© Frank H. Jump
Beautiful Shiva-In early July 2005, I witnessed a ritual on the beach from afar. People dressed in white were busy assembling this altar. Here are some shots of it and one close-up with some alterations.
The music here is Raghupati Raghav– a Hindi prayer that was Mahatma Gandhi’s favorite. This medley from the Gandhi soundtrack is of this prayer and Vaishnav Jan.
“Shiva is the destroyer of the world, following Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver, after which Brahma again creates the world and so on. Shiva is responsible for change both in the form of death and destruction and in the positive sense of the shedding of old habits. In Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram or Truth, Goodness and Beauty, Shiva also represents the most essential goodness. Shiva is the god of the yogis, self-controlled and celibate, while at the same time a lover of his spouse (shakti). Shiva’s first wife was Sati and his second wife was Parvati, also known as Uma, Gauri, Durga, Kali, and Shakti. His sons are Ganesha and Kartikeya. Shiva lives on Mount Kailasa in the Himalayas.” This introduction on Shiva was made by Christine Gruenwald and Peter Marchand and taken from the sanatansociety.org.
