num_pages: 158
description: Shivathe fierceascetic godwho is the destroyer of the universeis part of the Holy Trinity of the Hindus.Clad only in animal skinhis body smeared with ashmatted ahir piled on his head and a snake coiled around his neckShiva resides in the cold and desolate environs of Mount Kailasameditating for eons.Millions of Hindus worship this greatest of ascetics in the form of linga. Many modern scholars insist that Shiva s linga is a phallic symbol.Most devotees disagree.Who is right?To make sense of a mythological image one has to align the language heard (stories) with the language performed (rituals) and the alanguage seen 9symbols).All dissonances need to be removed to decipher the real meaning. This book looks at the sexual metaphors associated with Shiva and uncovers their spiritual connotations.In the process we disover why the Goddess transforms Shivathe hermitinto Shankarathe householder. Aunthored by Dr.Devdutt pattanikone of India s most popular mythologiststhis book is the first of it s kind to show the uncanny alignment between metaphysicsritualssymbols and stories of Shiva.
language: English
title: Shiva To Shankara: Decoding The Phallic Symbol
publisher: Indus Source Books