The Art of Living and Significance of Lord Shiva's Attire

Lord Shiva is also known for his attire. He is shown wearing a tiger skin, Rudraksha Beads and ash smeared all over his body, a serpent over his neck, Chandrama on his forehead, river Ganga flowing from his hairs also known as ‘Jatayein’, a blue throat which gave him the name of Neelkanth- “the blue-throated one”, a third eye which is symbolic of the fact that he is ‘Trikaaldarshi’ meaning the one who can see the past, present and the future. Trishul is the primary weapon of Lord Shiva on which a musical instrument is dangling. That musical Instrument is the ‘damaru’.

The significance of his attire is as follows:

1.   MATTED HAIR:

His matted hair symbolises the union of mind, body and soul 

Lord Shiva’s matted hair symbolises the union of mind, body and the soul which helps to focus better and in a more clear way. The union of these three things also increases a person’s immunity as there is no conflict between the mind, body and soul. This unison also keeps diseases and ailments at bay as the body is relieved of the stress that arises when these three things go haywire or when they are not synced to each other. Shiv is also known as Jatadhar.

The matted hairs of Lord Shiva are home to river Ganga due to which he is also called by the name of Gangadhar.

2.   THIRD EYE:

His third eye symbolises his fully developed Ajna Chakra

Lord Shiva’s third eye is symbolic of the facts that he is the viewer of all the three periods i.e. the past, the present and the future. This eye is also symbolic of the fact of seeing a problem beyond what it is and overcoming the impossible. Most of us lose our cool and become stressed whenever a problem arises and we are not able to look at beyond the problem and understand how to overcome it rather we only look at it from one side. Thus simplest problems take us for a roller coaster ride.

3.   TRISHUL:

Trishul symbolises control over ego and never lose control

Trishul is the primary weapon of Lord Shiva and also the most powerful among all the mystical weapons of the Hindu gods. Trishul has its own significance. The three heads of the Trishul symbolise the three main nadis(pathways or channels of energy flow in the system) Ida, Pingala and Sushumna. The other 72000(seventy-two thousand) Nadis spring from these three fundamental ones.

The Trishul also represents the three gunas- Sattva, Rajas and Tamasic. This also shows that Shiva is above all these three states. Divinity is above these gunas but holds these gunas together.

 Trishul also helps in controlling the mind, intellect and ego thereby allowing you to work better and never lose control.

4.   ASH/VIBHUT:

Ash smeared on his body shows the temporariness of this world.

The ash smeared on the body of Lord Shiva is symbolic of the fact that everything is temporary in this world and not controlling your obsessions will definitely lead to your downfall. Commitment should never be confused with obsession. These two are very different things.

The ash smeared on the body of Lord Shiva also symbolises that everything on earth will one day turn into ash. Ash has been said to be purest and dearest to him.

5.   BLUE THROAT:

His blue throat symbolises control over anger and channelling it constructively.

The Neel-Kanth / the blue throat of Lord Shiva is symbolic of the control of anger. It is a natural human tendency to get angry even at the smallest of things and venting out that anger in a destructive way. The bluethroat symbolises the suppression of anger and channelling it in a constructive manner instead of venting it out or hurting someone.

6.   DAMARU:

Damaru, his favourite musical instrument symbolises calmness of the mind.

Lord Shiva’s damaru symbolises ridding the body of all your desires and making it clean and disease-free. Damaru also attributed to Shiva’s most famous dancing posture “The Nataraja”.  When a Damaroo is vibrated, it produces dissimilar sounds which are fused together by resonance to create one sound. The sound thus produced symbolizes Naad, the cosmic sound of Aum, which can be heard during deep meditation.

7.   SERPENT AROUND THE NECK:

Wearing snakes symbolises his fearlessness.

Lord Shiva shows us that he controls fear and death by wearing a snake as an ornament. It is also said that the snake three rounds around Lord Shiva's neck depict future, present and past. That states that Lord Shiva is Independent of Time and controls time. The serpent also symbolises letting go of one’s ego so that we are free both mentally and physically.

8.   KAMANDALAM:

Kamandal, his water bag.

Lord Shiva being an ascetic carries a kamandalam with him. His kamandalam signifies the removal of all evil from the body, getting rid of negativity and retaining only the good or sattva values and an individual must break away from attachment to the physical world and clean his inner self of egoistic desires to experience the bliss of the Self.

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