15. Shaivism Has Merged With Buddhism in Some Places
On the Indonesian island of Java, before the arrival of Islam, people viewed Buddhism and Shaivism as distinct but very close religions. By the Medieval era, devotees regarded Buddha and Shiva as the same god, along with Vishnu. Today on Bali, a predominantly Hindu island in Indonesia, the faithful believe that Shiva is the younger brother of Buddha. In pre-Islamic Iran, the Zoroastrian wind god had an appearance that strongly resembled that of Shiva.