India – a country of beliefs, devotion & worshipers. This nation is still laughed at and called as a land of snake charmers, a land of foolish people who are bent by superstitions & believed to worship thirty three crore Gods & Goddesses. But isn’t it a thing makes us stand out from the rest? It is our religious beliefs that keep us grounded, humble, gives us hope even in the darkest of hours, a belief that nobody is alone because everything is given & driven by the almighty.

Coming forth is the pious night of the Maha Shivratri, one of the greatest celebrated nights for the Trillions of devotees on the account of convergence of Shiva & Shakti – the night of marriage of Hindu God Lord “Shiva”& “Deity” Parvati. Amongst all Lord Shiva is known as Mahadev which means Lord of Lords – a yogi meditating in the chill of the Kailash Mountain, the unborn & the undead, the protector & the destructor, well known and feared for his wrath which has the divine power of destroying the Universe and ability to resurrect it as well. The Lord is believed to be attributed with the Trishula (Trident) as His weapon, the snake Vasuki around his neck, the crescent moon adorned in His matted hair with the holy river Ganga flowing from it, the Damaru as his musical instrument and the third eye on his forehead. Each of these attributes has its own significance and a tale in the Hindu Rigveda.

Human body is believed to be the most mesmerising mystery of the Lord arrayed with a mind and a soul. It is often heard from the elders that one’s body is a temple to be worshiped. It means one should always ensure a sound health and pay respect to the gift the Almighty blessed us with because It is believed that God resides in every body. He also gifted us with a brain to try and unfold the mysteries as well as the manual for his best engineered creation.

The adornment of the Mahadev are like a sneak peek into the Manual for handling the health and below is a small curtain raiser to the astounding Shiva symbolism:

1. The Snake “Vasuki” – The snake is seen coiling around the neck of Mahadev symbolising poison and Shiva also known as “Neelkantha” is alleged to have the power to filter it. The poison symbolises the evil thoughts, immoral surroundings, bad vibes from wrong people, wrong influence etc, It implies filtering of such poisons which adversely affects the heath and thereby hlps fighting hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
2. The “Trishul” or Trident – It is the weapon of the Lord, symbolising power which Human has in the form of brain which has the ability to differentiate the right from the wrong, the ability to thing, the strength to fight ones ego and lighten the right path. This helps in maintaining peace and harmony and fights the psychological issues.
3. Lord Shiva “Third Eye” – As depicted it is not a different eye on the forehead, but the ability to clearly perceive things the right way.It symbolizes perception which enables one to grow and evolve, leaving the worries of the past, slowly engulfing your body
4. The Crescent Moon – Referred to as soma, the moon speaks of calmness because moon is considered to be cool. It teaches to hold ones head in the times of distress and fight it wisely, because anger is the biggest enemy of a sound mind & health.
5. Contemplative Posture – The posture which Lord shiva sits is a manner followed even today. The erect posture helps improving ones memory. The posture also speaks of self-containment and the necessity to spend some time with oneself which is utterly necessary to analyse our own actions and do justice to our body and health.

Respect your body & respect your soul, because the great destruction by Shiva is nothing but the destruction of the evil desires which poisons and eventually kills this abode of the Lord. Om Namah Shivaya!