Shaivism

Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"

Meaning

Shaivism is the Hindu tradition in which Shiva is the chief god. He is worshipped mainly through the linga (a plain upright stone shaft that stands for the god) and only occasionally in human form, and the devotee is bound to him by bhakti (loving devotion to one chosen god).

It matters because Shaivism, together with Vaishnavism, shows that the saviour idea and personal devotion grew inside Hinduism too, not only in Buddhism. It also shaped what the earliest temples held: a linga in a small, dark shrine room.

Explanation

Background: the saviour idea and bhakti

• Buddhism had the Bodhisatta, a being who saves others. But the saviour idea was not unique to Buddhism.
• The same idea grew inside two Hindu traditions:
• Vaishnavism, where Vishnu is the principal deity.

• Shaivism, where Shiva is the chief god.

• In both, the devotee and the chosen deity were bound by love and devotion. This bond is called bhakti.

• Why bhakti spread fast:
• It did not need a priest.
• It did not need a Vedic sacrifice.
• So ordinary people could take part directly.

Main features: Shiva as the linga

• Shiva was mainly worshipped through the linga. The linga is a symbol, not a portrait.
• Shiva was shown in human form only occasionally.
• The linga stood in the garbhagriha ("womb-house"). This was the small, square shrine room of a temple, with a single doorway.
• How Shaivism looks different from Vaishnavism in art:
• Vaishnava art is full of story scenes, such as the ten avatars (the forms Vishnu takes when he comes down to save the world).

• Shaiva worship centres on one symbol in a dark shrine room.

• When Shiva did appear in human form, worshippers knew him by the usual clues: headdress, ornaments, ayudhas (weapons or auspicious objects held in the hands) and posture (standing, seated, dancing).

How it was spread: the Puranas

• The stories behind these images lie in the Puranas.
• Brahmanas compiled the Puranas by about the mid-first millennium CE.
• They were written in simple Sanskrit verse, so people could follow them easily.
• They were read aloud to everybody, including women and Shudras. These groups were shut out of Vedic learning.
• Much Puranic lore grew from exchange between priests, merchants and ordinary travellers. Stories heard on trade routes and pilgrim roads were written in.

Results: a place in the first temples

• The earliest temples date from about the 3rd century CE. This was the same time as Sanchi's final form.
• The first form was a square garbhagriha with one doorway. The image or linga stood inside.

• Later came: 1. The shikhara (a tall tower over the shrine room). 2. Sculpted walls. 3. Assembly halls, huge walls, gateways and water arrangements.

• So Shaivism grew alongside the temple. A simple linga shrine slowly became a large temple complex.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: devotion to Shiva as the chief god grew in the same phase as early temple building, c. 200 BCE – 700 CE. The first temples date from about the 3rd century CE.
• Region: across India. The note's named early temple sites are Vishnu and Durga panels, not Shiva ones. They show the art world in which Shaiva shrines also grew:
• Deogarh (Uttar Pradesh), c. 5th century: the Dashavatara temple, a Vishnu temple [2].
• Aihole (Karnataka), c. 6th century: Early Chalukya temples, called "the cradle of Indian architecture" [3].

• Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu): a Pallava port, with monuments made between the 6th and 9th centuries CE. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site [4].

• How we know:

• Texts: the Puranas, compiled by Brahmanas in simple Sanskrit verse.
• Sculpture and temples: lingas placed in garbhagrihas, and the rare human images of Shiva, read through headdress, ornaments, ayudhas and posture.
• Main textbook source: NCERT Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings".

Don't confuse with

• Vaishnavism: Vishnu is the chief god, and he is shown in story panels of the ten avatars. Shaivism centres on Shiva, worshipped mainly as the linga.
• Bodhisatta (Buddhism): also a saviour figure, but in Buddhism. Shaivism carries the same saviour idea inside a Hindu tradition, through bhakti to Shiva.
• Deogarh Dashavatara temple: a Vishnu temple, named after his ten incarnations [2]. It is not a Shiva shrine, so it is a common trap.
• Durga relief, Mahabalipuram: it shows the goddess Durga killing the buffalo demon Mahishasura in the Mahishasuramardini cave [4]. It is a goddess panel, not a Shiva panel.

Prelims Hooks

• Shiva was worshipped mainly as the linga, and only occasionally in human form.
• Bhakti is the bond of love and devotion between a devotee and a chosen deity. It is central to both Shaivism and Vaishnavism.
• The saviour idea was not unique to Buddhism. It also grew in Shaivism and Vaishnavism.
• The Puranas were compiled by Brahmanas by about the mid-first millennium CE, in simple Sanskrit verse, and were read aloud to women and Shudras too.
• The earliest temples date from c. 3rd century CE. The first form was a square garbhagriha with a single doorway, where the image or linga stood. The shikhara came later.
• Trap: Deogarh's Dashavatara temple is Vaishnava [2]. Mahabalipuram's Mahishasuramardini relief shows Durga [4]. Neither is a Shiva panel.

Mains Points

• Bhakti opened worship to ordinary people.
• Devotion to Shiva needed no priest and no Vedic sacrifice.
• The Puranas were read aloud to women and Shudras, who were shut out of Vedic learning.

• So Shaivism, like Vaishnavism, helped build a broad, popular Hinduism.

• Symbol versus story in Hindu art.

• Vaishnavism spoke through avatar story panels.
• Shaivism spoke mainly through the aniconic linga (a symbol, not a portrait) in the garbhagriha.

• This shows that early Hindu art had more than one way to show the divine.

• Stupa and temple developed side by side.

• The first temples (c. 3rd century CE) were built at the same time as Sanchi's final form.
• The Bodhisatta and the Hindu saviour gods of Shaivism and Vaishnavism answered the same human need for a god who saves.

Related concepts

• Puranic Hinduism
• Vaishnavism
• Avatar
• Dashavatara
• Varaha
• Vasudeva-Krishna
• Linga
• Garbhagriha
• Antarala
• Shikhara

Read more

• Puranic Hinduism and the first temples