(7) HINDU

 

Another mythology as part of an active religion – indeed, the third largest religion, although it might be more accurately described as mythologies or religions, given the diversity of Hinduism.

It is perhaps the most cheerfully and flamboyantly polytheistic of modern religions, with all its gods and their avatars, although Hinduism itself can be polytheistic, pantheistic, panentheistic, pandeistic, henotheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist – depending on how philosophical one is towards it.

The classifications vary, but modern Hinduism is often classified into four major denominations by primary deity – Vaishnavism by Vishnu (or his avatars, often Krisha or Rama), Shaivism by Shiva, Shaktism by Devi (or manifestations of the supreme goddess) or Smartism by a combination of five deities. Of which I obviously prefer Shaktism for worship of the goddess – she is the goddess and this is her body, o yes!

However, it is a mythology or mythologies of which I have only the most basic knowledge – primarily of their literally colorful deities with all their arms, avatars and trinities. The trinity of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. The supreme goddess Devi or Shakti in all her forms and trinities – most commonly Saraswati, Laskshmi and Parvati, with Kali perhaps as the most distinctive form of Parvati known outside Hinduism. And of course Ganesha, because I have a soft spot for animal-headed deities.

 

SACRED SPACE & CHTHONIC BLUES

 

Hindu mythology has its sacred spaces and mythic worlds, including a number that would be described as hells or underworlds but without widespread name recognition beyond Hinduism. For that matter, the heavens and hells of Hinduism seem somewhat abstract – and the world itself seems mythic in Hindu mythology, with the world as “maya” or illusion (personified as the goddess Durga).

Or “lila” – a way of describing all reality, including the cosmos, as divine play.

 

APOCALYPSE HOW

 

Hindu mythology has its apocalypse as part of its cyclical cosmology – and again one of the most famous, the Kali Yuga, “the fourth, shortest, and worst of the four yugas” or world ages, ending in cosmic cataclysm and rebirth.

 

EQUAL RITES

 

Hindu mythology ranks highly for equal rites. One of the major denominations within Hinduism is Shaktism, based around Shakti, the divine feminine as supreme principle or power and symbolized as the Mahadevi or Great Goddess.

 

DIVINE COMEDY

 

A mythology that alternatively proposes reality as maya or illusion, and lila or divine play, is clearly one that features divine comedy and trickster figures.

 

TWILIGHT OF THE GODS

 

My top ten mythology entry that is going strongest against the twilight of its gods, not just in its ongoing cultural impact and influence but its continuity as a major religion – indeed as the worlds’ third largest religion, with approximately 1.2 billion followers.

 

RATING 4 STARS****
A-TIER (TOP TIER)