Siva

Siva, or SHIVA, the third person in the Hindu Trinity [BRAHMA, VISHNU], representing the destructive power of the universe as opposed to the creative and vivifying forces. The worship of Siva is by some believed to have been a later addition to pure Brahminism, only appearing in the Puranas and Tantras, and associated with the gloomier aspect of the faith, involving cruel and mysterious rites. Durga or Devi [KALI], his consort, is especially propitiated by se1f-inflicted torture. Gradually, however, Siva, growing more popular, supplanted Vishnu as the latter had supplanted Brahma, and was credited with the beneficent qualities of his partners in divinity. The destroyer thus only exercises his power with a view to renewal of life, and the patron of hideous sacrifice becomes the teacher of ascetic virtue. He is represented with five heads and three eyes, a crescent on his brow, his hair drawn to a horn-shaped peak and entwined with the folds of the Ganges. He rides on the bull Nandi, wears a necklet of skulls, and carries a trident of human bones, His home is on Kailasa, a remote Himalayan summit. Among his other names are Kala ("black"), Mahadeva ("Great God"), and Maheshwara ("Great Lord").