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Supreme as the Divine Mother, Shakti or Devi.

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The five prime deities of smārta in a Ganesha-centric Panchayatana: Ganesha (centre) with Shiva (top left), Shakti (top right), Vishnu (bottom left) and Surya

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Shiva, the Compassionate One

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- Self-Discipline
- Philosophy
- Strive to be Shiva within
- Love and compassion
- There no reincarnations of Shiva

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- Worship in a temple
- Practice yoga
- Follow a satguru for advice (teacher)
- Sadhana (realization)
- Tapas (austerity)

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4 Stages:
1. Charya - The soul evolves through karma
2. Kriya - Temple worship and devotion
3. Yoga - Meditation
4. Jnana - Union with Shiva (Moksha)

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-seek to awaken the sleeping Goddess Kundalini and unite her with Siva in the sahasrara chakra.
-chiefly advaitic
-defining the soul's destiny as complete identity with the Unmanifest, Siva.

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Shivaratri - celebrated by fasting and prayer at night

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-chants
-real magic
-holy diagrams
-yoga
-rituals
-to call forth cosmic forces and awaken the great kundalini power within the spine.

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Vishnu and his incarnations, "The Pervader" or "The Imminent"

- God of the pillar of the Universe
- Identified with sacrifice

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-mantra
-tantra
-yantra
-yoga
-puja
-invoke cosmic forces and awaken the kundalini power
-employs magic, trance mediumship, firewalking and animal sacrifice for healing, fertility, prophecy and power.

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Tradition specific celebrations or holidays

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Tradition specific celebrations or holidays

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-Navratri ("Festival of Nine Nights")

-Diwali (festival of lights)

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Focus on the worship of the ten reincarnations of Vishnu, including Rama and Krishna

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- Prapatti - supreme bhakti or surrender
- Generally devotional and non-ascetic

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- Perform bhakti sadhanas (devotional discipline), which leads to communication with the gods
- Karma yoga and jnana yoga lead to bhakti yoga
- Chanting of the Avatara's (Vishnu's reincarnations) names
- Liberation through total self-surrender (prapatti) to Vishnu, Krishna, or Radharani

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-Ganesha
-Siva
-Sakti
-Vishnu
-Surya
-Skanda
-They follow a philosophical, meditative path, emphasizing man's oneness with God through understanding.

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-They do not value one god above another and have a polytheistic view on their religion.
-However, the Smartas do believe in 5 major deities.
-These deities are Vishnu, Surya (Sun god), Ganesha( elephant headed son of Shiva), Durga, and Shiva.

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-Preparatory sadhanas are bhakti, karma, raja yoga. The highest path is through knowledge, leading to jnana.

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Moksha is achieved through
- jnana yoga alone defined as an intellectual
- meditative but non-kundalini-yoga path -- Jnana yoga's progressive stages are scriptural study (shravana)
- reflection (manana) and sustained meditation (dhyana)
Devotees may also choose from three other non-successive paths to cultivate devotion, accrue good karma and purify the mind.
- bhakti yoga
- karma yoga
- raja yoga

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Tradition specific celebrations or holidays

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Tradition specific celebrations or holidays

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- Holi- festival of colors
- Diwali - festival of lights

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Deepavali
- the festival of lights
- celebrated during the new moon between the Oct 15 and Nov 15
- it is celebrated for many different reasons

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Truth is eternal.

Brahman is Truth and Reality.

The Vedas are the ultimate authority.

Everyone should strive to achieve dharma.

Individual souls are immortal.

The goal of the individual soul is moksha.

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What is the background that led to the development of these differing traditions in the first place?

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What is the background that led to the development of these differing traditions in the first place?

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As Hinduism grew older so did the world. Beliefs and cultures merged and mixed to create differing traditions that we have today.