Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

288 ŠIVAŠIVA (the destroyer)ORIGIN Hindu [India]. Principal creative anddestructive god.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 300 BC, andprobably earlier as Rudra, until present.SYNONYMS accredited with more than a thousandepithets in Hindu writings (see also BHAIRAVA,KHANDOBA).CENTER(S) OF CULT Benares, etc.ART REFERENCES sculptures generally in bronze,but also in stone; reliefs.LITERARY SOURCES Ramayana epic and Puranictexts.ŠIVA is a deity with the linked roles of both creatorand destroyer of life, more generally the latter. Hepersonifies the inexorable passage of time and outof destruction he creates new life. He may haveevolved from the Vedic storm god RUDRA, thoughhe is now thought to be an older pre-Indo-Europeandeity whose attributes appear on seals fromthe Indus Valley civilization. His consort, or moreprecisely his female aspect, is Sakti, but he is alsoclosely linked with the terrible KALI and the goddessSATI.He is generally depicted in the role of an asceticwith a blue-painted throat, attributed to holdingthe primal poison HALAHALA in his throatbefore swallowing it to save mankind from itsdeadly effect. His sacred animal is the bullNANDI. He bears four arms (less commonly two)which hold a variety of attributes including abow, a club to which is fastened a skull, a drum(damaru), representing the rhythm of creation,and a noose. He has a strong association withfire and may hold a ball of flame—the destructivecorollary to creation. His symbol is the linga(phallus), often accompanied by the female yoniand these objects in stone may form the focus ofworship.The Saivite sect envisage Šiva as creator, preserverand destroyer and he is manifest in threeaspects of his own divine power. As the ascetic,represented by the Yogi, he is in his destructiveaspect. His consorts are Kali and DURGA. Hedestroys without emotion. The Yogi is naked,smeared with ashes and with matted hair, sittingunder a banyan tree holding a beggar’s bowl. Asthe “lord of the dance,” NATARAJA, Šiva’s stepsfollow the rhythm of the universal forces. Hedances in a circle of fire, treading upon thedwarfish figure who is the personification ofignorance (see also VAMANA). In this aspect hecan be drawn as a jolly figure, a drinker of wineand a hunter. As the linga, the form of Šiva whichdevotees generally worship, he is the symbol ofcreative powers. In his cosmic capacity heappears as Nataraja.Legend has it that Šiva lives in Kailas, a placebeyond the Himalaya. The Lingayats, a particularSaivite sect founded in the twelfth century AD,may carry a small stone linga mounted in a silverbox and worn round the neck or arm. Chieflycentered on southern India, sanctuaries to Šivaare often home to devadasis, troupes of dancinggirls who also serve as cultic prostitutes. Šiva alsoenjoys popular worship as a domestic deity.See also PANCANANA.SiviniSun god. Urartian [Armenia]. Known frominscriptions.Sivottama (highest Šiva)Minor god. Hindu (Epic and Puranic). One ofa group of emancipated VIDYESVARAS (lords ofknowledge) considered to be aspects of ŠIVA.SkadiGoddess. Nordic (Icelandic). One of the AESIRgoddesses. The daughter of the giant Thiassi and