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Hindu God Lord Shiva the
Destroyer
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Shiva
(Sanskrit: Auspicious One), or Siva, is one of the main Deities of
Hinduism, worshipped as the paramount lord by the Saivite sects of
India. Shiva is one of the most complex
gods of India, embodying
seemingly contradictory qualities. He is the destroyer and the restorer,
the great ascetic and the symbol of sensuality, the benevolent herdsman
of souls and the wrathful avenger.
Shiva was originally
known as Rudra, a minor deity addressed only three times in the Rig
Veda. He gained importance after absorbing some of the
characteristics of an earlier fertility god and became
Shiva,
part of the trinity, or trimurti, with
Vishnu and Brahma.
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The
Cult of Shiva
Shaivism, or
Saivism, is one of the most popular Hindu cults. It embraces many
theological practices, although all agree on three principles: pati.
or God; pasu, or individual soul; and pasa, or bonds that
confine the soul to earthly existence. The aim of Shaivites is to
rid their souls of bondage and achieve shivata, the "nature of
Shiva". They achieve this through ascetic practices and
penances, with an emphasis on yoga and renunciation. Many Shaivites
become wandering sadhus, or hold men. Shiavites mark their foreheads
with three horizontal marks representing the three aspects of
Shiva.
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Shiva
wears a snake coiled around his upper arms and neck symbolizing
the power he has over the most deadly of creatures. Snakes are
also used to symbolize the Hindu dogma of reincarnation. Their
natural process of molting or shedding their skin is symbolic of
the human souls transmigration of bodies from one life to another.
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Thiruvalangadu,
north of Madras, is associated with the dance contest between
Shiva and his consort in the form of
Kali. According to legend,
Shiva danced vigorously, and to subdue
Kali, threw up his leg in
the rhythm of the dance. Being a lady,
Kali could not repeat this
feat and stood dismayed. This dance and the subjugation of
Kali,
are described in the hymns of the female saint-poet Karaikkal
Ammai.
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He often holds a trident, which represents the Hindu trinity of
Brahma, Shiva and
Vishnu. It is also said to represent the
threefold qualities of nature: creation, preservation and
destruction, although preservation is usually attributed to
Vishnu.
As the destroyer
Shiva is dark and terrible, encircled with serpents and a crown of
skulls.
In
the pictures to the right and left
Shiva wears sacred Rudraksha
beads, perhaps a reference to his earlier name Rudra. |
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The
crescent moon Shiva wears on his crown, besides being a symbol of
Kama the goddess of nightly love, also represents the bull, Nandi,
a fertility symbol.
Shiva
holds a skull that represents samsara, the cycle of life, death and
rebirth. Samsara is a central belief in Hinduism.
Shiva
himself also represents this complete cycle because he is Mahakala
the Lord of Time, destroying and creating all things. |
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Shiva is
represented in a variety of forms.
One such form is as a lingam. The ovoid shape is a representation
of the absolute perfection of
Lord Shiva - if that which is beyond form
had to be given form, the lingam would be the closest form to the
mystical experience of the absolute perfection of
Shiva.
The Story of the Shiva Lingam:
Shiva saw not sense in the transitory
pleasures of life, so he rejected samsara, smeared his body with
ash, closed his eyes and performed austerities.
Shiva's tapas generated so much heat that
his body transformed into a pillar of fire - a blazing lingam that
threatened to destroy the whole world. The gods did not know how to
control Shiva's fire.
Suddenly there appeared a yoni - the
divine vessel of the mother-goddess. It caught the fiery lingam and
contained its heat, thus saving the cosmos from untimely
destruction.
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Shiva also takes
the form of Ardhanari, his androgynous form. The right side of
the sculpture is
Shiva and the left side is Parvati. The
attributes of each are split directly down the middle.
Another example of
Shiva's apparent synthesis of male and female attributes is seen in
his earrings. He wears one earring in the style of a man and
the other as a female as shown in the two different earrings
Shiva
wears.
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