Hitchhiker's Guide to Religion
Hindu

Indra

King of the Devas

Hindu Thunder, lightning, rain, war, heaven (Svarga), kingship among the gods Vedic Indra as supreme deity c. 1500–800 BCE (peak of worship); demotion to king of a lesser heaven c. 600 BCE – 300 CE; surviving cult as rain god and king of Svarga through Puranic period; largely supplanted by Vishnu and Shiva by 500 CE Historically pan-Indian (Vedic period); surviving cult strongest in Nepal (Indra Jatra), Southeast Asia (Indra as Sakra in Buddhist tradition), and Bali
Portrait of Indra
Portrait of Indra
Rank King of the Devas / Lord of Heaven (Svarga) / Storm God
Domain Thunder, lightning, rain, war, heaven (Svarga), kingship among the gods
Period Vedic Indra as supreme deity c. 1500–800 BCE (peak of worship); demotion to king of a lesser heaven c. 600 BCE – 300 CE; surviving cult as rain god and king of Svarga through Puranic period; largely supplanted by Vishnu and Shiva by 500 CE
Alignment Hindu Sacred
Power LEGENDARY 82

Attributes

ATK
85
DEF
70
SPR
65
SPD
90
INT
75
CHA
90
WIS
81
END
99

Combat Profile

ATK DEF SPR SPD INT CHA WIS END
Special Move

Vajra Strike

Indra hurls his indestructible thunderbolt weapon to obliterate enemies with divine lightning, granting him overwhelming offensive dominance in battle.

Passive

Lord of Heaven

Indra's presence commands authority over storms and celestial forces, increasing his power in conflicts and granting him sovereignty over lesser beings.

In the earliest Vedic literature (c. 1500-1200 BCE), Indra is the supreme deity — the king of heaven, wielder of the thunderbolt (vajra), rider of the divine elephant Airavata, drinker of soma (the sacred intoxicant), and the warrior who defeated the primordial chaos-dragon Vritra to release the waters of life (Rig Veda 1.32, 2.11). He receives more hymns in the Rig Veda than any other deity.

And then he was demoted. As Hindu theology evolved, Vishnu and Shiva rose to supreme status, and Indra became a lesser king — still lord of heaven, but now subordinate, sometimes foolish, occasionally humiliated (Puranas). He is the Zeus of India (storm god, king of gods, wielder of thunderbolt, prone to excess) who lost his primacy. The parallel to the Canaanite Baal is also striking: Baal was a storm god and divine king whom YHWH superseded and whose worship the prophets condemned. Indra’s “demotion” in Hinduism happened internally, through theological evolution; Baal’s happened externally, through prophetic confrontation. The trajectory is the same: the storm god yields to a greater conception of the divine.

1 min read
Primary Source

Rig Veda (most frequently mentioned deity), Atharvaveda, Puranas

Vedic Indra as supreme deity c. 1500–800 BCE (peak of worship); demotion to king of a lesser heaven c. 600 BCE – 300 CE; surviving cult as rain god and king of Svarga through Puranic period; largely supplanted by Vishnu and Shiva by 500 CE — See in timeline
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