Dattatreya

DATTATREYA: This is a combined representation of the Hindu trinity: Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara or Shiva. He is represented as a deity with three heads, one each for Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He has six hands and they carry the water pot (kamandala) representing Brahma, the trident (trishul) representing Shiva and the conch (shank), discus (chakra) representing Vishnu. The four dogs surrounding Dattatreya symbolize the four Vedas and the bull is Shiva’s vehicle.