In Hindu mythology, Brahma is the Creator, Vishnu is the Sustainer, and Shiva is the one who brings all to Completion. Shiva is frequently portrayed as a very powerful, masculine figure, and there are many stories of him doing battle on behalf of Truth and Justice, destroying enemies with powerful weapons or sometimes merely by the tremendous spiritual strength of his glance.. However, there is also a form of Shiva which is half male, half female, a form which is full of meaning.

There are, of course, several stories of how this form manifested. One has to do with the very beginning of Creation. In this tale, it is told that Brahma had created the first men, the Prajapatis, and told them to regenerate, but this they were unable to do, for Brahma had made no women. Frustrated with the slow growth of the universe, Brahma turned to Shiva for help, and in response, Shiva manifested to him in the form of ardhanarishvara – the right half male, and the left half female – to demonstrate the inherent unity of Creation. Shiva, also known as Purusha, or Divine Consciousness, cannot be separated from Shakti, also called Prakriti, the personified power of Creation; each is implicit in the other, and each completes the other.

Brahma then prayed to the female half of Shiva, and she created for him a number of female goddesses and humans, and in this way the forms of life began to multiply.