Harihar (or Hari-hara) is a syncretic deity in Hinduism, combining the two major gods Vishnu(Hari) and Shiva (Hara). Images of Harihara (also known as Sambhu-Visnu and Sankara-Narayana, variants of the names of the two gods) began to appear in the classical period after sectarian movements, which elevated one god as supreme over the others, had waned sufficiently for efforts at compromise to be attempted. The region of Harihara had been under the control of the Hoysalas from the 11th to 13th centuries AD.