Over time a process of cultural accommodation occurred and the local pantheons of spirits were merged with the foreign. The origin of the major Hindu deities, Vishnu, Shiva, and the various forms of the female consorts or goddess such as Shakti and Durga and the history of their possible converging or merging is not reliably documented. It is likely that in this way, for example, Vishnu collected his long list of Avatars or bodily manifestations. This accounts for the wide range in their divine powers and their rich and contradictory personalities.