Oh my gods!

So, not that I'm turning hindu all of a sudden, but I think it's a rather awesome religion.

It's one of the worlds oldest religions and is completely non-organised and unofficial and is the predominant religion of the Indian sub-continent. It has, however no definitons and no founder between the many branches of hinduism practiced by over 900 million people in the region.

Do you ever have to que to go to church at home? No. that is just silly.

But you do have to frequently que to get into one of the thousands of temples that are spread across the land. From little concrete boxes with a poster of Vishnu to a 6 foot statue of Ganesh in ancient old heritage, UNESCO sites.

A simplified summary of the main themes of Hinduism, although very fuzzy edged, are:

Dharma - ethics/duties. Can be translated to "law" or "the teachings of the Buddha"

Samsāra - The ever continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth

Karma - We all know karma, our action and subsequent reaction

Moksha - liberation from samsara, the release from a worldly existence

Yogas - of infinite practices from meditated hyperventilating through your nostrils to no less than athletics!

So although there are hundreds and hundreds of deities they are not actually "individual gods". They are, rather, different representations of particular aspects of the one god, the creator known as Brahman.

So here are a few of my favourites and the more well known ones.

The Three Infinities:

Brahma, who grew in a lotus of the naval of the sleeping Vishnu.

however, he is The Creator, and we can thank him for the daily alteration of day and night.

Vishnu is The Preserver and protector of creation, He is an emodiment of mercy and goodness. He also maintains the cosmic order of Dharma.

Shiva is The Destroyer and basically follows Brahma and Vishnu around destroying the earth which Brahma tirelessly recreates. He is responsible for both negative change such as death and destruction but also in the positive sense of new beginnings and shedding old habits. I like him, he's crazy.

Ganesh is the Remover of All Obstacles and lord of existing beings. Shiva, creator or, you could say, father, cut off his head after Ganesh forbade him entry to see Parvati, one of Shiva's lady friends. He later replaced ganesh's head with an elephant head as the was the only thing available!

Goddess Sarasvati is the wife or Consort of Brahma and possesses the powers of speech, wisdom and learning. She has four hands representing four aspects of human personality in learning; mind, intellect, alertness and ego.

Lakshmi is the Consort of Lord Vishnu and is the goddess of Wealth, purity, chastity and generosity. Many businesses in India you will see ("Lakshmi Saris - best material in town!" etc) are named after Lakshmi for good luck.