Out of all the Gods out there, why is Vishnu/Shiva the most terrifying? Is it because of his bizarre composition? or is it just that he is tangible and has the appearance of a non-forgiving alien with a creepy smile? is it the arms? the mistery? the correlation with strange induistic theories that somewhat make sense? What is it?
>>897570
Because you're not a hindu so the iconography makes as much sense to you as Catholic art makes to the Japanese (I.e. None)
>>897585
>not liking Japanese Catholic art
>>897585
I partially agree. However, look at this, It looks so surreal, so strange, it's unsettling.
>>897570
>not praying to the almighty Lord Jagannath
he is literally a smiley face what's not to like
>>897570
They are pretty terrifying. I wonder how they got the first converts?
>>897570
He looks fine to me.
Now Abraxas, that guy was scary. You know he made everything, and he made up all the other gods, and he even made up Jesus and Yaweh, and he can get you anything you want: love, power, money, as long as you carry his amulet.
The one with the monkey Hanuman is pretty cute.
Daily reminder that Bronze Age Indo Aryans didn't have images and temples, worshipped in the open air, weren't vegetarians, weren't non-violent, drank alcohol, did drugs, ate meat, sacrificed animals (the horse sacrifice was the most solemn one and was performed in Thracians and Romans too) and didn't believe in karma or reincarnation.
Modern Hinduism is basically Buddhism with blue gods. It pays lip service to the Vedas but it's essentially a different religion.
>>897645
>the horse sacrifice
Poor horse.
>>897645
by* Thracians and Romans
>>897619
>he can get you anything you want: love, power, money, as long as you carry his amulet.
seems pretty banal for a God if you ask me.
The creepy part about Vishnu is that he envelopes some freaky brain blowing concepts (true or not).
>>897645
But I'm not talking about the scam that is religion today anon, I'm talking about represantation of the God itself.
>>897654
If you find Shiva frightening you can always worship him in his phallus form.
>>897672
Is it masochistic if I enjoy burning karma?
>>897679
I don't fear it. I just imagine the idea of a cosmic being incarnated into a giant blue figure in the sky with sixteen hands pointing at me with a half smile on his face and think
>how the fuck did they even come up with this shit
>>897703
The blue symbolizes clear thought and knowledge like the sky
The arms represent how God is omnipotent
>>897715
That sounds relatively more mundane....I already knew about the subject but I thought there was something else, Something like pic related,an incomprehensible power with knowledge that stands way above human capacity and perception.
He's one of the less terrifying gods desu senpai. Pagan gods were bros as well. The monotheist omnipotence is generally the scariest one. Don't sin or face wrath.
>>897730
The supreme soul is knowable my son, for it resides in you just as you reside within it
Only ignorance causes out perceptions to be clouded by delusion
>>897754
rama rama hare hare
>>897816
Uh...I'm actually a Shaiva, but thanks
>>897570
Nope. The one true God, the God of Abraham, the Christian God is probably the most terrifying of all.
There is a lot in scripture about Prophets falling down on their knees and shitting themselves.
To quote a medieval jewish scholar, "God is an earthquake."
>>897598
This shit is from the past 50 years though.
>>897840
> Fear god
> Angels spend the first half of every encounter telling people to stop screaming
> So fucking scary he turned moses hair white
> can only be approached in a specific way else you will die, even if you are the high priest
> Usually acts through prophets but when he acts directly shit gets completely fucked up, the flood, babel, sodom and gammorah,
> Literally so powerful that other gods fear him.
>>897840
>Babylonian war god that is described exactly like a fire djinn
I'll stick to my literal meme god. Not to mention that the cosmic form described in the Vedas is pretty much the same effect.
>>897570
>Shiva
>terrifying
>Be Hindu
>Think up one of the most lofty conceptions of God known to man
>Manage to fuck up by coming up with one of the world's most horrible, unpleasing and semi-funny iconography
Seriously, the iconography just kills it for me. You read a description of God on par with the best moments of Plato and Aquinas. Then you see pic related. Ugh. Thanks, but no thanks.
It's ones interpretation of image.
Well that's just like your opinion man -dude
>>897903
>>897829
bossman can I suck your lingam
>>897903
According to a hindu guy I once talked to, if you're wondering who's head that is she's always holding: it's yours.
it's his nipples.
>>897570
because we don't have any visceral contact with mars ultor.
mars ultor is the god of the waffen SS, ISIL and chaotic war in general. as gods go, he's a bit of a cunt.
>>897975
>when you blue but you still got hot pink nipples instead of darkies
Truly the sign of a god.
>>897987
the weird indian fetish for being white gives us an insight into the selection pressures for whiteness in europe. maybe our ancestors were tribal turbo street-poos.
>>897972
>>897840
God is a vulcano.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/ktm/ktm03.htm
pretty good description of what you are trying not to feel when you see shiva, and the inevitable fear that comes with such denial
>>897645
Please don't speak authoritatively on things you don't know anything about.
The Vedic period comprises only about a third of the history of what we call Hinduism. To claim that what Hinduism is today isn't "authentic" or is merely an offshoot of Buddhism is absurd. They didn't have temples, but mostly because the technology wasn't there, and anyway, the setup of the Vedic yajna ritual was structured and formulaic enough to basically include most elements found in a temple. All this aside, there are still numerous Hindu communities in in India that participate in strict Vedic ritual and lifestyle, including sacrifice.
As for the bullshit you said about Buddhism, the Upanishadic period predates the movement by a margin of about two centuries. The Upanishad texts (which are distinctly Hindu if you didn't know) outlined the majority of the philosophy that would develop into Buddhism e.g. the concept of atman and brahma. Brahma as the all-encompassing whole (the ultimate reality of the universe) and atman (the 'true self') both have the same nature (this concept will eventually be expanded upon by Zen centuries later). Buddhism is mostly distinct in its rejection of atman, however this is a reaction to Hindu thought. Obviously the images of the two religions will go down very different paths, however fundamentally Buddhism will always be the offspring of Hinduism, and to claim that one is emulating the other is retarded. It's sorta comparable to Protestantism vs Catholicism
Hinduism is very different now than the Vedic period, but there's also not one brand of Hinduism we can look to for a truly 'modern' image. Considering that what puja looks like can be vastly different between just two temples in just one town in India, it's foolish to make blanket statements about what Hinduism is today.
Also the blue thing is just to distinguish which characters in the art are deities
>>897921
it offends your sensibilities but it's not ugly in India lol
Hinduism just tries to be highly stimulating to all the senses, and so that's why you get such weirdly colorful and busy art
>>898341
aaah having to resort to a meme put down in order to defend your ego, he was only explain basic concepts of the topic in the thread, theres no need for that kind of input
>terrifying
whats to be scared of?
Vishvarupa is alarming
>>898341
you're pathetic
>>897730
Have you seen depictions of Angels? Like actual Angels and not just twinks with wings? Those things are weird af
>>899045
Like Ezekiel's wheels? I always thought depictions of those looked more silly than anything else.
But then I saw the mandala with my own eye and it all made sense.
>>897604
What's with the candy bars on the floating siamese twins?
>>897943
Some of those heads look pretty happy.
Does this count as an orgy?
What're my fellow Hindubros favorite gods?
Based Hanuman reporting in
Odin's a literally a twisted fucking psychopath
>Starkad and his king and friend Vikar are marooned on an island
>Odin, in disguise suggests they do a mock-sacrifice of king Vikar
>gives him a reed to act as a spear, and a loose noose to hang from a tree
>as Starkad throws the reed it transforms into a spear and the noose tightens, killing the king
In another episode he wants to rape Rindr, a Rus' princess, so he appears on Earth and disguises himself as a medicine women to get close enough to rape her
I wonder why neopagans worship him so much, most Norse pagans would have worshiped a more friendly god like Thor or Freyr.
I think there is something unnatural about a religion with entirly good Gods.
All the ancient religions had Gods capable of great evil and cruelty. Trying to deny that this is a part of nature and the divine realm is a form of escapism.
>>901652
Kali has several stories about her eating people lol
It's not that they're all good, but that they act outside of human morality
>>897921
i don't even know why that style is so prevalent.
it looks like it was all drawn by the same guy, there's even less variation than in orthodox icons and they have a strict as hell formula to follow.
indian religious art pre-20th century was crazy diverse, but now it all looks like that. fucking shame.
>>901518
ITT: Gods who are literally you
For me it would be Loki, nihilistic, intelligent, and a wicked sense of humour.
>>901658
>It's not that they're all good, but that they act outside of human morality
This is what I'm talking about. The ancient Hindus, Norse, Greek, all have Gods that act outside morality. This describes the state of the universe. Each will has it's own path with no absolute morality. The same water that would give life to your crops is the one that will flood you and destroy your village.
I'm not religious but if I had to pick a God it would be one that has done great cruelty.
>>897645
>Modern Hinduism is basically Buddhism with blue gods. It pays lip service to the Vedas but it's essentially a different religion.
What happened? Did Ghandi fuck it up?
Also what's a good way to learn about the original Hinduism?
>>897972
I can only hope because all that shit is metaphor, even the weird incest vibe between shakti and ganapati.
>>901749
Start with bathing in the Ganges
>>901831
The fuck is going on here
>>901854
Analogies
>>901880
Neat
>tfw no malevolent hindu goddess gf
>>901967
This is a "Blue board" ;)
go on.
>>901854
eternal sati upon the body of mahadev
>>901831
>shakti
Bravo Lucas
>>901831
I feel like this is just begging for a spurdo edit
>>901967
why didn't indians make this kinda art
>>901518
Odin is doing what is necessary to prepare him for Ragnarok.
>>898281
>As for the bullshit you said about Buddhism, the Upanishadic period predates the movement by a margin of about two centuries.
This is really the key right here. You really know your shit, Anon.
>>898281
Wasn't Upanishadic philosophy just an attempt at integrating the Shramana tradition with Brahmnism?
>>901518
At least better than the absolute retard he is in the Ring Cycle.
>>902530
What happened in the Ring Cycle? Gods going full retard sounds like fun.
>>902363
>ofw
>>901663
Beautiful traditional art.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pahari_painting
>>902561
Absolute garbage.
>>901831
>>901880
>my godform when someone saved my rare Chinnamastas
>>902566
Hindus should standardize their iconography like the orthofags and any deviation from the canonical rules should be punishable by an excruciating death.
>>902593
>93
Chinnamasta by one of Ken Grant's students or something.
>>902610
Shaktis of the Para Puja.
>>902600
that's what the british tried. the result is that you get more "correct" images on rule34 than modern contemporary images
>>902600
Tibetan Buddhists also have pretty strict rules for iconography. They no better than to leave it in the hands of some talentless stooge to paint ugly and demeaning images of their deities.
>>902600
but that's why modern orthodox icons are garbage.
pre-iconoclast had symbolism while retaining the classical tradition, and didn't look like freaky wooden skeleton puppets.
>>902626
They know* better
>>902618
The practitioners I know don't like Westernized iconography in any form.
>>902628
Incorrect. You can't go wrong by adhering to strict canonical rules, even if you have little talent. Unless you apply to sacred art modern and sentimental values such "creativity" and " individuality" which have no place there.
>>902632
too bad
>>902639
I don't care at all, because the rule34 thing you said is mostly true.
What I hold in my mental field is more devotional than any icon.
>>902638
>Unless you apply to sacred art modern and sentimental values such "creativity" and " individuality" which have no place there.
dead wrong, considering religious art has always shown diversity and unique stylization depending on the artist. there may not have been a cult of personality behind the work, but it's hardly a "modern" value.
>>902672
>always shown diversity and unique stylization depending on the artist
>always
>depending on the artist
>on the artist
No. This is a unique western development starting in the renaissance.
>>902626
tibetan buddhist art is incredible
