Lord Shiva is usually worshipped in the form of Shiva linga. In images, he is generally represented as immersed in deep meditation or dancing the Tandava upon Maya, the demon of ignorance in his manifestation of Nataraja, the lord of the dance.Lord Shiva sits in a meditative pose against the white background of the snow-capped Himalayas in Mount Kailas. His posture symbolises perfect inner harmony and poise, experienced by a man of Realisation. He is rooted in God- consciousness. He revels in the bliss of the transcendental Reality. Nothing disturbs him. The vicissitudes of nature, the challenges of life, the trials and tribulations of the terrestrial world do not affect him at all. He maintains perfect serenity, equanimity and tranquility in all environments and circumstances. The snow-white background symbolises the absolute purity of mind. Shiva performs the ecstatic dance of realisation. In the dance pose Shiva is known as Nataraja. The dance symbolises the thrill of god-realisation. Beyond the realms of the waking, dream and deep-sleep states of consciousness. Beyond the ' experiences of the body and its perceptions, the mind and its feelings, the intellect and its thoughts lies the bliss of Godhood. Shiva reaches this state of Godhood and dances with the intoxication of supreme bliss Shiva is said to have a third eye known as gyana chakshu. Gyana chakshu literally means eye of wisdom. The eye whose vision reaches beyond that of the two mortal eyes. The idea of the third eye is not to be taken literally to mean that a third fleshy organ exists in Shiva. It only means that Shiva has a divine vision of Reality. Your vision is confined merely to perceptions, emotions and thoughts but when you transcend the limitations of your body, mind and intellect you gain realisation of your inner Self. That is indicated by the opening of the gyana chakshuShiva us also known as “Gangadhar”, Gangadhar literally means the carrier of Ganga (River Ganges). Shiva is said to carry the Ganges in his locks. Shiva is sometimes shown with his trident (“trishool”) in his hand. The “trishool” is a three pronged weapon which symbolizes the destruction of the ego with its three-fold desires of the body, mind and intellect. Shiva with his weapon indicated his victory over his ego and attainment of the state of perfection.
Attributes :
Third eye : Shankar is three-eyed, i.e. He can perceive events of the past, present and future.According to the science of Yoga the third eye means the Sushumna nadi (channel). With his third eye, he burns Desire to ashes. There has been controversy regarding the original meaning of Shiva's name Tryambakam , which occurs in many scriptural sources.In classical Sanskrit the word ambaka denotes "an eye", and in the Mahabharata Shiva is depicted as three-eyed, so this name is sometimes translated as "Having Three Eyes" However, in Vedic Sanskrit the word amba or ambika means "mother", and this early meaning of the word is the basis for the translation "Having Three Mothers".
Blue Throat: The epithet Nīlakantha , refers to a story in which Shiva drank the poison churned up from the world ocean.
Crescent Moon: Shiva bears on his head the crescent of the moon. The epithet Chandrashekhara ,"Having the moon as his crest" - chandra = Moon, shekhara = crest, crown), refers to this feature. The placement of the moon on his head as a standard iconographic feature dates to the period when Rudra rose to prominence and became the major deity Rudra-Shiva.
Ganga : Just as the sun is the focal point of the solar system and the soul that of the body, the focal point of divine consciousness (chaitanya) in every object and pure particles (pavitrakas) is ga-aum. The flow from which ga-aum originates is gan gaha = Ganga. Ga-aum flows from Shiva's head. This is called the descent of the Ganga from Shiva's head. Since the river Ganga has a fraction of the principle of the spiritual Ganga, no matter how polluted it becomes, its purity is perpetually retained. Hence, when compared to any other water in the world, the water from the Ganga is the purest. This is realised not only by those who can perceive the subtle dimension but also by scientific researchers.
Ashes: Shiva smears his body with ashes (bhasma). Some forms of Shiva, such as Bhairava, are associated with a very old Indian tradition of cremation-ground asceticism that was practiced by some groups who were outside the fold of brahmanic orthodoxy. These practices associated with cremation grounds are also mentioned in the Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism. One epithet for Shiva is "Inhabitant of the cremation ground" (Sanskrit: śmaśānavāsin, also spelled Shmashanavasin) referring to this connection.
Serpent : One of the Names of Lord Shankar is Bhujanga-patihari. Bhujang means a serpent or pure particles (pavitrakas) , pati means the nurturer and hari means one with a garland around His neck. Bhujangapatihari thus means the One who nurtures pure particles and wears them like a garland. Various serpents represent groups of pure particles. Though externally they appear like serpents, internally they are a kind of ladder. To make spiritual progress one has to climb up holding onto the tail of the serpent. Lord Shankar adorns serpents at nine points on His body - one on the head, one around the neck, one on each arm, one on each wrist, one around the waist and one on each thigh. This implies that His body is comprised of pure particles or that serpents of pure particles play all over the body of Lord Shankar who has the universe as His form.
Sources : wikipedia
(To be continued in part 2)
