Shri Shiva

Who Shri Shiva is

Shiva is one of the three principal deities of the Hindu trinity (Trimurti): Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer and transformer. "Destroyer" here doesn't mean malevolence. Shiva dissolves what has run its course so that renewal becomes possible, which is why he is called Shankara and Shambhu, "the auspicious one". For Shaiva traditions he is not one god among three but the Supreme Being himself, and the ascetic yogi on Mount Kailash is also the householder with Parvati and their sons.

Where he comes from in scripture

His roots go back to Rudra, the storm god of the Rigveda, and to the Shri Rudram of the Yajurveda, still chanted in Shiva abhishekam today. His stories are told most fully in the Shiva Purana and the Linga Purana, and his philosophy is developed in traditions such as Kashmir Shaivism and Shaiva Siddhanta.

Family and iconography

Shiva's consort is Parvati, and their sons are Ganesha and Kartikeya. He is shown with:

• a third eye, which burns away illusion; with it he burned Kamadeva, the god of desire;
• a crescent moon in his matted hair;
• the Ganga flowing from his locks;
• a serpent around his neck;
• ash (bhasma) smeared on his body, a reminder that everything physical ends in ash;
• a trident (trishul) and a small drum (damaru) in his hands.

His vehicle is the bull Nandi, who sits facing the sanctum in every Shiva temple, and his home is Mount Kailash. As Nataraja he performs the cosmic dance (tandava) that destroys and creates the universe in rhythm, celebrated in the Shiva Tandava Stotram.

The stories that shaped him

• Neelkanth, the blue-throated one: during the churning of the cosmic ocean (Samudra Manthan), a deadly poison (halahala) came up that threatened all creation. Shiva drank it to protect the universe and held it in his throat, which turned blue.
• Bringing down the Ganga: when King Bhagiratha's austerities brought the heavenly river down to earth, its force would have shattered the world. Shiva caught her in his matted hair and released her gently.
• The endless pillar of light: when Brahma and Vishnu argued over who was greater, a column of fire appeared with no beginning or end. Neither could find its limits, and Shiva revealed himself from it. This is the story behind the lingam as a symbol of the infinite, and behind the twelve Jyotirlingas.
• Parvati's devotion: Parvati won Shiva as her husband through years of fierce austerity. Their wedding is celebrated on Maha Shivratri in many traditions.

How he is worshipped

In most temples Shiva is worshipped in the form of the lingam. The core offering is water (Shivling jalabhishek), along with milk, three-leafed bel (bilva) leaves, dhatura, bhasma and white flowers. Traditionally the ketaki flower and tulsi are not offered to him. His day is Monday (see Monday Shiva Bhakti), and the whole month of Sawan (Shravan) is especially sacred to him, when kanwariyas carry Ganga water on foot to pour on the lingam. The five-syllable Om Namah Shivaya is his central mantra, the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra is chanted for health and protection, and the Shiva Chalisa and the aarti Om Jai Shiv Omkara are sung at home.

Festivals and temples

Maha Shivratri, on the fourteenth night of the dark fortnight in Phalgun (Magh in the amanta calendar), is his great festival, kept with fasting, night-long worship and abhishekam in four watches. The twelve Jyotirlingas are his holiest shrines: Somnath, Mallikarjuna, Mahakaleshwar, Omkareshwar, Kedarnath, Bhimashankar, Kashi Vishwanath, Trimbakeshwar, Vaidyanath, Nageshwar, Rameshwaram and Grishneshwar. Other great shrines include Pashupatinath in Kathmandu, Amarnath's ice lingam in Kashmir, and the Chidambaram Nataraja temple in Tamil Nadu.