A Study of Hindu God's and Goddess' Hairstyle

This study has begun as to identify various forms of personified Hindu deitiesand its goal is to understand the symbols of Hindu which are the backgrounds of the modern Hindu culture and present the hairstyle images of ancient Indians through the Hindu deities of the era. Scope of the research has been determined to six major deitiesamong those from Hindu culture that affect the Indian society and the images of Hindu deitiesappeared in the Indian miniatures and sculptures were studied as times changed. The deities could be identified by symbols maintained in common by each divinity as the Hindu deities were diversified through the long history. Examining the transitions in hairstyles and headstyles of Hindu deities, hair shapes of spiraling curls were expressed in the ancient Hindu sculptures from $2^{nd}$ century to $6^{th}$ century due to the influence of early Indian Buddhism. In Hindu paintings from $15^{th}$ century to $19^{th}$ century, beards and sideburns were expressed in male deities due to the influence from Mugul arts, while feminine characters were emphasized in goddesses with long loose hair. Works are each presented encapsulating the results of the researches on Vishnu and Lakshmi from these Hindu deities. It is attempted to find Hindu image and present directions for developments of modern beauty by supplying motives to modern hair design by researching the hairstyles of Hindu deities.