Lord Shiv Some Basic Information You Should Know

1. Lord Shiva the Enigmatic

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva is the Destroyer in the Holy Trinity, the others being Brahma the Creator and Vishnu the Preserver. He has always fascinated his followers by his unique appearance – he has not two but three eyes, has ash smeared all over his body, leads a wild life away from social pretences, and is known for his proverbial anger…but not many know the story about how he was born…

2. So, how was Shiva born?

There is a very interesting story behind the birth of Lord Shiva. One day, Brahma and Vishnu were both arguing about which of them was more powerful. Right then, one great blazing pillar appeared, whose roots and branches extended into the earth and sky, beyond view.

3. The Third Power

Both Brahma and Vishnu set out to locate the start and end of that pillar. Brahma turned into a goose and flew up to find the top of the pillar, while Vishnu turned into a boar and dug into the earth to look for its roots. After their unsuccessful attempt, both came back to find Lord Shiva emerging from an opening in the pillar. Recognising Shiva’s great power, they both accepted that besides them, there was a third power ruling over the universe.

4. Lord Shiva’s Lifestyle

But Lord Shiva is no ordinary god. He is a very complex god, having many roles to play and possessing immense power. His favourite haunt are cemeteriesand his favourite dress code is a headdress of snakes and a necklace of skulls. He is accompanied by a band of terrifying looking demons, who are blood-thirsty as well.

5. Lord Shiva’s Meditative Powers

Though Shiva is known better as a ferocious god, he has another side too – he is known to spend long periods of time in deep meditation in the lofty Himalayas.

6. Lord Shiva’s Dance

When Shiva dances his famous Tandav Nritya, it symbolises the battle for Truth by banishing ignorance, which helps to relieve the suffering of his followers.

7. Destroyer Turns Protector

Once, Lord Shiva saved the gods and the world from destruction by swallowing the poison of Vasuki, a serpent the gods used to produce the water of life. Drinking the poison made Shiva's neck turn blue, and he is often depicted that way in art.

8. Lord Shiva’s Blue Throat

Lord Shiva is also known by the name of “Nilakaṇtha”, which literally means the blue-throated. Once Goddess Parvati learnt that Lord Shiva had swallowed poison, he rushed to hold his neck, so that the poison would not travel neck downwards. That’s how his neck became a deep blue…

9. The Ganga river

One of Shiva's greatest services to the world was to tame the mighty Ganga river. Once upon a time, the Ganga used to traverse through the heavens only, leaving the earth parched and dry. When a wise man changed the course of the river, it threatened to become a raging torrent which would certainly flood the earth. However, Shiva stood in the way of the heavens and the earth and captured Ganga in his thick locks, thereby stemming its flow.

10. Lord Shiva as a Lingam

Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of the linga - some of which are jyotirlingas - at numerous places across India. The Linga, a sign of masculinity, symbolises Shiva’s role in the creation, sustainance and withdrawal of the Universe.

11. The Avatars of Lord Shiva

Lord Shiva, similar to Lord Vishnu, had many avatars. It was Virabhadra, an avatar of Lord Shiva, who disrupted Daksha’s yajna and cut off his head. His Bhairava avatar, also known as Kaal Bhairava, was created to protect the Sati Pind. His Durvasa avatar was famous for his short temper. Khandoba was another avatar of Shiva known in Maharashtrian and Kannada cultures. Finally, Hanuman avatar is known as the eleventh Rudraavtaar of Lord Shiva in the era of Lord Rama!

12. Shiva The Multi-Faceted

Lord Shiva is a god of ambiguity and paradox. He is depicted with an ambivalent nature when worshipped by the Hindus as their supreme God. He is mentioned in the Yajurveda as possessing both malignant and auspicious attributes. He is depicted in the Mahabharata as a figure of honour, delight, and brilliance. The Rudra form of Lord Shiva denotes “the wild one” or the fierce god. Yet, Shiva is also known as Sambhu, or the one who causes happiness

पृथ्वीनाथ मंदिर | Prithvinath Temple – Prithvi Nath Temple Gonda

भारत के उत्तर प्रदेश में खरगूपुर(गोण्डा) में स्थित है भगवान शिव को समर्पित यह पृथ्वीनाथ मंदिर एक अति प्राचीन मंदिर है जो भारत के पौराणिक काल से जुड़ा माना जाता है. हिंदुओं के प्रमुख धर्मिक स्थलों में से एक यह स्थल शैव भक्तों का भी महत्वपूर्ण स्थान है. भगवान शिव के इस मन्दिर में एक विशाल शिवलिंग स्थापित है. जिसके दर्शनों के के लिए भक्त देश के कोने कोने से यहाँ पहुँचते है.

हजारों श्रद्धालु प्रतिदिन इस विशाल शिवलिंग का जलाभिषेक करके भगवान शिव का आशीर्वाद ग्रहण करते हैं. माना जाता है की अज्ञातवास के समय पाण्डवों ने यहाँ शिवलिंग की स्थापना की जिसमें यहां पांडवों ने भगवान शिव की पूजा-अर्चना की. तथा सभी ने अलग-अलग स्थानों पर शिवलिंग स्थापित किए ओर यहाँ का शिवलिंग भीम द्वारा स्थापित किया गया था.

पृथ्वीनाथ मंदिर पौराणिक कथा । Prithvinath Temple Story In Hindi

पृथ्वीनाथ मंदिर के दर्शन पाकर सभी भक्त आत्मिक शांति को पाते हैं इस शिवलिंग के दर्शन मात्र से ही सभी कष्ट, कलेश दूर हो जाते हैं भक्तों का अटूट विश्वास इस स्थान की महत्ता को दर्शाता है मंदिर में हर समय ही भक्तों की भारी भीड़ देखी जा सकती है. इस मंदिर के महत्व के बारे में एक पौराणिक कथा प्रचलित है जिसमें कहा गया है की. जब पांडवों को अज्ञातवास मिला तो वह यहां वहां अपने को छुपाते हुए घूम रहे थे.
तब वह यहां पर आए इस दौरान भीम ने यहाँ पर इस शिवलिंग की स्थापना की थी. परंतु कालांतर में यह शिवलिंग जमीन में धसने लगा और धीरे धीरे पूरा का पूरा शिवलिंग धरती में समा गया कहा जाता है की एक बार खरगूपुर के राजा गुमान सिंह की अनुमति को पाकर गाँव के निवासी जिसका नाम पृथ्वी सिंह बताया जाता है, उसने अपना घर बनाने के लिए निर्माण कर्य शुरू करवाया परंतु जमीन की खुदाई के दौरान यहां से खून का फौव्वारा बहने लगा.
इस दृश्य को देखकर सभी लोग सहम गए तथा पृथ्वी नाथ सिंह ने घर का निर्माण कार्य को रोक दिया परंतु उसी रात में पृथ्वी सिंह को एक सपना आता है जिसमें उसे इस बात का पता चलता है कि भूमि के नीचे एक सात खण्डों का शिवलिंग दबा है हुआ है. जिसे निकाल कर उसकी स्थापना का आदेश प्राप्त होता है.
प्रात:काल उठ कर वह इस बात को राजा के समक्ष रखता है जिस पर राजा उस स्थान पर एक खण्ड तक शिवलिंग खोदने का निर्देश देता है और वहाँ से शिवलिंग प्राप्त होता है इस शिवलिंग की स्थापना की जाती है. राजा पूर्ण विधि विधान से शिवलिंग को मंदिर में स्थापित करवाता है तथा पृथ्वी के नाम पर इस मंदिर का नाम पृथ्वीनाथ शिव मन्दिर पड़ गया.

पृथ्वीनाथ मंदिर महत्व | Prithvinath Temple Importance

पृथ्वीनाथ मंदिर के पौराणिक महत्व को देखते हुए लोगों की इसमें अपार श्रद्धा देखी जा सकती है. मंदिर के दर्शन करने एवं शुद्ध मन से पूजा करने से सभी पाप दूर हो जाते हैं व समस्त मनोकामनाएं पूर्ण होती हैं. मंदिर में प्रति वर्ष महाशिवरात्रि के पावन समय बहुत बडे मेले का आयोजन किया जाता है तथा शिवलिंग का महा अभिषेक होता है. इसके अतिरिक्त कजली तीज, जेठ दशहरे पर लाखों श्रद्धालु देश भर से यहाँ पर आते हैं.
यह देश का सबसे बड़ा शिवलिंग माना जाता है जो महाभारत काल के समय का बताया जाता है. माना जाता है कि इस मंदिर में स्थापित शिवलिंग एशिया का सबसे बड़ा शिवलिंग है. विद्वानों का तर्क भी यही है कि यह शिवलिंग एशिया का सबसे बदा शिवलिंग है तथा नेपाल स्थित पशुपतिनाथ मंदिर में स्थापित शिवलिंग भी इतना बडा नही है.

Shiv darshan

Bhojpur is famous for the incomplete Bhojeśvar temple dedicated to Shiva. The temple houses one of the largest liṅga-s in India, 5.5 m (18 ft) tall and 2.3 m (7.5 ft) in circumference. It is crafted out a single rock.^[4] The building is under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India.
The attribution of the temple to Bhoja is based on the testimony of Merutuṅga, who reports in the Prabandhacintāmaṇi that Bhoja bestowed on the poet Māgha “all the merit of the new Bhojasvāmin temple that he was about to build himself”, and then “set out for the country of Mālava”.^[5] The style of the sculpture on the building confirms an early to mid-eleventh-century date for the structure.
The building as it stands consists of the inner cella or garbhagṛha, supported by massive pillars, surmounted with an elegant corbelled dome. The outer walls and superstructure of the temple were never built.

Bhojpur takes its name from king Bhoja (reg. c. 1000–1055 CE), the most celebrated ruler of the Paramāra dynasty.^[1] There is no archaeological evidence from Bhojpur before the eleventh century, a fact confirmed by local legends which recount how Bhoja made a vow to build a series of dams “to arrest the streams of nine rivers and ninety-nine rivulets”. A location was found in the kingdom that allowed the king to fulfil this vow and the dams were duly built at Bhojpur.^[2]
Although the dams were constructed of cyclopean masonry, one of them was opened on the orders of Hoshang Shah of Malwa in the fifteenth century. According to Persian chronicles, he ordered the dam to be broken at the request of local merchants in Bhopal and Vidisha whose caravans were being raided by bandits taking refuge at an inaccessible spot protected by the lake.^[3]

 The temple at Bhojpur is unique in being left unfinished, with a series of large architectural parts still located in the quarries where the stones were cut and fashioned. In addition, there are a significant number of architectural drawings engraved on the flat surfaces of the quarry showing mouldings, pillars, and temple plans.^[6] Also of note is the large earthen ramp behind the temple which shows how medieval craftsmen raised the large blocks of stone into position.

 On the low plateau above the Cave of Pārvatī and opposite the Bhojpur temple are the remains of Bhoja's palace. Only the foundations survive. The complex is laid out as a grid in a square, with a courtyard in the centre (see site plan above). It is oriented on an exact north-south axis as prescribed in the Samarāṅganasūtradhāra, an architectural treatise ascribed to Bhoja.^[7] Among the many features of interest are unfinished carved blocks and graffiti engraved on the rock floor. The latter includes diagrams for games and a series of names dating to the eleventh century and later. The palace is a unique survival, being the only medieval building of its kind in northern India. Its association with Bhoja and its close conformity to a text ascribed to the king mark it out as a site of national and international cultural importance. The site of the palace, like the neighbouring dams, is unprotected. The remains of the palace are being slowly destroyed as local people collect stones for modern building purposes.

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hojpur also has an unfinished Jain temple containing a 6-meter-tall statue of Shantinath and two statues of Parshvanath (left) and Suparasnath (right). On the base of one of the images is an inscription mentioning king Bhoja, the only epigraphic evidence connecting Bhoja to the site.^[8] The same temple complex hosts shrine for Ācārya Mantunga who wrote Bhaktamara Stotra.