The purpose of vedic rituals is to take us, by degrees, to this state. So long as we believe that the world is real we worship the deities so as to be vouchsafed happiness. And this world ...

Agni, the fire god, was the heart of Vedic rituals. As the divine messenger, he carried offerings from humans to the gods through sacrificial flames. Every household revered him, and his presence ...

A key concept found in the Vedic texts is sacrifice, which often involved animals or plants and nonliving materials like spices and cloth. The ritual acts and words of sacrifice were the primary means ...

The Vasus were replaced by more personified nature gods. Indra, once the supreme god, was demoted to a minor celestial ruler in Puranic texts. The Vedic gods weren’t forgotten because they failed.

With these invading tribes came their deities. These Aryan gods became known in India as the Vedic Gods. These Vedic gods, like most ancient Aryan gods, are depicted in an anthropomorphic way.

Sacrifice was offered to different vedic gods (devas) who lived in different realms of a hierarchical universe divided into three broad realms: earth, atmosphere and sky. Earth contains the plant ...

Folk deities in innumerable temples have gradually attained the status of Vedic gods, with the metamorphosis seen in every aspect ranging from the temple structure to the performance of rituals.

As well as a belief in reincarnation, karma and the caste system, Hinduism saw the old Vedic gods merge with an array of popular and native gods. The goddess Sri-Lakshmi on this coin became the ...