* Crescent Moon: Shiva bears on his head the crescent of the moon. The epithet Chandrashekhara(Sanskrit: "Having the moon as his crest" - chandra = Moon, shekhara = crest, crown), Bidhushekhara (bidhu= moon), Chandramouli (mouli = crown), Chandrachoorha (choorha = crest, crown) and others, refer to this feature. The placement of the moon on his head as a standard iconographic feature dates to the period when Rudra rose to prominence and became the major deity Rudra-Shiva. The origin of this linkage may be due to the identification of the moon with Soma, and there is a hymn in the Rig Veda where Soma and Rudra are jointly emplored, and in later literature Soma and Rudra came to be identified with one another, as were Soma and the Moon.

* Matted Hair: Shiva's distinctive hair style is noted in the epithets Jatin, "The One with matted hair" andKapardin, "Endowed with matted hair" or "wearing his hair wound in a braid in a shell-like (kaparda) fashion". Akaparda is a cowrie shell, or a braid of hair in the form of a shell, or more generally hair that is shaggy or curly.

* Sacred Ganga: The Ganga rivers flows from the matted hair of Shiva. The epithet Gangaadhara("Bearer of the river Ganga") refers to this feature. The Ganga (Ganges), one of the major rivers of the country, is said to have made her abode in Shiva's hair.