108 Naamaas of Lord Shiva (108 Names of Lord Shiva)

I have been searching this for sometime now.
The 108 Naamaas of Lord Shiva with its meaning.
So here it is
1 Aashutosh One who fulfills wishes instantly
2 Aja Unborn
3 Akshayaguna God with limitless attributes
4 Anagha Without any fault
5 Anantadrishti Of infinite vision
6 Augadh One who revels all the time
7 Avyayaprabhu Imperishable Lord
8 Bhairav Lord of terror
9 Bhalanetra One who has an eye in the forehead
10 Bholenath Kind hearted Lord
11 Bhooteshwara Lord of ghosts and evil beings
12 Bhudeva Lord of the earth
13 Bhutapala Protector of the ghosts
14 Chandrapal Master of the moon
15 Chandraprakash One who has moon as a crest
16 Dayalu Compassionate
17 Devadeva Lord of the Lords
18 Dhanadeepa Lord of Wealth
19 Dhyanadeep Icon of meditation and concentration
20 Dhyutidhara Lord of Brilliance
21 Digambara One who has the skies as his clothes
22 Durjaneeya Difficult to be known
23 Durjaya Unvanquished
24 Gangadhara Lord of River Ganga
25 Girijapati Consort of Girija
26 Gunagrahin Acceptor of Gunas
27 Gurudeva Master of All
28 Hara Remover of Sins
29 Jagadisha Master of the Universe
30 Jaradhishamana Redeemer from Afflictions
31 Jatin One who has matted hair
32 Kailas One Who Bestows Peace
33 Kailashadhipati Lord of Mount Kailash
34 Kailashnath Master of Mount Kailash
35 Kamalakshana Lotus-eyed Lord
36 Kantha Ever-Radiant
37 Kapalin One who wears a necklace of skulls
38 Khatvangin One who has the missile khatvangin in his hand
39 Kundalin One who wears earrings
40 Lalataksha One who has an eye in the forehead
41 Lingadhyaksha Lord of the Lingas
42 Lingaraja Lord of the Lingas
43 Lokankara Creator of the Three Worlds
44 Lokapal One who takes care of the world
45 Mahabuddhi Extremely intelligent
46 Mahadeva Greatest God
47 Mahakala Lord of All Times
48 Mahamaya Of great illusions
49 Mahamrityunjaya Great victor of death
50 Mahanidhi Great storehouse
51 Mahashaktimaya One who has boundless energies
52 Mahayogi Greatest of all Gods
53 Mahesha Supreme Lord
54 Maheshwara Lord of Gods
55 Nagabhushana One who has serpents as ornaments
56 Nataraja King of the art of dancing
57 Nilakantha The one with a blue throat
58 Nityasundara Ever beautiful
59 Nrityapriya Lover of Dance
60 Omkara Creator of OM
61 Palanhaar One who protects everyone
62 Parameshwara First among all gods First among all gods
63 Paramjyoti Greatest splendor
64 Pashupati Lord of all living beings
65 Pinakin One who has a bow in his hand
66 Pranava Originator of the syllable of OM
67 Priyabhakta Favorite of the devotees
68 Priyadarshana Of loving vision
69 Pushkara One who gives nourishment
70 Pushpalochana One who has eyes like flowers
71 Ravilochana Having sun as the eye
72 Rudra The terrible
73 Rudraksha One who has eyes like Rudra
74 Sadashiva Eternal God
75 Sanatana Eternal Lord
76 Sarvacharya Preceptor of All
77 Sarvashiva Always Pure
78 Sarvatapana Scorcher of All
79 Sarvayoni Source of Everything
80 Sarveshwara Lord of All Gods
81 Shambhu Abode of Joy
82 Shankara Giver of Joy
83 Shiva Always Pure
84 Shoolin One who has a trident
85 Shrikantha Of glorious neck
86 Shrutiprakasha Illuminator of the Vedas
87 Shuddhavigraha One who has a pure body
88 Skandaguru Preceptor of Skanda
89 Someshwara Lord of All Gods
90 Sukhada Bestower of happiness
91 Suprita Well pleased
92 Suragana Having Gods as attendants
93 Sureshwara Lord of All Gods
94 Swayambhu Self-Manifested
95 Tejaswani One who spreads illumination
96 Trilochana Three-Eyed Lord
97 Trilokpati Master of all the Three Worlds
98 Tripurari Enemy of Tripura
99 Trishoolin One who has a trident in his hands
100 Umapati Consort of Uma
101 Vachaspati Lord of Speech
102 Vajrahasta One who has a thunderbolt in his hands
103 Varada Granter of Boons
104 Vedakarta Originator of the Vedas
105 Veerabhadra Supreme Lord of the Nether World
106 Vishalaksha Wide-eyed Lord
107 Vishveshwara Lord of the Universe
108 Vrishavahana One who has bull as his vehicle


Om Nama Sivaya!
Nitu

63 Nayanmars (63 saintly devotees of Lord Shiva)

The 63 Nayanmars or Nayanars are the saintly devotes of Lord Shiva. The activities of these devotees differ, their caste, work, way of worship everything differs, the only thing that unites them all is their strong, unmovable love for Lord Shiva. Each of them has beautiful stories in their lifes.

Most of them also undertook some kind of service to show their love for Him.

The following are the names of the 63 Nayanmars

1.            Anaya Nayanar

2.            Adipaththa Nayanar

3.            Aiyadigal Kaadavarkon , Pallava KingAiyadigal Perumaanaar Nayanar

4.            Amaraneedi Nayanar

5.            Appudhi Adigal Nayanar

6.            Arivattaya Nayanar

7.            Chandeshvara Nayanar

8.            DhandiyadigaL Nayanar

9.            Enatinatha Nayanar

10.          Eripaththa Nayanar

11.          Eyarkon Kalikkaama Nayanar

12.          Gananatha Nayanar

13.          Idankazhi Nayanar

14.          Ilayankudi marana Nayanar r

15.          Isaignaniyaar - Female Nayanar

16.          Iyarpagaiar Nayanar

17.          Kaari Nayanar

18.          Kalikkamba Nayanar

19.          Kaliya Nayanar

20.          Kanampulla Nayanar

21.          Kannappa Nayanar

22.          Karaikkal Ammaiyar, Female Nayanar

23.          Kazharchinga Nayanar

24.          Kazharir-rarivaar, Chera King, also Cheraman Perumal Nayanar

25.          Kochengat Cholan, A Chola King

26.          Kootruva Nayanar

27.          Kotpuli Nayanar

28.          Kulachchirai Nayanar

29.          Kungiliyak Kalaya Nayanar

30.          Manakkanychaara Nayanar

31.          Mangayarkkarasiyar, Female Nayanar

32.          Meiporul Nayanar

33.          Murkha Nayanar

34.          Murti Nayanar

35.          Munayaduvaar Nayanar

36.          Muruga Nayanar

37.          Nami Nandi Adigal Nayanar

38.          Narasingha Munayaraya

39.          Nesa Nayanar

40.          Ninra Seer Nedumaara

41.          Perumizhalaik Kurumba Nayanar

42.          Pusalar Nayanar

43.          Pugal Chola, A Chola King

44.          Pugazh Thunai Nayanar

45.          Saakkiya Nayanar

46.          Sadaiya Nayanar

47.          Saththi Nayanar

48.          Seruthtunai Nayanar

49.          Sirappuli Nayanar

50.          Siruttonda Nayanar

51.          Somaachi Nayanar

52.          Sundarar Nayanar

53.          TirugnaanaSambandar Nayanar

54.          Tirukkuripput Tonda Nayanar

55.          Tirumular Nayanar

56.          Thirunalai Povar Nayanar, popularly known as Nandanar

57.          Tirunavukkarasar, popularly known as Appar

58.          Thiruneelakandar Nayanar

59.          Tirunilakanda Yaazpaana Nayanar

60.          Tirunilanakka Nayanar

61.          Uruttira Pasupati Nayanar

62.          Vaayilaar Nayanar

63.          Viralminda nayanar Nayanar

Among the 63 Nayanmars, only 3 of them were woman, Isaignaniyaar, Karaikkal Ammaiyar and Mangayarkkarasiyar

Aruvathimoovar is a function conducted for 63 Nayanmars in all Shiva temples during the month of March. I hope to cover this shortly as the Aruvathimoovar is only a few days from now.

Om Sivoham!

Nidi

Arthanaadeeswarar (The form of half man and half woman)

Lord Shiva is also called as Arthanaadeeswarar. The term Arthanaadeeswarar is made of three words namely “artha” , “nari” and “eswarar” they mean half, woman and God respectively. In this form the Lord is depicted as being half woman that is Sakthi his wife and half man that is himself.

He is also known as Ammaiappan (Motherly God). I consider this form as one of the most beautiful ones of Lord Shiva. Ardhanarishvara signifies "totality that lies beyond duality", "bi-unity of male and female in God" and "the bisexuality and therefore the non-duality" of the Supreme Being. He has taken this form to show the importance of equality between man and woman. Since this God is conceptually beyond sex, it is more appropriate to refer to the God as It rather than He/She.

Legends:

There are lots of legends regarding how Lord Arthanaadeeswarar came into being. Some of them are as follows:

1)      Sage Bringi used to worship only Lord Shiva and not His wife Goddess Sakthi. Goddess Sakthi argued with Lord Shiva stating that by choosing to worship only Him, Sage Bringi is disrespecting not only her but also the equality of male and female gender. At the same juncture Sage Bringi enters Kailash and worships Lord Shiva alone. Angered by this the Goddess who is portrayed as the God of power and strength takes all the strength from the Sage. Lord Shiva aids him with a stick and this further increases the anger of Sakthi. Seeing this Sakthi Devi started following a strict Vratha to become inseparable from Lord Shiva. The Lord, who was extremely happy because of the Vratha followed by Sakthi, gave her the boon of becoming half of himself. Thus the form Arthanaadeeswarar.

2)      Once while in a playful mood, Goddess Sakthi closed the eyes of Lord Shiva. Because of this the whole cosmos became dark and the world could not progress. The sages prayed to Shiva to come to aid. Lord Shiva punished Goddess Sakthi for her childishness and banished her from Kailash. After performing strict penace in various Shiva temples, Lord Shiva’s anger abated and blessed her with the boon of becoming inseparable from him in the form of Arthanaadeeswarar.

Differences in male and female halfs:

The following are some of the generally found differences in the male and female half of Athanaadeeswarar:

Headdress, 3^rd eye (male) – Tilakam (female), earrings, dress, 2 hands (male) and 1 hand (female), serpent (m) – necklace (f), vahanaas nandi (male ) – Lion (female), dress and color.

Some of the sculptures depict the expressions in the female and male half extremely beautifully taking into account the characters of both the Gods.

Thiruchengode is one of the most famous temple of Lord Arthanaadeeswarar. More on this temple later.

On another note, the women’s day is fast approaching and many women are still in penace state to get their share of half the body. It is a story often repeated by a lot of wives even today.  Let us pray to the betterment of husband and wife relationships of all around us. Let there be equality of both the forms. Let there not be one form ruling the other. Let there be peace. Let there be love. Let there be love for God.

Endrum avar asirvadathudan, (With his blessings)

Nidi

Natarajar

The depiction of Lord Shiva as Natarajar is also a popular one.

Lord Shiva is known as a lover of dance and music. Natarajar is a form that depicts Lord Shiva as a dancer. He is also known as the cosmic dancer.

Natarajar is considered the supreme lord of dance

He is known to perform a dance form called Taandavam. There are about 16 Taandavams known to exist. The most famous are the Aananda Taandavam and Rudra Taandavam.

He performs the Aananda Taandavam when he is extremely happy and the Rudra Taandavam when he is extremely angry.

Some of the other popular Taandavams are:

Tripura Tandava, Sandhya Tandava, Samara Tandava, Kaali tandava, Uma T

andava and Gauri Tandava.

At the beginning and end of performing Bharata Natyam (A traditional South Indian dance), the dancers perform a Namaskar (A set of steps to show respect) to show their respect to the Natarajar (Guru, Musicians, Audience and Stage are the others that they bow down to)

The Chidambaram temple in Tamil Nadu is the most famous temple where Lord Shiva is depicted in the form of Natarajar.

Sivaya Namaha,

Nidi Kumar

SivaLingam

In many temples across India, Lord Shiva is worshiped in the form of Linga Swaroopam.

The word Linga originates from the Sanskrit word ling meaning "mark" or "sign"

There is a wide belief that the shape of the linga represents the beginning-less and endless pillar symbolizing the infinite nature of Lord Shiva.

Also since this is one of the easiest forms that can be made with hand and mud, that is available to all rich and poor alike, there is another theory that Lord Shiva chooses to take this form so any of his devotees can easily make the linga and pray to him.

There are also temples which have a lot of Linga Swaroopams. Why go any further than 108 Sivalayam in Papanasam. It has 108 Siva lingas in a single temple.

A lot about the Papanasam Siva temple later.

Sivanin Aruludan (With Lord Siva's blessing)

Nidi Kumar

Avarin namangal (His names)

Lord Shiva is worshiped widely in Hindu religion. The following are some of his names

Anamalaiyar

Natarajar

Ekamabreswarar

Siva Lingam

Bholenath

Kailasanathar

Mahadev

Maheshwarar

Nilakanda

Rudra

Sadasiva

Sarweswarar

Shankarar

Swayambu

Trilokpathi

Eswarar

Umapati

Visveshwarar

These are some of the names I know of and the list does not stop here.

Bholenath ke jay ho!

Nidi

Pancha Bootha Stalam

The Pancha Bootha Stalam are 5 temples of Lord Shiva.

Each of them is a representation of one of the 5 major elements.

1) Thiruvannamalai:

It is the Agni stalam, represents fire. The lord is known as Annamalaiyar

2) Kanchipuram

It is the Boomi stalam, represents earth. The lord is known as Ekambareswarar

3) Thiruvanaikaval

It is the Neer stalam, represents water. The lord is known as Jambukeswar

4) Chidambaram

It is the Aakasa stalam, represents sky or space. The lord is known as Natarajar

5) SriKalahasti

It is the Aakasa stalam, represents wind or air. The lord is known as Srikalahastiswarar

Worshiping the lord

Nidi