Brahma

Sadly, the Creator in Hiduism enjoys the least amount of reverence. Brahma was sidelined due to His decepetive ways and this you can read in an earlier posting on Lord Shiva. As such, Brahma, although having the important role of creating the universe and all life in it, is hardly given the kind of honour and respect other deities receive. He in fact is said to have only one temple dedicated to Him in Pushkar in Rajasthan.

Brahma is traditionally depicted with four heads and four faces and four arms. He initially is said to have five heads but literally lost one of its when turnng armorous, He kept staring at Shatarupa, a divine damsel He had created. Lord Shiva saw how Brahma was allowing lust to take over, chopped off the fifth head, aso because Shatarupa was conceived by Brahma, thus becoming His daughter. Bahma's lust was tantamount to incest.

The remaining four heads, he continually recites one of the four Vedas. He is often depicted with a white beard, indicating the near eternal nature of his existence. He is shown as having four arms, one holding a scepter in the form of a spoon, which is associated with the pouring of holy ghee or oil into a sacrificial pyre - indicating the fact that Brahma is the lord of sacrifices. Another of his hands holds a water-pot (sometimes depicted as a coconut shell containing water). The significance of the water is that it is the initial, all-encompassing ether in which the first element of creation evolved. Brahma also holds a string of rosary beads that he uses to keep track of the Universe's time. He also is shown holding the Vedas, and sometimes, a lotus flower.

Brahma's vehicle is a divine Swan. This divine bird is bestowed with a virtue called Neera-Ksheera Viveka or the ability to separate milk and water from a mixture of the two. The significance of this is that justice should be dispensed to all creatures, however entwined it might be in a situation. Also, this virtue indicates that one should learn to separate the good from the evil and then accept that which is valuable and discard that which is worthless or evil.

You wont find Brahma in most temples but even He gets a second chance in Thailand. Brahma is a popular deity there and has temples dedicated to him all over Thaniland. The most famous one is at the Erawan square, by the side of the Grand Hyatt hotel.

Vishnu

Lord Vishnu is the second aspect of the Hindu Trinity. After Lord Brahma finishes creating, the burden of preserving life in the universe falls onto the shoulders of Lord Vishnu. He is depicted as a handsome man with a bluish skin tone and is often the most benign of all the deities in the Hindu pantheon. Well, actually no. Lord Vishnu too had to assume the terrifying form of Narasimha (the half man, half lion avatar) to vanquish the evil king Hiranyan when adharma (injustice and loss of truth) reached devastating proportions.

But generally, Lord Vishnu presents the benevelont and loving aspect of the divinity. He is often portrayed meditating or in deep sleep (yoga nidra) on the giant serpent Adisesha, floating on the Milk Ocean, with his consort Lakshmi by his side.

Vishnu of course, is also the protoganist of Hinduism's two biggest epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In Ramayana, He appears as the embodiment of the perfect son, man, husband and ruler. In Mahabharata, He appears as Krishna, who guides the Pandawa brothers to victory against the Kaurawas. He is also the Lord who introduced the Bhagavadgita, one of Hindusim holiest scriptures. The image of Vishnu in all His might, embodying every aspect of the universe, was revealed when Arjna began to despair that he had to resort to killing his own kin in the war. Krishna assuages him by revealing that ultimately, everything is in HIm, that everything is HIM!

But to many, Krishna is the adorable rascal who is well-known for his pranks and fooloery with the Gopis (cow sherperdess).

Here's an exceprt from www.webonautics.com/mythology/vishnu.html that explains the basic iconography of Lord Vishnua and His four arms.

"In my lower right hand, which represents the revolving or creative tendencies, I hold the conch; the symbol of the five elements.

In the upper right hand, which represents cohesive tendencies, I hold the discus; shining like an infat sun - symbol of the mind.

In the upper left hand, which represents the tendecy towards dispersion and libertion, I hold the lotus; symbol of causal power and of illusion from which the universe rises.

In my lower left hand, wihch represents the notion of indivdual existence. I hold the mace; symbol of primeval knowledge."

More of Ganesha

From top to bottom:

1. An ancient carving of Ganesha from Prambanan in Jogjakarta, near the Borobudur complex.

2. Granite carving of Ganesha from South India.

3. Tanjavur painting from Tamiil Nadu, India.

4. Tibetan metal sculpture of Ganehsa.

Omnipresent Ganesha

So wide is the appeal of Lord Ganesha that you can find Him the whole of Asia. The exquisite representations of Ganesha within each community is simply a beautiful way of worshiping this adorable deity.

From top to bottom: Ganesha in Cambodia, Angkor, Bali, Nepal and Orissa in India.