Hindu denominations

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva,http://www.pantheon.org/articles/v/vishnu.html


Trimurti. In this school of religious thought, Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva is the destroyer or transformer.


Followers of Hinduism who focus their worship upon Shiva are called Shaivites or Shaivas (Sanskrit Śaiva).^[4] Shaivism, along withVaiṣṇava traditions that focus on Vishnu and Śākta traditions that focus on the goddess Devī are three of the most influential denominations in Hinduism. 


In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the Supreme God.




In the Smarta tradition, worship of five deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha. Panchayatana puja (IAST Pañcāyatana pūja) is the system of worship in the Smarta sampradaya of Hinduism.


Smartas believe that the worshipper is free to chose a particular aspect of God to worship. By contrast, a Vaishnavite considers Vishnu or Krishna to be the true God who is worthy of worship and other forms as his subordinates. Accordingly, Vaishnavites, for example, believe that only Vishnu or Krishna can grant the ultimate salvation for mankind, moksha. Similarly, many Shaivites also hold similar beliefs about Shiva. Notably, many Shaivites believe that Shakti is worshipped to reach Shiva, whom for Shaktas is the impersonal Absolute. In Shaktism, emphasis is given to the feminine manifest through which the male unmanifested, Lord Shiva, is realized.

Smartas, like many Shaivites and Vaishnavites, consider Surya to be an aspect of God. Many Shaivites and Vaishnavites, for example, differ from Smartas, in that they regard Surya as an aspect of Shiva and Vishnu, respectively. For example, the sun is called Surya Narayana by Vaishnavites. In Saivite theology, the sun is said to be one of eight forms of Shiva, theAstamurti. Additionally, Ganesh and Skanda, for many Shaivites, would be aspects of Shakti and Shiva, respectively.

Sectarian groups each presented their own preferred deity as supreme. Vishnu in his myths "becomes" Shiva.^[173] The Vishnu Purana (4th c. CE) shows Vishnu awakening and becoming both Brahmā to create the world and Shiva to destroy it.^[174] Shiva also is viewed as a manifestation of Vishnu in the Bhagavata Purana.^[175] In Shaivite myths, on the other hand, Shiva comes to the fore and acts independently and alone to create, preserve, and destroy the world.^[176] In one Shaivite myth of the origin of the lingam, both Vishnu and Brahmā are revealed as emanations from Shiva's manifestation as a towering pillar of flame.^[177] The Śatarudrīya, a Shaivite hymn, says that Shiva is "of the form of Vishnu"