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In vernacular settlements, it is a common practice to venerate religious icons. The figure of the God Shiva Mahadeva is one of the icons of Hinduism generally venerated in India. Interestingly, this figure is carved on the relief of the Buddhist temple, Borobudur in Indonesia. The visualization shows that the figure is God Shivam and its presence can be interpreted as a form of visual communication representing the interactions between the Hindu and Buddhist communities living in the surrounding vernacular settlements of the Borobudur temple. This article reviews the art historiography and raises several research questions regarding the visualization of Hindu icons in this Buddhist temple. The study examines the visualization of the figure of God Shiva in one of the relief panels of the Borobudur temple. The paper employs a case study method. It produces visual comparisons of approaches to artistic practice and art history delineated through the characteristics of the visual elements of God Shiva in the 104 Gandavyuha relief panels. Data was collected through photo documentation, visits to the Borobudur temple, photograph tracing, making lithography, and comparing visual findings with published literature. This is to ensure the accuracy of the visualization and investigate Hindu-Buddhist interactions in Java in the 8th--9th centuries. It concludes that the figure carved on panel 104 in the second gallery of the Gandavyuha reliefs is God Shiva, a Hindu icon as per the Gandavyuha Sutra text where God Shiva is mentioned as a spiritual guide who has carried out dharma as a bodhisattva. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tamil thirunangais (or hijras) emphatically claim that in thirunangai kinship networks there is no caste, class or religion, that individuals are accepted regardless of their birth family. This kinship network creates a space of desirable encounters where thirunangais can reorientate themselves to their community as well as the larger public. Gender identity is central to thirunangai lives, but it operates in a nexus of other forces. Devotional practices within and outside the kinship community provide a space for thirunangais to transgress hierarchical norms of gender, caste and class and construct authentic identities empowered by divine agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Saundarya Lahari is a lyrical and yet powerful set of hymns dedicated to the beautiful wife of Shiva. The authorship of the composition is traditionally and almost unanimously ascribed/attributed to Adi Shankaracharya though some historians believe it was composed sometime after 1000 CE. (Brown, 1958, p. 29). The extensive acceptance of this hymn, over the centuries, is clear from the number of commentaries it has engendered. Even today it is immenseely popular among a wide section of followers, in mostly southern India. Hindu hymns and prayers are often potent, arousing the latent powers within the worshipper. Sometimes they contain elements of auto-suggestion and self-hypnosis that help the spiritual aspirant in his upward path through samipya sarupya and sayujyam, that is, by creating a sense of' "nearness to the divine"., a desire to acquire the attributes of divinity and ultimate identification of the individual self with the supreme." (Subramanian, 2011, p. iv) That the devotee begets such a dazzling form - seems to be the raison d'etre of the Saundarya Lahari, which is a direct address and written in the present. It is quite normal in such devotional hymns to portray the goddess as being beautiful but here in this poem the author has made her supremely, unsurpassed outstanding and unparalleled. She is not an ethereal, etiolated beauty but a more human-like, tangible beauty. To observe her beauty is to worship her. This hymn provides a visualization of her form. The beauty insufflates the devotee to feel a transcendence of the goddess and at the same time to experience her life as a doting wife and mother. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Shivanandalahari is a text replete with bhakti attributed to Adi Shankaracharya, dated c. eighth century. A text of a hundred verses, it gives us insight as to what the bhakta longs for, what are his expectations and what relationship he has with his chosen deity, that is Shiva. It indicates the myths that were known and popular at that time and how the devotee analyses those myths for his own purposes. In this essay the author has attempted an in depth study of the verses, studying the epithets, the relationships with rival divinities and the position of Shiva himself in the mind of the devotee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the majestic temple known as Prasat Krahom, at Koh Ker in the Khmer empire. It further discuses that the lintel of the eastern door represented Narasimha, incarnation of Vishnu with human body and lion head; French polymath George Groslier saw the image of dancing Shiva in the Prasat Krahom Temple in 1926; dancing Shiva in his terrific form of Rudra-Shiva; and the image of dancing Shiva smashed into over 10,000 pieces in an all out loot of the temple in 1970s.

The article offers information on the inscriptions of Koh Ker, 10th-century temple complex in the north Cambodian and a former capital of the Khmer Empire. It further discusses the names of workers engraved on the walls of Bakong and Lolei temples; eight bodies or forms of Shiva: earth (kshiti), water (jala), fire (agni), wind (vayu), space (akasha), the sacrifice (yajamana), moon (soma) and sun (surya) and inscriptions give the list of Khnum, a word which is used in the modern Khmer for slave.

The article offers information on the extensive temple-city of Koh Ker, remote archaeological site in northern Cambodia. It further discusses that the UNESCO, expected to declare Koh Ker as a World Heritage site in near future; site distinguished by a temple dedicated to each of the three gods of Hindu Trinity- Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu; the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient college and APSARA National Authority initiated a joint project at Koh Ker. Also mentions about iconography of the images.

Introduction: Ayurveda is considered as the science of life. The ultimate aim of Ayurveda is to guide every human being to maintain and promote health, and prevent ailments, which is the main hindrance to achieve dharma. The Ayurveda have the special branch which deals with the preparation of formulations. One among them is Shivagutika popularly used in the management of various diseases like Shopha, Pandu, Atisthaulya, Unmada and other conditions and it has been quoted as auspicious drug in classics. The person who consumes shivagutika daily also becomes favourite to lord Shiva. This formulation in present era needs the standardization. In this study Shivagutika is prepared as per the quotations explained in the classics. The shivagutika is herbo mineral preparation. Gutika, Vataka, Modaka, Pindi and Vati are synonymous terms used in classics for Vati. The analytical study of gutika is performed with following parameters: physico- chemical parameters i.e. colour, taste, pH, Loss on Drying, total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble extractive, alcohol soluble extractive, uniformity of weight, friability test, hardness and disintegration time are performed. HPTLC and heavy metal analysis are performed for identification of chemical constituents and heavy metals respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the historiographical reception of Virasaivism as a monolithic religious identity in India. It examines an unstudied field of textual production in Sanskrit and Telugu during the period from the 12th century to the 14th century. The development of monastic institutions spanning from northern Tamil Nadu in the South to the Maharashtra-Karnataka border in the Northwest is discussed, as well as the engagement of Virasaivism with earlier forms of transregional Saivism.

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Appar Tirunavukkarasar Nayanar was one of the four Saivite spiritual teachers who succeeded in conjuring up a tangible or substantial image of Siva in the devotee's mind through poetry. This paper attempts to present a critical reading of the Hymns of Appar, Saivite saint by evaluating the representation of the popular Hindu deity Lord Siva in the hymns in relation to the Bhakthi poetry of the seventh century. The characteristic of religion often transposing onto literature and it's soundness in the case of Saivism, which animates Bhakthi poetry is another aspect explored in the paper. Even though Saivism, refers to the tradition which follows the teachings of Siva and which follows the deity Siva, or sometimes his consort and power, Sakti, the hymns of Appar are not just about religion, but are also vehement expressions of a culture and society as they are in a participatory medium and establish a contact between the devotees and Siva. Analysing the hymns in terms of the socio political situation in the backdrop, render concreteness to the image of Siva, who could be read as a powerful King loved by his subjects and praised by the bards in his court. The central aim of the paper is to demonstrate how the realistic iconography of the hymns facilitates the depiction of Siva as a Tamil heroic King and God, an ideal celebrated during the politically volatile Pallava period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early medieval Śaiva Siddhānta school, a theistic school of Hinduism, positively embraced material forms as means for worshipers to approach the god Śiva. Theistic schools of thought like the Śaiva Siddhānta and their iconophilic ritual practices are responsible for the profusion of religious images we see in Hinduism. This essay examines how priests and worshipers addressed these issues in early medieval South India. There are two primary themes. One is Śiva’s material polymorphism. According to the Śaivas, Śiva intervenes pervasively throughout the cosmos. Therefore, the material forms that he may inhabit are also many and diverse. The annual temple festival provides a rich illustration of Śiva’s multiple forms. The second theme is the translucency of the material object of worship. Since a consecrated icon is considered replete with Śiva’s presence, a viewer can learn to see with a devotional eye through the materiality of the object to other dimensions of Śiva’s being. The songs of the Tamil poet-saints provide a program for this devotional gaze into the divine fullness contained in a material form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the influence of Tamil Shaiva mystic Ramalinga Adigal on Hindu giving in India in the 19th century. Adigal's ideology of food giving is discussed as well as his ideology's continuities and discontinuities with early religious types of giving. Also tackled are the efforts of Adigal to situate his practice in Shiva traditions, the factors that affect modern Hindu practices and the genealogy of modern Hinduism.

The primary concern in this paper is to examine the nature of Śiva's aruḷ-his generative and salvific energy-as portrayed in Tiruvācakam, Māṇikkavācakar's important but understudied text of medieval bhakti poems. Close attention is paid to the poet's description of Śiva's aruḷ as inducing seemingly incongruous ontological states of being-one of ecstatic possession that results in rapturous dance and one of spiritual bondage. In doing so, this paper posits that Māṇikkavācakar is using aruḷ as śakti is used in the philosophy of the Sanskrit Śaiva Siddhānta tradition and argues that this is an early attempt to localize the Śaiva Siddhānta in a Tamil milieu, as Tiruvācakam appears several centuries prior to the initial Tamil Śaiva Siddhānta text. In doing so, this paper also highlights the ways in which poetic narratives can embody a broader philosophical debate rather than serving merely as a vehicle for philosophical ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented related to Kaśmiri Śaivism. Topics include a brief overview on the concept of Śaivism, information on the Hindu deity Śaiva and all his manifestations, and the goal of Śaivism to attain freedom from the cycle of reincarnation through place one's identity with Śaiva. Also discussed is the monistic concept of sine wave and its relation to the creation of the universe according to the beliefs of Kaśmiri Śaivism.

This essay is a first attempt to trace the evolution of biographical accounts of Appayya Dīkṣita from the sixteenth century onward, with special attention to their continuities and changes. It explores what these rich materials teach us about Appayya Dīkṣita and his times, and what lessons they offer about the changing historical sensibilities in South India during the transition to the colonial and postcolonial eras. I tentatively identify two important junctures in the development of these materials: one that took place in the first generation to be born after his death, when the idea of him as an avatar of Śiva was introduced, and another at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, when many new stories about his encounters with his colleagues and students surfaced. The essay follows a set of themes and tensions that pertain to Appayya Dīkṣita's social and political affiliations, his sectarian agendas, and the geographic sphere of his activities. These themes and tensions are closely related and prove to be surprisingly resilient, despite the many changes that occurred during the five centuries of recollection that this essay sketches. This overall coherence, I argue, is integral to Appayya Dīkṣita's sociopolitical context and self-chosen identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on inspirations of traditional Hindu temple architecture in the Birla Mandir in Renukoot, Uttar Pradesh, India. Topics discussed include dedicated to Śiva in the aspect of Reṇukeśvara Mahādeva, was founded in 1972 by the Birla family; pilgrimage for inhabitants of the region; and temples constructed in eclectic styles.