Shiva 6 cm

Shiva is one of the six primary forms of the Divine in Smartism, a denomination of Hinduism that puts particular emphasis on six deities, the other five being Vishnu, Shakti, Ganesha, Kartikkeya 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. Shiva is usually worshipped as the Shiva lingam. In images, he is generally represented as immersed in deep meditation or dancing theTandava upon the demon of ignorance in his manifestation of Nataraja, the lord of the dance.