| Brahma is
probably succeeded by Durga, the divine consort of Siva and the daughter of Himavata
(Himachal) as the Creative Power and is very popular in Himachal. The Devi has a number of
popular forms. Siva the Destroyer and the husband of Durga are worshipped throughout
Himachal by the worship of Lingam or in some other of his manifestations. He lives in
Kailash within Himachal. He is the five-headed deity for shristi (creation), palan
(preservation and protection), samhar (destruction), nigraha (punishing the wrong), and
anugraha (Karuna or mercy and compassion). He is
also the Yogi the author of Tandava Nritya to avenge the death of his divine wife at the
insult meted out to him by his father-in-law Daksha. The Dhatura (Cannabis) - loving
Bholanath, the Gangadhar (the god who held the river Ganga in his matted hair), the
Ardhanariswar (the deity who is half male and half female), the Vaidyanath (the
physicians' deity), pashupatinath (the lord of the animals), and the Umapati (the husband
of the gentle Uma who goes down to the Earth to her father's place for 4 days in the year
when the Durga Puja is celebrated) are the other forms. Lord Siva is worshipped at
different places in Himachal Pradesh in his different aspects. |
