The Puranic period saw the rise of post-Vedic religion and the evolution of what R. C. Majumdar calls "synthetic Hinduism."

This period had no homogeneity, and included orthodox Brahmanism in the form of remnants of older Vedic faith traditions, along with different sectarian religions, notably Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism that were within the orthodox fold yet still formed distinct entities. One of the important traits of this period is a spirit of harmony between orthodox and sectarian forms. Regarding this spirit of reconciliation, R. C. Majumdar says that:

Its most notable expression is to be found in the theological conception of the Trim?rti, i.e., the manifestation of the supreme God in three forms of Brahm?, Vi??u, and ?iva... But the attempt cannot be regarded as a great success, for Brahm? never gained an ascendancy comparable to that of ?iva or Vi??u, and the different sects often conceived the Trim?rti as really the three manifestations of their own sectarian god, whom they regarded as Brahman or Absolute.

The identification of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva as one being is strongly emphasized in the K?rma Pur??a, where in 1.6 Brahman is worshipped as Trimurti; 1.9 especially inculcates the unity of the three gods, and 1.26 relates to the same theme. Historian A. L. Basham explains the background of the Trimurti as follows, noting Western interest in the idea of trinity:

There must be some doubt as to whether the Hindu tradition has ever recognized Brahma as the Supreme Deity in the way that Visnu and Siva have been conceived of and worshiped.

The concept of Trimurti is also present in the Maitri Upanishad, where the three gods are explained as three of his supreme forms.^[15]

Temples dedicated to various permutations of the Trimurti can be seen as early as the 8th century C.E., and there are even temples today in which the Trimurti are actively worshiped.

• Baroli Trimurti Temple
• Elephanta Caves
• Mithrananthapuram Trimurti Temple
• Prambanan Trimurti Temple
• Savadi Trimurti Temple
• Thripaya Trimurti Temple

Sauram

The Saura sect that worships Surya as the supreme person of the godhead and saguna brahman doesn't accept the Trimurti as they believe Surya is God. Earlier forms of the Trimurti sometimes included Surya instead of Brahma, or as a fourth above the Trimurti, of whom the other three are manifestations; Surya is Brahma in the morning, Vishnu in the afternoon and Shiva in the evening. Surya was also a member of the original Vedic Trimurti, which included Varuna and Vayu. Some Sauras worship either Vishnu or Brahma or Shiva as manifestations of Surya, others worship the Trimurti as a manifestation of Surya, and others exclusively worship Surya alone.

Shaivism

Shaivites hold that, according to Shaiva Agama, Shiva performs five actions - creation, preservation, dissolution, concealing grace, and revealing grace. Respectively, these first three actions are associated with Shiva as Sadyojata (akin to Brahma), Vamadeva (akin to Vishnu) and Aghora (akin to Rudra). Thus, Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra are not deities different from Shiva, but rather are forms of Shiva. As Brahma/Sadyojata, Shiva creates. As Vishnu/Vamadeva, Shiva preserves. As Rudra/Aghora, he dissolves. This stands in contrast to the idea that Shiva is the "God of destruction." To Shaivites, Shiva is God and performs all actions, of which destruction is only but one. Ergo, the Trimurti is a form of Shiva Himself for Shaivas. Shaivites believe that Lord Shiva is the Supreme, who assumes various critical roles and assumes appropriate names and forms, and also stands transcending all these.^[16] A prominent visual example of a Shaivite version of the Trimurti is the Trimurti Sadashiva sculpture in the Elephanta Caves on Gharapuri Island.

Brahmanism

The Brahmins follows to Brahma. As Brahma worships to Lord Shiva so following to him they also like Shaiva worships to Shiva. For them Brahma is the Parabrahaman and Supreme being, they believe Vishnu and Shiva as child of Brahma and forms of him only. In Brahmanism they believe that Brahma is Creator, Vishnu is Preserver and Shiva as Destroyer. They believe Brahma as the Param-pita of the world and gods. He only creates, preserves, and destroys everything to create again.^{[citation needed]}.

Shaktism

The Female-Centric Shaktidharma denomination assigns the eminent roles of the three forms (Trimurti) of Supreme Divinity not to masculine gods but instead to feminine goddesses: Mahasarasvati (Creator), Mahalaxmi (Preserver), and Mahakali (Destroyer). This feminine version of the Trimurti is called Tridevi ("three goddesses"). The masculine gods (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) are then relegated as auxiliary agents of the supreme feminine Tridevi.

Smartism

Smartism is a denomination of Hinduism that places emphasis on a group of five deities rather than just a single deity.^[17] The "worship of the five forms" (pañc?yatana p?j?) system, which was popularized by the ninth-century philosopher ?ankar?c?rya among orthodox Brahmins of the Sm?rta tradition, invokes the five deities Ganesha, Vishnu, Brahma, Devi and Shiva.^[18][19] ?ankar?c?rya later added Kartikeya to these five, making six total. This reformed system was promoted by ?ankar?c?rya primarily to unite the principal deities of the six major sects on an equal status.^[20] The monistic philosophy preached by ?ankar?c?rya made it possible to choose one of these as a preferred principal deity and at the same time worship the other four deities as different forms of the same all-pervading Brahman.

Vaishnavism

Despite the fact that the Vishnu Purana describes that Vishnu manifests as Brahma in order to create and as Rudra (Shiva) in order to destroy,^[21] Vaishnavism generally does not acknowledge the Trimurti concept and in Lord Vishnu but they believe in avataras of Vishnu like Buddha, Rama, Krishna,etc.They also believe that Shiva and Brahma both are forms of Vishnu. For example, the Dvaita school holds Vishnu alone to be the supreme God, with Shiva subordinate, and interprets the Puranas differently. For example, Vijayindra Tîrtha, a Dvaita scholar interprets the 18 puranas differently. He interprets the Vaishnavite puranas as satvic and Shaivite puranas as tamasic and that only satvic puranas are considered to be authoritative.^[22]

Unlike most other Vaishnavite schools such as those of Ramanuja, Madhva and Chaitanya, Swaminarayan, guru of the Hindu Swaminarayan sects (including BAPS), did not differentiate between Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva; Swaminarayan notably differs from practically all Vaishnavite schools in holding that Vishnu and Shiva are different aspects of the same God.^[23] (see also verses 47 and 84 of Shikshapatri, a key scripture to all followers of the Swaminarayan faith.)^[24]