God and gender in Hinduism

In Hinduism, god is sometimes visualized as a male god such as Shiva (left), or goddess such as Durga (center), bigender such as Ardhanarishvara (a composite of Shiva - male - and Parvati - female) (right), or as formless and genderless Brahman (Universal Absolute, Supreme Self as Oneness in everyone).

In Hinduism, there are diverse approaches to conceptualizing God and gender. Many Hindus focus upon impersonal Absolute (Brahman) which is genderless. Other Hindu traditions conceive God as bigender (both female and male), alternatively as either male or female, while cherishing gender henotheism, that is without denying the existence of other gods in either gender.^[1][2]

The Shakta tradition conceives of God as a female. Other Bhakti traditions of Hinduism have both male and female gods. In ancient and medieval Indian mythology, each masculine deva of the Hindu pantheon is partnered with a feminine who is often a devi.^[3]