Steps, January–March 2026, Hinduism Today (Himalayan Academy)
The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition, Translated by H. H. Wilson, 1840, John Murray, London (Internet Archive, Digital Library of India copy), Book I; Book III, chapter 2
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1: Books 1, 2 and 3, Translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, Project Gutenberg, Book 1 (Adi Parva), Khandava-daha Parva, section CCXXVII
Quintessence of Soundarya Lahari, Edited and translated by V. D. N. Rao, kamakoti.org (Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham)
The Great Goddess Lalita and the Sri Chakra, Swarajya (Subhash Kak)
What’s a Hindu wedding like?, Hindu wedding primer, Hindu American Foundation

Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 25, 2026. How we research