Though Brahma is one of the Trinity of gods, he is not one of the deities commonly worshipped in religion. There is only one temple, in Pushkar, dedicated to him and, strangely, he is not the favourite god of any section of the Hindu faith. The Puranas describe his manifestation from the lotus of the navel of Vishnu, before creation. It was he who invoked Devi, Durga, as the Sakti of the Almighty, for the first time, to wake up Vishnu from his divine slumber (Yoga-Nidra) during dissolution (Pralaya). Brahma is the creator of the existing Universe in all its planes. He is, thus, called the grandfather (Pitamaha) of Creation. He is four-headed and is the revealer of the Vedas to his creation. In the scriptures, his status is stated to be very important and he is worshipped through penance by those who aspire for invincible powers, especially the Asuras, whom he blesses, unfortunately, to the woe of the Devas or celestials. Brahma is also called Hiranyagarbha, the first-born Creator of all things. He is sung in the Rig-Veda and identified with the cosmic prana in the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. He is also identified with the Cosmic Mind or the Cosmic Intellect, regarded as the first movement of the Absolute. The mystic weapon or Astra in which he is invoked is called Brahma-Astra, the most deadly of divine missiles, used by experts in ancient warfare. He is the progenitor of the four Kumaras and the ten Prajapatis, and from his forehead arose Rudra or Siva. Brahma divided his body into Manu and Satarupa and became the source of the diversity of beings. Though six of the eighteen Puranas are supposed to be devoted to him, he is scarcely worshipped today, either in private or public.  

The name, Brahma, used in the masculine gender, is to be carefully distinguished from Brahman, a designation of the Absolute, used in the neuter gender.  

Skanda, the second son of Siva, and the younger brother of Ganesa, is also known as Kumara, Karttikeya, Shanmukha, Subrahmanya, and by many other names. His banner is the cock and vehicle the peacock which stands clutching a serpent in its talons. His Saktis or inseparable powers are Valli and Devasena whom he assumed in the course of the great history describing his multi-formed life of a series of exploits both in the celestial and temporal realms. The devotees of Skanda form a large part of the population especially of Southern India, and constitute one of the important sections of the religion of the country. The advent of Skanda was the background of occasion when Siva burnt Manmatha with his third eye, a penalty he inflicted on kama or the god of love for disturbing him in his meditation. The story goes that the sparks which flashed forth from the third eye of Siva rushed through space, which Vayu and Agni carried and dropped into the river Ganga. Ganga, being unable to contain the divine energy, shoved it on to her banks, upon a shrub of reeds known as Sara. There is thus a combination of the ether, air, fire, water and earth principles in the depositing of the Tejas or energy of Siva in the world. The cumulative force which combined the forms of the five elements impregnated with the divine power of Siva (Divya-Tejas) manifested itself as a sixfold divinity with six faces (Shanmukha), including both the unmanifest and manifest elements in a single being. This is the child of Siva, of mysterious birth, mysterious bringing up, under mysterious circumstances, for a mysterious purpose which the gods alone knew. The third eye represents the principle of intelligence and Skanda, thus, as a revelation through the third eye of Siva, is said to stand for an incarnation of Divine Knowledge.  

The principal weapon of Skanda is a spear (Vel), pointed at its end and tall in stature. Devotees understand by it the need for one-pointedness of mind in slaying the demon of ignorance, which is expected to be sharp and sure in its aim. The gods, under the advice of Brahma, connived the birth of Skanda through the instrumentality of Siva and his consort Parvati. The Asuras - Surapadma, Simhamukha and Taraka - who wrought havoc everywhere in creation, could be destroyed only by the son of Siva manifested as a special divine Power. Skanda became the General of the celestial forces (Senani) and he is worshipped as the martial god of Hinduism. The day on which he slew the Asura is celebrated on the sixth day of the bright half of the month of Karttika (October-November) according to one tradition, and the month of Margasirsha (November-December) according to another.  

The Skanda Purana is devoted to the glorification of Skanda and his sportful routing out of the Asuras. The great battle between the celestial forces led by Skanda and the Asuras is an epic by itself. Kalidasa's Kumarasambhava is a famous Sanskrit poem on the birth of the war-god. The Tamil poem, 'Tiruppugazh', by the saint Arunagirinathar, is held in as much esteem by the devotees of Skanda as the Vedas in Sanskrit or the 'Divya-Prabandham' in Tamil Vaishnavism and the 'Tevaram' in Tamil Saivism. His 'Skandaranubhuti' and 'Skandaralankaram' are other renowned songs on the love and experience of God as Skanda. It may be safely said that the cults of Vishnu, Siva, Sakti, Ganesa, Surya and Skanda form the six great sections in the book of the religion of the Hindus. Some would like to add the Pasupata cult, which is a minor group of the worshippers of Siva in a particular form. The Mahabharata recounts the principal deeds of Skanda. The Kumara Tantra forms an important literature on the worship of Skanda. The Skanda Purana is a sacred book devoted to Skanda, and in its Tamil recension records the mighty deeds of the god.

The sun-god is known as Surya or Aditya and his greatness is sung in the Rig-Veda in sections specially devoted to him, where it is declared that 'Surya is the Soul, both of the moving and unmoving beings' (Surya atma jagatas tasthushas cha). 'This Aditya is, verily, Brahman' (Asavadityo Brahma) says a renowned passage. It is also said that 'Surya is the visible God' (Suryah pratyakshadevata). It is not difficult to imagine the indebtedness of everything in the world to the existence of the Sun. The life of all creatures on earth, of men, animals and plants, is vitally influenced by the solar energy and, inasmuch as nothing can survive without it, the Sun is veritably the Soul of all things. The power that the Sun exerts on the earth is such that the religious observance of Sandhya-Vandana or the prayer to be offered during the three junctions of the day in relation to the Sun - morning, noon and evening - is considered obligatory on the part of every orthodox Hindu who has been invested with the sacred thread (Upanita). The solar power actuates the body, prana and even mind, without one's knowing it, and the health and growth of beings are much dependent on the Sun.  

The Sun, in India, is not regarded merely as a bright heating orb, packed with atomic energy that is released into a form of forceful activity. To the religious mind, Surya is the resplendent Divine Person (Hiranmaya Purusha), a representative of God in the world, manifesting himself as life-giving power and sustaining strength everywhere and bringing the message that God is the great Light of all lights (Jyotisham jyotir uttamam). The stirring prayers to the Sun in the Rig-Veda form the Mahasaura-Suktas, which identify the immanent divinity in the Sun with the One Reality (Ekam Sat). The Sun is an eye of the Virat-Purusha, and is the presiding deity over the eyes of all. The soul which reaches Krama-Mukti (gradual salvation) passes through the region of the Sun - Surya-Dvara. The Vedas are full with ecstatic declamations on the glory of the Sun, who is a divine colossus striding over the world with dazzling beauty and all-inspiring splendour. The Isavasya Upanishad has a special prayer offered to the Sun by a dying man. The Prasnopanishad identifies the Sun with prana (vital energy) and the Chhandogya Upanishad visualises in him the face of God and makes him the centre of the mystic meditation called Madhu-Vidya. A special physical exercise called Surya-Namaskara is devoted to the worship of the Sun and is daily practised by devotees during their morning prayers (Sandhya-Vandana). The deity of the celebrated Gayatri-mantra of the Veda is the Sun (Savita). In the Valmiki-Ramayana the sage Agastya is reported to have initiated Rama into a particular form of prayer to the Sun, called Aditya Hridaya, to enable him to bring about the destruction of Ravana. Yudhishthira prayed to the Sun, when he was in penury, and obtained a celestial vessel from the god, which supplied him inexhaustible food.  

The time when the movement of the Sun towards the northern hemisphere of the earth commences is called Makara-Sankranti (the junction of the capricorn), when the Sun enters the tenth house of the Zodiac, about the middle of the month of January, which is regarded as a kind of New Year by many. Bhishma of the Mahabharata fame waited for the beginning of the Northern course of the Sun, to leave his mortal coil. The seventh day of the bright half of the month of Magha (January-February) is called Rathasaptami, and is supposed to be the day on which the Northern movement of the Sun takes definite effect, and is traditionally regarded as the day when the chariot of the Sun is diverted to the North by his charioteer, Aruna. The plant which is sacred to the Sun is called Arka, whose leaves are placed by people on their heads when they take the sacred bath on this day.