Harihara

Sources record Harihara in Puranic and related literature as a fused representation of Vishnu and Shiva. The Skanda Purana recounts that disputes between devotees of Shiva and Vishnu were resolved by their joint identity as Harihara; the Harivamsha and Vishnu-related narratives include episodes (for example, the Mohini episode) in which interactions between the two divine personalities are narrated and later interpreted in some traditions as giving rise to fused iconography. These textual accounts function to symbolize reconciliation or theological unity rather than to narrate the independent originating actions of a separate being.

Iconography conventionally shows Harihara split vertically down the midline: one half bears Shiva's attributes (matted hair arranged in a yogic bun, ash-covered or pale appearance, occasional tiger-skin dress) while the other half shows Vishnu's attributes (tall crown, jewelry, often darker/black skin representing the householder/kingship aspect). Early sculptural examples date to early medieval cave and temple contexts (notably 6th-century Badami cave temples) and appear across South and Southeast Asian temple art.

In the supplied sources Harihara is treated primarily as a symbolic and theological figure rather than as an independent acting agent. As a composite form it embodies the canonical attributes associated with its constituent deities — Vishnu's preserving/upholding aspect and Shiva's ascetic/destroyer/yogic aspects — and the image functions to express their essential unity (Brahman) and to symbolize reconciliation between Vaishnava and Shaiva viewpoints.