Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 October 20

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October 20

Rudolf Walles(z)

The Austrian architect Rudolf Wallesz was born 1894 in Vienna, survived the holocaust, naturalised as a UK Citizen 25 November 1946, and became Rudolf Walles in October 1947, at which time he gave his address as 36, Monarch Court, Lyttleton Road, London N2. When did he die? Are any of his works extant? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 21:36, 20 October 2021 (UTC)

Rudolf Walles died in 1966 aged 72, registered in Barnet, Middlesex. The 1939 Register describes him as an "Insurance Clerk (Liaison)" born 30 Mar 1894 and living at Brunswick Place, Hove with his wife Ernestine. The Probate Death Index says he died on 31 July 1966 at Barnet General Hospital, his address was 50 Church Crescent London N.8, probate was awarded to his widow Enrnestine valued at £3539. MilborneOne (talk) 08:12, 24 October 2021 (UTC)

London N8 being Muswell Hill. A couple of his watercolours of domestic designs (presumably pre-war) are here, and another for a beach café here. Alansplodge (talk) 09:09, 24 October 2021 (UTC)

Are Shiva and Vishnu more important/revered than Brahma in Hinduism?

When I went to the Chicago Art Institute I saw a sizable collection of Hindu deities as statues, but I noticed that there were a ton of depictions of Shiva and to a lesser extent, Vishnu. Thinking of the trimurti, I couldn't find any there of Brahma. It also occurred to me that I've heard Shiva brought up quite a bit in my life, and again, to a lesser extent, Vishnu, but rarely Brahma. That led me to the question, are Shiva and Vishnu more important/revered than Brahma in Hinduism? Of course, there is also a chance that this may be a huge generalization, tainted by my own unique experience or simply by what the Art Institute's collection happened to contain. Aza24 (talk) 22:36, 20 October 2021 (UTC)

There may not be one answer valid for all forms of Hinduism in all historical eras, regions etc. In any case, a phenomenon which is visible across a number of mythological systems is that a highest god and/or original creator god becomes a rather shadowy and remote figure who has little to do with the lives of ordinary people, despite being theoretically supreme in the pantheon... AnonMoos (talk) 01:53, 21 October 2021 (UTC)

Our article Brahma contains a (to me not entirely clear) passage: "During the post-Vedic period, Brahma was a prominent deity and his sect existed; however, by the 7th century, he was frequently attacked and lost his significance. He was also overshadowed by other major deities like Vishnu, Shiva and Devi.^[10]" The cited source states: Despite his important role, Brahma worship is not very popular today. ... However, the worship of Brahma declined from the seventh century. There are several myths which attempt to explain Brahma’s inferior status after this period. ... The real reason is believed to be the rise in prominence of Vaishnavism and Shaivism, and later of the five or six deities of the smartas, from which Brahma was excluded. Brahma as creative energy was replaced by shakti or Devi.^[1] The Commons has a category Sculptures of Brahma with a subcategory Statues of Brahma. I have not tried to compare this with similar categories for Shiva or Vishnu.  --Lambiam 08:08, 21 October 2021 (UTC)