Form · Smarta · Pan-India

Harihara

Also called: Shankaranarayana, Hari-Hara

Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara) as one body split down the middle, the ascetic Shiva half on the right and the crowned Vishnu half on the left. Texts explain it as the answer to a sectarian dispute; Karnataka's Harihar tells it as the form that killed Guhasura, and Tamil Sankarankovil as the form Parvati prayed for to reconcile two serpent kings. Earliest at Badami (6th century), carved across India and in Khmer Cambodia.

combined form reconciliation boon

Sources: Harihara — Wikipedia; Harihareshwara Temple (Harihar, Karnataka) — Wikipedia; Manifestation of the unmanifested: Shiva sculptures of the Kailash temple, Ellora — Sahapedia · see Harihara's web

Relations 8

Harihara form of

Vishnu (God) Smarta · Harihara: Vishnu and Shiva in one body
Hari half.
Shiva (God) Smarta · Harihara: Vishnu and Shiva in one body
Hara half.
Vishnu (God) · How Vishnu and Shiva became one body
Left half.
Shiva (God) · How Vishnu and Shiva became one body
Right half.

Harihara dwells at

Harihar (Place) Smarta · How Vishnu and Shiva became one body
Kailasa temple, Ellora (Cave 16) (Place) Shaiva · The three gods together on the Kailasa temple, Ellora
Eastern gallery and Nandi pavilion, flanked by Nandi and Garuda.

Harihara has form

Sankaranarayana (Form) Shaiva · How Vishnu and Shiva became one body
Tamil temple form of the same composite at Sankarankovil.

Harihara slew

Guhasura (Asura) Smarta · How Vishnu and Shiva became one body
At Kudalur, the Tungabhadra–Haridra confluence.

Stories 4

Harihara: Vishnu and Shiva in one body
In stone and bronze · as the composite · 2 tellings
How Vishnu and Shiva became one body
Temple legend · as the combined form · 4 tellings
The three gods together on the Kailasa temple, Ellora
In stone and bronze · as the composite panel · 1 telling
The triple shrine of Phnom Bok
In stone and bronze · as the Khmer composite cult · 1 telling

Cited

Harihara — Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Harihareshwara Temple (Harihar, Karnataka) — Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Manifestation of the unmanifested: Shiva sculptures of the Kailash temple, Ellora — Sahapedia Scholarly