Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Edit source History Talk 0. Image Gallery. Cancel Save. Universal Conquest Wiki. What other reason would there be? It's just so much fun Like I'd know any man, that doesn't enjoy a good fist fight!!! Hidden Treasure of Svarga [1] - Shiva's trump card, a war dance that only he can perform. By dancing to the rhythm of the cosmos, Shiva is able to attack his opponent with far greater speed and power while confusing them.
Its unpredictable rhythm allows Shiva to continuously attack his opponent with multi-hit attacks while his opponent is under the impression of being attacked by many, many enemies all at once.
Tandava [2] - Due to his intense dancing, Shiva's body becomes super-heated and starts to combust which increases the power of his attacks and burns his opponent. It is the angry dance of destruction that paves the way for creation. With the upper two arms, he offers abhaya, or protection, and he indicates salvation with the lower two. He stands with his left foot suspended while his right foot is standing on the demon of ignorance, Muyalaka.
This is his dance of anger with which he has the power to destroy the universe. Shiva is also associated with the Lasya natana, a couples dance of peace and love.
He performs this dance with his wife, Parvati. He is known as the Mahayogi, an ascetic who dwells and meditates on Mount Kailasa, in the Himalayas. From there, he looks down upon all of humanity. He holds the key to the highest spiritual knowledge and miracles. However, he is also the god of sexual energy and can represent fertility. He has a certain erotic quality and some of his forms are very suggestive.
This is one of the reasons he is worshipped in the form of a lingam and yoni, which represent the male and female reproductive parts. He represents destruction, but also regeneration, and he has both male and female forms. Shiva is both feared and venerated, and he contains all opposites within him.
Though Shiva can take many forms, he has certain physical characteristics that remain consistent. His most iconic attribute is his third eye in the middle of his forehead.
This eye is associated with his ascetic form and is used to look inward instead of outward. With it, he has the power to grant wisdom or to ultimately destroy.
Together, the three eyes of Shiva represent the sun, moon, and fire. Another unique mark of Shiva is his blue throat. To keep this poison from destroying humanity, Shiva drank it and held it in his throat, so that it would not reach his stomach, where three worlds dwell.
Shiva is usually depicted wearing an animal skin and holding a trident, which represents the trimurti. He wears his hair in a matted bun, and it is said that the sacred river Ganges flows from his head.
He also wears a cobra and sacred beads around his neck. In many paintings and icons, his bull Nandi stands behind him. Nandi serves as the gatekeeper and protector of Shiva and Parvati. Shiva is often also associated with evil spirits.
He is said to be followed by a retinue of goblins and spirits, called ganas. They are uncivilized beings who are described as deformed. Whenever Shiva needed to exact revenge, he called upon an army of ganas to fight alongside him. Shaivism, the worship of Shiva, is a sect of Hinduism. Although it is a sect, Shaivism is actually a precursor to Hinduism. Shaivites hold the belief that Shiva is the supreme god and does not depend on the trimurti to complete the cycle of the universe.
This sect formed over 8, years ago, to a time that even predates the Vedic time period. Shaivic cults have also come about in some parts of India. These groups stress certain attributes of Shiva. Shiva is also represented by Shiva linga. This is a phallic statue, representing the raw power of Shiva and his masculinity. Hindus believe it represents the seed of the universe, demonstrating Shiva's quality of creation.
Worshippers of Shiva celebrate Mahashivratri , a festival at which the Shiva linga is bathed in water, milk and honey and worshipped. Shiva's consort is Devi, the Mother-goddess. Devi has taken on many forms in the past, including Kali, the goddess of death, and Sati, the goddess of marital felicity.
Her best known incarnation is Parvati, Shiva's eternal wife. Dance is an important art form in India, and Shiva is believed to be the master of it. He is often called the Lord of Dance. The rhythm of dance is a metaphor for the balance in the universe which Shiva is believed to hold so masterfully. His most important dance is the Tandav. This is the cosmic dance of death, which he performs at the end of an age, to destroy the universe.
According to one Hindu legend, Shiva almost signalled the end of this universe by performing this dangerous dance before its time.
This is the story. One day, the father of the goddess Sati decided to hold a prayer ceremony. At this prayer ceremony, all the gods would be invited and offerings would be made to them. But Shiva had married Sati against the wishes of her father and he was not invited.
Sati was deeply offended on behalf of her husband. In anger, Sati prayed intensely and jumped into the sacred fire that was burning on the day of the ceremony. During this time, Shiva had been in the midst of deep meditation. But when Sati jumped into the fire, he awoke in great anger, realising what his wife had done.
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. 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.
Click here to view all our powerful Shiva Statues. Shiva saw no 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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