SIVA MURHY

Panchanana Siva: In some temples Siva is shown with five faces. Each of the faces has a name and represents a specific aspect. These five faces are Isana, Tatpurusa, Aghora, Vamadeva and Sadyojata. Isana faces south east and represents Iswara aspect of Siva known as Sadasiva, or the Eternal Siva. Tatpurusha faces the east. He is Siva in his aspect as a deluded purusha or ego. Aghora faces the south and represents the destructive and regenerative aspect of Siva that, like fire, first devours life and then prepares the ground for its renewal. Vamadeva faces north. He is healer and preserver. Sadyojata faces west and represents the creative power of Siva.

Anugrahamurthy: This is the milder or peaceful aspect of Lord Shiva when he is in the company of his beloved devotees or his family members.

Ugramurthy: Also known as Rudra , Bhairava, Kankala or Samharamurthy, this is the ferocious or angry form of Siva, generally associated with the events during which Siva assumed his terrible form to slay the demons or the wicked.

The following are his well known terrible forms:

Kankala-bhairava: The form which he assumed after cutting off the fifth head of Brahma.

Gajasura-vadha-murthy: The form he assumed while killing a demon named Nila.

Tripurantakmurthi: The form he assumed while destroying the three cities of gold, silver and iron built by the three sons of Andhakasura.

Sarabhesa-murthy: The form in which he allegedly fought and sanctified, Narasimha, the incarnation of Vishnu.

Kalari-murthy: the form in which he fought and defeated Yama to save his devotee Markandeya.

Kamantaka-murthy: The form in which he destroyed Manmadha, the god of lust, for disturbing him while doing penance.

Andhakasura-vadha-murthy: The form in which he defeated Andhakasura, who subsequently joined his forces as his commander and became popular as Bhringi.

Bhairava-murthy: The form generally found in connection with the cults of teaching the secrets of tantras, yantras, alchemy, magic and occult knowledge.

chan^drashEkharar

Slokam:

With the hands in abhaya (protecting) and varada (boon giving) postures, with a pleasing and decorated expression, a blossomed face and eye, with the shadow created by moon on the crown, with an upright body, and feet in the same level, Coral like formed, holding the deer and axe, (He) stay in the lotus pedestal. (of my heart)

purANa of the deity :

cha.ndra shEkharar : moon ornamented Lord (bhOga mUrti)

daksha had twenty seven stars as daughters. All of them were married to moon. But the moon had special attraction towards rOhiNi. So all the other wives complained it to the father dakasha that their husband moon is not treating them fairly. daksha got angry and cursed the moon to lose its luminance (kala) day by day. Everyday the moon started loosing one luminance part (kala) out of his 16 parts. Afraid and ashamed moon disappeared into the ocean. There are many herbs that require the light of the moon to grow. Without moon, they were harmed. Consequently there was suffering in the world. To end the problem the celestials advised moon to take refuge in the Great Divine, Lord shiva. Left with only one kalA, he took refuge in Lord Shiva. Being the graceful Almighty, He wore the moon crescent on His head, making him grow for 15 days and decay for 15 days periodically.

Thus chan^drashEkharar is considered a giver of refuge.

kalyANa sundarar

Slokam:
Red in color (si.ndhUram), Three eyed, shoulders like yugas (four shouldered), wearing necklace and bracelet, Colorful in divine wonderful dress, Shining in the wedding robe, ornated, with enchanting body, salutations to that mUrti who is in marriage posture, with a hand of dEvi in one lotus hand, with axe and deer in hands and ga.nga and moon on the wound-up hair.

purANa of the mUrti:
kalyANa su.ndarar : The beautiful (mUrti )in marriage(bhOga mUrti)

Shakthi was born as pArvati, the daughter of the king of Himalayas. As a young child, She was not interested in playing like the other children. She was more inclined towards meditating on Lord Shiva in the mountains. She desired to marry Lord shiva. For that she wanted to perform austerity in the snow covered himalayas. Her parents hesitated, but finally had to subdue to the determination of pArvati. pArvati performed austerity from an ashram. Lord Shiva who was happy with Her worship, came as an old devotee to her place. pArvati offered Her respect to the Old bhakta of Her Beloved Lord. Now, He tried to convince Her that She shouldn't waste Her youth doing tapas, but should enjoy life getting married ! He further suggested that She could get married to Him, instead of desiring for Lord shiva Who dances in the cemeteries and wears skulls and bones! pArvati, without knowing that He is God Himself, got very angry on hearing the Old man's words and told Him that She showed Him respect only because He seemed like a devotee and She would not want to hear any little blasphemy of God further. She asked the Old Man to leave the place immediately. The Lord, pleased with Her determination and devotion, revealed who He is. pArvati was surprised and begged the pardon of God. However God had accepted Her scolding as the most pleasant hailing. Didn't it come from a very deep love for God ?! He gave Her the boon She yearned for - getting married to Her.

The himalayan king's family was delighted to see their beloved daughter's wedding. The region was decorated and shining with prosperity. The young beautiful pArvati was decorated with chosen best ornaments for the wedding. Now came the Groom - Lord shiva - to the wedding place - on an old bull, with skull and bone ornaments, with the skin of the tiger as the clothing, accompanied by the roar of the bUta gaNas !! The mother of pArvati mEnai fainted to see the groom in such a form for her sweet daughter, softer than the flowers. Now the Lord changed to the form, glittering in a beautiful wedding robe - with golden ornaments and splendid clothing! When mEnai woke up and saw the Groom she was thrilled to see such a beautiful form and was very pleased that He is "the suitable" groom for her daughter. The play of the Lord has no bounds ! mEnai saw only the external appearance of the Groom. Other than the great pArvati who knows the glory of that Groom ?! The enchanting Lord in the wedding robe got married to the Daughter of the mountains and this form of God is called kalyANa sundharar

kalyANa vratam (paNguni uththiram)

kalyANa vratam is one of the eight auspicious vratas. When the Sun is shining in the Pisces sign(mIna rAsi) that is in the month of paN^guni (mid of March to mid of April) on the uththara naxaththiram on the Moons growing face (shukla paxam), this vratam is observed. This is the day Shakthi married Lord Shiva after a great austerity in the Himaalayas, as the daughter of Himavaan. It is also observed as the auspicious day when Lord Muruga married devaseenaa. This vratam is explained in the skandha purANam.

In the morning after getting up, the observer of the vratam should meditate on the charming Lord shiva in the wedding posture with umA. After taking bath and through with other required deeds, should worship the Lord. The golden idol of the God and Goddess ( who can afford to) should be anointed devotionally with holy substances. Then decorating them should make the wedding ceremony of the Goddess with the God. Making the nice and sweet offerings to the divine Parents, should salute them. Inviting the spiritual people who think of good to all the creatures, who have learnt the vEdas and who are devotees of Lord shiva, along with their wives, should host them a feast. Later should go to the shiva temple, worship, circumambulate three times and prostrate in front of the Lord. In the night should dine along with the kind hearted devotees of Lord shiva and eat the sweet dishes like fruits and pAyasam. Should sleep on the dharbai grass. The next morning after regular deeds, should donate the golden idol of God and Goddess to disciplined love hearted people who are the devotees of Lord shiva. Should eat only once that day.

Observing this vratam will get one the great boon of shri Lord sha.nkara's delight. It would bring much joy and comfort in life, lead to the abode of Lord shiva and give the liberation. mahA vishNu got wedded to laxmi sincerely observing this vratam. brahma wedded saraswati, indra wedded indrANi, moon wedded the 27 stars, sage agastiya wedded lobhamudra observing this vratam. The two daughters of vishhNu namely amR^itavalli, saundaryavalli were married to the six faced Lord as devasEna and vaLLI. The daughter of vedAN^ga R^ishhi called sukesi got married to nandi devar.The two daughters of sage satyapUrNar pUrNa, pushhkaLai were wedded to mahA sAsthA. kAma got rathi, sIta got rAma, jAmbhavati got kR^ishhNa, sage saupari got many princess' and so many more benefitted all in the glory of this vratam. The man who observes this vratam will get the girl he likes and the woman gets beautiful man as her husband. The couple who observe this will get good offspring. Anybody who observes with devotion will get His grace.

ardhanArIshvarar

Slokam:
In the form of male and female, matted hair with moon, axe, smeared in red (aruNa), wearing snakes and the skin of tiger, embracing the bull and with a bent leg, this the right half, and the left black in color, hand holding a (lily) flower close to the chest, with a silk like lotus foot, wearing gold ornaments, salutations to the Half female God.

purANa of the deity
ardha nAri Ishvarar : half female God (bhOga mUrti)

Sage bR^ingi is one of the ardent devotees of Lord shiva. He used to worship only Lord shiva and not shakti. Goddess shakti, being the power as the name indicate, pulled out the energy from bR^ingi mahaR^ishi's body. Now he was even unable to stand. He pleaded to God. God shiva provided him with a stick. On its support he stood and still worshipped Lord shiva alone. Goddess shakti wanted to become an inseparable part of Lord shiva's form. She oberved the kEdhAra mahA vrata (1) austerity, which is now known as deepAvaLi. Pleased with her austerity, Lord shiva granted her the boon of being part of His form. So the Lord now appeared male on the right side and female on the left side and hence became archanArIshvara.

Significance of this form
This is one of the very important form of God, Hindus worship. This is a much-hailed form in scriptures of various languages. Hindus do not say that the God is only male. God is male - female and neuter too ! Since God is conceptually beyond sex, though gets referred as He/She many times, it is more appropriate to refer as It, especially at Its intrinsic condition, as do many hindu scriptures.

Philosophically, this form is quite associated with the Grace of God. shiva and shakti are one and the same Supreme. The formless God is called parashiva. On Its own free-will for the benefit of pashus (souls), which are drowned in pAsha (bondage), It thinks to create the worlds. Its dynamism of creation thus springs out of It, which is called shakti. Now shiva and Its power shakti create everything. This is the form of their togetherness that springs out of Lord shiva. Because of this the form is associated with the grace of God. shiva and shakti though the same may also act independently. They are associated like the person and the action of the person. They are one and the same like the ice and the water - one becomes the other. For this reason scriptures describe that shakti to shiva is a wife (they are together), mother (shakti becomes shiva - so shiva comes out of shakti) and daughter (shiva become shakti). Poet kAlidAsa hails them as inseparable like the word and its meaning, the letter and pronunciation !!

kedhAra (gauri) vratam - Deepavali

KedhAra Gowri vradham familiarly known as dIpAvaLi (Diwali) is celebrated throughout India in a grand manner. Without Caste creed, rich - poor differences people obeserve this festival. Infact very few people know that it is one of the important Saivite vratas. Brungi rishi is a great Shiva bhaktha. When he prays to Lord, he prays only to Lord Shiva and ignores Shakti. Angered by his act Shakti devi removed the energy from his body. He was not able to stand. He prayed to Lord Shiva. God gave him a stick to support his body. Shakti wanted to become part of Lord's body. She observed the kEdhAra vrata, one of Gods favorite vratas. Pleased by Her austerities God gave the left part of His body to shakti and became ardha nArIshwara. The vrata is then called kEdhAra gaurI vrata since Gowri observed it.

When observed

This kedhara vratam is observed for twenty one days starting from shukla paxa dasami (Tenth moonday in its growing face) in the month of purattAchi (mid Sep to mid Oct). The final day (dIpAvaLi) also should be observed in great devotion.

How to observe this vratam

mantras to perform this pUja (pUja vidhAnam)
Install Lord kedhArIshvara svAmi in a filled pot (kalasham). Make a roof (manTapa) above the kalasham. Make vrata threads - 21 fibers having 21 knots. The 16 courtasy worship has to be done for 21 days starting from the purattAchi shukla paxa dasami to aipachi amarapaxa chaturdashi (dIpAvaLi) or amAvAsya. On the culmination day (21st) in a clean decorated area devotionally install the kalasham over the grains spread in a banana leaf and offer various food and fruits to the Lord as offering and donate to others.

Glory
The glory of this vratam is very splendid as shri gauri devi observed this vratam in full devotion and got to be in half the body of Lord Shiva !! viShNu became Lord of vaikunta observing this vratam. braHma got hamsa vehicle, the guards of the eight directions got rid of the bane they got from braHma, bhagyavati and puNyavati got lots of wealth all due to the glory of this vratam. One who observes this vratam with devotion pleases Lord shiva.

naTarAjar

Slokam:
A face with four shoulders, three eyes, to the left destructive fire (in the hand), moon and leaves on the head, hand stretching downwards, the raised foot pointing down, to the right swastika earring, Damarukam (drum), ga.nga (in the head), and protection posture, salutations to that God of ceaseless dance whose matted hair is flowing, standing on the unconscious body (hyapasmAra dEham)

purANa of the deity :
naTa rAjar : king of dance (yOga mUrti)

Lord Shiva dances during the creation, protection and destruction of the worlds, though the kind of His dance varies with respect to the action. (san^dhyA tAnDava, Urdhva tANDava, rudra tANDava, samhAra tANDava etc.). The dance of the Lord takes place in every minute particle, for all of us to exist and act. That is the source of all the energy. His movement is shakti. Yogis hear and see the dance of the Lord by invoking the kuNDalinI shakti.

There were two ardent sages vyAgrapAda and patanjali who were worshipping God to see Its blissful dance that energizes the worlds. vyAgrapAda out of his devotion asked for the eyes and legs of the tiger, so that he could go very early in the dawn, even before the bees wake up, to pluck the flowers very fresh - not even touched by the bees to offer to God ! That is why he was called vyAgrapAda. The other sage was the serpent AdiseSha on which mahA viShNu reside, desired to see the glorious Dance of God. They were performing austerity at the holy place called thillai .

At the same time bhadrakAli, the fierce form of goddess asked for a competition with God in dance. God and mahAkAli came to the thillai, where the sages were performing austerity to see His dance and there began the competition between kAli and Lord shiva. The Lord, Who keeps dancing creating, protecting, destroying, hiding and blessing, won the play by acting the Urdva tANDava, raising His Feet to His Head. The gracious dance of the God filled the hearts of the sages and those who ardently seek Him.

Lord Shiva danced in the five ambalams during various occasions. Out of them chithambaram is very much renowned. Lord danced here to fulfill the worship of patanjali and vyAghra pAda mahaR^ishis.

kAlAri

Slokam:
Red in color (sin^dhUram), Three eyed, shoulders like yugas (four shouldered), with hands holding up the sUlam , noose, axe in hands, with frightening teeth, nice face, with the left foot standing up over the chest of kAla (time - death), with cast down red matted hair, to that pashupati(Lord of creatures), kAlAn^taka I prostrate.

purANa of the deity:
kAla ari : The enemy of kALa(vIra mUrti)
kAla is the dEva who is responsible for death. Taking the kAla as time it can be said kAlari represents the fact that God is beyond the limits of time (mR^ityuJNjayan).

The sage mR^ikaNDu did not have an offspring for quite a long time. He performed tapas to get the blessings of Lord Siva. God appeared in front of him. Now the sage had two choices - either a son indiscipline, cruel and dumb living for long or a son loving, intelligent and a gem of character living very short span of life. The sage chose the second one. His wife gave birth to a child mArkaNDEya, out of a boon from Lord Siva, by which mArkaNDEya would be very intelligent but would live just for 16 years.

Young child mArkaNDEya grew up learning the great scriptures, caring and loving, devotional towards God. His parents were very pleased with him. When he became 16, he found his parents weeping. He came to know that he would die at 16 and that was the cause of the gloom. Intelligent mArkanDeya realized that none other than the God, Who is beyond all the scopes of time and hailed as mR^ityuNJjaya - who conquered the death, can save him from the strong clutches of death. Determined and devotional, he started doing Siva pUja and surrendered himself completely to the Lord. The yamadUtAs who came to take his life away were scared away by the flame of this young boy's devotion. As the the attendants couldn't take away his life, kAla the god of death, himself came. Young mArkaNDEya did not loose his devotion even in the crisis moment. He embraced the Siva liN^gam. As kAla still tried to take away mArkaNDEya's life, the Lord appeared furious from the Siva liN^gam and kicked kAla to death!! He blessed the sincere devotion of the young boy and made mArkaNDEya to be in 16 always - deathless !

All the gods pleaded to Lord to show mercy on kAla. On their request, God gave kAla life back and ordered him not to disturb His devotees.

thiruk kadavUr is the temple associated with this valorous deed of Lord Siva.

daxiNAmUrti

Slokam:
The leg pressing over a demon, on the top of which the Embodiment of merits is sitting with one leg folded, the one who teaches difficult words (vedas) with ease, the sages enjoying (the teachings, sitting) on ground, with the (hand) posture of explaining, a fire pot, book and akshamAla in the four hands, Who trembles away my ignorance, to That dakshiNAmUrti (salutations).

purANa of the deity :
dakshiNA mUrti: south faced Lord (yOga mUrti)

The four sons, of brahmA, sanaka, sanandana, sanAtana, sanat kumAra did austere tapas and analysis, but they were unclear of the Supreme Truth. They finally decided to come to Lord Siva to get the knowledge of the Truth. The Lord sat under the banyan tree, and the four sages also sat down around Him. Lord stayed in the yOga posture without saying a single word. The four sages got all their doubts cleared just by that posture. The form in which God appeared as a Supreme Guide is the form of wisdom dakshiNAmUrti.

This explains that the Truth cannot be explained in words and must be experienced. Including the great chinmudra posture, the posture of shrI dhakshiNA mUrti, who is the teacher of all the teachers, indicates a lot of information that needs days to explain. As thirumUlar says, the posture of the guru is a thing to be thought about always. That is the clarity ! (theLivu guruvuru chin^dhiththal thAnE)