Cannabis has been used for millennia around the world. But perhaps no group in history shares the respect and admiration for the plant that Hindus do. The reason for their reverence is the Hindu deity Shiva. To many Hindus, Shiva is the destroyer of evil, the transformer, and the God of cannabis.

Hinduism, like most religions, blends philosophy, spirituality, and myth together. There are so many different types of Hinduism, that it’s unlikely to find two Hindus with identical beliefs.

The usual estimate of how many Gods are in Hinduism is 330 million. Technically, all of these gods are one part of Brahan—the genderless principal of ultimate reality—as is Shiva. But Shiva holds a special place in the religion separate from most of its other gods.

Typically, Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahman all make the Trimurti, a representation of all the forces that ultimately shape the universe. In Shaivism, a tradition within Hinduism, Shiva is the endless, formless body who other gods ultimately represent. Shiva also, apparently, really enjoys weed.