Shiva is undoubtedly one of the most powerful gods in the pantheon of Hinduism. The origin of Shiva's name already implies this. The name of the deity comes from the word shakti, which means powerful. But Shiva is just one of many names, but he has fancied himself with many others, that are less known, for example: Mahadeva, Mahayogi, Pashupati, Nataraja, Bhairava, Vishwanath, Bhava, Bhole Nath.
The temples depict Shiva with a symbolic phallus called Shivaling. The symbolic phallus is placed in the center of the Shivist tradition. Namely, Shivalinga symbolizes the energies that are necessary for life to function both in the micro and macro universes.
His appearance is also something to take a gander at: long hair, which is decorated with a spruce, is tied in a fashion that reminds me of a cone. And now things get really freaky! The sacred river, Ganges, that we all know and love, flows out of his hair! If you ever wondered where the Ganges starts to flow then look no further than Shiva's head. A serpent twists around Shiva's neck and he wears a tiger skin on his shoulders. Also noteworthy is his third eye on the forehead. If he ever decides to open that eye, it would mean the whole world would go BOOM!
According to the tradition of Shivaism, Shiva's supreme form is transcendental, boundless, formless, and absolute Brahman. I would like to mention one of his avatars, which is Ardhanarish.
It is the body of both Shiva and Parvati as one with qualities of both a woman and a man. Something to ponder on is a fact that Shiva's ardhanarishvara form is similar to Greek myth. One of the myths of Ancient Greece says, that humans were once powerful creatures with two heads, four hands, and four legs. Zeus, fearing that humans come too powerful one day, separated them into two. According to this myth one could be so bold to argue that ardhanarish is the most powerful form of Shiva. Mythology, the story of how Shiva became to be, shows his limitless power, and why hindus worship him as a symbol (shivalinga) not as a statue, as they worship other gods. That's why, I will take the time to give a brief review of Shiva's coming to our world. The myth begins with a dispute between Brahma and Vishnu, in which they sought to clarify which commands more respect. Before they arrived at a conclusion with their dispute a colossal phallus appears before the two gods. Forgetting their quarrel, both went to explore the dimensions of the suddenly appeared object. Vishnu transformed into a wild boar and started digging into the ground. At the same time, Brahma turned into a swan and flew into the high heavens above. Both failed to reach the end of the colossal phallus. Unexpectedly, Shiva appeared out of the unknown object and proclaimed two things. First, he declared himself superior to Brahma and Vishnu, and secondly, that he would be worshiped as a symbolic phallus, not as his anthropomorphic form. Creating such a huge object must have a toll, and declaring himself immediately superior to not one, but two powerful gods simultaneously, which demonstrates his power and foolhardiness. I think it would be interesting to know two things in Shiva's story. First, was the colossal object that appeared out of thin air real or just an illusion to deceive the two deities? Secondly, did Shiva bluff himself more powerful than he actually is? When he is depicted as wrathful, then Shiva is shown slaying demons. In his spare time he also patronizes yoga, meditation and artists. Shiva deems appropriate to dabble with poisons, too.
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