Hindu God, Decorative Furnitures, Designer Furnitures, Indian Furnitures
Articles of Mogulinterior
Hinduism functions at many levels. Some philosophers can appreciate formless, but others need to personify their God in a myraid forms and shapes.
BHAKTIYOGA

The Yoga of Devotion, takes two forms. The saints and mystics of India are those devotees who are lost in sublime adoration of their personal deity. Their devotion is so great that they see their Beloved everywhere. So they need no idols and perform no rituals.

Others perform rituals in the name of their personal Gods and Goddesses. These others form the majority of devotees across the land. They erect the temples, carve the images and celebrate the festivals. Idol worship is a part of ‘Bhaktiyoga’ – the Yoga of Devotion.

And so idols and icons abound. Personification makes the philosophy more understandable. And the philosophy behind each idol would fill a book.
BRAHMA-VISHNU-MAHESH
The Divine Trinity are worshipped as separate entities and yet considered One.

Brahma is the creator. There is no temple in this land of temples, barring one, devoted to Brahma. He is not worshipped. But why, is another story.

Vishnu is the Protector of the Universe.

Mahesh or Shiva – the Destroyer, dances his cosmic dance to keep the world in order. The world ends with his dance.
To create new, the old must be eliminated; what is created, must be protected; and to protect, evil must be destroyed. And thus the Divine Trinity.

PARVATI OR DURGA, THE GODDESS, THE DEVI

She is worshipped as the ‘Mother of the Universe’, the consort of Shiva, his other half and his strength. She is worshipped in a myriad forms and goes by a myriad names – fish eyed, open-tressed, beautiful, all powerful, one who rides a tiger, Devi with ten hands, killer of demons, wife of Shiva and so on.

The biggest festival connected with her is Durga Pooja (pooja=worship), celebrated most fervently by the people of that golden land, Bengal. It comes around the last quarter of the year and there is ten days of praying, socializing at the large prayer tents, feasting and invoking the Devi, all mixed up in true Indian style!
GANESH, THE ELEPHANT – HEADED GOD
The son of Shiva and Parvati, he has an elephant head, one tusk broken, a corpulent stomach and rides a mouse! What could be more awkward! And this awkward, ungainly deity, also called Ganapati, is beloved throughout the land.

His ungraceful appearance belies the beauty of his spiritual perfection.

He is the remover of all obstacles and his stomach protrudes because of all the obstruction he has swallowed! Therefore, he is invoked at the beginning of every endeavor.

He is worshipped even at the beginning of the worship of other Gods! The story woven around this is the race around the world that he had with his brother, at the behest of his parents. His brother sped off while Ganesh pondered and decided that, to him, his parents were his whole world. He, therefore, circled them where they stood. Delighted, they blessed him for the victory which he achieved through his wisdom. They decreed that, henceforth, Ganesha would be worshipped by all those who wanted to accomplish anything. And even Shiva worships him before embarking on any venture!

His elephant head he acquired as a boy while guarding his mother who was bathing. His father Shiva, who had never seen his son before, returned and decapitated the youth who dared to refuse him permission to enter the abode of Parvati, his wife. When he discovered that it was his own son whom he had beheaded, he cut off the head of the first animal he saw, an elephant, and put it on Ganesh’s body. And so was born Ganesh, the elephant-headed God.

The tusk is broken because he lost it in a fight, while guarding his father’s abode. He would not let the great sage Parashurama enter without his father’s permission and so had his tusk lopped off by the angry sage’s axe.

This symbolism explains the devotion that Ganesh inspires.
RAM, SITA, LAKSHMANA
Vishnu became Ram, the king of Ayodha, in one of his incarnations, His court always has his wife, Sita, and his brother, Lakshmana, on either side of him. Kneeling at his feet is his greatest devotee, the monkey God, Hanuman.

HANUMAN, THE MONKEY GOD

He is all-powerful incarnation of Shiva. So that man should never praise him more than his beloved Ram, he took the form of a monkey. Hindus worships Hanuman as he exemplifies the absence of ego and the meaning of devotion. Monkeys will always be found gathering around Hanuman temples as people see Hanuman in all monkeys, and feed them dozens of banana on Tuesday, the day he is worshipped.
LAKSHMI-NARAYANA
Lakshmi is the Goddess of Wealth and stands on a Lotus. She is the consort of Narayana, which is another name for Vishnu. Almost always with her Lord, her name is joined with his-hers first and then his. They are mostly worshipped together in their many incarnations. Sita-Ram, Radhe-Shyam, Radha-Krishna, Sri-Krishna and Lakshmi-Narayan are names that people adopt even for themselves. At Tirupati is a famous temple in which Vishnu, as Balaji, is worshipped, for once without his consort, and therein lies another tale…
KRISHNA
Another incarnation of Vishnu, the legend of his birth tells of the persecution by a wicked king and the parting of the river waters to lead him to safety. So endearing are the tales of his early childhood, that recounting them brings a smile and tear to many a mother’s eye. His gift to the world was the ‘Bhagavat Gita’, The Song Celestial, which sages and wise men the world over interpret, and whose philosophy is still being unraveled.
AARATI
In temples and homes, obeisance and offerings are made to all the idols and icons in a ceremony called ‘Arati’. A lamp is lit, a bell is rung, camphor and incense are burnt and an offering is made. The offering may be anything-sweets, flowers, food, clothes, jewelry, a fast that has been kept or a prayer. Shiva is so benign that he will accept even a leaf. And if the true devotee has not even that to give, he only has to say,

“Lord, had I a leaf, I would offer it to you”, and the Lord will accept even the intention!

Animal forms are common. This concept signifies the equal right that all creatures have over the Earth’s bounty. It subtly teaches man the importance of all living creatures in nature’s perfect harmony.
SNAKE WORSHIP

The word ‘snake’ has been given so many negative attributes. But it plays an important role in nature’s pest control. And so the Sages placed it in an exalted position. Vishnu, the protector of the Universe, reclines on the many headed serpent, Sesha Naga, (or Anatha). All snakes are therefore, revered and worshipped by placing a saucer of milk for them. The deadly cobra is worshipped especially as it is wrapped around the neck of Shiva, and milk is offered to Shiva in worship of his snake.

And therein lies the beauty of the religion that gives animals their due share of the Earth’s largesse.
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