The truth is, in Hindusim we only have one Supreme God. Supreme Godhead in Hinduism is characterized by His or Her ability to Create the world and life. There is only One Being who has this ability. This is the One God whom we all pray to. A quote from the Rig Veda goes like this: "They call Him Indra, Varuna, Mitra or the heavenly sunbird Garutmat. The seers call in many ways that which is One; they speak of Agni, Yama, Matarishvan."
However in Hinduism we believe that All-Mighty God can appear to His or Her devotee howsoever He or She pleases. Thus in Hinduism we have many varied forms of a Singular Godhead. This is also why Hindus understand that people of other religions are also praying to the same God as we are, albeit in another form. Thus you will hear Hindus claim that there is One Truth but many paths leading to it.
An analogy commonly use to explain Gods appearance in varied forms, is as follows: Take a family man. This one individual, to his wife, he is her husband; to his children, he is their father; to his employees, he is their boss and to his friends, he is their buddy. In all his different relationships, though he is the same person, the experience of his wife, his children, his friends and his employees are all unique while having similarities. Even his name, though he will have one legal name, his wife, children, friends and employees will address him differently according to their social standing with him.
Indeed God has a penchant for creating variety. Just look at the world around you. You will see that despite the fact that we are all humans, no two of us are completely identical. Even twins have features that distinguish them from each other. God didn't create the world with just one kind of tree or one kind of bird. He created all sorts of beings and plenty of variety within them. So logically, we can assume that God too allows Himself (or Herself) this freedom of expression in variety.
http://www.myhindupage.org/index.php/9-common-qs-on-hinduism
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