Shiva is the "destroyer of evil and the transformer" within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity that includes Brahma and Vishnu and is the Supreme Being within Shaivism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
According to the Shaivism sect, the highest form of Shiva is formless, limitless, transcendent and the primal Atman (soul, self) of the universe.
His abode is Mt. Kailash where he resides with his wife Parvati and two sons Ganesha and Kartikeya.
The iconographical attributes of Shiva are the serpent around his neck, the adorning crescent moon, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the third eye on his forehead, the trishula as his weapon and the damaru. He is usually worshipped in the aniconic form of Lingam.
Attributes:
1)Third eye:
Shiva is often depicted with a third eye, with which he burned Desire (Kāma) to ashes, called "Tryambakam"
(Sanskrit: त्र्यम्बकम् ),In classical Sanskrit, the word ambaka denotes "an eye", and in the Mahabharata (Hindu epic),
Shiva is depicted as three-eyed, so this name is sometimes translated as "having three eyes".
2)Crescent moon:
Shiva bears on his head the crescent moon. The epithet Chandrasekhara (Sanskrit: चन्द्रशेखर "Having the moon as his
crest" – chandra = "moon"; sekhara = "crest, crown")refers to this feature.
3)Ashes:
Shiva iconography shows his body covered with ashes (bhasma, vibhuti). The ashes represent a reminder that all of
material existence is impermanent, comes to an end becoming ash, and the pursuit of eternal soul and spiritual
liberation is important.
4)Blue throat:
Shiva drank the Halahala poison churned up from the Samudra Manthan to eliminate its destructive capacity.
Shocked by his act, his wife Parvati squeezed his neck and stopped it in his neck to prevent it from spreading all over
the universe, supposed to be in Shiva's stomach. However the poison was so potent that it changed the color of his
neck to blue. so, he is also known as Nilakaṇtha (Sanskrit नीलकण्ठ; nila = "blue", kaṇtha = "throat").
5)Trident:
Shiva typically carries a trident called Trishula. The trident is a weapon or a symbol in different Hindu texts. As a
symbol, the Trishul represents Shiva's three aspects of "creator, preserver and destroyer", or alternatively it
represents the equilibrium of three Gunas of "sattva, rajas and tamas".
6)Mount Kailash:
Mount Kailash in the Himalayas is his traditional abode. It is conceived as resembling a Linga, representing the
center of the universe.
7)Gaṇa:
The Gaṇas are attendants of Shiva and live in Kailash. They are often referred to as the bhutaganas, or ghostly hosts,
on account of their nature. Generally benign, except when their lord is transgressed against, they are often invoked
to intercede with the lord on behalf of the devotee. His son Ganesha was chosen as their leader by Shiva, hence
Ganesha's title gaṇa-īśa or gaṇa-pati, "lord of the gaṇas".