This page brings together the sacred images of Hinduism: what worshippers place before them, which deity it is, the signs that identify it, where it stands in the temple, and how it differs from region to region. The library uses photos of real statues, paintings and temples, and does not redraw images of the deities. The only drawing on the page is a diagram of a temple. Under each photo are the photographer's name and the licence. The names of the deities are kept in the Latin spelling familiar in English, because Vietnamese has no single agreed transcription. The Champa material follows UNESCO, the Museum of Cham Sculpture in Đà Nẵng and Wikipedia.
IWhat a murti is and how Hindus understand sacred images
The sacred image of Hinduism is called a murti. Britannica defines a murti as an image or statue of a deity used for worship, placed in homes, in temples and in public places. In Sanskrit the word murti means form, the embodiment of a deity. Two other names are vigraha (form) and pratima (likeness). A murti may have a human shape or may be a symbol, and it is made of many materials, from stone and bronze to clay.
Source: Britannica, Murti.According to an essay by the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, Hindus do not regard the Divine as being only inside the statue. The Divine is present throughout the universe. A consecrated image is likened to a window opening toward God, the way the Supreme comes down close to the life of the family and the community. Vidya Dehejia, writing for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, says that Hindus see the many deities as the many facets of a single diamond: the Infinite is one, its facets are countless.
Source: Harvard University, The Pluralism Project, Murti: The Image of God. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vidya Dehejia, Hinduism and Hindu Art.Britannica notes that within the Hindu tradition there are many different explanations of the use of murtis in ritual, and a whole history of debate about it. This page describes worship with images, which is common in temples and in homes, and does not treat it as the only way.
Source: Britannica, Murti.Consecration: from statue to sacred image
A newly carved statue is not yet a sacred image. It becomes one after the consecration rite called prana pratishtha, meaning the establishing of the breath of life. According to the Pluralism Project, the statue is immersed for one night in water, one night in grain and one night in flower petals. The craftsman opens the eyes of the statue. The priest sets a mirror before its face so that its first gaze is reflected back onto the image itself. On the last day the divine presence is invoked with prayers beside the fire. The website of BAPS, a Hindu denomination, describes this rite in eight steps, among them covering the statue with grain, bathing it, and then removing the layer of butter and honey over its eyes with a golden needle in front of a mirror. The details of the rite vary from one tradition and one region to another.
Source: Harvard University, The Pluralism Project, Murti: The Image of God. BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, Murti Pratishtha.After consecration the image is treated as an honoured guest dwelling in the temple. According to the Pluralism Project, a priest must be in attendance to make offerings every day of the week and every week of the year.
Source: Harvard University, The Pluralism Project, Murti: The Image of God.Darshan and puja
Darshan in Sanskrit means seeing. Going to the temple is above all a matter of seeing the sacred image and being seen in return by the deity. Britannica stresses that this is a two-way exchange: the worshipper receives blessing by beholding, and the deity also sees the worshipper. That is why the eyes of a statue matter so much, and why the opening of the eyes is a step of the consecration rite.
Source: Britannica, Darshan. Harvard University, The Pluralism Project, Murti: The Image of God.Puja is the act of worship, from a few minutes a day at home to long ceremonies in the temple. In its simplest form, puja is the offering of flowers or fruit before the image. In the temple the deity is received like a royal guest: woken in the morning, bathed, dressed, offered three meals and put to rest in the evening. Worshippers walk around the image or the shrine, which is called pradakshina. The lamp offering, called arti, is the waving of a burning lamp in circles before the image. The bathing of the image with water, milk, honey, yogurt and sandalwood paste is called abhishekam.
Source: Britannica, Puja. Harvard University, The Pluralism Project, Murti: The Image of God.
The library does not use close-up photos of the faces of people at worship. The procession photo was chosen because the palanquin with the image is its subject.
IISacred images without human form
Besides statues in human form, Hinduism has sacred images with no carved face or limbs. The three most common are the linga of Shiva, the shalagrama stone of Vishnu and the yantra used in the worship of the Goddess.
Source: Britannica, Lingam. Wikipedia, Shaligram. Britannica, Yantra.Linga
lingam, liṅgaHow to recognize: A smooth round pillar, usually set on a disc-shaped yoni base with a rim and a spoutThe linga (lingam) is the object of worship that stands for the god Shiva. In Sanskrit the word means sign. The linga is usually set on a yoni, and the pair of linga and yoni stands for the union of the male and female principles. In a Shiva temple the linga is at the very centre of the shrine, with images of other deities placed around it. Worshippers offer milk, water, fresh flowers, young grass, fruit, leaves and rice. A linga carved with one or more faces of the god is called a mukhalinga. Some linga are natural stones believed to have appeared by themselves, called svayambhuva. Britannica gives the Gudimallam linga, from the 3rd century BCE, as the earliest surviving linga.
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Shalagrama
shaligramHow to recognize: A smooth black stone, often with the spiral of a fossil ammoniteA shalagrama (shaligram) is a stone containing an ancient fossil ammonite, gathered from the bed and banks of the Kali Gandaki river in Nepal. Worshippers of Vishnu regard each stone as a manifestation of him. The stones are small and easy to carry, so they are worshipped at home as well as in temples. The worship is very simple: tulasi leaves and water.
Yantra
śrī yantraHow to recognize: A geometric diagram drawn or engraved on the ground, paper, stone or metalA yantra is a linear diagram used as a support for ritual in the Tantric traditions. Some yantras are drawn for the occasion and erased after the rite, others are engraved in stone and metal to be kept permanently in a temple. The Sri Yantra, also called the Shrichakra, is used in the worship of the Goddess Shakti. It consists of nine interlocking triangles, five pointing down and four pointing up, around a central point called the bindu.
IIIHow to recognize a deity
Hindu images of the gods often have many arms, sometimes many heads. According to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, many arms express the great power of the deity and the ability to do many things at once. Each hand holds an object or makes a gesture, and it is these attributes that tell which deity it is.
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vidya Dehejia, Hinduism and Hindu Art.Three signs are worth looking at first: the objects held in the hands, the vehicle (vahana) standing below or beside the figure, and the hairstyle or headdress. Vishnu wears a tall crown and much jewellery. Shiva wears the matted, piled-up hair of an ascetic. The table below gathers the main signs according to the sources read.
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vidya Dehejia, Recognizing the Gods. Britannica, Vishnu. Britannica, Shiva.Britannica gives the vehicle of Ganesha as a large Indian rat, while The Metropolitan Museum of Art simply says a mouse. The Metropolitan Museum of Art gives the lion as the vehicle of Parvati, and Parvati appears in the form of Durga.
IVVishnu and his avatars
Vishnu is the god who preserves. Those who honour Vishnu as the Supreme belong to the Vaishnava tradition. Vishnu is believed to have descended into the world many times in avatars, called avatara. The familiar list has ten avatars: the fish, the tortoise, the boar, the man-lion, the dwarf, Rama with the axe, Rama, Krishna, the Buddha and Kalkin. Britannica notes that these ten are not always the same from one list to another.
Source: Britannica, Vishnu. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vidya Dehejia, Hinduism and Hindu Art.Vishnu
ViṣṇuHow to recognize: Four hands holding conch, discus, mace and lotus. Tall crown, much jewelleryVishnu is shown standing, seated or reclining. His four hands hold the conch (shankha), the discus (chakra), the mace (gada) and the lotus (padma). His skin is dark. On his chest is the shrivatsa mark, and around his neck the Kaustubha jewel. Beside him there usually stand the goddess Lakshmi, also called Shri, and the Earth goddess Bhumidevi.
Vishnu reclining on the serpent Shesha
How to recognize: Lying on his side on the body of a many-headed serpent, whose hoods spread over himThis is the reclining form of Vishnu on the divine serpent Shesha, also called Ananta. In many works a lotus grows from his navel with the god Brahma seated on it, as in the Cham relief of the Birth of Brahma in the Champa section below.
Garuda
How to recognize: Human body with a bird's beak and wings, often kneeling with joined handsGaruda is the vehicle and also the emblem of Vishnu, sometimes carrying him on his shoulders. Britannica describes Garuda as emerald coloured, with the beak of a kite and golden wings. Garuda is the enemy of snakes. The Hindu image of Garuda spread throughout Southeast Asia and is linked with royal power in many countries.
Rama
RāmaHow to recognize: Two hands, holding bow and arrow. Often with Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman beside himRama is the hero of the epic Ramayana. A statue of Rama has two hands, one holding an arrow and the other a bow. In temples Rama usually stands with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana, with Hanuman standing nearby with joined hands. In old bronzes the bow is often lost and only the gesture of the hands remains.
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Krishna
KṛṣṇaHow to recognize: Playing the flute, legs crossed. Dark skinKrishna is the focus of a great many devotional traditions, and has inspired a whole treasury of poetry, music and painting. His most familiar form is Krishna the cowherd playing the flute, called Venugopala. Krishna is often painted together with Radha.
Narasimha
NarasiṃhaHow to recognize: A maned lion's head on a human bodyNarasimha means man-lion. The story tells that the demon Hiranyakashipu was granted that he could not be killed by man or beast, indoors or outdoors, by day or by night. Vishnu emerged from a pillar in a form half man and half lion, at twilight, and destroyed the demon. Some statues show the slaying of the demon, others show him seated in a yoga posture with a calm face.
Varaha
VarāhaHow to recognize: Boar's head on a human body, the Earth goddess clinging to the tusk or seated on the armVaraha is the third avatar. When the demon Hiranyaksha dragged the Earth down to the bottom of the ocean, Vishnu took the form of a boar, destroyed the demon and lifted the Earth up on his tusk. Some statues show him wholly as a boar, others with a human body and a boar's head. The great relief in the Udayagiri caves, from the early 5th century, is the most famous work on this theme.
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VShiva
Those who honour Shiva as the Supreme belong to the Shaiva tradition. Britannica notes that Shiva is worshipped in two ways: without human form, as the linga, and in human form, usually as an ascetic. His consort is Parvati, his two sons are Skanda and Ganesha, and his vehicle is the bull Nandi.
Source: Britannica, Shiva. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vidya Dehejia, Hinduism and Hindu Art.Shiva in human form
ŚivaHow to recognize: Matted hair piled high, crescent moon, third eye, trident, snake around the neckAccording to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Shiva holds a trident, often has a snake draped around him like a scarf, wears a skull and a crescent moon, and has a third eye in the middle of his forehead that speaks of his all-seeing vision. Britannica adds the blue throat and the river Ganges (Ganga) flowing down into his hair. Shiva is also the master of yoga and meditation.
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Nataraja
NaṭarājaHow to recognize: Dancing within a ring of fire, one leg raised, the other trampling a dwarfNataraja is Shiva as the Lord of the Dance. The statue has four arms. The back right hand holds a small hourglass-shaped drum. The front right hand is raised in the gesture of fearlessness. The back left hand holds fire. The front left arm is swung across the chest, the wrist loose, the fingers pointing down. In the hair are flowers, a skull, a crescent moon and a figure of the river goddess Ganga. The dwarf under his foot is sometimes called Apasmara and stands for ignorance. The dance speaks of the five acts of Shiva: creation (the drum), protection (the gesture), destruction (the fire), embodiment (the foot planted on the ground) and release (the raised foot). The best known bronze Nataraja statues were cast in Tamil Nadu in the Chola period.
Sadashiva at Elephanta
How to recognize: A three-faced bustThe statue, 7 metres high, in Cave 1 on Elephanta Island shows three faces of Shiva. According to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in a three-headed Shiva the central face is his essential nature, and the two side faces are his fierce and his gentle aspects. UNESCO names the three faces Bhairava, Mahadeva and Uma. The cave also holds a linga shrine and great reliefs such as Nataraja, Ardhanarishvara and Gangadhara.
Ardhanarishvara
ArdhanārīśvaraHow to recognize: One body divided down the middle: half male, half femaleArdhanarishvara is Shiva and Parvati in a single body. According to Britannica, the right half of the figure is male, with matted hair and the ornaments of Shiva, and the left half is female, with neatly dressed hair, a breast and silk clothing. The image says that the male and female principles cannot be separated.
Nandi
How to recognize: A humped bull lying down, facing the shrineThe statue of the bull Nandi stands on a raised base facing the door of the shrine, so that he gazes toward Shiva for ever. Nandi is usually a white humped bull lying down. There are also images of Nandi with a human body and a bull's head.
VIThe Goddess: Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Parvati
The Goddess, called by the general names Devi or Shakti (power), is the third great stream of worship beside Vishnu and Shiva. Those who honour the Goddess as the Supreme belong to the Shakta tradition. The Metropolitan Museum of Art notes that Parvati, the consort of Shiva, is a major deity in her own right, and appears in the form of Durga slaying the buffalo demon.
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vidya Dehejia, Hinduism and Hindu Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vidya Dehejia, Recognizing the Gods.Durga
DurgāHow to recognize: Many arms holding weapons, riding a lion, spearing a demon who emerges from the body of a buffaloDurga is one of the principal forms of the supreme Goddess. Her name means the one who is difficult to approach. Her most famous form is Mahishasuramardini, the goddess who slays the buffalo demon Mahishasura. Britannica describes her with ten arms holding weapons and riding a lion.
Kali
KālīHow to recognize: Black or dark blue skin, long protruding tongue, many arms, a necklace of human headsThe name Kali means the black one. Britannica describes her as often partly or fully naked, wearing a skirt of human arms, holding a severed head, standing or dancing on the body of her consort, the god Shiva.
Source: Britannica, Kali.Lakshmi
LakṣmīHow to recognize: On a lotus, holding a lotus, two elephants pouring water on either sideLakshmi, also called Shri, is the goddess of wealth and good fortune and the consort of Vishnu. She sits on a pink lotus and holds a lotus flower. The form with two elephants pouring water over her is called Gaja Lakshmi. Lakshmi is worshipped most of all at the festival of Diwali.
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Sarasvati
SarasvatīHow to recognize: White garments, holding a vina, a book in her handSarasvati is the goddess of learning and the arts. From the 6th century she is shown holding a vina. She rides a goose or swan, sometimes a peacock, and holds a book or manuscript, and her statues have two or four arms. Students, writers and artists worship her, above all on the day of Vasant Panchami at the beginning of spring.
Parvati
Pārvatī, UmāHow to recognize: A beautiful woman with two arms, usually standing beside ShivaParvati is the consort of Shiva and the mother of Skanda and Ganesha. In sculpture she is always shown as a mature and beautiful woman, usually at Shiva's side. The Smithsonian calls the Chola bronze in the photo Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi in the form of the goddess Uma, another name of Parvati.
VIIGanesha, Skanda, Hanuman, Brahma, Surya and the nine celestial deities
Ganesha
GaṇeśaHow to recognize: Elephant head, big belly, one broken tusk, holding sweets, with a rat or mouse belowGanesha is the god of beginnings, invoked before any great undertaking, and the remover of obstacles. He has an elephant head, a broken tusk held in one hand, a big belly, and a hand holding a few round sweets. The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi lasts ten days, around August to September, when clay images of Ganesha are worshipped.
Skanda, Karttikeya, Murugan
How to recognize: A young man holding a spear, with a peacock. One head or six headsSkanda is the son of Shiva and Parvati, a youthful god of war. He also has the names Karttikeya, Kumara and Subrahmanya. In South India he is Murugan, a god originally of the South who later merged with the Skanda of the North. He holds a spear or a bow and arrows, and rides or stands beside a peacock.
Hanuman
How to recognize: Monkey face, standing upright like a man, in a reverent poseHanuman is the monkey general who helped Rama in the epic Ramayana, and a model of devotion. He is worshipped in temples of Rama and in temples of his own. The Cleveland Museum of Art notes that its Chola bronze shows Hanuman as a humble servant of the god, and that it was probably once carried in procession with images of Rama, Rama's wife and Rama's brother.
Brahma
BrahmāHow to recognize: Four heads facing the four directionsBrahma is the god of creation, linked with knowledge and the Vedas. He has four heads, rides a goose or swan, and is often accompanied by Sarasvati. Britannica notes that Brahma is rarely worshipped on his own and has very few temples.
Surya
SūryaHow to recognize: Standing upright, two hands holding two lotuses, close-fitting tunic and high bootsSurya is the sun god. He rides in a chariot drawn by seven horses, or by one horse with seven heads. The Sun Temple at Konark, Odisha, from the 13th century, was built as a chariot with wheels. Only the Saura tradition honours Surya as the Supreme, yet the Gayatri mantra, recited by a great many people at dawn, is addressed to the sun.
Navagraha
How to recognize: Nine figures standing or seated in a rowThe Navagraha are the nine celestial bodies worshipped as nine deities: Surya (the Sun), Chandra (the Moon), Mangala (Mars), Budha (Mercury), Brihaspati (Jupiter), Shukra (Venus), Shani (Saturn), and Rahu and Ketu, the two nodes of the Moon's orbit. Most Hindu temples have a place set aside for the worship of these nine.
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Harihara
How to recognize: One body, half Vishnu and half ShivaHarihara joins Hari (Vishnu) and Hara (Shiva) in one body: one half wears a crown, the other the matted hair. The image says that the two gods are two aspects of the same Reality. Early Harihara figures are found in the Badami caves, from the 6th century, and also in pre-Angkor Cambodia.
Trimurti means three forms: Brahma who creates, Vishnu who preserves, Shiva who destroys. In the life of worship the three are not equal. Brahma has almost no temples of his own. The historian R. C. Majumdar, as quoted on Wikipedia, wrote that the attempt to bring the three together cannot be regarded as a great success, because Brahma never gained a standing like that of Shiva or Vishnu, and the different traditions often understood the Trimurti as the three manifestations of the very god they themselves worshipped. The three-faced statue at Elephanta, often called the Trimurti, is in fact three faces of Shiva alone.
Source: Britannica, Trimurti. Britannica, Brahma. Wikipedia, Trimurti. UNESCO, Elephanta Caves.
VIIIThe temple and where the images stand
The heart of every Hindu temple is the garbhagriha, meaning womb chamber: a small, square, windowless room where the main image is placed. Above this room rises a tower. In front of it are one or more pillared halls, called mandapa, where worshippers wait and stand in worship. Temples usually face the rising sun. Large temples have a passage around the shrine so that worshippers can walk around it.
Source: Wikipedia, Hindu temple. Britannica, North Indian temple architecture.The diagram runs from outside to inside and is not to scale. Every temple is different.
There are two great temple styles. The Nagara style of North India has a shikhara tower soaring above the shrine. The Khajuraho temples, built under the Chandella dynasty around 950 to 1050, are the classic examples of this style. The Dravida style of South India has a vimana tower shaped like a pyramid of many diminishing storeys, and gopuram gate towers. The Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur was built by King Rajaraja I in the early 11th century, its vimana is 59.82 metres high, and its shrine holds a very large linga. UNESCO records that worship at this temple has continued every day for more than a thousand years.
Source: Britannica, North Indian temple architecture. UNESCO, Khajuraho Group of Monuments. Britannica, South Indian temple architecture. UNESCO, Great Living Chola Temples.
Fixed images and processional images
The main image in the shrine, usually of stone, never leaves its place. So that the deity can go out to the people, the temple also has processional images, called utsava murti, usually of bronze. On festival days the processional image is bathed, anointed with sandalwood paste, dressed in silk, and then set on a palanquin or a chariot and carried around the streets. The Smithsonian notes that the Chola bronzes cast a thousand years ago were made precisely for processions, though heavy and solid cast, and have loops and holes ready for carrying poles and ropes. Britannica adds that the chariot procession (rathayatra) allowed even those who in the past were not admitted to the temple to receive darshan.
Source: Wikipedia, Utsava murti. Smithsonian, National Museum of Asian Art, Divine Processions: Chola Bronzes in Context. Cleveland Museum of Art, Monkey General Hanuman, 1980.26. Britannica, Darshan.The home shrine
Worship is not only in temples. Britannica notes that puja ranges from short daily rites in the home to long ceremonies in the temple, and that murtis are found in homes as well as in temples. The shrine in the photo below displays printed pictures and small statues of many deities, together with lamps, incense and offerings. The two paintings next to it are after the artist Raja Ravi Varma, from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the same kind of colour-printed devotional pictures as those on that shrine. Britannica uses his very painting of Sarasvati in white to illustrate this goddess.
Source: Britannica, Puja. Britannica, Murti. Britannica, Saraswati.IXSacred images region by region and country by country
The same deity is carved differently in each region. This section goes from India out to other countries, then stays longer with Champa, on the soil of Vietnam.
North India
Temples in the Nagara style. Khajuraho still has about twenty temples, both Hindu and Jain. The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is dedicated to Shiva, and its outer walls are covered with sculpture. The Udayagiri caves and the Elephanta caves keep statues carved directly into the rock.
South India
Temples in the Dravida style, with fixed stone images in the shrine and bronze images for processions. Chola bronzes were cast by the lost-wax method, each piece from its own mould, kept in the temple treasury and brought out for procession on festival days. The Cleveland Museum of Art places the Chola period at about the 10th to the 13th century. UNESCO calls the bronzes of the Gangaikondacholapuram temple masterpieces. Common subjects are Shiva Nataraja, Parvati, Vishnu, Rama and Hanuman.
Bengal
For the festival of Durga Puja, in September or October, workshops model images of Durga from unfired clay taken from the Ganges. The eyes of the images are painted on the day of Mahalaya to bring the goddess to life. On the tenth day the images are carried to the river and immersed in the very waters from which the clay was taken. UNESCO inscribed this festival on its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2021. The Kalighat paintings of Kolkata also depict the deities.
Odisha
Jagannath at Puri is understood as a form of Vishnu or Krishna and has a very distinctive image. The image is made of wood, not stone or metal. It has large round eyes, and no clearly formed neck, ears or limbs. Jagannath is black, standing with Balabhadra in white and Subhadra in yellow. The images are carved anew in a cycle of about 12 or 19 years, in the Nabakalebara rite. Every year the three images are placed on three great chariots and pulled through the streets at the Rathayatra festival.
Nepal
The Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu worships Shiva in the form of a stone mukhalinga, about one metre high, with four faces looking in four directions. Only a few priests may touch the linga. Pashupati is one of the seven monument groups of the Kathmandu Valley inscribed by UNESCO in 1979. Nepal also has the custom of worshipping the Kumari, a young girl honoured as the living embodiment of the goddess Taleju, a form of Durga. The library mentions this only in words and uses no photo, because she is a living child.
Sri Lanka
The Nallur Kandaswamy Temple in Jaffna is an important temple of the Tamils of Sri Lanka, dating from 948 and rebuilt for the fourth time in 1734. Here the god Murugan is worshipped in the shrine in the form of the sacred spear, called vel, not as a statue in human form.
Bali and Java, Indonesia
In Bali the heart of the temple is not a statue but the padmasana, a tower crowned with an empty throne, reserved for the Supreme, Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa, formerly called Acintya. The empty throne is a way of worship without an image, although some padmasana also carry a figure of Acintya in human form. The sources credit the priest Dang Hyang Nirartha with bringing the padmasana into Balinese temples. In Java the Prambanan complex has three main temples for Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, and three temples for the three animals that carry them. The Shiva temple still holds a statue of Durga slaying the buffalo demon.
Cambodia
Angkor Wat was built by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century, at first as a temple of Vishnu, and later became a place of Buddhist worship. The eight-armed statue of Vishnu at the western entrance is still draped in cloth and given offerings by local people today. The pre-Angkor period left many sandstone statues of Harihara.
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Thailand
The Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, built in 1956, houses a statue of Phra Phrom, the Thai name for the four-faced Brahma. Thai Buddhists come here to pray as to a guardian deity, and hire dance troupes to give thanks when their wishes are granted. The old statue was smashed in 2006 and remade within the same year.
Communities abroad
Hindus carry their sacred images with them to their new homes. At the Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur, the temple of Murugan dates from 1891, and the 42.7 metre statue of Murugan was unveiled in 2006. In London the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir was built from 5,000 tonnes of marble and limestone hand-carved in India and then assembled on site. According to the Pluralism Project, the stone images in temples in the United States are also carved in India, of white marble from the Jaipur region or dark granite from the Mahabalipuram region.
Champa on the soil of Vietnam
In the kingdom of Champa, the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism was the state religion for many centuries. The Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary was built from the 4th to the 13th century, and its earliest structure was a temple of the linga. UNESCO inscribed Mỹ Sơn in 1999. In each tower group, the main tower (kalan) houses a linga or a statue of Shiva.
Source: UNESCO, My Son Sanctuary. Vietnamese Wikipedia, Thánh địa Mỹ Sơn (Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary).Linga and yoni at Mỹ Sơn
How to recognize: A round stone pillar on a square base with a drainage spoutThe main sacred image of the Cham towers is the linga set on a yoni. Mỹ Sơn also displays a linga carved with the face of Shiva (ekamukhalinga). The list of the Department of Cultural Heritage records an ekamukhalinga held by the Mỹ Sơn Management Board as recognized as a National Treasure in 2015, and the file page of the photo below identifies it as the very object in the photo.
The Mỹ Sơn E1 pedestal and the Birth of Brahma relief
How to recognize: A large stone pedestal carved with scenes of ascetics. A relief of the reclining Vishnu, with a lotus bearing Brahma rising from his navelThe Museum of Cham Sculpture in Đà Nẵng, whose first building opened in 1919, holds the largest collection of Cham sculpture in the world. According to the museum's website, it keeps and displays 12 National Treasures, among them the Mỹ Sơn E1 pedestal, the Birth of Brahma relief and a statue of Ganesha. According to Vietnamese Wikipedia, the statue of Shiva from the Mỹ Sơn C1 tower in the photo was also recognized as a National Treasure, in the 12th round announced in January 2024, the same round as the Birth of Brahma relief.
Po Nagar, Nha Trang
How to recognize: A ten-armed stone goddess seated inside the main towerThe Po Nagar complex dates from before 781. The inscriptions tell that the temple once housed a mukhalinga, then a gold statue of the goddess Bhagavati. The gold statue was taken away by Khmer troops and replaced with a stone statue in 965. The Cham goddess Yang Po Nagar is identified with Bhagavati and with Durga. Above the door of the tower is a relief of Durga. The Vietnamese went on worshipping her under the title Thiên Y Thánh Mẫu, and today her statue is dressed in robes.
Po Klong Garai, Phan Rang
How to recognize: A linga with a crowned human face, set on a yoni base inside the main towerThe tower group consists of a main tower, a gate tower and a fire tower, built at the end of the 13th century and linked with King Jaya Simhavarman III (Chế Mân). Above the door of the main tower is a relief of the god Shiva. The tower houses a mukhalinga that the Cham regard as a statue of King Po Klong Garai. English Wikipedia dates this image to the 16th or 17th century. According to Vietnamese Wikipedia, this image was recognized as a National Treasure in the round announced in January 2024. The tower is still a place where the Cham hold their rites.
Mariamman Temple, Hồ Chí Minh City
How to recognize: A gate tower of many storeys covered with painted figures of deitiesThe temple was built by a community of Tamil merchants at the end of the 19th century and is dedicated to the goddess Mariamman, with statues of Ganesha, Murugan and Lakshmi inside. The gate tower is about 12 metres high. Today most of the people who come to worship are Vietnamese and Chinese Vietnamese.
XWhat the library is not sure of
Are you a Hindu, a priest, a Cham Bà La Môn (Brahmanist Cham) or a researcher and see something wrong, or do you have a photo of your own to contribute? Please send it with its source to thayungkhiem@gmail.com. The library will correct the page and credit the contributor.
XIPhotos and licences
Every photo on this page comes from Wikimedia Commons, under Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA licences. Authors and licences are given exactly as on the original file pages, read on 07/10/2026. The photos have only been reduced in size, with no change to their content. Click the name of a photo to go to its original file page. If you are an author and see an incorrect credit, please let the library know so it can be corrected.
XIISources
The pages above were read in October 2026. If a page has changed its address, please let the library know so it can be updated.
?Quick Questions
Do Hindus believe the statue is the god itself
According to Hindu sources themselves, the Divine is present everywhere, not only in the statue. A statue that has been consecrated is believed to be where the deity comes down so that worshippers can come close, see and serve. This tradition also has a long history of debate about the use of images.
Why do Hindu images of the gods have many arms
The Metropolitan Museum of Art explains that many arms express the great power of the deity and the ability to do many things at once. Each hand holds an object, and these objects help to identify the deity.
How can a statue of Vishnu be told from a statue of Shiva
Vishnu wears a tall crown and much jewellery, holds the conch and the discus, and his vehicle is the bird Garuda. Shiva has matted hair piled up, a crescent moon and a third eye, holds a trident, has a snake around him, and his vehicle is the bull Nandi.
What is a linga
The linga is the sacred image of Shiva without human form: a smooth round pillar, usually set on a yoni base. The word linga means sign. A linga carved with a face is called a mukhalinga, as at the Po Klong Garai towers.
Where can Hindu sacred images be seen in Vietnam
At the Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary, the Museum of Cham Sculpture in Đà Nẵng, the Po Nagar towers in Nha Trang, the Po Klong Garai towers in Phan Rang, the Museum of Vietnamese History in Hồ Chí Minh City and the Mariamman Temple in Hồ Chí Minh City.
Why does this page use photos instead of drawings
A deity is recognized by the objects held, the vehicle, the number of arms and the hairstyle. Photos of real objects, with the place where they are kept and their date, preserve those details. The library does not redraw images of the deities.