Shiva defies all preconceived notions of being a deity; he is uncomplicated but interesting. Shiva is a deity free of worldly goods who wears a serpent around his neck and has ash spread all over his body. Because of his androgynous form of himself and his wife Parvati, known as "Ardharishwara," which is portrayed as half male and half female, Lord Shiva introduced us to the idea of gender equality long before the terms "feminism" or "gender equality" were ever coined.

Lord Shiva and Vasuki

Everyone immediately recognizes the snake around Shiva's neck when they see a picture of him. The three coils of the snake, known as Vasuki, represent the past, present, and future. As suggested by the Puranas and the snake shown around Lord Shiva's neck, Vasuki is widely acknowledged as the king of the Sarpas. Vasuki finds note in the Puranas, and one of these notices promises that he was the string of the bow used by Lord Shiva to destroy Tripuradahana, or the three cities.

The terrible poison Shiva had to consume to save the universe appeared during the Samudra Manthan, according to the Puranas. Vasuki was one of the snakes in the water with whom he had a drink. While stirring the sea of milk, Vasuki also served as the rope fastened to Mandar mountain. This piqued Shiva's interest, and he began to acknowledge the presence of Vasuki (the lord of the Sarpas) around his neck

Shiva's Avatars

Lord Shiva, also known as Bholenath, Mahadev, Shankar, and other names, has taken several forms to accomplish a variety of goals. Among his many avatars are Piplaad avatar, Nandi avatar, Ashwatthama avatar, and others. Shiva was born to Sage Shilada during the Nandi Avatar. The sage requested an eternal kid and underwent severe penance to obtain Lord Shiva's blessings. As a result of Sage's devotion, Lord Shiva took the form of Nandi, who afterwards served as the guardian of Kailasha and the Lord's mount.

Another one of Lord Shiva's most violent incarnations is Veerabhadra. Following the demise of his wife Sati, Lord Shiva took the form of Veerabhadra. As punishment for being accountable for Sati's demise, Shiva in his Veerabhadra form destroyed King Daksha's Yagya and beheaded him.

Kamadeva Turned to Ashes

The god of human passion and love, Kamadeva, is renowned for stirring up carnal desires in people. According to their etymologies, Kama and Deva both refer to divine beings. He is viewed as the celestial god of love who stirs passion and love in those who are pierced by His cosmic arrow. Lord Shiva was devastated and enraged when his consort Sati embraced death by embracing fire as a result of the disrespect her father Daksha showed to Shiva. He stopped doing His job and entered a deep state of meditation. All the Gods were concerned as a result of the world's subsequent destructive imbalance.

In the meantime, Sati was reborn as Parvati, the goddess. Lord Shiva was least interested in her proposal and instead disregarded her wishes. Kamadeva was called by Indra, who informed him that only a person descended from Shiva and Parvati could defeat the demon king Tarakasur. Indra gave Kamadeva the task of stirring up Lord Shiva's passion to get him to consent to marry Parvati. Although the arrow struck Shiva, He was not oblivious to who the shooter was, and Kamadeva was reduced to ashes by Lord Shiva.

Blue Throat

The devas and the asuras were engaged in a constant battle. With the ongoing battles, folks from both parties were dying, they decided to share the amrutha, or elixir of life, which was hidden in the oceans so that they would both become immortal and be able to fight happily. Only the fact that war results in so much death makes it a bad business. War can be quite wonderful if death is managed.

Together, they made the decision to churn the oceans. According to the legend, they used a huge snake as a rope to churn out a particular peak known as Meru. When they first began churning, a lethal poison emerged from the ocean's depths rather than amrutha or the elixir of life. Halahala was the name for this. There were colossal amounts of this deadly poison. All of the gods were alarmed because they thought the world would end if this much poison leaked. And nobody could do anything to change this. They believed Shiva would be the ideal candidate because, as usual, no one was willing to take action. Shiva was invited to visit, and they demonstrated the enormous amount of poison that was spewing.

"Life will be wiped out if this spreads. Do something, you have to." Said all the other gods. Shiva just drank up the poison, like he always did, without a thought for his own safety. When his wife Parvati noticed this, she went and grabbed hold of his throat, causing it to stop at that point and turn blue.

Ganga in His Dreadlocks

In the Himalayas, it's said that each peak represents Shiva. The Himalayan peaks are covered in snow, and the numerous small rivulets that emerge from these snow-covered mountains gradually combine to form streams, then rivers. According to legend, Ganga is a celestial river that is said to have fallen to Earth. Because of its force, Ganga would have harmed the world, Shiva placed it on his head and allowed it to gently flow through his hair as it descended the Himalayan slopes. This is a dialectical expression of its sanctity and the meaning it has for people.

In order to purify the souls of his ancestors and aid them in achieving nirvana, Bhagiratha once prayed to Brahma to send the Ganges down to earth. Only Shiva could prevent Ganga's landfall, so Brahma asked Bhagiratha to worship him. Shiva calmly caught Ganga's back in his matted hair and released her into seven streams: Bhagirathi, Janhvi, Bhilangana, Mandakini, Rishiganga, Saraswati, and Alaknanda. Ganga had flown down to Earth. She then followed Bhagiratha, who took her to his ancestors and helped them find their souls through her purity.

These are some of the many tales associated with Shiva, the god who was also an ascetic.