How many Gods does the Hindu religion have?
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There is but one god in the Hindu faith.  Hindu's believe though that this one god presents itself to people in the ways that they need it.  That is why there are so many gods in Hinuism, because they are representations of different aspects of the same god.\nThis is similar to the Trinity of the Christian religion.  There is only one God in the Christian faith, but he is represented by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
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Hinduism, Islam, Budhism, Christianity, Jainism, Sikhism are main
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In the middle:  the Buddha (an avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism), reincarnation, aim of life is to be free from the cycle of rebirth\n\nIn the only Hindu part:  asceticism, the Hindu gods (Shiva, Vishnu, Kali, Durga, etc.), the Hindu saints (Alvars and Nayanmars), the Hindu scriptures and epics (Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata), the varnas (caste), the Laws of Manu, the 4 stages of man (student, householder, forest-dweller, wandering ascetic), gurus, Hindu temples\n\nIn the only Buddhist part:  the Middle Way, bodhisattvas, Buddhist temples and monuments, and maybe especially expansion to Tibet and China where Vajrayana and Mahayana practices, respectively, were elaborated.
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Most popular and worshipped hindu god is shiva. (Krishna was never a god but an avatar... god manifest in human form)-\n\n\nShiva lingam is the most worshipped entity in the Hinduism religion. We find Shiva temples having a Shiva lingam installed in them at every nook and corner of India nay world. Why?\n\nShiva who is considered as a part of the Trinity in hinduism represents the most powerful among all the three entities. The first being Brahma... the creator! The second being Vishnu the maintainer (preserver) and the last being Mahesh (Shiva) the destroyer!\n\nAnd why is the entity of Shiva considered as the most powerful? It is because one who finally makes the system go round is Shiva. Brahma creates and Vishnu maintains the creation but unless and until Shiva destroys one who is born... every entity would grow beyond limits.\n\n\nBased upon the theory of karma... when the time comes... it is Shiva who has to snuff out life so that there can be a new beginning... a new start! Unless and until the decaying body withers and dies out... a new life can never germinate.\n\nTo maintain balance in the whole of Cosmos is the responsibility of Shiva. And why is so much significance attached to the Shiva lingam that people worship it.\n\n\nThe reasons are absolutely clear... everyone fears death and none wants untimely death! To ward of the evil effects of death people worship Shiva lingam with total submission. It is the faith in the power of the Shiva that people pay their obeisance to the Shiva lingam.\n\nOn the other part Shiva lingam denotes the power of the lingam. It is symbolic of the creative power of the Cosmos. It is the lingam which is able to create a life on Mother Earth as God meant it to be.\n\nProperly used... this power can be transmuted into pure creative energy. It is this power which when subdued wisely leads to the awakening of the Kundalini in human beings and man in particular. The awakening of the Kundalini can never occur otherwise. More here- http://www.godrealized.com/shivalingam.html
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hindu is a great nice peacefull tolerant culture/religion. I am not one, but I welcome them all.\non a scale of 1-10 i give them a 9.
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animism is still very much part of hinduism. we believe god is present everywhere. rishi kanad declared everying is made of atoms(kana). it also accepted that whole world is made of 5 elements (earth,water,fire,air and space). and \nevery element is a form of god.\n\ni do not know about Tantric rituals as such. but often a milder form of it is still practiced. even on internet. you will find tantrik raksha kavatch sold on line. there are yntras representing god and mantras to recite revering it in that form. \n\nmostly these pooja are more related with mother Kali or Kal Bhairav(a form of shiva, time personified). \n\n some tantrik sects still do exist. and I would not be surprised if there are some of them still following full fledged tantric rituals. some of these sects were not respected that much, you know why i guess. but people still believe in their powers. and were too afraid of them to criticize at their face. still are. \n\nbuddhist also had a tantric sect and goddess Tara was the chief goddess.\n\nshamans are still out there. mostly in tribal areas or villages but even in big cities tantrik have a good buissness. though most of them are frauds. even muslim shamans are present.\n\n\n\nregarding Ali's post:\n\nwell dear we do not need muslim scholar to tell what you are saying. we already know it. it is a long established fact; for some 3000 years now . i am surprised that only one muslim scholar was able to find that out! man! that is slow.
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Universe is a creation of God. And only thing that can create itself is God and all others are His creation. This is what a Hindu believes.
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You should do some reading up on Hinduism, specifically samsara, and Shiva and Vishnu. Not exactly the same idea, but a similar concept.
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Hinduism (real name Sanatan Dharma- Eternal Relgion), is basically a way of life.\n\nAnybody worshipping the God by any name or by any ritual is a Hindu in broad terms.\n\nAll the religions in the world are sub-sets of Santan Dharma for example christians follow the Bhakti Yoga path of hinduism and muslims follow the Karma Yoga path..with some deviations.\n\nThe main soul of hinduism is its deep philosophy which mainly deals with the mysteries of the Universe, creation, evolution, life, Death and God.\n\nThe philosophy of hinduism is found in Upanishadas and Gita with no fairy tales but concrete logics to show the truth
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hinduism is not a religion inwestern sence. it is a culture and includes the beliefs of whole india. hindu=indu=indian.\n\nthere is know known origin. its oldest beliefs go way back. even before bronze age.\n\nbuddha started his preachings in Sarnath, Varanasi.\n\nSikhism was organised by Guru govind Singh in punjab. he started is as martial branch of hinduism to fight muslims agaist percecution of hindus.
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well i am hindu. so i am always free to change my view.\n\n i worship god in abstract form and also believe in his so many other symbolic forms. a hindu never feels 100% out of place in any kind of relegious place or ceremony. so i can live with that. it will be only one of my beliefs cancelled.:)
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Thats a vague question.\nWell, there are 3 main Gods. Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the protector), and Shiva (the destroyer). \nHindus believe in Karma, reincarnation, and samsara (life cycle through reincarnation) until the achievement of Moksha which is unity with God. It can be achieved with supremely good Karma. Karma, as you should know, is the idea that what goes around comes around. Reincarnation is the idea that we are reborn into the world with another life after death. We only freed from this when we achieve Moksha.\nThe caste system is comprised of 6 main castes, with the Brahmans on the top and the Untouchables on the bottom. The system no longer exists in mainstream India today.
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Vishnu is regarded as a major god in Hinduism and Indian mythology. He is thought as the preserver of the universe while two other major Hindu gods Brahma and Shiva, are regarded respectively, as the creator and destroyer of the universe. \n\nThe original worship of Vishnu, by the Aryan conquerors of India or the original Dravidian inhabitants is not definitely known. In the ancient Vedas, the body of literature known as the Veda, and sacred literature of the Aryan conquerors, Vishnu is ranked among the lesser gods and is usually associated with the major Vedic god Indra who in the epics and Puranas fights against dragons and demonic forces. These latter writings emerge during the later development of Hinduism. \n\nIt is throughout this literature and especially through incarnations that Vishnu is raised to higher rankings within the Hindu pantheon. He becomes the prominent second god of the Trimurti, the Hindu Triad, while Brahma is first and Shiva is third. \n\nIn some Puranic literature Vishnu is said to be eternal, an all-pervading spirit, and associated with the primeval waters that are believed to have been omnipresent before the creation of the universe. \n\nThe concept of Vishnu being the preserver of the world came relatively late in Hinduism. Presumedly it sprang from two other beliefs: that men attain salvation by faithfully following predetermined paths of duty, and that powers of good and evil (gods and demons) are in contention for domination over the world. When these powers are upset Vishnu, it is further believed, descends to earth, or his avatar, to equalized the powers. Further it is thought that ten such incarnations or reincarnations of Vishnu will occur. Nine descents are said to have already occurred, the tenth is yet to come. Rama and Krishna were the seventh and eighth. \n\nAnother interesting speculation concerning Vishnu's role as preserver among many modern scholars is that it is characteristic of the practitioners of Hinduism to raise local legendary heroes to gods in the Hindu pantheon. \n\nVishnu is portrayed as blue or black shinned and has four arms. He has a thousand names and their repetition is an act of devotion
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Short answer: people.\n\n"Hinduism (Sanskrit: हिन्दू धर्म, Hindū Dharma, also known as सनातन धर्म, Sanātana Dharma) is a religion that originated on the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism encompasses many religious beliefs, practices, and denominations. Most Hindus believe in a supreme cosmic spirit called Brahman, who is worshipped in many forms, represented by individual deities such as Vishnu, Shiva and Shakti. Hinduism centers around a variety of practices that are meant to help one experience the divinity that is everywhere and realize the true nature of the Self."\n\n"Modern Hinduism evolved from the ancient Vedic tradition (Vaidika paramparā). Prominent themes in Hinduism include Dharma (individual ethics, duties and obligations), Samsāra (rebirth), Karma (right action), and Moksha (salvation). Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism all share some traits in common with Hinduism, as all these religions originated in India, and all focus on self-improvement for the ultimate purpose of attaining personal spiritual experience."
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one god too many forms. just like different facets of a diamond. did you ever heard of the story of an elephant and 4 blind folded persons. each of them was touching different part and expling differently about it. that is how the different relegions describe god.\n\n  posts above me have explained it beautifully. i just want to add thatn hinduism rather includes than excludes. do you know jesus was almost going to be an avatar ? britishers jumped to save it from indianization and in their words currption. \n\n  a grat deal of this harmony is credited to Gupta dynasty. the Gupta kings worked very hard and wisely. this unity was the result of many wise and great men who intermingled different sects and  resultent hindu philosophies. you will get Suprme God as well as Suprme Goddess . and they are not rivals. they make each other complete. they made up even new gods to stop arguments and lead them to monothism. we have an Ardhnarishvar (half man half woman ) idols to represent that they are one. that is combination of a male God and Mother Goddess and it defused tention about if god is a he or she. the god Harihar (Hari + Har)repesented both Lord Shiva and  Lord Vishnu. Hari means Vishnu Har means Shiva. it united two main sects of shaivites and vaishnavas ... result is that all the avatars are form of either vishnu or shiva. but they are one so all gods are one. all the goddesses are form of one goddess Shakti . and Shakti and Shiva are a couple and united they are Ardhanarishwar so again only one god in the end...besides that Upanishads say god has no form. thats ok because he has no definite form thats why he can appear in any form. \n\nif you are atheist thats fine too. just do good work. God is too great to punish someone because he does not believe him. he does not need their confirmation.\n    \n  Great teachers taught  to respect mutual beliefs and the feeling has been strengthened with time. thats how there are so many relegious schools flourished in India. That is our heritage we are most proud of .\n\neven many muslim asctetics in India helped this feeling. some sufi saints followed the local culture and mingled the basic concept of hinduism and islam. unfortunately not many muslims followed them.
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CONCEPT OF GOD IN HINDUISM\nby Dr. Zakir Naik\n \n1.   \nCommon Concept of God in Hinduism:\n \n Hinduism is commonly perceived as a polytheistic religion. Indeed, most Hindus would attest to this, by professing belief in multiple Gods. While some Hindus believe in the existence of three gods, some believe in thousands of gods, and some others in thirty three crore i.e. 330 million Gods. However, learned Hindus, who are well versed in their scriptures, insist that a Hindu should believe in and worship only one God.\n\nThe major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim perception of God is the common Hindus’ belief in the philosophy of Pantheism. Pantheism considers everything, living and non-living, to be Divine and Sacred. The common Hindu, therefore, considers everything as God. He considers the trees as God, the sun as God, the moon as God, the monkey as God, the snake as God and even human beings as manifestations of God!\n\nIslam, on the contrary, exhorts man to consider himself and his surroundings as examples of Divine Creation rather than as divinity itself. Muslims therefore believe that everything is God’s i.e. the word ‘God’ with an apostrophe ‘s’. In other words the Muslims believe that everything belongs to God. The trees belong to God, the sun belongs to God, the moon belongs to God, the monkey belongs to God, the snake belongs to God, the human beings belong to God and everything in this universe belongs to God.\n\nThus the major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim beliefs is the difference of the apostrophe ‘s’. The Hindu says everything is God. The Muslim says everything is God’s.\n \n \n2.   \n  \nConcept of God according to Hindu Scriptures:\n \n We can gain a better understanding of the concept of God in Hinduism by analysing Hindu scriptures. \n\nBHAGAVAD GITA\n\nThe most popular amongst all the Hindu scriptures is the Bhagavad Gita. \n\nConsider the following verse from the Gita:\n\n"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures."\n                   [Bhagavad Gita 7:20]\n\nThe Gita states that people who are materialistic worship demigods i.e. ‘gods’ besides the True God.\n \n \nUPANISHADS:\n\nThe Upanishads are considered sacred scriptures by the Hindus. \n\nThe following verses from the Upanishads refer to the Concept of God:\n\n"Ekam evadvitiyam"\n"He is One only without a second."\n        [Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1]1\n\n"Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah."\n"Of Him there are neither parents nor lord."\n         [Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9]2\n\n"Na tasya pratima asti"\n"There is no likeness of Him."\n        [Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19]3\n\nThe following verses from the Upanishad allude to the inability of man to imagine God in a particular form:\n\n"Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam."\n\n"His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye."\n        [Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20]4\n\n\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n1[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 447 and 448]\n[Sacred Books of the East, volume 1 ‘The Upanishads part I’ page 93]\n\n2[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 745]\n[Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page 263.]\n\n3[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 736 & 737]\n[Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page no 253]\n\n4[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 737]\n[Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page no 253]\n \n \n \n  \n\nTHE VEDAS\nVedas are considered the most sacred of all the Hindu scriptures. There are four principal Vedas: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda.\n\n\n \n Yajurveda\nThe follow
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There are an infinite number of Gods. Ultimately, They all come from the same source of Divinity, as do we.