Trimturi - Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

• Trinity of supreme divinity

Brahma

• The Creator
• Prominent in creation legends
• Brahman sometimes used as synonym during time that the Mahabharata was written

Vishnu

• The Preserver
• Primal Atman of universe
• When world is in chaos, descends in form of an avatar to restore cosmic order and protect dharma
• Ten primary avatars
  • Most important
    • Rama (protagonist of Ramayana)
    • Krishna

Shiva

![[The_Holy_Family,_Shiva,_Parvati,_with_their_sons_Ganesha_and_Karttikeya,_National_Museum,New_Delhi(cropped2).jpg]]

• The Destroyer
• aka Mahadeva
• The river Ganga flows from the matted hair of Shiva