This book explores the worship of Lord Shiva through Puranic tales and the sacred practices of Sanathana Dharma. It highlights Shiva's divine manifestations known as Maheshvaramurtis, and describes the spiritual significance of sacred sites associated with Shiva such as Jyotirlingas, Kailash Manasarovar, and the Amarnath Yatra.
Anand Ramachandran, Director-Sales with a French MNC in Mumbai, has a lifelong devotion to Lord Shiva. Deeply rooted in tradition, he has travelled across India seeking spiritual knowledge and experiencing sacred temples firsthand. His journey combines personal worship with a quest to share the timeless wisdom of Sanatana Dharma. Listing the author's email publicly may not look professional on a printed wrapper.
Lord Shiva is the most revered and fervently worshipped God among the Hindu pantheon of deities. Numerous Vedic scriptures and legends detail Shiva's glory and present him as the most enigmatic and prominent God of Indian spiritual traditions. His endearing mythology as well as scintillating spirituality needs to be known fully to understand the supreme God, Shiva.
I decided to write a book on Shiva due to a series of reasons that convinced me of the need for such a book.
Many devotees I interacted with, shared a view that they are neither aware of the various aspects of the supreme and divine God Shiva, nor are they aware of the various customs followed in the worship of the Lord. They also conveyed that they were unfamiliar with the various Puranic legends connected with the respective temple(s) they visited. If only, they expressed their desire to read a book that encompassed the details of the divinity of Shiva and gave ample information of the legends from Puranas that would help them understand the relevance and significance of the rituals performed in each of these temples.
Our ignorance is far more profound than our knowledge. It is my sincere belief that a book such as this one, would be appropriate to enhance the experience of the devotee with the Divinity, during their visit to the holy shrines.
Through this book, I have endeavoured to provide the mythological references for why we perform certain rituals at the temples and answered questions such as, "Why do devotees of Shiva smear themselves with a Vibhooti?", "Why do devotees whisper their prayer wishes into Nandi's ear at the Shiva temple?", "Why do devotees perform half pradakshina, circumambulation, when they go to Shiva temples?", "What is Chidambara Rahasyam?", etc.
When the reasons are known and understood, it is easy to put things in the proper perspective and with increasing knowledge and awareness, our devotion would also increase manifold.
Sruti - the sacred Vedas, Smriti - the religious traditions and Puranas-the ancient legends, form the three pillars of Sanatana Dharma, the eternal religion known as Hinduism. The Smriti and Puranas get their scriptural authority and validity from the Vedas. The value of Puranas is that they help us understand the Vedas. This book, 'Worshipping Shiva' attempts to explain the Divinity of Lord Shiva as best as I can, with as much devotion, from material found in various religious texts.
The sequence of tales and events recorded in this book are different from those mentioned in the Puranas. It is arranged in such a way that the reader, while understanding and appreciating the greatness of Shiva, can connect the legends mentioned in the Puranas with the ritualistic worship during his/her visit to the respective Shiva temple, thereby getting a step closer to the supreme God - Shiva.
As we harness the power of our mind through knowledge, our attitude towards the world slowly transforms into one of joyful coexistence, until perhaps one day, we are truly able to see God in everyone and in everything around us. May Lord Shiva and his devoted consort Parvati bless and guide each one of us through our journey of religious enlightenment.
Lord Shiva is an ocean of compassion and ever overflowing grace. Words cannot convey the depth of gratitude to the Lord for having granted us shelter and bestowing on us the opportunity of pursuing his Mantra sadhana.
I believe that enabling me to undertake this work is a blessing from Lord Shiva. I humbly and gratefully submit to his will with devotion and deepest veneration.
Vedas (1182)
Upanishads (493)
Puranas (624)
Ramayana (741)
Mahabharata (354)
Dharmasastras (165)
Goddess (496)
Bhakti (242)
Saints (1503)
Gods (1290)
Shiva (370)
Journal (187)
Fiction (60)
Vedanta (362)
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