Maheshwara murtas are forms of Shiva revered in the Shivagamas of southern Shaiva Siddhanta sect of Saivism. It is usually counted to twenty five.[1] Sritattvanidhi calls these as Panchavimsatilīlāmūrti (twenty five sportive forms).[2] These forms are based on Puranas and Ithihasas in which Shiva's divine play is explained with different stories. Most of these forms are present in South Indian temples as main deities of sanctum or sculptures and reliefs in the outer walls of Shiva temples.
Description edit
Hindu iconography on Shiva is well developed in middle age all over India with his various divine plays described in Purana- ithihasas. Shivagamas tells devotees to worship these forms for distinct purposes. The common list believed as twenty five Maeshwara murtas is given below.[1][3]
Maheshwara Murtas 25 edit
| Murta | Depiction | Reference (in Agama or Purana)[4] | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bhikshatanar(The murti who begged for alms) |  |
Suprabhedagama, Karana | The shiva form in which he mocked the arrogance of Rishis from Darukavana. He is depicted naked with encharming Mohini avatar of Vishnu. |
| Kamari |  |
The shiva burnt Kamadeva, god of lust. | For the birth of Shiva's son, Devas planned to make Shiva fall in love with Parvati, his ardent devotee. They send god of lust for this task and he was burnt alive by the third eye of Shiva. Later, as his wife Rati requested, he was resurrected with the condition, he will be only visible to her. |
| Kalantaka |  |
Shiva killed Kaladeva Yama, god of death. Thirukkadavur temple is associated with this Veerasthana, one of 8 heroic playground | Markandeya was a ardent devotee of Shiva who was blessed with the age of only 16 years. When in ended, Yama comes to take off the soul of Markandeya when he is in continuous Shiva worship. Yama was killed while he try to abduct the soul of Markandeya. |
| Kalyanasundara |  |
The beautiful bride. | The depiction of marriage of Shiva with Shakti, in any forms of Sati, Parvati or Meenakshi |
| Vrishabaruda |  |
Rider of Vrshaba, the Holy bull. | |
| Chandrasekhara |  |
Wearer of Chandra | |
| Umamaheshwara |  |
Maheshwara with goddess Uma | |
| Nataraja |  |
King of the dancers | |
| Tripurantaka |  |
Burner of Three forts | |
| Jalandharari |  |
Killer of demon Jalandhara | |
| Gajasurasamhara |  |
Killer of Gajasura, a demon took the form of elephant | |
| Virabhadra |  |
Destroyer of Daksha yajna | |
| Harihara |  |
Combined form of half Shiva and half Vishnu | |
| Ardhanarishwara |  |
Combined form of half Shiva and half Parvati | |
| Kirata |  |
Mount hunter who bestowed Arjuna with Pashupatastra | |
| Kankala |  |
Divine player with bones [[of devas after Samhara | |
| Chandeshanugraha |  |
Bestower to Chandeshvara Nayanar | |
| Chakraprada |  |
Giver of Sudarshana chakra, holy disc to Vishnu | |
| Somaskanda |  |
householder With Uma and Skanda | |
| Ekapada |  |
With one foot | |
| Vigneshanugraha | Shiva with Parvati and Vignesha | ||
| Dakshinamurthy |  |
South faced god, the first teacher | |
| Nilakantha |  |
One with blue throated. drinker of halahala poison during the churning of milk sea | |
| Lingodbhava |  |
Linga, Kurma, Vayu and Shiva puranas | Lord comes out from jyotir linga pillar amidst Brahma and Vishnu |
| Sukhasana | _(8285492500).jpg) |
Shiva sitting in ease position |
References edit
- ^ a b Durai Raja Singam, S. (1977). Ananda Coomaraswamy, the Bridge Builder: A Study of a Scholar-colossus. Khee Meng Press. p. 8.
- ^ Narasimha Murthy, A. V. (2001). Hemakuta: Recent Researches in Archaology and Museology : Shri C.T.M. Kotraiah Felicitation Volume 1. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan,. p. 177. ISBN 9788186050668.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ Subas Rai, Bhanu Agrawal (1995). Third eye: myth or a scientific reality?. Pandey Publications House. p. 3.
- ^ Gopinatha Rao, T. A. (1993). Elements of Hindu iconography. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 9788120808782.