First thing, Hindus do not believe in many Gods, Hindus believe in only ONE GOD, who may by His(Her) will can manifest in any form and thus we can have many manifested forms of the same ONE GOD. Sometimes God assumes a particular form to match the emotion of a particular devotee. For example : I am a man, if a child starts seeing me as his father, and shows that kind of devotion and respect towards me, sooner or later I will get inclined to have fatherly emotions for that child (even if I am not his biological father). When as an imperfect human being, I can do that, then we can just imagine what The Infinite God is actually capable of.
In images, various manifestations of God, as per Hindu visualization, are shown with multiple hands and heads.
The pictorial representation of Hindu Gods having multiple hands in the human form is the artist’s attempt to express the supreme powers of Gods. It shows their immense strength and power to perform numerous acts at a single time.
Each hand holds some object which symbolizes the various qualities or power of that particular deity [a particular manifestation of the supreme God is a Deity]. Some hands are shown empty but with different mudras (hand gestures) of the fingers and palms that signify various messages.
Similarly, the pictorial representation of God with multiple heads shows the fact that God’s manifested form has many (infinitely many) characters/personalities, and the Deity can show any or all of them.
Hindus depict God as both man and woman, that is also to show that God is both, God can be a loving mother or a guardian father. In either man or woman form, God is very powerful and is capable of neutralising the biggest energy of adharma.
Often Hindus show various Deities (a Deity is a manifested form of the supreme God) holding various weapons in their hands. These weapons also symbolise deep meanings:
Paasa (Noose)- God can tie us, our desires, our temptations … etc. to make us follow the path of Dharma
Ankusha (Elephant Goad) – God can control our anger (like controlling a mad elephant) and may continue to guide us on the right path.
Churi (Sword)– spiritual path is like walking on a razor edge, and God can help us follow the path of dharma by cutting the un-necessary material attachments.
Gadha (Mace)– symbol of the power of Karma, a bad karma creates a situation similar to getting hit by a mace. Mace is also the symbol of God’s great power and strength.
Trishul (Trident)- Represent various trinities—creation, maintenance and destruction. And also past, present and future. This also means that God is the all in one and one in all (He is past, present and future… Time is the illusion created by Him).
Khatvanga (Skull with 8 coils of a snake) - Denotes the chakras of yoga indicating that the human body is controlled by me.
Khetaka (Shield)- Safety from all negatives. Indicates that I’m your shield.
Sankha (Conch)- Sounds Om. Announces that all this creation is within me and I’m everything.
Chakra (Discus)- Wheel of dharma, destroyer of adharma. Indicates that life is a cycle and adharma will get destroyed at the end.
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