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Of the trio of preeminent Hindu gods, Shiva
is the destroyer and regenerator
(the other two are Brahma,
the creator, and Vishnu,
the preserver). To his devotees,
at the moment of worship, Shiva is supreme. The dance of Shiva sets
the rhythm of life and death that orders the universe and is said to
beat in the heart in a worshipper's body.
Each component of this superbly cast bronze
image is symbolic. By understanding the total image, a devotee is led
toward salvation. With his dance, Shiva is simultaneously destroying
and re-creating the world. The ring of fire represents the eternal cyclical
nature of existence—destruction and creation, death and rebirth.
To the beat of the drum in Shiva's right hand, the universe is created,
while the flame in his left hand sparks the fiery ring of destruction
that surrounds him. The fire that destroys also purifies and, as the
cycle continues, offers rebirth.
Shiva's other hands assume mudras:
The raised hand means "fear not," while the other, pointing
down toward his raised foot, signals release from ignorance, which hinders
enlightenment. Shiva's
other foot, planted on the back of a demon-dwarf, stamps out ignorance.
A small, personified image
of the Ganges River is
placed in the god's streaming hair. Stories tell that Shiva broke
the fall of the great Ganges's torrents as it flowed down from
the Himalayas. The waters
divided over Shiva's long locks of hair, becoming the seven holy rivers
of India.
Linga with One Face (Ekamukhalinga)
India, Madhya Pradesh
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Linga, the sign
of Shiva incarnate,
is a Sanskrit word
that also denotes gender.
This linga bears the face of the ascetic
god Shiva, his matted hair worked elegantly into a columnar
form. The linga is a symbol of Shiva's dual nature: renunciation
and sexual energy. It embodies the generative
power of the godhead and, at the same time, represents the cosmic
pillar that connects
heaven and earth. It is the focus of worship in the innermost
chamber of a temple devoted to Shiva where it sits on a rectangular
or oval base—a yoni.
Together their male and female union represents the union of all
dualities, or opposites.
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