Hello there,
You pose an interesting question, and I will try to answer it as a Hindu, from India, and as a student of Vedanta philosophy, the core foundation upon which Hinduism rests.

It is a common misunderstanding for people to confuse Hinduism with both pantheism and polytheism - in reality it is neither. In fact Hinduism is a Monotheistic religion just like Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Surprising right! I will try to explain below:

The reason people confuse pantheisim with Hinduism is because of its tenent that the Universe is divine and a manifestation of God. Till here Hinduism agrees. But beyond this point it divereges with pantheists significantly:

1. Pantheists do not believe in the existence or the immortality of the soul, which is a key tenet of Hinduism. hindus believe that there exists a soul which survives the death of the physical body.
2. Pantheists do not believe that God is the non-material cause of the material Universe. Hinduism believes that God is an infinite ocean of consciousness (a non-material substrate) from which arises the material Universe of matter, space, time and living beings.

There are other significant differences, and a detailed overview of pantheism is available at: http://people.wku.edu/jan.garrett/panthesm.htm


The second point is that Hinduism is a monotheistic religion. According to Vedanta philosophy there exists an Ultimate and final Reality - a formless, infinite ocean of consciousness, which is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Eternal. The Hindus call this reality Brahman (Sanskrit) or God.

This One Ultimate reality is brimming with countless attributes, which the Hindus identify with a specific name and an image.

For example: that attribute of the Supreme God which is responsible for creation of the Universe is depicted as Brahma, the aspect which nourishes creation is called Vishnu and the power of the Supreme which is responsible for maintaining balance through destruction, is called Shiva.

All these various Gods are not to be thought of as seperate existences, but as the numerous qualities of the One Infinite Lord.

I describe this in detail in my article:Understanding the Many Gods of Hinduism. Do stop by to visit. Hope this clarifies your doubt.