In Hinduism the combined manifestation of 2 supreme deities, is Harihara. Hari stands for Lord Vishnu, while Hara stands for Lord Shiva. Both devotees of Shiva and Vishnu follow the Indian pantheon, Harihara, as the supreme god form. The significance of all gods as is hence seen in Harihara as the ultimate power in the universe. Harihara’s iconography is divided into two halves, with one half constituting Vishnu as the chakra and the conch shell, while the other half constituting Shiva holding a drum, trishul and a deer.
One principal deity is Lord Vishnu in Hinduism. In the Vaishnavism tradition, Vishnu is the Supreme Being with him taking avatars as ‘protector’ and ‘preserver’ in the Trimurti – the Hindu triad which incorporates Shiva and Brahma. Vishnu protects the world whenever it is threatened with destructive forces, chaos and evil. In the Mahabharata, his avatar includes Krishna and in the Ramayana it includes Rama. He is known also as Hari, Narayana, Vithoba, Ananta, Vasudeva, Keshava, Jagannath, Ishtadeva and Trilokinath. Vishnu is portrayed as having four arms and black to dark blue complexion.
Shiva the god of destruction is also known as Maheshwara. He is portrayed as sitting in medication, an eye in the middle of his forehead, his matted locks decorated with a crescent moon on his forehead, a trident beside him and a serpent coiled around his neck. There are a number of fearsome and benevolent depictions of Lord Shiva. He is regarded as patron god of arts, meditation and yoga and known also as Adiyogi Shiva.
