God Shiva Brass Sculpture Gifts from India

Shiva, also spelled Siva, is considered to be the supreme deity in Shaivism, a denomination of Hinduism. The worship of Shiva is a pan-Hindu tradition, practiced widely across all of India. Shiva is one of the five primary forms of the Divine in Smartism, a denomination of Hinduism that puts particular emphasis on five deities, the other four being Vishnu, Devi, Ganesha, and Surya. Another way of thinking about the divinities in Hinduism identifies Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva as each representing one of the three primary aspects of the Divine in Hinduism, known collectively as the Trimurti. In the Trimurti system, Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva is the destroyer or transformer. The Sanskrit word Siva is an adjective meaning kind, friendly, gracious, or auspicious. As a proper name it means "The Auspicious One", used as a euphemistic name for Rudra In simple English transliteration it is written either as Shiva or Siva. The Sanskrit word śaiva means "relating to the god Shiva", and this term is the Sanskrit name both for one of the principal sects of Hinduism, and for a member of one of those sects. It is used as as adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism.