Short answers, pulled from the story.
Shiva is one of the principal deities of Hinduism, regarded as the Supreme Being in Shaivism. He is known as the Destroyer within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity that also includes Brahma and Vishnu, and he is also recognised as a creator, preserver, and transformer.
According to the Monier-Williams Sanskrit dictionary, the word shiva means auspicious, propitious, gracious, benign, kind, benevolent, and friendly. It appears as early as the Rig Veda, dated approximately 1700 to 1100 BCE, where it is used as an adjective applied to several deities.
Shiva's iconic attributes include a third eye on his forehead, a crescent moon in his matted hair, the river Ganga flowing from his hair, the serpent Vasuki around his neck, the trident Trishula, and the hourglass drum damaru. He is also associated with the bull Nandi as his mount and is most commonly worshipped in the aniconic form of the lingam.
The Pashupati seal is an Indus Valley artifact found at Mohenjo-daro depicting a large central figure seated in a posture reminiscent of the lotus position and surrounded by animals. Sir John Marshall and others suggested it represents a proto-Shiva, but scholars including Gavin Flood, John Keay, and Doris Meth Srinivasan have expressed doubts, characterising the identification as speculative.
Maha Shivaratri, meaning the Great Night of Shiva, is a major Hindu festival observed once a year in late winter, in February or March, before the arrival of spring. Jones and Ryan date it as an ancient festival that probably originated around the fifth century CE. It is marked by fasting, prayer, yoga, recitation of Shiva-related poetry, and night-long wakefulness.
Shiva is revered across Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, particularly in Java and Bali. In Indonesian Hinduism he is known as Batara Guru. In Japan, the deity Daikokuten, one of the Seven Lucky Gods and a god of wealth and fortune, is considered to have evolved from Shiva. Kizil Caves in Xinjiang, China, contain wall paintings depicting Shiva within Buddhist shrines.