Hindu Gods and Goddesses

The crowded pantheon of Hinduism, magnificently represented in art and dramatically described in the great classics of Hindu religious literature, is a fascinating but often complex subject. Hindu Gods and Goddesses is a modest contribution to an understanding of the major groups of deities that feature in the Vedas, Epics and Puranas as well as in Hindu folk religion. The deities are chosen from a delightful but often neglected group of bronzes, many illustrated for the first time, that are mainly nineteenth century South Indian in origin. The text provides a brief account of the rich mythology associated with the principal deities. Its explanation of terms, the diagrammatic guide to symbols and hand gestures and the index make this a useful and straight forward introduction to Hindu iconography.