Buddhas , Yungang Groettos, China

Massive sculpture of Buddhas hewn out of rock, Yungang Groettos, China
Dated: ~5th century CE

Jain Tirthankar carving in Gwalior

Jain Tirthankar carved out of sandstone rock

Maha Shivaratri fast by King Chitrabhan

Maha Shivaratri fast by King Chitrabhan *

Once upon a time King Chitrabhanu of the Ikshvaku dynasty, who ruled over the whole of Jambudvipa, was observing a fast with his wife, it being the day of Maha Shivaratri. The sage Ashtavakra came on a visit to the court of the king.
The sage asked, "O king! why are you observing a fast today?"

King Chitrabhanu explained why. He had the gift of remembering the incidents of his previous birth.

The king said to the sage: "In my past birth I was a hunter in Varanasi. My name was Suswara. My livelihood was to kill and sell birds and animals. One day I was roaming the forests in search of animals. I was overtaken by the darkness of night. Unable to return home, I climbed a tree for shelter. It happened to be a Beel tree. I had shot a deer that day but I had no time to take it home. I bundled it up and tied it to a branch on the tree. As I was tormented by hunger and thirst, I kept awake throughout the night. I shed profuse tears when I thought of my poor wife and children who were starving and anxiously awaiting my return. To pass away the time that night I engaged myself in plucking the bael leaves and dropping them down onto the ground.

"The day dawned. I returned home and sold the deer. I bought some food for myself and for my family. I was about to break my fast when a stranger came to me, begging for food. I served him first and then took my food.

"At the time of death, I saw two messengers of Lord Shiva. They were sent down to conduct my soul to the abode of Lord Shiva. I learnt then for the first time of the great merit I had earned by the unconscious worship of Lord Shiva during the night of Shivaratri. They told me that there was a Lingam at the bottom of the tree. The leaves I dropped fell on the Lingam.My tears which I had shed out of pure sorrow for my family fell onto the Lingam and washed it. And I had fasted all day and all night. Thus did unconsciously worship the Lord.

"I lived in the abode of the Lord and enjoyed divine bliss for long ages. I am now reborn as Chitrabhanu."

What are Jyotirlinga- A column of ire

Jyotirlingas 

“Lord Shiva first manifested himself as a Jyotirlinga on the night of the, Aridra Nakshatra thus the special reverence for the Jyotirlinga. There is nothing to distinguish the appearance, but it is believed that a person can see these lingas as columns of fire piercing through the earth after he reaches a higher level of spiritual attainment. There are twelve Jyotirlingas in India and they are spread all over India.

As per Shiv Mahapuran, once Brahma (the God of creation) and Vishnu (the God of Preservation) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation. To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity.

The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light. Originally there were believed to be 64 jyothirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy. Each of the twelve jyothirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity – each considered different manifestation of Shiva. At all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva. The twelve jyothirlinga are Somnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himalayas, Bhimashankar in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Triambakeshwar in Maharashtra, Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga at Deogarh in Jharkhand, Nageswar at Dwarka in Gujarat, Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Ghushmeshwar at Shiwar in Sawai Madhopur district Rajasthan, 12th joytrilinga is Grishneshwar at ellora in aurangabad district Maharashtra.”

http://www.shreehindutemple.net/…/12-jyotirlingas-of-lord-s…

SHIVA STUTI

These four verses are from a prayer called the Shiva Stuti from the Ramacharitamanasa (Ramayana) of Tulsi Das.

The story of Rama incarnation and lilas is being told by a crow to Garuda, the King of birds. The crow Kakabhusundi is repeating the story that Shiva had told Parvati.

Garuda asks the crow how he has come to know the story and how he gained so much wisdom. Kakabhusundi tells his life story. He was an arrogant disciple of a very loving guru. No matter how much his guru loved him, he just didn't get it. One day he was meditating and his guru walked in the room. He knew it was his guru but still he didn't get up. At that instatnt Shiva himself manifested out of the Lingam and cursed him to become a crow and undergo millions of births of torture and hell for disrespecting his guru. His guru was so upset at the curse that he prayed to Shiva to rescind it. This is that prayer.

Shiva was so moved by the prayer that even though he could not rescind the curse he added to it, saying that even though the disciple would remain a crow he would become the foremost knower of God in the universe and would be able to see all the lilas(Play) of the Lord in all His manifestations in all the universes.

Namaameesha meeshaan nirwaana roopam
Wibhum vyaapakam braham wedaswaroopam

I bow to the Lord of the Northwest(Shiva)
Whose form is liberation itself. The supreme Brahman, in the form of the Vedas, Spread out over the whole Universe.

Nijam nirgunam nirwikalpam nireeham Chidaakaasha maakaasha waasam bhajeham

You are without attributes and beyond time, without any limitation; beyond desire.
You are the sky of bliss. I worship you.

Niraakaara monkaara moolam tureeyam Giraa gyaana goteeta meesham gireesham

You are the formless One
beyond the Omkar which has it root in you.You are beyond words, knowledge and the physical world,Oh Lord of Mountains.

Karaalam mahaakaala kaalam kripaalam Gunaagaara sansaara paaram natoham

You are the terrifying One who devours time; which devours everything. You are the most compassionate one.
All the qualities and attributes of experience, originate in you,But the world can never find your end.

Hara Hara Mahaadeva Shaambho(Bom Bom)
Kaashi Vishwaanaatha Gange

I call the names of The Great Lord Shiva Who lives on the Banks of the Ganges at Kashi(Benares)I sit on the banks of the river of life,
watching children being born, seeing how they grow,
how they take on the lives they have been given,
how they bend and wither with the weight of this world,
how those lives disappear back into the Earth and Sky.
I breathe into them as they come and they breathe into me as they leave.I am the Great Lord in whom all find restIn their true nature, my Self.

अमृतेश्वर मंदिर, कर्नाटक( Amrutheshwar Temple, Chikkmanglur, Karnatak)

अमृतेश्वर मंदिर, कर्नाटक( Amrutheshwar Temple, Chikkmanglur, Karnatak)

Gajasurasamhara Rudra temple

GAJASURASAMHARA : The Gajasurasamhara form is associated by scholars to the epithet Krittivasa ("who ha...s skin as his garment"), used in the Vedic hymn Shri Rudram Chamakam for Rudra, a Vedic God associated with Shiva. Often, devotional hymns of the Tevaram call Shiva the one who wears the elephant hide, alluding to this incident.The Shiva Sahasranama ("The thousand names of Shiva") describe Shiva as Gajaha, the slayer of the elephant.

SHOWN HERE : Gajasurasamhara: A frieze depicting the god Shiva slaying Gajasura the demon in the Chennakeshava temple at Belur.