   the "trimÅ«rti" (;"trimurti". random house webster's unabridged dictionary. sanskrit: à¤¤à¥à¤°à¤¿à¤®à¥à¤°à¥à¤¤à¤¿à¤ , "three forms") is a concept in hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of brahma the creator, vishnu the maintainer or preserver and shiva the destroyer or transformer."for quotation defining the trimurti see matchett, freda. "the ", in: flood (2003), p. 139.for the trimurti system having brahma as the creator, vishnu as the maintainer or preserver, and shiva as the transformer or destroyer. see zimmer (1972) p. 124. these three gods have been called "the hindu triad"for definition of trimurti as "the unified form" of brahmÄ,  and Åiva and use of the phrase "the hindu triad" see: apte, p. 485. or the "great trinity",for the term "great trinity" in relation to the trimurti see: jansen, p. 83. often addressed as "brahma-vishnu-maheshwara." ==evolution==  thumb|right|250px|trimurti, painting from andhra pradesh the puranic period saw the rise of post-vedic religion and the evolution of what r. c. majumdar calls "synthetic hinduism."for dating of puranic period as c. ce 300-1200 and quotation, see: majumdar, r. c. "evolution of religio-philosophic culture in india", in: radhakrishnan (chi, 1956), volume 4, p. 47. this period had no homogeneity, and included orthodox brahmanism in the form of remnants of older vedic faith traditions, along with different sectarian religions, notably shaivism, vaishnavism, and shaktism that were within the orthodox fold yet still formed distinct entities.for characterization as non-homogeneous and including multiple traditions, see: majumdar, r. c. "evolution of religio-philosophic culture in india", in: radhakrishnan (chi, 1956), volume 4, p. 49. one of the important traits of this period is a spirit of harmony between orthodox and sectarian forms.for harmony between orthodox and sectarian groups, see: majumdar, r. c. "evolution 
Hindu_gods Hindu_philosophical_concepts Names_of_God_in_Hinduism Triple_deities