Shiva the destroyer

Shiva, the destroyer, has the second place among the Hindu deities, though in general, in allusion to their offices, these three gods are classed thus: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva.

This god is represented in various ways. In the form of meditation used daily by the Brahmins he is described as a silver-colored man, with five faces, an additional eye and a half-moon graces each forehead he has four arms in one hand he holds a purushoo in the second a deer; with the third he is bestowing a blessing, and with the fourth he forbids fear, he sits on a lotus, and wears a tiger-skin garment.

At other times Shiva is represented with one head, three eyes, and two arms, riding on a bull, covered with ashes, naked, his eyes inflamed with intoxicating herbs, having in one hand a horn, and in the other a drum.

Another image of Siva is the lingu, a smooth black stone almost in the form of a sugar-loaf, with a projection at the base like the mouth of a spoon. There are several stories in the pooranus respecting the bottom of these peaks are the heavens of twenty-one other gods. These gods are supposed to be visitors at Vishnu's.

One of the names of Siva is Trilochunu, viz. the three-eyed. One of the names of Jupiter was Trioculus, (Triophthalmos) given him by the Greeks, because he had three eyes. An image of this kind was set up in Troy, which, beside tbe usual two eyes, had a third in the forehead. At the churning of the sea, Siva obtained the moon for his share, and fixed it, with all its glory, in his forehead.

Image and Text: The complete Hindu Pantheon, comprising the principal deities worshiped by the natives of British India throughout Hindustan: being a collection of the gods and goddesses accompanied by a succinct history and descriptive of the idols (Google eBook)

Author: E. A. Rodrigues. Publisher: E.A. Rodrigues, 1842. Original from: Harvard University. Digitized: 5 Jun 2008. Length: 94 pages. Subjects: Religion › Hinduism › General Gods, Hindu, Religion / Hinduism / General. Religion / Hinduism / Theology