The Encyclopedia of World Religions

426 S Siva

god”; and Trimukha, “the three-faced god.” Wor shippers of Siva are known as Saivas or Saivites. In Sanskrit, the name Siva means “auspicious.” It gracefully links this god to a fierce god of the V EDA , Rudra, “the howler.” Some have found evi dence of Siva WORSHIP in seals from the Indus Val ley Civilization ( see I NDUS V ALLEY RELIGION ). South India, too, may be a significant source of Siva wor ship. The Tamil name Sivan, “the red one,” closely resembles the Sanskrit name Siva. Siva is especially associated with religious austerities and Y OGA . His mythology moves back and forth between extremes of severe renuncia tion and sexual excess. He is easily recognized by his matted hair, his trident, his animal-skin cloak, the third eye in the middle of his forehead, and his blue throat. Siva’s throat turned blue when he drank poison that was spreading on the surface of the primal ocean. Siva is also associ ated with ash. His followers smear ash on their foreheads and sometimes their bodies in imita tion of the god. Siva’s special abode is Mount Kailasa in the Himalaya range. His consort is P ARVATI . Siva beheaded her father Daksa when he failed to invite Siva to a sacrifice. Siva has two sons, Skanda, who was early identified with the south Indian god Murugan, and the elephant-headed god G ANESA , the remover of obstacles. Siva’s vehicle, the mas sive bull Nandi, often stands in front of his tem ples. The rudraksha, a large, coarse, beadlike seed, is also sacred to Siva. From it Saivas construct malas or rosaries to use when reciting the god’s names or MANTRAS . Several kinds of Siva image are famous world wide. One depicts Siva as Nataraja, “king of the dance.” In it Siva dances on top of a demon and within a circle of flames. With two hands he cre ates and destroys the universe. With two other hands he calms the viewer’s fears and points to the means of release. Another well-known image is Siva Ardhanari, half man and half woman. The image emphasizes the intimate connection between the male god and his female sakti or power. The most famous Siva image of all is the image enshrined in temples. It is an upright cylindrical shaft known

Statue of the Hindu god Siva (Getty Images)

commanded human beings how to act. The criteria of good and bad are simply given, and the conse quences of action ( KARMA ) usually result from the operation of natural processes.

Siva Also spelled Shiva. One of the most impor tant gods of H INDUISM . In Hinduism, B RAHMA , V ISHNU , and Siva are thought of as the gods of cre ation, preservation, and destruction, respectively. Siva, the god of destruction, is commonly known by several other names. These identify his impor tant characteristics: Mahadeva, “the great god”; Nilakantha, “the blue-throated god”; Pasupati, “the lord of animals”; Bhairava, “the terrifying