Lord Shiva is one of the most powerful diety of Hindu Religion. Shiva , the god of creation and destruction of the world is considered most powerful Divine power in this world. As per our puranas Lord Shiva lives on mountain Kailash which is the highest Himalayan mountain and mediates throughout the day.Shiva , husband of Godless parvarti Ardhaskati and father of Kartikeya and Ganesha. Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of linga and he lives a life of sanyasi which means living life without any luxury and comfort. Let’s learn about 20 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Lord Shiva to get more light on the almighty.
#1. Goddess Parvati is the second wife of the Lord Shiva .He first married to Sati devi , daughter of king Daksh Prajapati .Devi Sati sacrificed her life because she was not able to tolerate insult of Lord Shiva by her father. Earlier Shiva was not interested in getting married or in a family life but Lord Brahma convinced him to get married.Later he married Devi Parvati who was daughter of Parvat Raj. Devi Parvati is famous with many other names like Uma ,Aparna , Adishakti, Gauri and many more.It is also famous that Parvarti is reincarnation of Devi Sati.
#2. Lord Shiva is the oldest God as per Hindu Culture and as per Vedas he was famous by the name of Rudras. He is important part of Trinity Gods of Hindu Religion which also consists of Brahma, Vishnu and Lord Shiva who is famous by the name of Mahesh.
#3. Two Sons of Lord Shiva are Kartikey and Ganesha. Kartikey used to spend his time meditating in Southern India due to which various temples can be found of Lord Kartikey in South of India.He is also famous by the name of Murugan.
Read Also: 10 Most Famous Lord Shiva Temples in India
#4. Ganesha is the youngest son of Lord Shiva who was born with the mud from the Devi Parvati’s body .Devi Uma ordered ganesha to be a guard at the gate while she was taking a bath .While performing his duties Ganesha stopped Lord Shiva to enter the area which made him furious and he cut the head of Ganesha and he died. Devi Parvati got angry when she saw the head of Ganesha on the ground. Later lord Shiva came to know about his mistake and he relived Ganesha by putting an elephant head on his body. All Gods and Goddess present during the incident blessed him that Ganesha will be worshipped first during any auspicious occasion in the Hindu Culture.
#5. Lord Shiva consumed poison which was an outcome of Samudra Manthan and saved the universe from the adverse effect of the poison.This made him famous by the name of Neelkanth.
#6. Lord Shiva resides on Kailasha with his family and gans who are devotees and followers of Lord Shiva’s. Vahana of Shiva is the Nandi Bull, who is the leader of all Gods gan and plays a vital role in Shiva’s life too. He resembles wisdom and righteousness.
#7. Ganga River flows from the locks of the God. BHagirath saint requested God Brahma send Ganga to earth for the betterment of humanity. But Ganga felt insulted after hearing this and got angry. Bhagirath prayed to Lord Shiva who trapped River Ganga in his headlocks and after which Ganga flowed with purity on earth.
#8. Hanuman is 11th incarnation of Lord Shiva and he played a vital role in the Ramayana and helped Vishnu’s avatar Rama to kill Ravana. He supports gender equality with half Nari and half Nar avatar too. He always treated Parvati, his wife equally too.
#9. Lord Shiva is also famous with the name of Nataraja and loves to dance with Parvati when he is happy. But when Shiva is angry if he dances that form of dance is called as Tandav and a sign of the Destruction of evils in the universe. Damru is also part of his dance form and he is worshipped by dancers across the country as Nataraja of dance. Whenever he performs Tandav it is an end of the universe and sign for Lord Brahma to create the new Universe. He is considered “King of Dance”.
#10. Shiva holds a Trishul in his hand, which symbolizes creation , destruction and preservation. The three spines of the Trishul represent three guns which are creation , continuity and destruction all related to the world and mankind.
#11. Mahesha wears cloth made up of tiger skin .He is famous by the name of Linga , Neelkantha , Kailashdhari , Shankar , Mahakaal , Gangadhar and many more names.His total names are around 108 across the country.
#12. There are total 19 Avatars of Lord Shiva, which are Ashwathama, Bhairav and famous one is Hanuman.
#13. One of the unique attribute of Lord Shiva is the third eye, which is present on his forehead.It is a symbol that how meditation and yoga helped Lord Shiva to see thing beyond imagination. It also helps in redefining his energies and whenever third eye opens it is an alarming situation of anger of the Lord. The three lines near the third eye symbolize the destruction of the three worlds of Hindu religion.
#14. It a famous tale that no one was ready to consider the poisonous reptile, but then God kept them near himself only. Vasuki is a famous snake, which is always around his neck. Snakes represent danger and fear, and by wearing snakes around his neck lord Shiva portrays that he controls Fear and death among human being.
#15. The half-moon on the head of Lord Shiva symbolizes time cycle. It means intoxication, but the brain is capable enough to be aware and awake when you follow yoga and medication.
#16. Ravana the biggest evil on the earth, so far was the biggest devotee of Lord Shiva. Once upon a time Ravana visited Kailash to meet Shiva, but Ravana was stopped by his devotees and was not allowed to meet his God. Resulting in this Ravana uprooted the mountain and made Shiva angry.
#17. Lord Vishnu weapon with which he kills evil and demons was presented to him by Lord Shiva. The Chakra represents sun rays and it is always carried by all incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Vishnu was once praying, Lord Shiva with Lotus flowers and one lotus flower was less in number for which Vishnu was about to take out his eye instead of less flower which made Lord Shiva happy and he gifted chakra to Vishnu.
#18. Every ornament and different marks on the Lord Shiva body symbolizes something important for human beings .Snake around the neck,Damru, Skull garland, Tiger skin all symbolizes important messages which need to be understood and followed in life.
#19. Kailash mountain on which Lord Shiva resides with his family is considered as the center of the universe.The mountain is in the center of the six ranges of Himalayas which represents a flower lotus. The presence of Mansarovar lake represents the positive energy around the range. The Rakshas Lake represents negative energy which shows that Lord Shiva has control on both positive and negative energies.
#20. He covers his body with ashes and wears a garland made up of skulls in his neck. Some Vedas states that Shiva smokes weed and bhang too.
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