What is Hinduism?
Hinduism was not only founded by one person it developed over many centuries embracing different traditions, races and cultures. Hindus believe in a spirit called Braham which means "World-Soul." Hinduism has more than 300 million gods or goddesses. Over the centuries the most important gods or goddesses have changed, in the early life of Hinduism the most important gods or goddesses was the god of fire who rode a ram, the thunder god with a thousand eyes and the goddess of dawn who drove seven cows. Now, the most important gods or goddesses is Vishnu, Shakti and Shiva. Vishnu is a kind loving god who comes to earth in the form of a human named Krishna or Rama. The goddess Shakti comes in many forms, and Sarasvati is the goddess of wisdom and learning, Lakshmi the goddess of wealth and good fortune, and Durga the goddess who protects the universe. Shiva is the god that destroys old life to makes room for new life. Shiva wears a necklace of skulls and lurks in the battlefields. And lastly there is a very popular god named Ganesh, Ganesh is the elephant headed god, according to the Hindu legend Ganesh was once a boy made out of flour and oil and his mother told him to guard the door and not to let anyone in, but when Ganesh blocked the way of the god Shiva, Shiva smashed Ganesh's head into a thousand pieces. Ganesh's mother demanded an new head for Ganesh and Shiva restored it with an elephant head and granted Ganesh the power to remove obstacles. Hindus pray to Ganesh when they need help with a new undertaking [starting a new job, moving to a new place, moving to a new school, etc.]
Ganesh the Elephant headed boy.