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{{for multi|the city in Karnataka, India|Harihar|the founder of the Vijayanagara Empire|Harihara I}}
{{Short description|Fused Hindu deity of Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara)}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
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| image1 = Harihara V&A.jpg
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| image2 = Harihara Badami.jpg
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| footer = Left: [[Vishnu]] (left half—blue) and [[Shiva]] (right half—white). Right: A 6th-century Harihara [[murti]] in [[Badami cave temples]] of Karnataka.
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'''Harihara''' ([[Sanskrit]]: हरिहर) is the fused [[Sattva|sattvika]] characterisation of [[Vishnu]] (Hari) and [[Shiva]] (Hara) from [[Hinduism|Hindu]] theology. Hari is the form of Vishnu, and Hara is the form of Shiva. Harihara is also known as '''Shankaranarayana''' ("Shankara" is Shiva, and "Narayana" is Vishnu).

''Harihara'' is also sometimes used as a philosophical term to denote the unity of Vishnu and Shiva as different aspects of the same Ultimate Reality called [[Brahman]]. This concept of equivalence of various gods as one principle and "oneness of all existence" is discussed as Harihara in the texts of [[Advaita Vedanta]] school of [[Hindu philosophy]].<ref>David Leeming (2001), A Dictionary of Asian Mythology, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195120530}}, page 67</ref>

Some of the earliest sculptures of Harihara, with one half of the image as Vishnu and other half as Shiva, are found in the surviving cave temples of India, such as in the cave 1 and cave 3 of the 6th-century [[Badami cave temples]].<ref>Alice Boner (1990), Principles of Composition in Hindu Sculpture: Cave Temple Period, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120807051}}, pages 89-95, 115-124, 174-184</ref><ref>TA Gopinatha Rao (1993), Elements of Hindu iconography, Vol 2, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120808775}}, pages 334-335</ref>

==Concept==
[[File:Indian god-sivakesava.JPG|thumb|[[Vishnu]] (holding [[Sudarshana Chakra]]) and [[Shiva]] (lighter coloured half, wearing tiger skin, holding [[Trishula]]) combined in a single Harihara [[murti]], sometimes referred to as ''Sivakesava''and "Haryadhamurti".]]
The diversity within Hinduism encourages a wide variety of beliefs and traditions, of which two important and large traditions are associated with Vishnu and Shiva. Some schools focus on Vishnu (including his associated [[avatar]]s such as Rama and Krishna) as the Supreme God, and others on Shiva (including his different avatars such as Mahadeva and Pashupata). The [[Puranas]] and various Hindu traditions treat both Shiva and Vishnu as being different aspects of the one [[Brahman]]. Harihara is a symbolic representation of this idea. A similar idea, called [[Ardhanarishvara]] or ''Naranari'', fuses masculine and feminine deities as one and equivalent representation in Hinduism.<ref>Ellen Goldberg (2002), The Lord who is half woman: Ardhanārīśvara in Indian and feminist perspective, SUNY Press, {{ISBN|0-791453251}}, pages 1-4</ref>

Depending on which scriptures (and translations) are quoted, evidence is available to support each of the different arguments. In most cases, even if one personality is taken as being superior over the other, much respect is still offered to both Vishnu and Shiva by the other's worshippers (i.e. Shiva is still regarded as being above the level of an ordinary [[jiva]] and 'the greatest of the Vaishnavas' by Vaishnavas who worship only Vishnu).<ref>"Lord Sambhu [Siva] the greatest of Vaishnavas and vice versa" from [http://srimadbhagavatam.com/12/13/16/en1 Bhag-Purana 12.13.16] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009160352/http://srimadbhagavatam.com/12/13/16/en1 |date=9 October 2007 }}</ref>

[[Swaminarayan]] holds that Vishnu and Shiva are different aspects of the same God.<ref>[http://www.kakaji.org/shikshapatri_verses.asp?catid=viewAll] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180131/http://www.kakaji.org/shikshapatri_verses.asp?catid=viewAll|date=3 March 2016}}, verses 47, 84, of their scripture, [[Shikshapatri]], [http://www.kakaji.org/shikshapatri_verses.asp?catid=viewAll] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180131/http://www.kakaji.org/shikshapatri_verses.asp?catid=viewAll|date=3 March 2016}} states, "And the oneness of [[Narayana]] and [[Shiva]] should be understood, as the Vedas have described both to be brahmaroopa, or form of [[Brahman]], i.e., [[Saguna Brahman]], indicating that Vishnu and Shiva are different forms of the one and same God.</ref><ref>[http://www.swaminarayansatsang.com/library/scriptures/index.asp?idCategory=2&curPage=2&MediaType= Swaminarayan Satsang – Scriptures] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716171647/http://www.swaminarayansatsang.com/library/scriptures/index.asp?idCategory=2&curPage=2&MediaType= |date=16 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>http://www.swaminarayansatsang.com/library/scriptures/scriptureexplanation.asp?IDProduct=762&idcategory=2={{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

== Legends ==
The earliest mention of Harihara is likely to be observed in the [[Harivamsa|Harivamsha]], where [[Markandeya]] discusses the being.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://mahabharata-resources.org/harivamsa/vishnuparva/hv_2_125.html |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=mahabharata-resources.org}}</ref> In the [[Mahabharata]], Harihara is mentioned as the one of thousand names of Lord [[Shiva]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mahabharata, Anushasana Parva, Section XVII |url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m13/m13a017.htm}}</ref>

==Depictions==
{{multiple image
|image1=Harihara, statue.jpg
|caption1=Statue of Harihara. This statue is the mortuary deified portrayal of King [[Kertarajasa]], the first king of Majapahit (1293-1309) from the temple Candi Simping in East Java.
|width1=150
|image2=British Museum Harihara.JPG
|caption2=Harihara sculpture, British Museum. The left half represents Shiva (with the Trishula) and the right half represents Vishnu (with the Chakra and Conch).
|width2=158
}}
Harihara is depicted in art as split down the middle, one half representing Shiva, the other half representing Vishnu.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rajarajan |first=R.K.K. |date=2021 |title=Rāmagiri Tēr Harihara and Harihara-Ekapāda Trimūrti |url=https://www.academia.edu/78964505 |journal=Journal of Indian History and Culture |volume=28 |pages=187–213}}</ref> The Shiva half will have the matted locks of a yogic master piled high on his head and sometimes will wear a tiger skin, reserved for the most revered ascetics. Shiva's pale skin may be read as ash-covered in his role as an ascetic. The Vishnu half will wear a tall [[Crown (headgear)|crown]] and other [[jewelry]], representing his responsibility for maintaining world order. Vishnu's black skin represents holiness. Broadly, these distinctions serve to represent the duality of humble religious influence in the ascetic and authoritative secular power in the king or householder.<ref>Thirty Thousand Years of Art. Phaidon Press Limited. p. 484</ref> However, in other aspects Shiva also takes on the authoritative position of householder, a position which is [[Shiva#Ascetic and householder|directly at odds]] with the ascetic position depicted in his Harihara manifestation.{{Cn|date=February 2022}}

Harihara has been part of temple iconography throughout South Asia and Southeast Asia, with some illustrations listed in the following table. In some states, the concept of Harihara appears through alternate names and its progeny; for example, temples incorporating [[Ayyappan]] and [[Shasta (deity)|Shasta]] deities in [[Kerala]] illustrate this Hindu tradition there since at least the 7th century.<ref>Jones and Ryan (2007), Encyclopedia of Hinduism, {{ISBN|978-0816054589}}, page 58</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Temples with Harihara murti (half Vishnu, half Shiva)
|-
!Temple name !! Location !! Harihara [[murti]] date !! Reference
|-
|Badami cave temples || [[Karnataka]] || 6th century ||<ref>TA Gopinatha Rao (1993), Elements of Hindu iconography, Vol 2, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120808775}}, pages 334-335</ref>
|-
|[[Dharmaraja Ratha]] || [[Tamil Nadu]] || 7th century ||<ref>[http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_mahabalipuram_monolithic.asp World Heritage Sites - Mahabalipuram] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312100940/http://www.asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_mahabalipuram_monolithic.asp |date=12 March 2013 }} Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India (2011), Quote: "The sculptures around the sanctum in the corner blocks depict simple forms of Siva, '''Harihara''', Brahma-Sasta, Brahma, a delicately balanced representation of Ardhanarisvara."</ref>
|-
|Birasini temple || [[Madhya Pradesh]] || ||
|-
|[[Harihareshwara Temple]] || Karnataka || 13th century ||<ref>Henry Cousens (1996), The Chalukyan Architecture of Kanarese Districts, Archaeological Survey of India, page 93</ref>
|-
|Ossian temples || [[Rajasthan]] || two from 8th century,<br>one 9th century ||<ref>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/aiis/aiis_search.html?depth=Get+Details&id=59436 Harihara temple 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052425/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/aiis/aiis_search.html?depth=Get+Details&id=59436 |date=4 March 2016 }}, Osian, Jodhpur, India, University of Chicago Archives</ref><ref>Cynthia Packert Atherton (1997), The Sculpture of Early Medieval Rajasthan, BRILL, {{ISBN|978-9004107892}}, pages 42-46</ref>
|-
|Deopani temple || [[Assam]] || two from 9th, 10th century ||<ref>CD Tripathi (2008), Kāmarūpa-Kaliṅga-Mithilā: a politico-cultural alignment in Eastern India : history, art, traditions, IIAS, {{ISBN|978-8173053276}}, pages 55-57</ref>
|-
|[[Mukteshvara Temple, Bhubaneswar|Mukteshvara Temple]]
|[[Odisha]]
|9th-10th Century CE
|
|-
|Saugal-tol temple || [[Nepal]] || statue: 6th century<br>temple: 12th to 16th century ||<ref>Mary Slusser, [http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/contributions/pdf/CNAS_02_01_04.pdf Saugal-tol temple of Patan], INAS Journal, page 40-41 and 46-48 (images)</ref>
|-
|Purandi temple || [[Nepal]] || 11th century ||<ref>Mary Slusser (1996), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3250106 The Purandi Hoard: Metalwork from Eleventh-Century Nepal], Artibus Asiae, Vol. 56, No. 1/2, pages 95-137, 139-143</ref>
|-
|Prasat Andet || [[Cambodia]] || late 7th to early<br>8th century ||<ref>Fred Kleiner (2012), Gardner’s Art through the Ages: A Global History, Cengage, {{ISBN|978-0495915423}}, pages 443-444</ref><ref>[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1977.241 Standing Hari–Hara, Pre–Angkor period] The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA</ref>
|-
|Candi Simping || [[Indonesia]] || 13th or 14th century ||<ref>[[Edi Sedyawati]] et al (2013), Candi Indonesia: Seri Jawa, Direktorat Jenderal Kebudayaan, {{ISBN|978-6021766934}}, pages 246-248</ref>
|-
|[[Baijnath Temple]]
|[[Himachal Pradesh]]
|13th century
|<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://baijnathtemple.com/sculpture.htm|title=Baijnath Temple}}</ref>
|-
|Hariharnath Temple
|Bihar
|Exact dates not known.
|[[Sonpur, Bihar]]
|}

==See also==
* [[Ardhanarishvara]]
* [[Vaikuntha Kamalaja]]
* [[Ayyappan]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Harihara}}

* [http://www.dlshq.org/download/lordsiva.htm#_VPID_127 Shiva and Vishnu as One and the Same] (dlshq.org)
* [http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/india/halebid/hal07.html Harihara - Photograph of Carving from Hoysaleshvara Temple, Halebid] (art-and-archaeology.com)

{{Hindu Culture and Epics}}

[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Hindu gods]]
[[Category:Forms of Shiva]]
[[Category:Forms of Vishnu]]

Harihara - Revision history

ImportMaster at 12:56, 17 January 2023