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World Mythology · Unit 10

Hindu Myths

Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha and the great Indian epics

Hindu mythology differs from most in this subject in one important way: it belongs to a living religion with more than a billion adherents, and these stories are not relics.

The unit covers Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the avatars, Ganesha, and the two great epics - the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the latter being among the longest poems ever composed.

This unit breaks down into 19 short steps and 113 questions, starting at difficulty 2 and building to 4. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps
19
Questions
113
Difficulty
2-4

What this unit covers

  • Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
  • Avatars and Sacred Animals
  • Ganesha
  • The Mahabharata
  • The Ramayana

Where this fits

Connects to Religion's Hinduism unit, which covers practice and belief rather than narrative.

Where people slip

The many deities are widely understood within Hinduism as aspects of one reality rather than as separate competing gods. Reading it as a Greek-style pantheon misses the framework.

How the unit is structured

Hindu Myths runs as 19 short steps that unlock in order. 14 are practice rounds and 5 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 2 and climb to 4 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 19 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 113 in the unit altogether.

Avatars and Sacred Animals

  • Build the sentenceLevel 2

    1. Build a sentence about the festival of lights.

    Answer: Diwali is the festival of lights

    Diwali celebrates the return of Rama with lamps.

  • Choose all that applyLevel 2

    2. Which festivals belong to Hindu tradition? Pick all that apply.

    • Diwalicorrect
    • Holicorrect
    • Navratricorrect
    • Samhain

    Diwali, Holi and Navratri are all Hindu festivals.

  • Match the pairsLevel 2

    3. Match each Hindu god to the animal that carries them.

    Answer: Vishnu = Garuda the eagle; Shiva = Nandi the bull; Ganesha = A mouse; Durga = A lion or tiger

    Each god has a vahana, or animal mount.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 2

    4. What is an avatar in Hindu belief?

    • A form a god takes on earthcorrect
    • A temple bell
    • A holy river
    • A festival dance

    An avatar is a form a god takes when coming down into the world.

  • Fact or fibLevel 3

    5. Hindu stories are told not only in books but in dance, puppet shows and temple carvings.

    Answer: True

    True. The epics live in performance as much as in text.

  • Put in orderLevel 3

    6. Put these avatars of Vishnu in their traditional order.

    Answer: Matsya the fish -> Kurma the turtle -> Varaha the boar -> Narasimha the man-lion -> Rama

    The list runs from fish and turtle through boar and man-lion to Rama and Krishna.

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva

  • Fact or fibLevel 2

    7. Hinduism is one of the world's oldest living religious traditions.

    Answer: True

    True. Its roots go back thousands of years and it is still followed today.

  • Fill the blankLevel 2

    8. Shiva carries a three-pointed weapon called a ____.

    • trishulacorrect
    • conch
    • lotus
    • drum stick

    The trishula, or trident, is Shiva's weapon.

  • Match the pairsLevel 2

    9. Match each Hindu goddess to what she is associated with.

    Answer: Saraswati = Learning and music; Lakshmi = Wealth and good fortune; Parvati = Family and strength; Durga = Protection in battle

    Each great goddess is honoured for her own gifts.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 2

    10. In Hindu tradition, which three gods are known together as the Trimurti?

    • Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
    • Zeus, Odin and Ra
    • Rama, Sita and Hanuman
    • Ganesha, Kartikeya and Nandi

    Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are the three great gods of creation, preservation and change.

  • True or falseLevel 2

    11. Shiva is often shown with a third eye on his forehead.

    Answer: True

    True. The third eye is one of Shiva's best known features.

  • Choose all that applyLevel 3

    12. Which objects does Vishnu usually hold in his four hands? Pick all that apply.

    • A conch shellcorrect
    • A discuscorrect
    • A lotuscorrect
    • A trident

    He carries the conch, the discus, the mace and the lotus.

Ganesha

  • Fact or fibLevel 2

    13. Ganesha is worshipped in a big yearly festival called Ganesh Chaturthi.

    Answer: True

    True. Clay images of Ganesha are honoured and then taken to water.

  • Fill the blankLevel 2

    14. Ganesha is usually shown with one broken ____.

    • tuskcorrect
    • ear
    • foot
    • crown

    One tusk is broken, and stories explain this in different ways.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 2

    15. Which Hindu god has the head of an elephant?

    • Ganeshacorrect
    • Hanuman
    • Garuda
    • Surya

    Ganesha is instantly recognised by his elephant head.

  • Picture questionLevel 2

    16. 🐘 Which Hindu god does this animal head belong to?

    • Ganeshacorrect
    • Shiva
    • Vishnu
    • Brahma

    The elephant head belongs to Ganesha.

  • True or falseLevel 2

    17. Ganesha is the son of Shiva and Parvati.

    Answer: True

    True. He is the beloved son of Shiva and Parvati.

  • Choose all that applyLevel 3

    18. Which items are commonly shown with Ganesha? Pick all that apply.

    • A bowl of sweetscorrect
    • A broken tuskcorrect
    • A mousecorrect
    • A conch and discus

    He is shown with a bowl of sweets, a broken tusk, a noose or goad, and his mouse.

The Mahabharata

  • Fact or fibLevel 2

    19. The Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna inside the Mahabharata.

    Answer: True

    True. It is one of the most loved texts in Hindu tradition.

  • Fill the blankLevel 2

    20. Krishna acts as the ____ of Arjuna during the great battle.

    • charioteercorrect
    • cook
    • messenger
    • doctor

    Krishna drives Arjuna's chariot and teaches him.

  • Guess the numberLevel 2

    21. How many Pandava brothers are there?

    Answer: 5 brothers

    Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva make five.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 2

    22. Which Pandava brother is the greatest archer?

    • Arjunacorrect
    • Nakula
    • Sahadeva
    • Yudhishthira

    Arjuna is famous for his skill with the bow.

  • True or falseLevel 2

    23. The Mahabharata is one of the longest poems ever written.

    Answer: True

    True. It is many times longer than the Iliad and Odyssey together.

  • Choose all that applyLevel 3

    24. Which themes does the Mahabharata explore? Pick all that apply.

    • The demands of dutycorrect
    • The terrible cost of warcorrect
    • How hard it is to know what is rightcorrect
    • The invention of writing

    Duty, the cost of war and the difficulty of knowing right from wrong run through the whole epic.

The Ramayana

  • Fill the blankLevel 2

    25. To reach Lanka, Rama's army built a ____ across the sea.

    • bridgecorrect
    • tunnel
    • tower
    • boat house

    The monkey army built a bridge of stones.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 2

    26. Which monkey hero helps Rama search for Sita?

    • Hanumancorrect
    • Garuda
    • Nandi
    • Jatayu

    Hanuman is Rama's greatest helper and devoted friend.

  • Put in orderLevel 2

    27. Put the main events of the Ramayana in order.

    Answer: Rama is sent into exile -> Ravana carries Sita away -> Hanuman finds Sita in Lanka -> Rama defeats Ravana and returns home

    Rama is exiled, Sita is carried off, Hanuman finds her, and the army rescues her.

  • True or falseLevel 2

    28. Ravana, the demon king who carries Sita away, is described with ten heads.

    Answer: True

    True. His ten heads show his great power and pride.

  • Choose all that applyLevel 3

    29. Which characters appear in the Ramayana? Pick all that apply.

    • Ramacorrect
    • Sitacorrect
    • Hanumancorrect
    • Duryodhana

    Rama, Sita, Hanuman and Ravana are its central figures.

  • Guess the numberLevel 3

    30. How many years did Rama spend in exile in the Ramayana?

    Answer: 14 years

    Rama's exile lasted fourteen years.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 12 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

  • Build the sentence
  • Choose all that apply
  • Fact or fib
  • Fill the blank
  • Guess the number
  • Match the pairs
  • Multiple choice
  • Picture question
  • Put in order
  • Sort into groups
  • True or false
  • Type the answer

Practise Hindu Myths

113 questions across 19 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

More units in World Mythology

See all 18 units in World Mythology →