Why Hinduism has many gods ?

Hinduism says - after creating the universe, 'god the ultimate' or the ‘formless god’- took or created different 'forms' in order to fulfill different things in the 'universe'. Bramha, Vishnu, Shiva, Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, etc..will come under this category and these are all 'gods'. These are not having the 'human bodies' and they didn’t take birth like the ordinary human beings.

The ‘god ultimate’ or the above said ‘gods’ [ex; Vishnu] too could take different forms to fulfill some particular purpose in the worlds. Examples for these are -Narasimha [lion-headed god], Varaha Narayan [pig-headed god] and these are not coming to the world as in the case of a ‘human being’ from the ‘womb’ of a mother. Just they ‘manifest’ from nowhere all of a sudden like a ‘lightening’.

Apart from this, according to Hindu scriptures – the godliness comes to the ‘human form’, a ‘man’ or ‘woman’ - in TWO different ways.

1) The ‘god ultimate’ or the above said ‘gods’ [Vishnu etc.,] – will take birth in the form of a ‘man’ for executing some special purpose on the Earth. Examples for this type are ‘Ram’ and ‘Krishna’. By birth these are all ‘gods’ and these come down to the ‘Earth’ -  just like any other ‘human being’ from the ‘womb’ of a ‘human mother’. The ‘god’ could take different forms too, other than ‘human form’, depending on the situation and necessity and Hanuman [monkey god] is an example for this.

2) In the second case, an ordinary man - by ‘birth’ could turn into a ‘god’ due to rigorous spiritual practices and realization of the ‘god’, after the ‘inner’ blooming. I. e., a person who realizes ‘god’ will become ‘god’ itself, the Hindu scriptures are saying this as - ‘Bramhavit bramhaiva bhavati’. This is like a ‘drop’ of water after dropping into the ocean will become the ‘ocean’ itself. Examples for these are: ‘Kusuma Harinath’, ‘Rama Krishna paramahansa’, ‘Ramana Maharshi’, ‘Sai Baba’ of ‘Shirdi’, ‘Satya Saibaba etc.

So, in this way - there are many ‘gods’ in Hinduism. Hinduism didn't invent these 'gods' but, due to their investigation and closeness with the 'gods' the Hindu sages found these many 'gods' operating in the Universe but, of course the formless god, the ultimate is ONLY one - as per the doctrine of the Vedic Upanishads - and this is akin to the saying of the other religions of the World.

There is NO difference between these types of ‘gods’ and indeed all these are equals as per the saying of the Hindu scriptures, ‘Bramhavet bramhaiva bhavati’. Though different 'gods' hold different portfolios in the Universe, anyone of them could bestow onto you what ever you want!

Apart from these, the scriptures also claim that - one can adore his/her ‘guru’ or the ‘master’ as a ‘god’, the wife can adore his husband as a ‘god’ and nothing is wrong with these.

The Hindu scriptures are saying that - one can take ‘anything’ as ‘god’ if it suits and helps that individual for ‘spiritual growth’, that is why – everything is fit for adoration in Hinduism, the rocks, stones, trees, snakes, fire, wind, water, and one and all. Depending on the taste of the individual one can choose anything as long as it helps for spiritual growth.

Hinduism says – eesaavaasyamidam sarvam - the entire universe is nothing but ‘God’ or the ‘God’ is pervading everywhere, the universe is the visible form of ‘god the ultimate’. So, everything is ‘god’ from the Hindu point of view and anything can be taken as ‘god’ because the ‘god’ is present everywhere in the universe and beyond, without exceptions.