Trimurti

Saguna Brahman is often understood through the Trimurti - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, regarded as the different aspects of G-d.

Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, Shiva the destroyer.

Trimurti is sometimes depicted as one G-d with three heads, or earth, water, and fire, the three gunas, and involves the cyclic view of the nature of time. 

Brahma the rajas guna, Vishnu the sattva guna, Shiva the tamas guna.

They also can represent the different stages (ashramas) of a person's life.

Brahma the student ashrama, Vishnu the householder ashrama, Shiva the retirement ashrama.

Each is associated with a Shakti (female energy) as each one has a female consort.

Brahma's Shakti Saraswati, goddess of knowledge and learning, Vishnu's Shakti Lakshmi, the goddess of beauty and wealth, Shiva's Parvati, goddess of the Himalayas and love.

Brahma is very rarely worshipped independently, with Vishnu and Shiva both being by far the most important.

Brahma

Brahma is the creator of the universe, depicted as a man with four heads, four faces, and four arms. Originally, he had five heads to allow him to follow his lover, the female deity Shatarupa. The top one was cut off by Shiva to control and reprimand him for falling in love with his creation. It was because of this that he ordered there would be no worship of Brahma in India.

Basham: "there must be some doubt as to whether the Hindu tradition has ever recognised Brahma as the Supreme Deity in the way Vishnu and Shiva have been conceived of and worshipped."

Brahma is thought to meditate after the end of each universe and before the creation of the next. He is often depicted with a copy of the Vedas, symbolising his religious knowledge. He holds a water pot, used by the sannyasins to cleanse before meditation, with the water representing the beginning of creation. He holds a mala, a string of 108 rosaries used to meditate and keep track of time. He holds a lotus and/or sits in the lotus position, representing spiritual beauty.

Vishnu

Vishnu is the preserver, both in a cosmic sense (preserving the universe as it should be) and a personal sense (the preservation of dharma.)

Cartwright: Vishnu is "a complex character, Vishnu is the Preserver and guardian of men (Narayana), he protects the order of things (rta) and, when necessary, he appears on earth in various incarnations or avatars to fight  demons and fierce creatures and so maintain cosmic harmony."

For followers of Vaishnavism, he is the Supreme G-d, as opposed to just being an aspect of it.

Vishnu is often represented as blue, representing his all-pervading nature. Vishnu comes from the root "vis" meaning "to spread in all directions. "Vishnu is regarded as the core or nucleus through which everything exists."

He is usually either shown reclining over waves of the ocean on the coils of a thousand-headed serpent deity, Sheshnaga. Other times, he is stood upright on a lotus flower with four arms, each holding a particular symbol - the front two representing his presence in the physical world, the back two the spiritual.

In his lower right hand, he holds a lotus flower, symbolising purity, dharma, and knowledge. The lower left holds a mace, symbolising his kingly power and force behind all physical and mental powers. His upper left holds a conch shell, representing the five elements as symbols of creativity and also the sound of creation heard when listening to it - "Aum". The upper right holds a wheel with six spokes, representing his power off of the six seasons of the Hindu character.

He wears a crown on his head, symbolising his supreme authority, and two earrings representing the opposites in creation (knowledge and ignorance, happiness and unhappiness, pleasure and pain.)

He is often worshipped as the form of the tulsi or basil plant - which many of his followers grow and use as Murtis. He is mainly associated with his avatars - the forms he comes to earth in to defend dharma, restore good, and destroy evil. Most Hindus believe he incarnates in ten avatars, the most popular and well-known being Krishna and Rama.

Shiva

Shiva is the god of destruction, as understood in the cyclic understanding of life, with death being as necessary to life as birth. He is not violently destructive, but cleansingly so. He is also regarded as the creator following destruction. The sect is strongly anti-Brahmanical and opposes worship of any image other than the lingam.

He is one of the oldest gods in the Hindu tradition, with evidence of his worship in the IVC.

He is called Mahadeva (Lord of Ascetics), Rudra (god of Storms) and Nataraja (Lord of the Dance) who controls the movement of the universe.

He is the god of reproduction, and is worshipped in the form of the lingam - the sacred phallus. 

He is the god of opposites - creator and destroyer, old and young, erotic and ascetic, fierce and gentle, and as Ardhanarishwara, both male and female.

Shiva Nataraja features him dancing on a demon, surrounded by a snake, a trident, and a frame, emphasising his destructive power to symbolise his defeat of evil.

Shiva Mahayogi sows him as a sannyasin, dedicating himself to a life of meditation. Shiva Bhairava shows him as the demonic aspects of shiva.

His consort is Devi, the mother goddess, and he rides a snow-white bull called Nandi. The bull represents sexual impulse and masculinity, which Shiva controls.

He sits on a lotus flower, holding his hands in the "abhaya post" symbolising peace, purity, and asceticism. Other times he sits on a tiger skin and wears a cobra necklace showing his power over death, and wears a crescent of the fifth day moon on his head showing the power of offering sacrifices. He has long matted hair, showing him as Lord of the Wind, Vayu. The Ganga flows from his hair, indicating ritual purity. His third eye shows his omniscience, and his trident represents the Trimurti.

Vaishnavism

Vaishnavism is a branch of Hinduism that worships Vishnu or his avatars as the Supreme G-d. It can be traced back to Vedic times, and is principally monotheistic with arguably pantheistic aspects. Vaishnavites believe all other gods serve Vishnu.

It is very devotional, emphasising the personal aspects of G-d and the path of Bhakti.

Baker: "An important aspect of Vaishnavism is that it emphasises G-d as someone you can have a personal relationship with."

The aim is to attain moksha, which is only possible after death when the soul unionises with Vishnu's body, as part of him, but still maintaining individual personality. Vishnu is the soul of the universe.

They emphasise the Vedas and Puranas, with Vaishnavite worship being full of ecstatic dancing and chanting.

Shaivism

Shaivism is a branch of Hinduism that worships Shiva as the Supreme G-d. They acknowledge the existence of other gods, but only as an expression of Shiva (Monistic Theism). It is popular in South India and Sri Lanka.

They are a proponent of Nirguna Brahman, believing that G-d cannot be limited to any form or body.

It is deep, devotional, mystic, and incredibly diverse. The aim is to attain moksha, usually through eradication of ignorance, but there is a history of conflict between Shaivism and Vaishnavism as to how that is attained. Today there is more dialogue and discussion.

It emphasises parts of the Vedas like Rudram and Chamakam, which praise Shiva specifically. There are ascetic branches, like that of the Pasupatas, who meditate and chant in praise, and exert self-control akin to Shiva's by renouncing all worldly desires in favour of deep peace.

Shiva is worshipped as a lingam and in human form. Sacred ash is significant to their worship, bathing Shiva in it and it being worn on the foreheads of worshippers as a mark of respect and reverence. 

They do not allow Brahmins to perform worship in the inner sanctum of their temples - it is reserved for priests called Shivacgaryas. The holiest of their shrines is the Nataraja temple in Tamilnadu.

The symbol of the "aum" is important, as is the five syllable word Namasivaya - considered to be holy and required to be repeated several times a day.

QUOTE BANK!!

Blavatsky: "the fact is, that all the three persons of the Trimurti are simply the three qualificative gunas or attributes of the universe of differentiated Spirit-Matter, self-formative, self-preserving, and self-destroying, for purposes of regeneration and perfectibility.

Basham: "there must be some doubt as to whether the Hindu tradition has ever recognised Brahma as the Supreme Deity in the way Vishnu and Shiva have been conceived of and worshipped."

Zaehner: Shiva "is the reconciliation of all opposites."

Jamison: the Lingam is representative "of creative power, and yet mysterious"

Ling: Shiva is "the patron of reproduction." "He has also the character of a fertility god: he is the Lord of the Beasts" "he is sometimes depicted with a garland of skulls."

Cartwright: Vishnu is "a complex character, Vishnu is the Preserver and guardian of men (Narayana), he protects the order of things (rta) and, when necessary, he appears on earth in various incarnations or avatars to fight demons and fierce creatures and so maintain cosmic harmony."

Jones: ""Vishnu is regarded as the core or nucleus through which everything exists."

Baker: "An important aspect of Vaishnavism is that it emphasises G-d as someone you can have a personal relationship with."

Flood: "the formation of Saiva traditions as we understand them begins to occur during the period from 200 BC to 100 AD."

Vivekanda: "“It is not that Shiva is superior to Vishnu, not that Vishnu is everything and Shiva is nothing, but it is the same one whom you call either Shiva, or Vishnu, or by a hundred other names.”