Shaiva Deities

The Auspicious One

One of the principal deities of Hinduism: the ascetic on Kailasa and the householder with Parvati, the destroyer within the Trimurti and, for Shaivas, the supreme reality itself. Worshipped chiefly in the aniconic form of the linga, and across India at the twelve Jyotirlingas.

The Tamil God

Kartikeya in the north and Murugan in the Tamil country — the youthful commander of the divine armies, worshipped at the six Arupadai Veedu shrines and at Thaipusam, and one of the most fervently followed deities in South India and the Tamil diaspora.

The Lord of Time

Shiva as the fierce guardian of time and of boundaries — the koṭwāl of Kashi, who carries the staff of consequence and a dog at his feet. In the Kashmir Shaiva tantras he is not an aspect of the Absolute but the Absolute itself.

Daughter of the Mountain

Shiva's consort and the benign form of the Goddess — daughter of the Himalaya, mother of Ganesha and Kartikeya, and the figure through whom the ascetic Shiva is drawn back into the world.

Son of Hari and Hara

The deity of Sabarimala in Kerala, born of Shiva and Vishnu in his Mohini form. His pilgrimage — a 41-day vow of austerity followed by a forest trek — draws tens of millions each season, making it among the largest annual pilgrimages in the world.