Who is Shiva? Guide to the Hindu God of Transformation
Shiva is one of the three great Hindu deities of the Trimurti (with Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver), and the one whose domain is destruction - not in a negative sense but in the necessary sense of clearing away what has served its purpose so that new forms can emerge. He is an ascetic who sits in deep meditation on Mount Kailash, covered in ash. He is a family man with his wife Parvati and their sons Ganesha and Kartikeya. He is the Lord of the Dance, whose tandava moves the universe. He is worshipped by hundreds of millions of Hindus today, particularly in the Shaivite branch of Hinduism, which considers him the supreme deity. This guide describes Shiva as he is preserved in Hindu tradition and continues to be actively worshipped.
A note on sensitivity. Shiva is a central deity of living Hindu religion, worshipped by hundreds of millions of people today. This guide describes him respectfully within Hindu tradition. It does not offer specific mantras or ritual instructions that belong to initiated practice.
Key Takeaways
- Shiva (Siva in Sanskrit) is one of the three great Hindu deities of the Trimurti (the trinity), alongside Brahma (creator) and Vishnu (preserver). Shiva’s role is destruction, understood as the transformation that clears the old to make way for the new.
- In the Shaivite branch of Hinduism (one of the four main branches, alongside Vaishnava, Shakta, and Smarta), Shiva is the supreme deity, of whom all other gods are aspects.
- His name means “the auspicious one” or “the kind one” in Sanskrit; his oldest form in the Vedic period is Rudra, “the howler.”
- He sits in deep meditation on Mount Kailash in the Himalayas, covered in ash from cremation fires, wearing tiger skins, with a crescent moon in his matted hair and the river Ganga flowing from his head.
- His wife is Parvati (also called Uma or Sati in different aspects); his sons are Ganesha (the elephant-headed god) and Kartikeya (the war god, also called Murugan in Tamil tradition).
- His lingam (a stylised pillar-form) is his most common object of worship in Shaivite temples, representing his generative and creative principle.
- He is worshipped as Nataraja (“Lord of the Dance”) - his cosmic dance, the tandava, both destroys and creates the universe.
- Major Shaivite festivals include Mahashivaratri (“Great Night of Shiva”), celebrated annually on the fourteenth day of the dark half of the lunar month of Phalguna.
Who is Shiva?
Shiva is one of the three great deities of Hindu tradition and the supreme deity in the Shaivite branch of Hinduism.
Definition - Shiva
One of the three great deities of Hindu tradition, alongside Brahma (creator) and Vishnu (preserver). Shiva’s role is destruction - the transformation that clears the old to make way for the new. In Shaivism, he is the supreme deity. His name means “the auspicious one.” He is depicted as an ascetic on Mount Kailash, with a crescent moon in his matted hair, the Ganga flowing from his head, and a third eye in the middle of his forehead.
His Sanskrit name is Shiva (Siva), meaning “the auspicious one” or “the kind one.” His oldest form, from the Vedic period, is Rudra (“the howler”), a fierce storm-god who was gradually elaborated into the more complex Shiva of classical Hindu tradition. The transition from Rudra to Shiva took place over centuries, and both names continue to be used - Rudra emphasises his terrifying aspect, Shiva his auspicious one.
The Shaivite branch of Hinduism, which considers Shiva the supreme deity, is one of the four principal Hindu branches (with Vaishnava, Shakta, and Smarta). Shaivism has hundreds of millions of adherents worldwide and includes many sub-traditions, from the ascetic Naga Sadhus who follow Shiva’s example of extreme renunciation to the vast temple-based lay traditions of southern India.
Shiva as ascetic
Shiva’s most consistent depiction is as an ascetic. He sits in deep meditation on Mount Kailash, the sacred peak in the western Tibetan plateau that Hindu tradition treats as his physical residence. His body is covered in ash from cremation fires (marking his association with death and transformation). He wears animal skins - a tiger skin, sometimes a deer skin. His hair is matted and long, twisted into ascetic locks (jatas). He carries a trident (trishul) and a drum (damaru).
Above his forehead sits a crescent moon (the ardhachandra). In the middle of his forehead is his third eye, kept closed most of the time - when opened, it emits fire capable of destroying anything it looks at (the demon Tripura and the god of desire Kamadeva both met this fate). From the top of his head flows the river Ganga, whose descent from the heavens he broke with his own hair to keep the sacred river from destroying the earth with its impact. Read Ganga trapped on Shiva’s head, ash on the body, and the blue-throated god.
His neck is blue - the mark of a specific act. When the gods and demons churned the ocean of milk to produce the elixir of immortality (amrita), the process also produced a terrible poison called halahala that would have destroyed the world. Shiva drank the poison to save creation. Parvati, alarmed, gripped his throat to prevent the poison from going further. The poison stopped at his throat, turning it blue. From that day he has been called Nilakantha, “the blue-throated one.”
Shiva as family man
For all his ascetic character, Shiva is also a family man. His wife is Parvati (also called Uma, or in her earlier incarnation, Sati). Their marriage is one of the tradition’s central love-stories. Parvati, in her earlier form as Sati, was the daughter of the god Daksha. When Daksha insulted Shiva at a great sacrifice, Sati threw herself into the sacrificial fire in protest. Shiva, grief-stricken, wandered the world carrying her body in his mourning dance - until Vishnu, seeing his grief, cut the body into pieces. Where the pieces fell across the Indian subcontinent, sacred sites (the Shakti Peethas) were established. Read Shiva and Sati and Shiva and Parvati.
Sati was reborn as Parvati, daughter of the Himalayan mountain king. She performed enormous austerities to win Shiva’s love again. She succeeded. Their reunion, marriage, and family life on Kailash is one of the tradition’s most tender and elaborate narratives.
Their sons are Ganesha and Kartikeya. Ganesha is the elephant-headed god of beginnings and remover of obstacles - one of the most beloved deities in Hindu tradition. Kartikeya (also called Skanda, Murugan, and Subrahmanya) is the god of war and, particularly in Tamil tradition, one of the most important deities. Read the birth of Ganesha and the birth of Kartikeya.
Shiva Nataraja: Lord of the Dance
One of the most famous artistic representations of Shiva is his form as Nataraja, “Lord of the Dance.” In this form he dances the tandava, the cosmic dance that both destroys and creates the universe.
The Nataraja image is one of the most reproduced icons in Indian religious art. Shiva is depicted with four arms, one hand holding the drum (damaru, which beats out the rhythm of creation), one holding fire (which will destroy the universe), one raised in the gesture of protection (abhaya mudra), and one pointing to his lifted foot (symbolising liberation). Beneath his other foot is crushed a small demon-figure - Apasmara, the personification of ignorance. Around him is a ring of fire representing the cosmic cycle.
The Nataraja form emerged particularly in the Chola dynasty of South India (ninth to thirteenth centuries CE), and the great bronze Nataraja sculptures produced under Chola patronage are among the masterpieces of world art.
The lingam
The most common object of worship in Shaivite temples is not an anthropomorphic image of Shiva but the lingam - a stylised pillar-form, usually mounted in a base called a yoni. The lingam represents Shiva’s generative and creative principle.
The lingam is treated in tradition as an aniconic representation - a symbol of the divine that transcends specific form. In Shaivite worship, the lingam is bathed in milk, water, and various offerings, and honoured with mantras and rituals. Twelve Jyotirlinga shrines across India are considered particularly sacred sites of Shiva-lingam worship, each associated with a specific traditional origin story.
Shiva compared to other transformative deities
Shiva occupies a distinctive position in world religion.
| Tradition | Deity | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hindu | Shiva | Destruction, transformation | Central to Shaivism |
| Hindu | Kali | Destruction, time | Shakta counterpart |
| Egyptian | Osiris | Death and rebirth | Ruler of the underworld |
| Greek | Dionysus | Ecstatic transformation | Also related to death and renewal |
| Norse | Odin | Wisdom through suffering | Dies at Ragnarok |
| Aztec | Xipe Totec | Death and renewal | Associated with agricultural cycles |
Shiva’s specific combination of ascetic renunciation, family life, cosmic dance, and generative principle is unique in world religion. He is not simply a destruction god - he is the deity of the transformations that destruction requires and enables.
Read the stories
Shiva appears throughout the Indian tradition. Some entry points:
- Shiva and Parvati
- Shiva and Sati
- The Birth of Ganesha
- The Birth of Kartikeya
- Ganga Trapped on Shiva’s Head
- The Blue-Throated God
- Ardhanareeshwara
Shiva is what Hindu tradition kept as the deity of what cannot be avoided - death, transformation, the dissolving of the old. But he is not a god of despair. He is also the auspicious one, the family man, the dancer whose steps sustain the world. Shaivite tradition preserves him as the supreme deity precisely because he holds these opposites together: fierce and gentle, ascetic and generative, destroyer and preserver in one form.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Shiva?
Shiva is one of the three great deities of Hindu tradition (with Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver). His role is destruction - understood as the transformation that clears the old to make way for the new, not as negation. In the Shaivite branch of Hinduism, one of the four main branches, Shiva is the supreme deity of whom all other gods are aspects.
What is the Trimurti?
The Trimurti is the Hindu concept of three principal deities representing the three cosmic functions: Brahma (creation), Vishnu (preservation), and Shiva (destruction). Together they represent the complete cycle of the universe. Different Hindu branches emphasise different members of the Trimurti - Vaishnavism centres on Vishnu, Shaivism on Shiva, Shaktism on the goddess Devi (often paired with Shiva as Parvati), and Smartism treats them as equal aspects of the one Brahman.
What is Shiva’s third eye?
The third eye in the centre of Shiva’s forehead is one of his most distinctive features. It is kept closed most of the time. When opened, it emits fire capable of destroying anything it looks at. Shiva has opened it to destroy the god of desire Kamadeva (who tried to disturb his meditation) and the three cities of Tripura, among other targets. The third eye represents Shiva’s inner wisdom and his capacity for transcendent perception.
Who is Shiva’s wife?
His wife is Parvati - also called Uma. In her earlier incarnation she was Sati, daughter of the god Daksha. When Daksha insulted Shiva at a great sacrifice, Sati threw herself into the sacrificial fire in protest. Shiva grieved terribly. Sati was reborn as Parvati, daughter of the Himalayan mountain king, and won Shiva’s love again through severe austerities. She is his consort in all his major domestic images.
What is a lingam?
The lingam is a stylised pillar-form that is the most common object of worship in Shaivite temples. It represents Shiva’s generative and creative principle. The lingam is usually mounted in a base called a yoni. In Shaivite worship, the lingam is bathed in milk, water, and offerings, and honoured with mantras. Twelve Jyotirlinga shrines across India - each with its own traditional origin story - are considered particularly sacred.
What is Mahashivaratri?
Mahashivaratri (“Great Night of Shiva”) is the most important annual Shaivite festival. It is held on the fourteenth day of the dark half of the Hindu lunar month of Phalguna (usually falling in February or March). Devotees fast, stay awake through the night, and perform devotional practices including chanting Shiva’s names, offering water and milk to lingams, and reading from Shaivite scriptures. The festival marks Shiva’s cosmic dance and, in some traditions, his marriage to Parvati.