I’m not a Hindu, but it’s a religion I really like and admire. When I stayed in Malaysia, my Hindu friends spent a lot of time explaining some of their beliefs to me, not in the sense of trying to preach or convert, but just so I could gain some appreciation for their faith and the associated iconography. I also attended the feast of Thaipusum at the Batu Caves, which was an amazing experience.
What little I know is that Hindu iconography can be enjoyed, appreciated and respected in many different ways. I think so long as you take something positive away from the imagery, most Hindus would say that’s enough. The rest is just dicussion and different slants on the same basic life lessons.
Consider the ‘multiple arms and hands’ feature. Your hands are very important, aren’t they? You use them when you work, prepare food, eat, use weapons and so on. Depicting a God as having more arms and hands than mere mortals is a fairly simple, nifty way of conveying that he can do more than we can, isn’t it? It’s also very striking and aesthetically satisfying. It may not be much use as an anatomy lesson for deities, but it’s a great way to say ‘He’s more powerful than we are, and can surpass us in every way’.
What about the blue skin? Well, since no mortal person has blue skin, you can see it as a way of saying, ‘The gods resemble us in some ways, but are completely distinct in other ways’. The cobra venom angle adds to this - ‘Look, something that kills ordinary mortals makes no difference to this God’.
Modern Hollywood suggests that the X-Men can do more than we can using millions of dollars’ worth of special effects. Hindu artists and sculptors from centuries ago didn’t have that option, but they could convey the same ideas using strong visual metaphors such as ‘multiple arms’ and ‘blue skin’.
