Facts about Shiva
The Sanyo Railroad was extended to Hiroshima in 1894, and a rail line from the main station to the harbor was constructed for military transportation during the First Sino-Japanese War.
Shiva is often worshipped as Mruthyunjaya by the aged or ill, to ward off death and mitigate its harshness when it does occur.
Shiva, like some other Hindu deities, is said to have several incarnations, known as Avatars.
Shiva also plays a central role in the teachings of Tantra, whereby the interaction of Shiva and Shakti represent the renewal of the cosmos through the ongoing interplay of male-female sexual energy.
Shiva is usually worshipped as the Shiva linga, the phallic symbol (representing the male sexual organ) that symbolizes Shiva's creative regenerative power, potentiality, and, paradoxically, his ascetic restraint.
Harihara is the name of a combined deity form of both Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara).
Another of Shiva's fearsome forms is as K?la (Sanskrit: ???), "Time," and as Mah?k?la (Sanskrit: ??????), "Great Time," which ultimately destroys all things.
Shiva assumed that unusual form to chastise Vishnu in his hybrid form as Narasimha, the man-lion, who killed Hiranyakashipu, an ardent devotee of Shiva.
The duality of Shiva's fearful and auspicious attributes appears in contrasted names.
The Shri Rudram Chamakam, also known as the ?atarudriya, is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names.
The depiction of Shiva as Nataraja (Tamil: ??????, Sanskrit: na?ar?ja, "Lord of Dance") is popular.
Elements of this motif can include Shiva seated upon a deer-throne and surrounded by sages who are receiving his instruction.
Widely worshipped by Hindu communities throughout India and the world, Shiva is an ancient Hindu deity that is associated with the paradoxical motifs of destruction and regeneration, eroticism and asceticism, sexuality and celibacy.
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Shiva's rise to a major position in the pantheon was facilitated by his identification with a host of Vedic deities, including Agni, Indra, Praj?pati, V?yu, and others.
Agoraphobia is believed to develop between the ages of 15 and 35 and is most prevalent in women.
Shiva (from Sanskrit: ???, meaning "Auspicious one") is a principal deity of Hinduism who is especially revered among the cluster of Hindu groups known as Shaivites.
An example of a collaboration story is one given to explain Shiva's epithet Mah?bale?vara, "Lord of Great Strength" (Maha = great, Bala = strength, ??vara = Lord).
The name Shiva may have derived from the Dravidian word “Siva” meaning “to be red,” making it the equivalent of Rudra, “the red” Rig Veda.
Shiva is often depicted as an archer in the act of destroying the triple fortresses, Tripura, of the Asuras.
The identification between Agni and Rudra in the Vedic literature was an important factor in the process of Rudra's gradual development into the later character as Rudra-Shiva.
A seal discovered during excavation of the Mohenjo-daro archaeological site in the Indus Valley has drawn attention as a possible representation of a "proto-Shiva" figure.
Shiva as we know him today shares many features with the Vedic god Rudra and both Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in a number of Hindu traditions.
Dak?i??m?rti (Sanskrit: ?????????????) literally describes a form (m?rti) of Shiva facing south (dak?i?a).
Difference in viewpoints between the two sects is apparent in the story of ?arabha (also spelled "Sharabha"), the name of Shiva's incarnation in the composite form of man, bird, and beast.
The names Nartaka ("Dancer") and Nityanarta ("Eternal Dancer") appear in the Shiva Sahasranama.
Literally translated as 'victor over death', this is an aspect of Shiva worshipped as the conqueror of Death as manifested in the Hindu lord of death, Yama.
Shiva also has DashaSahasranamas (10,000 names) that are found in the Mahanyasa.
Shiva's name Tripur?ntaka (Sanskrit: ????????????), "Ender of Tripura," refers to this important story.
Apart from anthropomorphic images of Shiva, the worship of Shiva in the form of a lingam is also important.
On account of the sage's worship and devotion to Shiva, the Lord vanquished Yama to liberate his devotee from death.
An iconographic representation of Shiva called Ardhanarishvara shows him with one half of the body as male, and the other half as female.
Adi Shankara, the eighth-century philosopher of non-dualist Vedanta was named "Shankara" after Lord Shiva and is considered to have been an incarnation of Shiva.