Reading Notes: 7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art, Part A

For the extra reading this week, I decided to start the "Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art" series on Epified. First up, it's all about Ganesha's secret.

One thing that struck me as interesting—and potentially useful for world-building—is the idea in Hindu religion that divinity "is not restricted to a singular idea—there are gods and goddesses, who are individually pieces of a jigsaw puzzle called God." I think part of why I think this has so much story potential is that it allows for both petty power struggles and in-fighting among those gods and goddesses, but also a bottom line: if they all want to survive, they're going to have to pull through and do it as a unit. Neil Gaiman's American Gods is on my TBR list, and I haven't started it yet, but this kind of reminds me of my preconceived notions of that somehow.

I'm also pretty intrigued by Shiva's non-elephant son, Kartikeya. His godly role is to "[lead] other gods in battles against demons," which sounds promising. I also think it could be interesting just to set up a royal family hierarchy that way: maybe the parent, once he's semi-retired, sits back and rules the kingdom he's got, while it's up to the kid(s) to go out and conquer more land for him to rule, or to protect what the family's already claimed. Paying your dues, in a way—all guts, no glory.

I'd also be completely down for a character redemption arc or even backstory inspired by this: "Some demons, like Mani, who ask for repentance, become deities in their own right..."

The video also raises the idea that local heroes became "village-gods" to their own people, deified by legend of their deeds. I think it's interesting how that speaks to legends of superhuman kings like Arthur, Glendower, and Beowulf, and there's some story potential with that, I think.

It also presents an interesting view of Greek mythology's pantheon: "The gods of Greek Mythology became masters of the universe by overthrowing the Titans, an earlier race of powerful beings, who in turn had become powerful by overthrowing the Giants."




Bibliography: "7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art - Chapter 1: Ganesha's Secret," by Epified TV. Source: YouTube.

Image Credit: Book Printing, by wilhei. Source: Pixabay.