This is one of the pictures I show, when lecturing about Indias religions to Swedish college students. These are the three major Hindu gods. The beautiful Brahma to the left is the Creator. Vishnu in the middle is upholder of the universe while Shiva to the right, is the destroyer of the Universe. They are standing in lotus flowers, the Lotus is the national flower of India, and considered a holy symbol. The amount of details in Hindu god pictures are vast, I normally use the pictures as entry point for questions.
The fact that there are 3 main gods, 3 is a holy number in many worldviews. The Christian trinity, and the Hindu Trimurti. Which one was first, I do not know, I am just stating the similarities in worshiping 3 icons.
#1 written by TWB oktober 23rd, 2009 at 13:28
I would guess the Trimurti would predate Christianity. The concept of the Christian trinity didn’t even come about until the Romans adopted it, I believe…
#2 written by eva januari 29th, 2010 at 15:33
But remember that Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma are the three major Hindu gods only “on paper”. In actual life Brahma is not worshiped at all, the three major Hindu gods being Vishnu, Shiva and Devi, the Goddess. There are popular representations of these three as Trimurti also, as well as of the three main female deities Durga/Parvati, Lakshmi and Sarasvati. Just google! Great blogg Johanna!
#3 written by Johanna februari 1st, 2010 at 15:33
Thanks for the enlightment! I actually never seen Devi incorporated in the Trimurti, you can never fully learn the Indian mythology thorugly as an outsider, can you? I might need to post a Devi-trimurti blogpost as well now, thanks Eva.