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Siva in the Vedas is called Rudra. He is also called Pashupati, the lord of animal beings. Since God is without form, devotees often worship Shiva in the form of lingam rather than portraying Him in human form.

Unlike Vaishnavism, Shaivism does not believe that God incarnates. Furthermore, Shaivism stresses the formless aspect of God. In this, if in nothing else, Shaivism is more similar to Islam and Judaism.

One of the most famous hymns to Shiva in the Vedas is Shri Rudram.

The foremost Saivite Vedic Mantra is Aum Namah Sivaya.

Vishnu and Shiva are sometimes visualized as a single divinity named Harihara.

Major theological schools of Shaivism include Kashmir Shaivism, Saiva Siddhanta and Virasaivism.

1 External links

• http://www.shaivam.org/index.html; specifically, http://www.shaivam.org/shp.htm
• http://members.aol.com/ukumbar/vsny/Detailed.htm#BM6
• http://sroutasaivasiddhanta.org/contact.htm
• http://www.geocities.com/shivaperuman/saivalinks.html
• For a brief discussion about these branches and Hinduism in general, please see Swami Sivananda's excellent book, "All about Hinduism" at http://www.dlshq.org/download/hinduismbk.htm#_VPID_101
• For an excellent overview of Shaivism and basic beliefs, please see the following web site,

http://www.hinduism-today.com/archives/2003/10-12/44-49_four_sects.shtml.

• Additionally, please see excerpts from the book, "Dancing with Siva" which discusses Hinduism and Shaivism in particular on the web site, http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/dws/Contents.html
• http://www.geocities.com/nayanmars/Documents.html (link for obtaining PDF documents of prayers to Shiva.)

2 See also

• Vaishnavism
• Siddha YogaSiddha Yoga is a religious group teaching traditional Hindu practices in a way that is acceptable to people in the west. The group also goes under the name of SYDA Foundation . Central to its teaching is the True Guru who is the latest in a lineage of tea