The baptismal font, hidden behind the rounded apse at the eastern end, still has traces of the original mosaics. The Vandal church is named after one of their kings.

This photograph possibly depicts the troopship HMAT A7 MEDIC. It is possible that it depicts MEDIC after it was requisitioned as a troopship for the Second Boer War (1899-1902).

 

This photo is part of the Australian National Maritime Museum’s Samuel J. Hood Studio collection. Sam Hood (1872-1953) was a Sydney photographer with a passion for ships. His 60-year career spanned the romantic age of sail and two world wars. The photos in the collection were taken mainly in Sydney and Newcastle during the first half of the 20th century.

 

If reproduced or distributed, this image should be clearly attributed to the collection of the Australian National Maritime Museum; and not be used for any commercial or for-profit purposes without the permission of the museum. For more information see our Flickr Commons Rights Statement.

 

The ANMM undertakes research and accepts public comments that enhance the information we hold about images in our collection. This record has been updated accordingly.

 

Photographer: Samuel J. Hood Studio Collection

 

Object no. 00021321

ИГНАСИО СУЛОАГА - Мадам Соути, полулежащая на софе

☆

Private collection.

Sotheby's London / European Paintings, November 22, 2011.

Source: www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2011/european-pai...

 

📌Painted in 1921, Zuloaga's gloriously brazen depiction of Marcelle Souty reclining in the artist's Paris studio is one of his most audacious portraits, and arguably his greatest painting of the nude.

The work is a remarkable culmination of a series of large scale oils of the sitter that Zuloaga painted over a seven year period. With but a red 'fascinator' clipped jauntily to the top of her head, and a lace mantilla draped languorously over her right shoulder and upper arm, Mme Souty poses decorously naked on a rich green drape as she gazes out to the viewer's right, her half-smile and unflinching stare expressing an enigmatic air of cool indifference. The studio props that surround the model evoke a culture and inheritance for Zuloaga that go back centuries: an eighteenth century tapestry acts as a backdrop; part pulled back, behind the tapestry are glimpsed photographs of works by El Greco and Velázquez. The candour of Souty's pose however, her implicit decadence mirrored in the louche sag of the green sofa covering, evokes a modernity utterly in keeping with the brave new world and social order that emerged in the immediate aftermath of the First World War.

Introduced to Souty by his friend the painter Jean-Gabriel Domergue and immediately attracted to her distinctive and sophisticated elegance, Zuloaga completed at least five large scale finished portraits of her clothed before embarking on the present study of her nude (Ferrari, nos. 386, 399, 400, 426 & 427). In the first of these compositions Souty modeled as a torero. With her left hand on her hip, and in her right the bullfighter's montera she sports the typical knee length suit (traje de luces), with the cape (capote) over her arm. The following year in 1915 he painted her again wearing a traditional Spanish dress, but this time emphasised her girlish good looks as she lounges on the studio sofa, engaging the viewer with her innocent eyes. The subsequent three major oils he painted of Souty are likewise all of her fully dressed, one of her standing with red flowers; one sitting holding a carnation, and one wearing black.

Up until Mme Souty sat for him, the model that Zuloaga painted most frequently was his cousin Cándida in Segovia who sat for Zuloaga repeatedly from the late 1890s onwards. But with the purchase of his studio in Montmartre in 1906 Zuloaga could be more detached, have the freedom to employ a professional model when in Paris, and reasonably request such models to pose for him déshabillée. In developing the style appropriate to the genre Zuloaga looked first to the French tradition. Thus the subject of one of his earliest Parisian nudes is Gitana desnuda con papagayo (Gypsy Nude, with Parrot) of 1906, a theme that he repeated in reclining form in 1913 in La dama del papagayo (Lady with a Parrot). The exotic flavour of both works owes a clear debt to earlier examples by Gustave Courbet and Edouard Manet, and it was surely Manet's notorious Olympia that Zuloaga must have had in mind when he painted the present work. Marcelle Souty's languid reclining position, however, also acknowledges Zuloaga's fascination with the work of Francisco Goya, and the Spanish master's Maja paintings in particular. Zuloaga kept a large copy of La maja vestida in his studio, and was instrumental in saving Goya's natal home at Fuendetodos for the nation, where he also oversaw the raising of a monument to his hero.

The influence of such painterly antecedents on Zuloaga's artistic development, both ancient and modern, mirrored the ever greater sophistication required of him to succeed as a portraitist, his talents for which were in huge demand. One of his most prestigious pre-War commissions was to paint the portrait of the leading Parisian society hostess and literary figure the Comtesse de Noailles, a work of consummate elegance, authority and simmering sexuality. As well as sharing a striking sensuality with that of Mme Souty, the pose of the Comtesse clothed bears a notable resemblance to that of Mme Souty naked. Both recline gracefully propped up on their left side, their right arms following the line of their bodies, their left leg straight while that of their right is bent. In the absence of Zuloaga being able to paint the Comtesse naked, it is tempting indeed to think that - consciously or not - Zuloaga may well have conceived the present work of Marcelle Souty as his 'Maja desnuda' to the Countess's 'Maja vestida'.

Zuloaga himself was keenly aware of the potential furore that his nudes elicited from the public, to the extent that he was notably coy about exhibiting them. Very few were shown in Europe, and when he did first exhibit two of them in the major travelling exhibtion of his work that toured America in 1916-17 they brought forth protesting letters from those who found it was impossible to see them without blushing. It is notable that the present work was never exhibited in public during Zuloaga's lifetime, remaining with his own collection, a fact that certainly reflects on Zuloaga's own assessment of the work, conscious of the controversy it could stir up.

The freedom Zuloaga felt to explore such new subject matter in Paris was inextricably tied to his long associations with France, the liberty he experienced in the French capital in particular, and the accolades for his work that he received there. As a school boy he had spent time at the lycée at Neuilly, before returning to Paris in 1890 to pursue his studies as an artist. He first took lessons from Henri Gervex and Eugène Carrière, and frequented the Académie de la palette in Clichy, where he met other Spanish painters, amongst them his future lifelong friends: Catalan Santiago Rusiñol and fellow Basque Pablo Uranga. Thereafter he divided his time between Paris and Spain, always keeping an eye on what was happening in the French capital.

In his early years he frequented the Café Voltaire where he met Paul Gauguin and showed his work at Le Barc de Bouteville on Rue Le Pelletier, exhibiting alongside Gauguin, Van Gogh and Emile Bernard. Between 1892-94 he shared rooms with Rusiñol and Uranga at the Quai Bourbon on the Île de la Cité, where amongst others they entertained Edgar Degas. In 1895 he exhibited six works at Le Barc de Bouteville, for which he received notably encouraging reviews in the Paris press; likewise at the Salon du Champ de Mars in 1897 he was lauded by a coterie of French critics, amongst them Arsène Alexandre and Gustave Geoffroy. The following year he was honoured by the French state, the government buying My Uncle and My Cousins that he showed at the 1898 Salon. Zuloaga's love affair with France continued when in 1899 he married Valentine Dethomas. Valentine was the sister of his friend Maxime Dethomas, a fellow student at the Académie de la Palette in Paris, and the daughter of a high ranking and well known French politician.

Married to his advantage, and with burgeoning critical acclaim for his work, the new century saw Zuloaga's reputation go from strength to strength both within France and internationally. In group exhibitions in Paris his work was exhibited alongside that of Degas, Van Gogh, Bonnard, Toulouse-Lautrec, Rodin and Vuillard; in 1902 he exhibited at the prestigious Galerie Georges Petit, and at the Paris Salon of 1903 the three works that he submitted were hailed by the critics as the 'clou' of the exhibition. One enthusiastic writer commented of the sensation that his work was causing: 'On parle que de lui [Zuloaga]'; and Le Figaro illustré devoted an entire issue to Zuloaga's work. By 1908 Zuloaga's reputation was such that he commanded a room to himself at the Salon d'automne.

As his star rose in Paris, so his international sphere of influence grew too. In 1900 he exhibited with La Libre Esthétique in Brussels, and his painting Víspera de la Corrida (The Eve of the Bullfight) was purchased by the Belgian government. He also exhibted that year in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Cologne. In 1901 he sent seven pictures to Dresden for exhibition. Awarded a gold medal for his contribution, his work was seen there by Rilke, an event that precipitated their life-long friendship. Zuloaga exhibited nine pictures at the Venice Biennale in 1903 and in Düsseldorf in 1904 Zuloaga, with Auguste Rodin and Adolf von Menzel were the only artists to be allotted dedicated galleries to show in, the space facilitating Zuloaga to show twenty of his pictures. In 1905 Zuloaga took Rodin on a sightseeing tour of Spain in his car, and during the year sent his work for exhibition in Prague, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Liège, Venice, Dresden and Vienna; he also designed sets for the Berlin opera's performance of Carmen. By the end of the decade Zuloaga's work had reached the Americas. In 1909 fifty of his works were exhibited at the Hispanic Society in New York, the exhibition then travelling to Buffalo and Boston. The following year his work was exhibited in Mexico, Chile and Argentina.

Zuloaga's purchase in 1906 of his first permanent studio at 54 rue Caulaincourt in Montmartre cemented his allegiance to his adopted country and his belief that his future lay in Paris. In contrast his association with Spain was more ambiguous, his ties not so much to the country as a whole but to his family and his Basque roots. The reception to his work in the 1890s in Spain was mixed, and for several years Zuloaga refused to show his work there. When he was not in Paris, Zuloaga preferred a more provincial life, sharing a studio in Segovia with his uncle Daniel and fraternising with his cousins, painting in Seville, or returning to see his family in Eibar over any attractions that might be found in Madrid. But as his reputation grew abroad, so he was increasingly fêted by his fellow countrymen, and attracted back to the capital.

In 1904 a banquet was hosted in his honour in Madrid, the event supported by many of the writers and intellectuals who comprised the 'Generation of 98', including Azorín, Marquina, Rusiñol and Maeztu. In 1907 Miquel Utrillo organised the exhibition of 31 of Zuloaga's pictures in Barcelona. The largest showing of his works thus far in Spain, the works received wide spread critical acclaim. Fulfilling his desire to re-establish himself and his family in the Basque country, in 1910 Zuloaga purchased the spit of land by the sea at Zumaya, along the coast from Bilbao. There he built his country house, studio, chapel and the museum to house his collection. Two years later in Bilbao a banquet was held in his honour at which there were 800 guests.

In the years that followed Zuloaga was in ever increasing demand as a portraitist, vying with the finest society painters of his generation, amongst them Kees Van Dongen, John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, and Giovanni Boldini, working on both sides of the Atlantic. But for all that he was taken up by Society, Zuloaga continued to pursue his particular interests in recording Spain - its landscape, people and types - and painting works for the pure pleasure of it, as in the present example.

From left to right : King Antiochus I Theos, Commagene-Tyche, Zeus-Oromasdes, Apollo-Mithras-Helios-Hermes, Artagnes-Herakles-Ares

The Temple was a monumental structure; it measured 120 m in length and 50 m across. The sixty massive columns surrounding the cella were well over 2 m in diameter and more than 21 m high. The Temple was topped with the largest Corinthian capitals ever sculpted, one of which, 2.5 metres in height, 1.9 metres in diameter and 20 tons in weight, was unearthed in 2013.

 

In AD 124, the city of Cyzicus was granted the role of neokoros, temple warden of the imperial cult. The people of Cyzicus declared Hadrian the 13th Olympian god.

 

The Byzantine chronicler John Malalas called the Temple of Hadrian at Cyzicus “a very large temple, one of the wonders" with a very large bust of Hadrian on the roof and a marble stele inscribed "of Divine Hadrian". (Malalas, Chronography Bks 1-7, 10-18)

 

Cassius Dio called it “the largest and most beautiful of all temples, writing that “its columns were four cubits in thickness and fifty cubits in height" writing that "in general, the details were more to be wondered at than praised.” (epit. 70.4.1–2).

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B6merbad_Jagsthausen

DAY: three hundred four / three hundred sixty-five

 

Couldn't decide which picture looks better. I hope you'll enjoy both equally.

 

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The birds allude to the cuckoo that played a role in the story of the courtship of Hera by Zeus, who changed into the bird.

 

Pausanias 2.17.4

The presence of a cuckoo seated on the sceptre they explain by the story that when Zeus was in love with Hera in her maidenhood he changed himself into this bird, and she caught it to be her pet. This tale and similar legends about the gods I relate without believing them, but I relate them nevertheless.

This picture depicts the colliery Carolinenglück Shaft III in Hamme, a borough of Bochum.

Build and first commissioning of Shaft III in 1910-12 and concluded 31.05.1964.

The colliery Carolinenglück, is now used as mine drainage facilities for dewatering and

ventilation shaft by the RAG Deutsche Steinkohle AG.

The framework, called german-skeleton typ Zschetzsche, is under preservation of sites

of historic interest, because its the last one of his kind in the Ruhr areal.

Rework of detail image depicting crocidolite (blue) and chrysotile (white) asbestos fiber bundles protruding from a fractured edge of an asbestos-cement pipe ("Certain-Teed" brand).

 

It is reported that certain types of fibers of the 6 regulated asbestos minerals have, among many other physical properties once desirable to industry, incredibly high tensile strength (proportional and relative to its size). Vintage industry manuals on asbestos characteristics indicate that certain asbestos fibers have tensile strength as strong as or stronger than piano wire or steel wire.

 

Taking advantage of this property, industry created hundreds, if not thousands of asbestos-containing materials by mixing innumerable amounts of finely graded asbestos fibers into Portland cement or asphalt or plaster or stucco or vinyl compounds or putties or mastics or adhesive or...any number of host matrix compounds; resulting in an exceedingly durable asbestos-reinforced material. Like “microscopic rebar”, the asbestos fibers added increased binding reinforcement and overall material durability (along with all of the other so-called “benefits”).

 

Asbestos-cement products, like "Transite" (former Johns-Manville trade name), "Fibro", or "Eternit" were heavily promoted, manufactured, and installed by the hundreds of thousands of tons. Thousands of miles of asbestos-cement pipes in municipal water systems exist throughout several countries (which consequently, asbestos fibers have been reported in millions of fibers per liter of water in some of these water systems).

 

Asbestos-cement residential siding (cladding), roofing shingles, and corrugated panels were (are) commonplace on millions of homes and farm structures; as well as: asbestos-cement fascia & metal-clad systems, wall systems, siding panels, heat vents, flue pipes, transom boards, electrical shielding, heat shielding, siding/cladding, lab countertops and fume hoods, roofing panels, and a seemingly endless array of other components in residential, commercial and industrial facilities -- all materials which still stand the test of time, but eventually show varying degrees of degradation, often via acidic rain.

 

Under the guise of so-called "controlled use", asbestos-cement products currently account for well over half of all the world’s new asbestos products being produced for third-world, developing countries, and some industrialized nations today.

Thought to depict a matron (seated) and a young girl inside a gynaeceum, attending the dressing of a priestess by a servant/slave. A gynaeceum was a building or the portion of a house reserved for women, generally the innermost apartment. In other words, a women's quarters, the counterpart to the andrōn, or male quarters.

 

Note the suggestion of an embroidered pattern on the border at the bottom of the priestess' tunic.

 

Herculaneum, from the so-called Gymnasium, Insula Orientalis (II 4, 19), ca. 30–40 CE.

 

Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN inv. 9022)

SHOT AT SLATEFORD STATION 06/12/2025. DEPICTS THE 1Z62 CHESTER TO EDINBURGH SERVICE. T&T 57315

Sasanian rock reliefs from right to left:

Equestrian Relief of Bahram II

Relief of Shapur I

Relief of Hormizd II

Relief of Shapur II (damaged)

 

The stadium is 60 m long and 12.5 m wide. The stadium has 17 steps on one side and 8 on the other and could accommodate about 4000 people.

 

The Stadium is about 100m below the site to the south-east. Excavations have revealed that it was used for athletic contests including running races, boxing, javelin and discus throwing. The stadium was constructed in the 3rd century BC and remained in use until the 3rd century AD.

 

archeoparks-albania.com/amantia/html/amantia.html

Shiva, meaning "The Auspicious One"), also known as Mahadeva ("Great God"), is a popular Hindu deity. Shiva is regarded as one of the primary forms of God. He is the Supreme God within Shaivism, one of the three most influential denominations in contemporary Hinduism. He is one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, and "the Destroyer" or "the Transformer" among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine.

 

Shiva has many benevolent and fearsome forms. At the highest level Shiva is limitless, transcendent, unchanging and formless. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash, as well as a householder with wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya and in fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also regarded as the patron god of yoga and arts.

 

The main iconographical attributes of Shiva are the third eye on his forehead, the snake Vasuki around his neck, the crescent moon adorning, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the trishula as his weapon and the damaru as his instrument.

 

Shiva is usually worshiped in the aniconic form of Lingam. Temples of Lord Shiva are called shivalayam.

 

ETYMOLOGY & OTHER NAMES

The Sanskrit word Shiva (Devanagari: शिव, śiva) comes from Shri Rudram Chamakam of Taittiriya Samhita (TS 4.5, 4.7) of Krishna Yajurveda. The root word śi means auspicious. In simple English transliteration it is written either as Shiva or Siva. The adjective śiva, is used as an attributive epithet not particularly of Rudra, but of several other Vedic deities.

 

The other popular names associated with Shiva are Mahadev, Mahesh, Maheshwar, Shankar, Shambhu, Rudra, Har, Trilochan, Devendra (meaning Chief of the gods) and Trilokinath (meaning Lord of the three realms).

 

The Sanskrit word śaiva means "relating to the God Shiva", and this term is the Sanskrit name both for one of the principal sects of Hinduism and for a member of that sect. It is used as an adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism. He is the oldest worshipped Lord of India.

 

The Tamil word Sivan, Tamil: சிவன் ("Fair Skinned") could have been derived from the word sivappu. The word 'sivappu' means "red" in Tamil language but while addressing a person's skin texture in Tamil the word 'Sivappu' is used for being Fair Skinned.

 

Adi Sankara, in his interpretation of the name Shiva, the 27th and 600th name of Vishnu sahasranama, the thousand names of Vishnu interprets Shiva to have multiple meanings: "The Pure One", or "the One who is not affected by three Gunas of Prakrti (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas)" or "the One who purifies everyone by the very utterance of His name."Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu sahasranama, further elaborates on that verse: Shiva means "the One who is eternally pure" or "the One who can never have any contamination of the imperfection of Rajas and Tamas".

 

Shiva's role as the primary deity of Shaivism is reflected in his epithets Mahādeva ("Great God"; mahā "Great" and deva "god"), Maheśvara ("Great Lord"; mahā "great" and īśvara "lord"), and Parameśvara ("Supreme Lord").

 

There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama, devotional hymns (stotras) listing many names of Shiva. The version appearing in Book 13 (Anuśāsanaparvan) of the Mahabharata is considered the kernel of this tradition. Shiva also has Dasha-Sahasranamas (10,000 names) that are found in the Mahanyasa. The Shri Rudram Chamakam, also known as the Śatarudriya, is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names.

 

The worship of Shiva is a pan-Hindu tradition, practiced widely across all of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

 

ASSIMILATION OF TRADITIONS

The figure of Shiva as we know him today was built up over time, with the ideas of many regional sects being amalgamated into a single figure. How the persona of Shiva converged as a composite deity is not well documented. According to Vijay Nath:

 

Visnu and Siva [...] began to absorb countless local cults and deities within their folds. The latter were either taken to represent the multiple facets of the same god or else were supposed to denote different forms and appellations by which the god came to be known and worshipped. [...] Siva became identified with countless local cults by the sheer suffixing of Isa or Isvara to the name of the local deity, e.g., Bhutesvara, Hatakesvara, Chandesvara."

 

Axel Michaels the Indologist suggests that Shaivism, like Vaishnavism, implies a unity which cannot be clearly found either in religious practice or in philosophical and esoteric doctrine. Furthermore, practice and doctrine must be kept separate.

 

An example of assimilation took place in Maharashtra, where a regional deity named Khandoba is a patron deity of farming and herding castes. The foremost center of worship of Khandoba in Maharashtra is in Jejuri. Khandoba has been assimilated as a form of Shiva himself, in which case he is worshipped in the form of a lingam. Khandoba's varied associations also include an identification with Surya and Karttikeya.

 

INDUS VALLEY ORIGINS

Many Indus valley seals show animals but one seal that has attracted attention shows a figure, either horned or wearing a horned headdress and possibly ithyphallic figure seated in a posture reminiscent of the Lotus position and surrounded by animals was named by early excavators of Mohenjo-daro Pashupati (lord of cattle), an epithet of the later Hindu gods Shiva and Rudra. Sir John Marshall and others have claimed that this figure is a prototype of Shiva and have described the figure as having three faces seated in a "yoga posture" with the knees out and feet joined.

 

This claim has been criticised, with some academics like Gavin Flood and John Keay characterizing them as unfounded. Writing in 1997 Doris Srinivasan said that "Not too many recent studies continue to call the seal's figure a 'Proto-Siva'", rejecting thereby Marshall's package of proto-Siva features, including that of three heads. She interprets what John Marshall interpreted as facial as not human but more bovine, possibly a divine buffalo-man. According to Iravatham Mahadevan symbols 47 and 48 of his Indus script glossary The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables (1977), representing seated human-like figures, could describe Hindu deity Murugan, popularly known as Shiva and Parvati's son.

 

INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS

Shiva's rise to a major position in the pantheon was facilitated by his identification with a host of Vedic deities, including Purusha, Rudra, Agni, Indra, Prajāpati, Vāyu, and others.

 

RUDRA

Shiva as we know him today shares many features with the Vedic god Rudra, and both Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in Hindu scriptures. The two names are used synonymously. Rudra, the god of the roaring storm, is usually portrayed in accordance with the element he represents as a fierce, destructive deity.

 

The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rig Veda, which is dated to between 1700 and 1100 BCE based on linguistic and philological evidence. A god named Rudra is mentioned in the Rig Veda. The name Rudra is still used as a name for Shiva. In RV 2.33, he is described as the "Father of the Rudras", a group of storm gods. Furthermore, the Rudram, one of the most sacred hymns of Hinduism found both in the Rig and the Yajur Vedas and addressed to Rudra, invokes him as Shiva in several instances, but the term Shiva is used as an epithet for the gods Indra, Mitra and Agni many times. Since Shiva means pure, the epithet is possibly used to describe a quality of these gods rather than to identify any of them with the God Shiva.

 

The identification of Shiva with the older god Rudhra is not universally accepted, as Axel Michaels explains:

 

Rudra is called "The Archer" (Sanskrit: Śarva), and the arrow is an essential attribute of Rudra. This name appears in the Shiva Sahasranama, and R. K. Sharma notes that it is used as a name of Shiva often in later languages.

 

The word is derived from the Sanskrit root śarv-, which means "to injure" or "to kill", and Sharma uses that general sense in his interpretive translation of the name Śarva as "One who can kill the forces of darkness". The names Dhanvin ("Bowman") and Bāṇahasta ("Archer", literally "Armed with arrows in his hands") also refer to archery.

 

AGNI

Rudra and Agni have a close relationship. The identification between Agni and Rudra in the Vedic literature was an important factor in the process of Rudra's gradual development into the later character as Rudra-Shiva. The identification of Agni with Rudra is explicitly noted in the Nirukta, an important early text on etymology, which says, "Agni is also called Rudra." The interconnections between the two deities are complex, and according to Stella Kramrisch:

 

The fire myth of Rudra-Śiva plays on the whole gamut of fire, valuing all its potentialities and phases, from conflagration to illumination.

 

In the Śatarudrīya, some epithets of Rudra, such as Sasipañjara ("Of golden red hue as of flame") and Tivaṣīmati ("Flaming bright"), suggest a fusing of the two deities. Agni is said to be a bull, and Lord Shiva possesses a bull as his vehicle, Nandi. The horns of Agni, who is sometimes characterized as a bull, are mentioned. In medieval sculpture, both Agni and the form of Shiva known as Bhairava have flaming hair as a special feature.

 

INDRA

According to Wendy Doniger, the Puranic Shiva is a continuation of the Vedic Indra. Doniger gives several reasons for his hypothesis. Both are associated with mountains, rivers, male fertility, fierceness, fearlessness, warfare, transgression of established mores, the Aum sound, the Supreme Self. In the Rig Veda the term śiva is used to refer to Indra. (2.20.3, 6.45.17, and 8.93.3.) Indra, like Shiva, is likened to a bull. In the Rig Veda, Rudra is the father of the Maruts, but he is never associated with their warlike exploits as is Indra.

 

The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised Proto-Indo-European religion, and the Indo-Iranian religion. According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran. It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements", which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" from the Bactria–Margiana Culture. At least 383 non-Indo-European words were borrowed from this culture, including the god Indra and the ritual drink Soma. According to Anthony,

 

Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory, Verethraghna, were transferred to the adopted god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from Ephedra) probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers.

 

LATER VEDIC LITERATURE

Rudra's transformation from an ambiguously characterized deity to a supreme being began in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (400-200 BCE), which founded the tradition of Rudra-Shiva worship. Here they are identified as the creators of the cosmos and liberators of souls from the birth-rebirth cycle. The period of 200 BCE to 100 CE also marks the beginning of the Shaiva tradition focused on the worship of Shiva, with references to Shaiva ascetics in Patanjali's Mahabhasya and in the Mahabharata.

 

Early historical paintings at the Bhimbetka rock shelters, depict Shiva dancing, Shiva's trident, and his mount Nandi but no other Vedic gods.

 

PURANIC LITERATURE

The Shiva Puranas, particularly the Shiva Purana and the Linga Purana, discuss the various forms of Shiva and the cosmology associated with him.

 

TANTRIC LITERATURE

The Tantras, composed between the 8th and 11th centuries, regard themselves as Sruti. Among these the Shaiva Agamas, are said to have been revealed by Shiva himself and are foundational texts for Shaiva Siddhanta.

 

POSITION WITHIN HINDUISM

 

SHAIVISM

Shaivism (Sanskrit: शैव पंथ, śaiva paṁtha) (Kannada: ಶೈವ ಪಂಥ) (Tamil: சைவ சமயம்) is the oldest of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas", and also "Saivas" or "Saivites", revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. The tantric Shaiva tradition consists of the Kapalikas, Kashmir Shaivism and Shaiva Siddhanta. The Shiva MahaPurana is one of the purāṇas, a genre of Hindu religious texts, dedicated to Shiva. Shaivism is widespread throughout India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, mostly. Areas notable for the practice of Shaivism include parts of Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

 

PANCHAYATANA PUJA

Panchayatana puja is the system of worship ('puja') in the Smarta sampradaya of Hinduism. It is said to have been introduced by Adi Shankara, the 8th century CE Hindu philosopher. It consists of the worship of five deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha. Depending on the tradition followed by Smarta households, one of these deities is kept in the center and the other four surround it. Worship is offered to all the deities. The five are represented by small murtis, or by five kinds of stones, or by five marks drawn on the floor.

 

TRIMURTI

The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer. These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity", often addressed as "Brahma-Vishnu-Maheshwara."

 

ICONOGRAPHY AND PROPERTIES

 

ATTRIBUTES

Shiva's form: Shiva has a trident in the right lower arm, and a crescent moon on his head. He is said to be fair like camphor or like an ice clad mountain. He wears five serpents and a garland of skulls as ornaments. Shiva is usually depicted facing the south. His trident, like almost all other forms in Hinduism, can be understood as the symbolism of the unity of three worlds that a human faces - his inside world, his immediate world, and the broader overall world. At the base of the trident, all three forks unite.

 

Third eye: (Trilochana) Shiva is often depicted with a third eye, with which he burned Desire (Kāma) to ashes, called "Tryambakam" (Sanskrit: त्र्यम्बकम् ), which occurs in many scriptural sources. In classical Sanskrit, the word ambaka denotes "an eye", and in the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as three-eyed, so this name is sometimes translated as "having three eyes". However, in Vedic Sanskrit, the word ambā or ambikā means "mother", and this early meaning of the word is the basis for the translation "three mothers". These three mother-goddesses who are collectively called the Ambikās. Other related translations have been based on the idea that the name actually refers to the oblations given to Rudra, which according to some traditions were shared with the goddess Ambikā. It has been mentioned that when Shiva loses his temper, his third eye opens which can destroy most things to ashes.

 

Crescent moon: (The epithets "Chandrasekhara/Chandramouli")- Shiva bears on his head the crescent moon. The epithet Candraśekhara (Sanskrit: चन्द्रशेखर "Having the moon as his crest" - candra = "moon"; śekhara = "crest, crown") refers to this feature. The placement of the moon on his head as a standard iconographic feature dates to the period when Rudra rose to prominence and became the major deity Rudra-Shiva. The origin of this linkage may be due to the identification of the moon with Soma, and there is a hymn in the Rig Veda where Soma and Rudra are jointly implored, and in later literature, Soma and Rudra came to be identified with one another, as were Soma and the moon. The crescent moon is shown on the side of the Lord's head as an ornament. The waxing and waning phenomenon of the moon symbolizes the time cycle through which creation evolves from the beginning to the end.

 

Ashes: (The epithet "Bhasmaanga Raaga") - Shiva smears his body with ashes (bhasma). The ashes are said to represent the end of all material existence. Some forms of Shiva, such as Bhairava, are associated with a very old Indian tradition of cremation-ground asceticism that was practiced by some groups who were outside the fold of brahmanic orthodoxy. These practices associated with cremation grounds are also mentioned in the Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism. One epithet for Shiva is "inhabitant of the cremation ground" (Sanskrit: śmaśānavāsin, also spelled Shmashanavasin), referring to this connection.

 

Matted hair: (The epithet "Jataajoota Dhari/Kapardina") - Shiva's distinctive hair style is noted in the epithets Jaṭin, "the one with matted hair", and Kapardin, "endowed with matted hair" or "wearing his hair wound in a braid in a shell-like (kaparda) fashion". A kaparda is a cowrie shell, or a braid of hair in the form of a shell, or, more generally, hair that is shaggy or curly. His hair is said to be like molten gold in color or being yellowish-white.

 

Blue throat: The epithet Nīlakaṇtha (Sanskrit नीलकण्ठ; nīla = "blue", kaṇtha = "throat"). Since Shiva drank the Halahala poison churned up from the Samudra Manthan to eliminate its destructive capacity. Shocked by his act, Goddess Parvati strangled his neck and hence managed to stop it in his neck itself and prevent it from spreading all over the universe, supposed to be in Shiva's stomach. However the poison was so potent that it changed the color of his neck to blue. (See Maha Shivaratri.)

 

Sacred Ganges: (The epithet "Gangadhara") Bearer of Ganga. Ganges river flows from the matted hair of Shiva. The Gaṅgā (Ganges), one of the major rivers of the country, is said to have made her abode in Shiva's hair. The flow of the Ganges also represents the nectar of immortality.

 

Tiger skin: (The epithet "Krittivasana").He is often shown seated upon a tiger skin, an honour reserved for the most accomplished of Hindu ascetics, the Brahmarishis.

 

Serpents: (The epithet "Nagendra Haara" or 'Vasoki"). Shiva is often shown garlanded with a snake.

 

Deer: His holding deer on one hand indicates that He has removed the Chanchalata of the mind (i.e., attained maturity and firmness in thought process). A deer jumps from one place to another swiftly, similar to the mind moving from one thought to another.

 

Trident: (Trishula): Shiva's particular weapon is the trident. His Trisul that is held in His right hand represents the three Gunas— Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. That is the emblem of sovereignty. He rules the world through these three Gunas. The Damaru in His left hand represents the Sabda Brahman. It represents OM from which all languages are formed. It is He who formed the Sanskrit language out of the Damaru sound.

 

Drum: A small drum shaped like an hourglass is known as a damaru (ḍamaru). This is one of the attributes of Shiva in his famous dancing representation known as Nataraja. A specific hand gesture (mudra) called ḍamaru-hasta (Sanskrit for "ḍamaru-hand") is used to hold the drum. This drum is particularly used as an emblem by members of the Kāpālika sect.

 

Axe: (Parashu):The parashu is the weapon of Lord Shiva who gave it to Parashurama, sixth Avatar of Vishnu, whose name means "Rama with the axe" and also taught him its mastery.

 

Nandī: (The epithet "Nandi Vaahana").Nandī, also known as Nandin, is the name of the bull that serves as Shiva's mount (Sanskrit: vāhana). Shiva's association with cattle is reflected in his name Paśupati, or Pashupati (Sanskrit: पशुपति), translated by Sharma as "lord of cattle" and by Kramrisch as "lord of animals", who notes that it is particularly used as an epithet of Rudra. Rishabha or the bull represents Dharma Devata. Lord Siva rides on the bull. Bull is his vehicle. This denotes that Lord Siva is the protector of Dharma, is an embodiment of Dharma or righteousness.

 

Gaṇa: The Gaṇas (Devanagari: गण) are attendants of Shiva and live in Kailash. They are often referred to as the bhutaganas, or ghostly hosts, on account of their nature. Generally benign, except when their lord is transgressed against, they are often invoked to intercede with the lord on behalf of the devotee. Ganesha was chosen as their leader by Shiva, hence Ganesha's title gaṇa-īśa or gaṇa-pati, "lord of the gaṇas".

 

Mount Kailāsa: Mount Kailash in the Himalayas is his traditional abode. In Hindu mythology, Mount Kailāsa is conceived as resembling a Linga, representing the center of the universe.

 

Varanasi: Varanasi (Benares) is considered to be the city specially loved by Shiva, and is one of the holiest places of pilgrimage in India. It is referred to, in religious contexts, as Kashi.

 

LINGAM

Apart from anthropomorphic images of Shiva, the worship of Shiva in the form of a lingam, or linga, is also important. These are depicted in various forms. One common form is the shape of a vertical rounded column. Shiva means auspiciousness, and linga means a sign or a symbol. Hence, the Shivalinga is regarded as a "symbol of the great God of the universe who is all-auspiciousness". Shiva also means "one in whom the whole creation sleeps after dissolution". Linga also means the same thing—a place where created objects get dissolved during the disintegration of the created universe. Since, according to Hinduism, it is the same god that creates, sustains and withdraws the universe, the Shivalinga represents symbolically God Himself. Some scholars, such as Monier Monier-Williams and Wendy Doniger, also view linga as a phallic symbol, although this interpretation is disputed by others, including Christopher Isherwood, Vivekananda, Swami Sivananda, and S.N. Balagangadhara.

 

JYOTIRLINGA

The worship of the Shiva-Linga originated from the famous hymn in the Atharva-Veda Samhitâ sung in praise of the Yupa-Stambha, the sacrificial post. In that hymn, a description is found of the beginningless and endless Stambha or Skambha, and it is shown that the said Skambha is put in place of the eternal Brahman. Just as the Yajna (sacrificial) fire, its smoke, ashes, and flames, the Soma plant, and the ox that used to carry on its back the wood for the Vedic sacrifice gave place to the conceptions of the brightness of Shiva's body, his tawny matted hair, his blue throat, and the riding on the bull of the Shiva, the Yupa-Skambha gave place in time to the Shiva-Linga. In the text Linga Purana, the same hymn is expanded in the shape of stories, meant to establish the glory of the great Stambha and the superiority of Shiva as Mahadeva.

 

The sacred of all Shiva linga is worshipped as Jyotir linga. Jyoti means Radiance, apart from relating Shiva linga as a phallus symbol, there are also arguments that Shiva linga means 'mark' or a 'sign'. Jyotirlinga means "The Radiant sign of The Almighty". The Jyotirlingas are mentioned in Shiva Purana.

 

SHAKTI

Shiva forms a Tantric couple with Shakti [Tamil : சக்தி ], the embodiment of energy, dynamism, and the motivating force behind all action and existence in the material universe. Shiva is her transcendent masculine aspect, providing the divine ground of all being. Shakti manifests in several female deities. Sati and Parvati are the main consorts of Shiva. She is also referred to as Uma, Durga (Parvata), Kali and Chandika. Kali is the manifestation of Shakti in her dreadful aspect. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Since Shiva is called Kāla, the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" (as in "time has come"). Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman. She is also revered as Bhavatārini (literally "redeemer of the universe"). Kālī is represented as the consort of Lord Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing or dancing. Shiva is the masculine force, the power of peace, while Shakti translates to power, and is considered as the feminine force. In the Vaishnava tradition, these realities are portrayed as Vishnu and Laxmi, or Radha and Krishna. These are differences in formulation rather than a fundamental difference in the principles. Both Shiva and Shakti have various forms. Shiva has forms like Yogi Raj (the common image of Himself meditating in the Himalayas), Rudra (a wrathful form) and Natarajar (Shiva's dance are the Lasya - the gentle form of dance, associated with the creation of the world, and the Tandava - the violent and dangerous dance, associated with the destruction of weary worldviews – weary perspectives and lifestyles).

 

THE FIVE MANTRAS

Five is a sacred number for Shiva. One of his most important mantras has five syllables (namaḥ śivāya).

 

Shiva's body is said to consist of five mantras, called the pañcabrahmans. As forms of God, each of these have their own names and distinct iconography:

 

Sadyojāta

Vāmadeva

Aghora

Tatpuruṣha

Īsāna

 

These are represented as the five faces of Shiva and are associated in various texts with the five elements, the five senses, the five organs of perception, and the five organs of action. Doctrinal differences and, possibly, errors in transmission, have resulted in some differences between texts in details of how these five forms are linked with various attributes. The overall meaning of these associations is summarized by Stella Kramrisch:

 

Through these transcendent categories, Śiva, the ultimate reality, becomes the efficient and material cause of all that exists.

 

According to the Pañcabrahma Upanishad:

 

One should know all things of the phenomenal world as of a fivefold character, for the reason that the eternal verity of Śiva is of the character of the fivefold Brahman. (Pañcabrahma Upanishad 31)

 

FORMES AND ROLES

According to Gavin Flood, "Shiva is a god of ambiguity and paradox," whose attributes include opposing themes.[168] The ambivalent nature of this deity is apparent in some of his names and the stories told about him.

 

DESTROYER AND BENEFACTOR

In the Yajurveda, two contrary sets of attributes for both malignant or terrific (Sanskrit: rudra) and benign or auspicious (Sanskrit: śiva) forms can be found, leading Chakravarti to conclude that "all the basic elements which created the complex Rudra-Śiva sect of later ages are to be found here". In the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as "the standard of invincibility, might, and terror", as well as a figure of honor, delight, and brilliance. The duality of Shiva's fearful and auspicious attributes appears in contrasted names.

 

The name Rudra (Sanskrit: रुद्र) reflects his fearsome aspects. According to traditional etymologies, the Sanskrit name Rudra is derived from the root rud-, which means "to cry, howl". Stella Kramrisch notes a different etymology connected with the adjectival form raudra, which means "wild, of rudra nature", and translates the name Rudra as "the wild one" or "the fierce god". R. K. Sharma follows this alternate etymology and translates the name as "terrible". Hara (Sanskrit: हर) is an important name that occurs three times in the Anushasanaparvan version of the Shiva sahasranama, where it is translated in different ways each time it occurs, following a commentorial tradition of not repeating an interpretation. Sharma translates the three as "one who captivates", "one who consolidates", and "one who destroys". Kramrisch translates it as "the ravisher". Another of Shiva's fearsome forms is as Kāla (Sanskrit: काल), "time", and as Mahākāla (Sanskrit: महाकाल), "great time", which ultimately destroys all things. Bhairava (Sanskrit: भैरव), "terrible" or "frightful", is a fierce form associated with annihilation.

 

In contrast, the name Śaṇkara (Sanskrit: शङ्कर), "beneficent" or "conferring happiness" reflects his benign form. This name was adopted by the great Vedanta philosopher Śaṇkara (c. 788 - 820 CE), who is also known as Shankaracharya. The name Śambhu (Sanskrit: शम्भु), "causing happiness", also reflects this benign aspect.

 

ASCETIC AND HOUSEHOLDER

He is depicted as both an ascetic yogi and as a householder, roles which have been traditionally mutually exclusive in Hindu society.[185] When depicted as a yogi, he may be shown sitting and meditating. His epithet Mahāyogi ("the great Yogi: Mahā = "great", Yogi = "one who practices Yoga") refers to his association with yoga. While Vedic religion was conceived mainly in terms of sacrifice, it was during the Epic period that the concepts of tapas, yoga, and asceticism became more important, and the depiction of Shiva as an ascetic sitting in philosophical isolation reflects these later concepts. Shiva is also depicted as a corpse below Goddess Kali, it represents that Shiva is a corpse without Shakti. He remains inert. While Shiva is the static form, Mahakali or Shakti is the dynamic aspect without whom Shiva is powerless.

 

As a family man and householder, he has a wife, Parvati and two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya. His epithet Umāpati ("The husband of Umā") refers to this idea, and Sharma notes that two other variants of this name that mean the same thing, Umākānta and Umādhava, also appear in the sahasranama. Umā in epic literature is known by many names, including the benign Pārvatī. She is identified with Devi, the Divine Mother; Shakti (divine energy) as well as goddesses like Tripura Sundari, Durga, Kamakshi and Meenakshi. The consorts of Shiva are the source of his creative energy. They represent the dynamic extension of Shiva onto this universe. His son Ganesha is worshipped throughout India and Nepal as the Remover of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles. Kartikeya is worshipped in Southern India (especially in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka) by the names Subrahmanya, Subrahmanyan, Shanmughan, Swaminathan and Murugan, and in Northern India by the names Skanda, Kumara, or Karttikeya.

 

Some regional deities are also identified as Shiva's children. As one story goes, Shiva is enticed by the beauty and charm of Mohini, Vishnu's female avatar, and procreates with her. As a result of this union, Shasta - identified with regional deities Ayyappa and Ayyanar - is born. Shiva is also mentioned in some scriptures or folktales to have had daughters like the serpent-goddess Manasa and Ashokasundari. Even the demon Andhaka is sometimes considered a child of Shiva.

 

NATARAJA

he depiction of Shiva as Nataraja (Tamil: நடராஜா,Kannada: ನಟರಾಜ, Telugu: నటరాజు, Sanskrit: naṭarāja, "Lord of Dance") is popular. The names Nartaka ("dancer") and Nityanarta ("eternal dancer") appear in the Shiva Sahasranama. His association with dance and also with music is prominent in the Puranic period. In addition to the specific iconographic form known as Nataraja, various other types of dancing forms (Sanskrit: nṛtyamūrti) are found in all parts of India, with many well-defined varieties in Tamil Nadu in particular. The two most common forms of the dance are the Tandava, which later came to denote the powerful and masculine dance as Kala-Mahakala associated with the destruction of the world. When it requires the world or universe to be destroyed, Lord Śiva does it by the tāṇḍavanṛtya. and Lasya, which is graceful and delicate and expresses emotions on a gentle level and is considered the feminine dance attributed to the goddess Parvati. Lasya is regarded as the female counterpart of Tandava. The Tandava-Lasya dances are associated with the destruction-creation of the world.

 

DAKSHINAMURTHY

Dakshinamurthy, or Dakṣiṇāmūrti (Tamil:தட்சிணாமூர்த்தி, Telugu: దక్షిణామూర్తి, Sanskrit: दक्षिणामूर्ति), literally describes a form (mūrti) of Shiva facing south (dakṣiṇa). This form represents Shiva in his aspect as a teacher of yoga, music, and wisdom and giving exposition on the shastras. This iconographic form for depicting Shiva in Indian art is mostly from Tamil Nadu. Elements of this motif can include Shiva seated upon a deer-throne and surrounded by sages who are receiving his instruction.

 

ARDANARISHVARA

An iconographic representation of Shiva called (Ardhanārīśvara) shows him with one half of the body as male and the other half as female. According to Ellen Goldberg, the traditional Sanskrit name for this form (Ardhanārīśvara) is best translated as "the lord who is half woman", not as "half-man, half-woman". According to legend, Lord Shiva is pleased by the difficult austerites performed by the goddess Parvati, grants her the left half of his body. This form of Shiva is quite similar to the Yin-Yang philosophy of Eastern Asia, though Ardhanārīśvara appears to be more ancient.

 

TRIRUPANTAKA

Shiva is often depicted as an archer in the act of destroying the triple fortresses, Tripura, of the Asuras. Shiva's name Tripurantaka (Sanskrit: त्रिपुरान्तक, Tripurāntaka), "ender of Tripura", refers to this important story.[216] In this aspect, Shiva is depicted with four arms wielding a bow and arrow, but different from the Pinakapani murti. He holds an axe and a deer on the upper pair of his arms. In the lower pair of the arms, he holds a bow and an arrow respectively. After destroying Tripura, Tripurantaka Shiva smeared his forehead with three strokes of Ashes. This has become a prominent symbol of Shiva and is practiced even today by Shaivites.

 

OTHER FORMS, AVATARS IDENTIFICATIONS

Shiva, like some other Hindu deities, is said to have several incarnations, known as Avatars. Although Puranic scriptures contain occasional references to "ansh" avatars of Shiva, the idea is not universally accepted in Saivism. The Linga Purana speaks of twenty-eight forms of Shiva which are sometimes seen as avatars. According to the Svetasvatara Upanishad, he has four avatars.

 

In the Hanuman Chalisa, Hanuman is identified as the eleventh avatar of Shiva and this belief is universal. Hanuman is popularly known as “Rudraavtaar” “Rudra” being a name of “Shiva”. Rama– the Vishnu avatar is considered by some to be the eleventh avatar of Rudra (Shiva).

 

Other traditions regard the sage Durvasa, the sage Agastya, the philosopher Adi Shankara, as avatars of Shiva. Other forms of Shiva include Virabhadra and Sharabha.

 

FESTIVALS

Maha Shivratri is a festival celebrated every year on the 13th night or the 14th day of the new moon in the Shukla Paksha of the month of Maagha or Phalguna in the Hindu calendar. This festival is of utmost importance to the devotees of Lord Shiva. Mahashivaratri marks the night when Lord Shiva performed the 'Tandava' and it is the day that Lord Shiva was married to Parvati. The holiday is often celebrated with special prayers and rituals offered up to Shiva, notably the Abhishek. This ritual, practiced throughout the night, is often performed every three hours with water, milk, yogurt, and honey. Bel (aegle marmelos) leaves are often offered up to the Hindu god, as it is considered necessary for a successful life. The offering of the leaves are considered so important that it is believed that someone who offers them without any intentions will be rewarded greatly.

 

BEYOND HINDUISM

 

BUDDHISM

Shiva is mentioned in Buddhist Tantra. Shiva as Upaya and Shakti as Prajna. In cosmologies of buddhist tantra, Shiva is depicted as active, skillful, and more passive.

 

SIKHISM

The Japuji Sahib of the Guru Granth Sahib says, "The Guru is Shiva, the Guru is Vishnu and Brahma; the Guru is Paarvati and Lakhshmi." In the same chapter, it also says, "Shiva speaks, the Siddhas speak."

 

In Dasam Granth, Guru Gobind Singh have mentioned two avtars of Rudra: Dattatreya Avtar and Parasnath Avtar.

 

OTHERS

The worship of Lord Shiva became popular in Central Asia through the Hephthalite (White Hun) Dynasty, and Kushan Empire. Shaivism was also popular in Sogdiana and Eastern Turkestan as found from the wall painting from Penjikent on the river Zervashan. In this depiction, Shiva is portrayed with a sacred halo and a sacred thread ("Yajnopavita"). He is clad in tiger skin while his attendants are wearing Sodgian dress. In Eastern Turkestan in the Taklamakan Desert. There is a depiction of his four-legged seated cross-legged n a cushioned seat supported by two bulls. Another panel form Dandan-Uilip shows Shiva in His Trimurti form with His Shakti kneeling on her right thigh. It is also noted that Zoroastrian wind god Vayu-Vata took on the iconographic appearance of Shiva.

 

Kirant people, a Mongol tribe from Nepal, worship a form of Shiva as one of their major deity, identifying him as the lord of animals. It is also said that the physical form of Shiva as a yogi is derived from Kirants as it is mentioned in Mundhum that Shiva took human form as a child of Kirant. He is also said to give Kirants visions in form of a male deer.

 

In Indonesia, Shiva is also worshiped as Batara Guru. His other name is "Sang Hyang Jagadnata" (king of the universe) and "Sang Hyang Girinata" (king of mountains). In the ancient times, all kingdoms were located on top of mountains. When he was young, before receiving his authority of power, his name was Sang Hyang Manikmaya. He is first of the children who hatched from the eggs laid by Manuk Patiaraja, wife of god Mulajadi na Bolon. This avatar is also worshiped in Malaysia. Shiva's other form in Indonesian Hindu worship is "Maharaja Dewa" (Mahadeva). Both the forms are closely identified with the Sun in local forms of Hinduism or Kebatinan, and even in the genie lore of Muslims. Mostly Shiva is worshipped in the form of a lingam or the phallus.

 

WIKIPEDIA

This fascinating collection of anatomical illustrations is created by Arnauld-Eloi Gautier-Dagoty (1741-1771) for the Royal College of Medicine of Nancy in Lorraine, France. Dagoty elegantly depicted muscles of the human body as perceived by scientists in the 18th century with precise details. His illustrations offer us a glimpse of medical practice in the age of enlightenment.

IK Perge 128

inscriptions.packhum.org/text/313870?bookid=794&locat...

 

ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δῆμος

Γ. Ἰούλιον Πλάνκιον

Οὐᾶρον Κορνοῦτον

τὸν πάτρωνα καὶ εὐεργέτη[ν],

στεφανωθέντα πάντα

τὰ ἀθλήματα θέμιδος

Οὐαρείου ἐννεατηρίδος

ϛʹ τειμῆς χά[ριν]

 

C. Iulius Plancius Varus Cornutus was proclaimed victor in all disciplines at the sixth execution (forty-one years since they were initiated) of the Varus-Agon games, and was honoured as a patron and benefactor of the city.

 

DEPICTIONS: A tale of portraits

  

Before my marriage to landscape, I was a disciple of portraits.

 

I missed shooting portraits.

  

That is why I would like to share some of my collection of portraits taken during a trip with Manny Librodo in Pagsanjan.

 

I wanted to rekindle my love for portraits and here are some of my work...

  

The image depicts a futuristic architectural structure with multiple towers and a bridge, set against a clear blue sky and mountainous terrain.

The Schola Juvenes (Latin for "School of Youth") was a kind of clubhouse and training school for young men found in Roman cities.

 

The building was financed by Julius Piso and constructed on the site of a Flavian sanctuary dedicated to Mars. It was modified several times and turned into a pagan basilica where funerary rites were performed, and two gravestones from the nearby necropolis were utilised as altars. Eventually, in the 4th century, it was turned into a church during the reign of Diocletian.

 

The remains include a courtyard with porticoes, rooms for worship to the north, sanitary facilities to the east, and a meeting room to the west. The layout follows the Hellenistic tradition of the quadrangular palestra with peristyle.

Affaire in Thebes. The scene, depicted on this Late Corinthian amphora, shows Ismene murdered by Tydeus; it summarizes a myth, today lost, written, in the 7th century BC, by the poet Mimnermus. This myth is mentioned in no other extant classical writing, but the key scene is represented on this 6th-century Corinthian black-figure amphora housed in the Louvre.

The main characters are: Tydeus, son of Oeneus, king of Calydon, and father of the Greek hero Diomedes; Ismene, one of the four children born of Oedipus' incestuous marriage to his mother Jocasta, and thus the sister of Antigone Eteocles and Polyneices; Ismene’s lover Periklymenos

Tydeus, painted in black and striding right in the center of the scene, attacks Ismene with a sword which he wields in his right hand. He is naked, with only a headband and a strap over his right shoulder from which his sword scabbard hangs on the left. Ismene is rendered in white, still bedded in her kline, naked with her lower half protected by a red and black cover. She raises her right hand in alarm as Tydeus grasps her forearm. Her hair is long and braided, held back by a headband. Under her kline a dog lies, painted white, his head raised alert. Behind Tydeus, Ismene's lover Periklymenos flees from the attack. He is also painted in white, naked and bearded, with a headband. On the far left Klytos sits astride his horse, both figures in black. He is wearing a short-sleeved red chiton, and he holds his spear upright in his left hand. His horse's mane is red. The scene is bordered above by alternating black and red tongues, below by a pattern of black circles connected in a grid.

The neck is decorated with large red rosettes with white petals. Below the main panels is a broad black zone, with a flame pattern reaching up to meet it from the base.

 

Inscriptions: All figures are labelled in Corinthian letters: from left, ΚΛΥΤΟΣ, ΠΕΡΙΚΛΥΜΕΝΟΣ, ΤΥΔΕΥΣ and ΥΣΜΗΝΑ.

 

Source: Perseo.edu

 

Black-figured amphora

Late Corinthian Period

Height 32 cm

560-550 BC

Attributed to The Tydeus Painter

Paris, Musée du Louvre

   

by s1000 ift.tt/1MGBYPo

The mosaic of 531 is a large square divided into four strips of scenes of men and animals, surrounded by a chain-style border. The top two sections depict fierce hunting scenes: a shepherd fighting a lion, a soldier fighting a lioness, and two horseback hunters defeating a bear and wild boar.

 

The lower scenes are pastoral but with a touch of the exotic: a shepherd watching his goat and sheep graze in the shade of trees; an ostrich on a leash held by a dark-skinned man; and a boy holding the leashes of a zebra and a spotted animal that looks very much like a camel but might be intended to represent a giraffe.

 

www.sacred-destinations.com/jordan/mount-nebo

 

Prompt

The image presents a chilling depiction of an undead gunslinger. The figure, skeletal and decaying, wears a dark, weathered cowboy hat adorned with what appears to be twisted vines or roots. Its eyes glow with an ominous red light, contrasting starkly with the surrounding darkness. The exposed skull and teeth add to the macabre appearance, highlighting the creature's decomposition.

 

The gunslinger's body is gaunt and seemingly desiccated, with visible musculature and textures suggesting dried or decaying flesh. One arm is extended forward, gripping a revolver that points directly at the viewer, creating a confrontational and unsettling effect. The hand holding the gun is particularly gruesome, appearing bloody and partially decomposed.

 

The backdrop is a desolate and stormy landscape. A dark, swirling sky hints at a turbulent atmosphere, and particulate matter—perhaps dust or ash—is visible in the air. The ground appears barren and uneven. Overall, the image combines elements of horror, the Wild West, and dark fantasy to create a striking and disturbing visual.

This Red-figured hydria (water-jar) depicts Herakles in the garden of the Hesperides in a complete different way from the traditional mythical concern. The main scene lacks a sense of narrative and danger, with Heracles avoiding any exertion and waiting for Eros to give him the apples. This lack of action heightens the pictorial significance of the garden, and the idyllic nature of the setting is made palpable despite its restrained visual expression. The garden here represented is similar to the Garden of Delights. In the center is the tree of the golden apples, beside which, leaning his back against its trunk, Heracles, beardless, wearing a radiated fillet, is seated to right, upon his mantle, resting his right hand on his club, left on knee, with elbow on raised ground. He turns his head in three-quarter face to the left to look at Eros, who stands on his right upper arm, and with right arm raised as if picking fruit from the tree, offers Heracles with his left hand two apples painted white. He has short wavy hair, with fillet, and his wings are spread on either side. On the right on the ground level a beardless youth, Iolaos wearing a fillet and a mantle over his left arm, moves away, looking back with hands drawn back, palms outwards, with a gesture of great surprise. Above him, seated on a higher level to left, is Aphrodite (?), nude to the waist, leaning on her left arm and extending her right towards the tree: she wears a mantle around her legs and a sphendone. On the right on a lower level, but with her right hand on the shoulder of Aphrodite, a Hesperide stands looking on, leaning back on her left elbow: she wears a long Doric chiton with apoptygma and a saccos. On the left of Heracles a second Hesperide advances, dressed as the last, but with a sphendone, holding out towards him with both hands some object not shown. Behind her is seated to right on his mantle a youth wearing a fillet, who with his left draws forward an edge of the mantle over his left shoulder. He looks upward to left towards the third Hesperide, who is seated to left above the left handle, and looks round, holding up both hands as if they contained a taenia: she is dressed as the others, but wears a saccos. All the women wear earrings and necklace of beads, and bracelets. The vase is unusually light for its size. Fine style.

Below, a continuous band of egg-pattern; beneath each side handle, a palmette. The design curves up over the shoulder.

 

Source: Museum WEB notice # Vase E227

  

Attic red-figured hydria

Height 40 cm.

370 – 360 BC

From Cyrenaica, Libya

London, The British Museum – Vase E227

 

Sometimes if I'm too busy to go out and do a Flickr Friday theme I look around the flat to see if there's anything appropriate.

I found this brooch in a bag of old stuff. I think it may be Shiva but if anyone wants to clarify I'd be very grateful :-)

When viewed from the left the mosaic depicts LEGO Voldemort on House Slytherin colours. To get the resolution we wanted the mosaic ended up a HUGE 2.6m tall and 1.6m wide!

The deity to which the temple was dedicated has not been identified yet. The temple was surrounded by an enclosure and it was turned into a Christian basilica having a separate baptistery.