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Shiva
Along with Brahma, the creator, and Vishnu, the
protector, Shiva makes up one third of the trinity of Hindu gods.
Shiva is the destroyer and regenerator, and is one of the oldest gods
of India. There have been
images of Shiva found in India, which date back as far as 2500 BC.
Shiva is destroyed creation after every Kalpa, while
simultaneously becoming the great ascetic, preserving the world with his
meditation. In fact, Shiva
is often called the Destroyer, though it is more accurate to consider him
the God of Transformation, as his associations are mostly tied to the
creation spawned from destruction, rather than the destruction itself.
Shiva’s
representation is typically in one of 3 forms.
These are: a Nataraj who
is dancing, a lingam, or in an anthropomorphic form.
When Shiva is the Nataraj, he practices his cosmic dance. The belief
is that the energy from the cosmic dance is what sustains the cosmos; it is
also thought that once Shiva has finished his dance, this universe will end
and a new one will begin. When
in the latter form, he is depicted as sitting cross-legged and his eyes
half-closed.
Shiva’s
home is the sacred mountain of Kailash.
Sometimes Shiva strays from his mountain home and wanders into
crematoriums. There, he smears
his body with ash, and uses the light of the funeral pyres for a place in
which to dance. This is a
symbolic gesture to remind us all of the transitory nature of material
things.
His
clothing is usually represented as a loincloth, and sometimes he also wears
an antelope hide around him. Frequently
he is depicted as seated on a tiger skin.
Shiva wars a moon sickle in his hair, as well as a snake coil or a
string of sculls around his neck. He
holds a trident in one hand - the three tips of this weapon represent the
creation, sustenance, and destruction of the universe - and an axe in the
other - symbolizing the breaking of ties with the material world.
Frequently there is a water jug included in his likenesses. Snakes
are often associated with Shiva, due to the fact that they can regenerate
their skins by first discarding their old ones.
Similarly, southern Indian believers, associate dear with Shiva as
their antlers re-grow after falling out.
Usually, he is pictured facing the south, which is the direction,
which brings good luck.
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