Harihara is believed to be the Supreme God by some Hindus. Shiva and Vishnu are Supreme Gods as per the Hindu tradition. Vishnu is known as Hari and Shiva is known as Hara. Hari is a khaki or yellow color in Sanskrit representing the Soma plant and the sun. Harihara are Hari and Hara put together which is two gods, in a combination. The common name for Harihara is Shankaranarayana. Shiva is Shankara while Vishnu is Narayana.
It is a belief of devotees that Vishnu and Shiva are separate facets of the same reality. It is thought that since they were contenders, they have been brought together. In philosophical terms, different aspects of the Supreme God are indicated by the unification of Shiva and Vishnu. The milk and yoghurt analogy is one popular philosophical analogy, which indicates that groundwork of milk is yoghurt however it is not possible to use yoghurt as milk. The expansion of Krishna is Shiva however Shiva cannot act as Krishna. While Krishna and Vishnu are not able to connect with the material world, Shiva does have this connection with the material world. It is believed that Vishnu is a part of Krishna as the whole.
Harihara’s worship is evident as a commonly found god in the Preangkorian Khmer Empire during the seventh century Cambodia. In the 13th century, Harihara worship started to die out of the Khmer culture. Many centuries later worship of Lord Harihara spread to Southeast Asia and India. One temple is dedicated to the worship of Harihara in the Shankaranarayana village in Karnataka, India.
