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Lord Brahma: The Hindu God of Creation

Deepa Kartha
Lord Brahma is a part of the Hindu Trinity or Trimurti, where he is the creator of the universe, while Lord Vishnu is the preserver and Lord Shiva is the destroyer. Being the creator of The Universe, Brahma is also known as the father of all living beings.
Brahma is believed to be born from a golden egg created by Brahman (the ultimate consciousness) and Maya (the female energy). Some legends describe him as self-born, out of the lotus that emerges from Vishnu's navel.
He is the father of the Kumaras, the Saptarishis and the Prajapathis, who are considered as the forefathers of human beings.
Lord Brahma is usually depicted as a sage with red skin and a white beard. He sits on a swan in the lotus pose. Brahma has four heads, each head facing four directions.
The four Vedas were born from each of his four heads. The four varnas or castes came from various parts of Brahma's body.
Brahma has four arms one holding the Vedas, the second holding the rudraksha mala (rosary beads), the third holding a lotus (sometimes a spoon) and the fourth holding a kamandalu (an urn containing water). Goddess Saraswati (the Goddess of Knowledge) is his consort.
Although the Lord of creation, Brahma is not worshipped like Vishnu and Mahesh. There are a very few temples dedicated to Lord Brahma in the world. One of the most popular Brahma temples is located in Pushkar, Rajasthan in India. Brahma temples are also found in Cambodia and Thailand.
As per Hindu beliefs, the Universe exists for one day of Brahma's life (Brahmakalpa), which is 4 billion years on earth. When the day ends, the entire universe is dissolved and Brahma rests for the night, which is again 4 billion human years. When he wakes up, he recreates the Universe and life begins again. This process is called Pralaya.
Pralaya continues for 100 years, which is followed by the death of Brahma and the entire creation. This is called the Mahapralaya. 100 more years have to pass after Mahapralaya, before Brahma is born again and the entire Universe is recreated.