Gods of Many Forms

Question: Hi, I an an Indian. I would just like to say that the picture of Lord Shiva used or created does not match his personality at all. He looks more like a warrior and less like the teenage boy that he is depicted as here. And the image of Lord Vishnu used is actually that of Lord Krishna. I'm impressed by the research done on Indian mythology, but I don't understand what this site is. Please correct the images, and if you want I will draw you guys one.

Hi, there! First of all, thanks for writing in; we love to hear perspectives from all kinds of places and people, and we were pretty excited to get your note.

This site is for a roleplaying game called Scion, in which players create characters who are the children of various gods from around the world, including the gods of India. It's not intended to be a religious site for any faith, nor is it intended to be a source of information for those studying religions; we try to be accurate and capture the flavor and meaning of mythology as much as we can, but we shouldn't be looked to as a religious source for modern practitioners by any means. What you see here is a collection of information on the gods as they appear in our games, as well as rules for playing. It's never our intention to be offensive to anyone who practices these religions or worships these gods; the game is for entertainment purposes only. We're sorry if we caused any confusion!

As for Shiva, that venerable god appears in many forms and many times differently, and we simply don't have the space or the time to try to show all of them. We chose the current portrait of him because of its ashen-pale skin and obvious physical skinniness, emphasizing his role as an ascetic and great practitioner of austerities. He is certainly a warrior figure to be feared in many of his stories, however - maybe you were looking for a picture more like this one by talented artist Genzoman?

Vishnu's portrait is definitely not one of my favorites on our site; while it's definitely intended to be Vishnu (according to the artist who painted it, who despite my complaints is way cooler than I am) and is not meant to depict Krishna, it lacks much of Vishnu's defining iconography (though a few touches, like his earrings and the sash representing the Vedas, are present). I've been on the lookout lately for a good image to replace it, so we'll just have to see what we can come up with!

Your question came in anonymously, so I'm afraid we can't contact you, but if you see this, thanks for your input!