Worship and Adoration
Ardhanarishvara is one of the most popular iconographic forms of Shiva. It is found in more or less all temples and shrines dedicated to Shiva all over India and South-east Asia. There is ample evidence from texts and the multiple depictions of the Ardhanarishvara in stone to suggest that a cult centred around the deity may have existed. The cult may have had occasional followers, but was never aligned to any sect. This cult focussing on the joint worship of Shiva and the Goddess may even have had a high position in Hinduism, but when and how it faded away remains a mystery. Though a popular iconographic form, temples dedicated to the deity are few. A popular one is located in Tiruchengode, while five others are located in Kallakkurichi taluk, all of them in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
The Linga Purana advocates the worship of Ardhanarishvara by devotees to attain union with Shiva upon dissolution of the world and thus attain salvation. The Ardhanarinateshvara Stotra is a popular hymn dedicated to the deity. The Nayanar saints of Tamil Nadu exault the deity in hymns. While the 8th-century Nayanar saint Cuntarar says that Shiva is always inseparable from the Mother Goddess, another 7th-century Nayanar saint Campantar describes how the "eternal feminine" is not only her consort, but she is also part of him. The renowned Sanskrit writer Kalidasa (c. 4th–5th century) alludes Ardhanarishvara in invocations of his Raghuvamsa and Malavikagnimitram, and says that Shiva and Shakti are as inseparable as word and meaning. The 9th-century Nayanar saint Manikkavacakar casts Parvati in the role of the supreme devotee of Shiva in his hymns. He alludes to Ardhanarishvara several times and regards it the ultimate goal of a devotee to be united with Shiva as Parvati is in the Ardhanarishvara form.
Daniélou notes that the hermaphrodite, the homosexual and the transvestite have a symbolic value in Tantra and are considered sacred beings as "images" of the Ardhanarishvara. Ardhanarishvara is worshipped by them as their tutelary deity.
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