• Annapurna is the Hindu goddess of food and cooking. Annapurna is empowered with the ability to supply food to an unlimited amount of people. Annapurna is an incarnation of the Hindu Goddess Parvati, the wife of Shiva.
Temple art in India often depicts Lord Shiva with his begging bowl (skull), asking Annapurna to provide him food that gives the energy (Shakti) to achieve knowledge and enlightenment.As such, Annapurna also symbolizes the divine aspect of nourishing care. The cook provides his guests with the energy to best follow their destiny. When food is cooked with a spirit of holiness, it becomes alchemy.
Images of Annapurna are also found in kitchens, near dinner tables and in restaurants. • Ganesha is widely revered as the Remover of Obstacles• Maya. The literal meaning of the word "Maya" is illusion. Maya is the principal deity that manifests, perpetuates and governs the illusion and dream of duality in the phenomenal Universe• Balrama (or Balarama) was born as the brother of Krishna. Balrama is a symbol of strenght, an obedient son, an ideal brother and husband, an ideal man and god.
He is a protector from desires, the divinity of strength or the strength of the divine, symbolizing duty, honesty and simplicity.• Garuda is the king of the birds and often acts as a messenger between the gods and men. Garuda has the head, wings, talons and beak of an eagle and the body and limbs of a man. Garuda's mother was Vinata and his father Kasyapa, the law-minded grandfather of the world, who did tapas at the banks of the Lamhitya. • Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music and all the creative arts.
Saraswati is called the Mother of the Veda's and the repository of Brahma's creative intelligence. Saraswati is also called Vak Devi, the goddess of speech.• Indra is the king of the gods and ruler of the heavens. Indra is the god of thunder and rain and a great warrior, a symbol of courage and strength.• Shakti is the divine force, manifesting to destroy demonic forces and restore balance.• Kali is the goddess of time and of the transformation that is death (Kala).
• Dhanwantari is the physican of the gods, the promulgator of the Ayurveda.• Kartikay is a son of Shiva and brother to Ganesha. While Ganesha symbolizes a spiritual attitude, Kartikay is the scientist of the gods.• Durga is an incarnation of Devi or the Mother Goddess, a unified symbol of all divine forces. For Shaivas, Durga is the wife of Shiva. For Vaishnavas and Shaktas Durga is another form of Uma or Parvati.
• Goddess ganga, who incarnated as the Ganga (Ganges) river• Lakshmi is the goddess of light, beauty, good fortune and wealth. Lakshmi was the daughter of the sage Bhrigu and took refuge in the ocean of milk when the gods were sent into exile. Lakshmi was reborn during the Churning of the Ocean.
