Here is your Essay on the Basic Cults and Deities of Hinduism !
It is significant that, although various sects of Hinduism follow their own sets of literature, most of the Hindus recognize the sacredness of Vedas – the oldest text of Hinduism. “Vedism was almost entirely concerned with the cult of fire sacrifice, (Yajna) and the continual regeneration of the universe that resulted from it. By means of the correspondences that linked the ritual to both the macrocosms and the microcosms, the sacrifice simultaneously contributed to the welfare of the transcendental order and furthered his own interest.
These correspondences were explored in the philosophical Vedic texts, the Upanishads in which a search for the knowledge that would liberate man from repeated death led to the earliest formulations of Hinduism”. The chief Vedic Gods are Brahma the creator. Vishnu the protector God of extensor and pervasiveness and Siva the preserver and destroyer. It is significant that the major deities of Hinduism have many forms based on distinctive mythology.
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For example, “Vishnu has a number of incarnations, the chief of which are Rama (man), Krishna (man). The idea behind the many forms is that God periodically allows himself to be reborn on earth, to overcome evil and restore righteousness Hindu mythology has depicted numerous deities-major and minor. A significant number of these deities are the Gad of capture viz, Indra (the God of Sky), Agni (the God of fire), Varna (the God of water).
The Vahana (vehicles) in the form of birds or animals on which Gods/Goddesses sit, the sun, moon, stars, rivers, mountains, lakes, animals, snakes are also worshipped in Hinduism. Besides, there are important lopsided deities in Hinduism in Various parts of the country viz, goddess Kali and Manasa are popular in Bengal. Some localized deities also become universally accepted in Hinduism over a period of time viz.
Mata Santoshi and Goddess Vaishnadevi of northern India, Srivenkatesh of Tirupati, South India. The trends of localized manifestation of some deities and universalisation of serene local deities are of great sociological significance. There are enormous ties of localized culture in the great tradition of Hinduism. These ties are often reflected in the popularity of localized deities and in the patterns of their universalisation.