Breakdown+of+Major+deities

There are many Hindu deities, too many to name on one page, so below is just an overview of the three main Hindu deities and the beliefs behind them. This particular subsection of Hinduism is based around the Hindu god Vishnu or one of his incarnations, for example Krishna or Rama. The people who follow this branch are called Vaishnavites or Vaishnavas. Vaishnavism is the biggest section of the Hindu religion and it itself has multiple subdivisions of it as well. The followers of Vaishnavism believe what some other religions believe as well in a way as they believe that there is only one supreme God or deity and in this case, it is the Hindu god Vishnu, the god of creation. Even though they support the idea of one major God or Deity, they still acknowledge that there are other gods out ther Followers of Vaishnavism believe that the God is someone who you can get to know and someone who you can have a relationship with. Vaishnavite have a name for God or major deity, //Purushottama// which when translated means “The supreme person”. Another belief of Vaishnavites is that although a person’s soul and God are two completely different entities, the human’s soul is dependent on God. **Shaivism - Shiva ** This denomination of Hinduism is based around the concept that the main or supreme god is the Hindu God Shiva, the god of destruction. The people who follow this particular denomination are called Shivites or Shivas. This particular denomination is considered to be the oldest denomination of Hinduism. There are many ideas behind Shaivism, some being: the relation between the human soul and the Supreme god, the nature of the human soul and the means to liberation. These ideas also have subsections of Shaivism attached to them. **Shaktism **– **Shakti** This is a denomination of the Hindu religion that is based upon worshipping the Divine Mother of the Universe who usually can be known as Devi (meaning Goddess), Kali or Shakti. These three deities, Shakti, Vishnu and Shiva are known as the trinity of divine gods. There are a few ways that the devotees of Shakti or the Divine Mother express their devotions towards their deity such as the occasional sacrifice of a goat, or for those who are against animal slaughter, melons or pumpkins.
 * Major Deities of the Hindu Religion **
 * Vaishnavism - Vishnu **

Resources:

DeviUs, Unknown, //Shaktism,// Viewed 6/12/11 [] Kheper, 2007, Shaktism, viewed 6/12/11 [] Jayaram. V, 2010, //Shaivism//, viewed 5/12/11 [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">Encyclopedia Brittanica, 2011, //Vaishnavism//, viewed 5/12/11 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">ReligionFacts, 2011, //Vaishnavism//, viewed 4/12/11 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">[]