Livin' On a Prayer Trivia Quiz

Answer: Saraswati

Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts and science. She is the daughter of Durga along with Lakshmi, Ganesha and Karthik. It is considered in some religious texts that her knowledge helped Brahma to create the universe. Urbashi/Urvashi is an apsara who used to entertain the gods by her dancing skills during the meeting of Gods in Heaven.

Answer: Lakshmi

Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of prosperity, fortune and wealth. She is also a consort of Vishnu. The Hindu festival of Kojagiri Purnima is celebrated in her honour. She is referred to as "Shri" because she has the six "Gunas" (divine qualities) and also because she provides strength even to Vishnu, one of the supreme gods.

Answer: Vishwakarma

Vishwakarma is the god of workmanship and industry. He is responsible for building the weapons of gods and also their chariots. His most famous creation, perhaps, is the island city of Lanka in the epic Ramayana. He also trained Nala, the ape who helped to build a bridge from the continent of India to the island of Lanka.

Answer: Varundev

Varundev is the god of sky, rainfall, seas and oceans. He has a weapon named Varunastra which is like a lasso. His ride is the crocodile, Makara. In the Vedic periods, he was also considered to be the god of law and the underworld.

Answer: Ganesha

Lord Ganesha is celebrated in the Hindu religion as the Lord of success and vanquisher of all evils. He has two consorts, namely Riddhi (wealth) and Siddhi (logical and spiritual abilities). Buddhi (intelligence) is also associated with him sometimes. He rides on the mouse Mushak. Sumbha and Nisumbha were two evil demon brothers who were conquered by the goddess Chamunda.

Answer: Lord Garuda

In Hindu mythology, Lord Garuda is described as the king of birds and serves as the sacred vehicle of Lord Vishnu. He is the enemy of nagas (serpents). He can fly really fast and serves as a messenger between the deities and men. He is the son of saint Kashyap and Vinita.

Answer: Yes

Lord Indra is the son of the saint Kashyap and Aditi. He is also the king of gods and the chief god mentioned in the Rig Veda (other three Vedas are Yajur Veda, Sam Veda and Atharva Veda). He commands Vajra (lightning) as his main weapon. It is sometimes considered that he also has the authority to bring rain.

Answer: Yama

Yama is the lord of death in Hindu mythology. He first appeared in the Vedas. His name can be interpreted in various ways, one meaning "twin", and he is sometimes depicted as having a twin sister, Yami. He is assisted by Chitragupta, who keeps the record of deeds (both good and bad) of humans during their lifetime. Yama is also considered to be Kala (time) in Hindu mythology, as the time of his arrival is set in stone.

Answer: Vishnu

Vaishnavism regards Vishnu as the supreme god. He usually appears on Earth to eradicate evils and to free worthy souls from the cycle of rebirth. He usually appears as incarnations, or avatars. Some well known avatars are Varaha, Narasimha (half man, half lion), Rama, Krishna and Matsya (fish). He is also known as Hari or Madhusudan.

Answer: Vayu

Vayu is the god of wind, one of the five major elements. He is also known as Pavan or Pran. His two sons, Hanuman and Bheema, played major roles in the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata respectively. Both Hanuman and Bheema were skilled with the use of a weapon called "Gada".