Gods, Goddesses and Religious Symbols of Hinduism, Buddhism and Tantrism

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Nepal is very rich in images of gods and goddess.. Everywhere there are gods and goddess., temples and shrines. Sometimes, they are crowning the hill tops, hugging the banks of holy rivers and ponds, sheltered in cleft side caves, scattered in terraces, on roads, etc. About Kathmandu Valley it is aptly said that tempies and shrines outnumber the houses. Similarly, there are more gods and goddesses than the inhabitants. Many of these gods and goddesses are easy to identify owing to their attributes and vehicles but some even defy identification.

In the Kathmandu Valley, unquestioning belief in gods and goddesses pervades. A melange of faiths mingle and coexist with tolerance seldom seen elsewhere in the world. Therefore, some of the Hindu and Buddhist sages who have trekked the Kathmandu Valley in the last decades called this an Himalayan paradise.

Daniel Wright, a famous historian estimated in 1900's that there were more than 2733 shrines and temples in the Kathmandu Valley. In this computation the shrines in private households were not counted. This number has increased as the religious belief is still the essence of Nepal.

The festivals still dictate the life of people which is based on the rhythms of the ancient lunar calendar and rigidly based upon astrological calculations which mark the entire aspects of the life and ecosystem like the phenomenon of the change of seasons and the acts of paying homages to the multitude of the gods and goddesses.

In Nepal, there is syncretism of Hinduism and Buddhism also as such it has also influenced deities. Therefore, in many cases there is no compartmentalization of Hindu and Buddhist deities. These deities can be studied under the following

heads :

I. Some Unique Gods and Goddesses

2. Hindu Deities

3. Buddhist Deities

4. Hybrid and-Tantric Deities

In Hindu and Buddhist religions there are large number of ritual objects which are used during worship. Various symbols are of great importance and significance.

**Contents and Sample Pages**