SIVA  , in

Hindu mythology, a god who forms the supreme trinity with Brahma and Vishnu . As Brahma is the creator and Vishnu the preserver, so Siva is the destroyer . His name does not occur in the Vedas, but in later Hinduism he is an important divinity . Though Siva's personal appearance is fully described in the Puranas, it is in the form of the linga (phallic emblem) that he is almost universally worshipped . Death being a transition to a new form of life, the destroyer is really a re-creator, and thus Siva is styled the Bright or Happy One . He is exclusively a post-Vedic god, though he has been identified by the Hindus with the Rudra of the Vedas, and numerous features of Siva's character and history are developed from those of Rudra . See further BRAIIMANISM and HINDUISM .