Shiva is one of the principal Hindu deities, who with Vishnu and Brahma forms the Trimurti or triad of great gods. Shiva is a Sanskrit word meaning "auspicious one". He is the Moongod and lord of the mountains, with the moon in his hair from which flows Ganga, the sacred river Ganges. Shiva contains all the contradictory aspects of human nature. He is the joyful Lord of the universal dance and fiery destroyer of demons, archetypal celibate yogi and drunken seducer of the sages' wives, haunter of funeral grounds and embodiment of irrepressible vitality