Devá number in the hundreds, the taxonomy of their names, Mantles, and avatars (also known as Incarnations) infinite and baroque. Poetry, song, and art widely depict each one, adorned with signature tools and weapons and riding a sacred mount.
The original Devá declared themselves a sort of noble caste of an older class of entities, the asuras, from whom they drifted further apart (sometimes violently) over the millennia. That first generation included Agni the sacrificial flame, Surya the sun, Yamaraja the king of death, their original chief Varuna the sea, and their later leader Indra the storm-hero. But the recent rise of Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism made Vishnu the Preserver, Shiva the Destroyer, and Durga the Mother of all feminine power even more influential than the Vedic generation. Shiva’s sons Ganesha the Lord of Obstacles and the General Karttikeya ascended from Scionhood to Godhood long ago.
Durga is the prime emanation of Shakti, the Primordial feminine power. She further subdivides into Lakshmi the Goddess of fortune, Parvati the Goddess of love and devotion, Sarasvati the scholar-artist, and Kali. Shakti’s exponents can split and fuse with one another’s identities and Mantles with an ease that rivals the caminos of the Òrìshà.