The Holy Trinity; click above to visit their pages.
Rama is an incarnation of Vishnu. He is thought of as a perfect
man, perfect husband, and perfect king. He is always has a bow
and arrow and thus represents eternal readiness to destroy both
internal and external enemies. Devotion to Rama is one of the
most prevalent cults in all classes of Indian society. Sita, Rama' s wife, is considered to be the perfect wife and the
perfect woman.She remained completely devoted to Her husband under
the most trying of circumstances, even making Her home in the
forest, rather than living in splendor as befits a queen. Lakshmana, brother of Rama, showed his loyalty to His brother
by joining Him as He went to the forest. Right: Rama's ever loyal servant, Hanuman,
Rama
bows before Lakshmana, Rama and Sita
Hanuman, is the perfect devotee, ever willing to assist Rama and
Sita in every way, even at personal risk.
Hanuman
He is one of the main deities in the most villages of northern
India, his image is also found on every one of the ancient forts
of Southern India. The Puranas give many and varied accounts of
Hanuman's birth, but they all agree that he was endowed with extraordinary
valour, erudition, and devotion to Rama.
Excerpts from the Sanskrit literature (Kena Upanisad) state that
she is the eldest daughter of Himavat, the Himalaya, by Mena,
the latter according to Ramayana is the daughter of Meru. In classical
Hindu mythology the goddess Parvati and Durga are the most common names of Lord Shiva?s consort. She is also
known as: Ambika, Devi, Bhavani, Chandi, Chamunda, Gauri, Kali, Shakti and
Uma. She is particularly celebrated for her victories over several
Asures (demons) primarily being the buffalo demon Mahishasur,
Shumbha and Nishumbha, Chandh and Mundh. In relation to Shiva, Kali appears to play the opposite role from
that of Parvati. Parvati calms Shiva, counterbalancing his anti-social
or destructive tendencies. It is she who brings Shiva within the
sphere of domesticity and who, with her soft glances, urges him
to moderate the destructive aspects of his tandava dance. Kali
is Shiva?s "other" wife, as it were, provoking him and encouraging
him in his mad, antisocial, often disruptive habits. For more about this Goddess: www.durga.org
Parvati
Also known as Ganapati, Lord Ganesha is associated with success
and prosperity, and indeed, these are the names of his two wives
(Siddhi and Rddhi). Born of Parvati (see above), Ganesha lost his head when he tried
to stop Shiva entering his house while Parvati was bathing. On
seeing Parvati's sorrow over the deed, Shiva replaced it with
the head of the first living thing he came across. Everything which our senses can perceive or our mind ccan grasp
can be expressed in terms of kind (or category). Hence a category
is a fundamental element of existence. The principle of classification
through which the relations between different orders of things,
can be understood is called the lord-of-categories (Ganapati).
Ganesha
As Lord of categories, he is the scribe who writes down the Scriptures."You,
leader of categories, are the writer of this [Maha-] Bharata"
(Mahabharata 1.1.77. [527]). The Brahmanas accept him as the god
of learning.