Shiva - Historical Development

Historical Development

The worship of Shiva is a pan-Hindu tradition, practiced widely across all of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Some historians believe that the figure of Shiva as we know him today was built up over time, with the ideas of many regional sects being amalgamated into a single figure. As to the evolution of the concept of Shiva, writes Sailen Debnath, "The evolution of the concept of Shiva is the most fascinating one and Shiva’s place is unique among the Hindu pantheon. It is only Shiva again whose origin can be traced in the pre-Aryan period and whose worship pervaded to all nooks and corners of India, North and South equally. Shiva thus had non-Aryan origin and Aryan manifestations in different forms including that of the Vedic Rudra (the power of destruction) though the original meaning has not yet been lost. Most probably the authors of the Indus Valley Civilization had the credit of developing the concept of Shiva as the source of all things in their known universe. The idea of Shiva had been associated with the flourishing of the Harappan culture; and significantly the name of the place was also after another name of Shiva, i.e. ‘Hara’ (Shiva) and ‘appa’ (papa or father) and jointly Harappa (Father Shiva).Among the seals excavated in the sites of the civilization the figure of Shiva augur prominently. It’s a matter of interest that even afterwards the culture too has been named “Harappan culture” by the historians trying to write its history. Thus in Shiva we find the unity of pre-Aryan, Aryan and post-Aryan religious development and an evolution of synthesis. In the name of Shiva culturally India stands together." How the persona of Shiva converged as a composite deity is not well documented. Axel Michaels explains the composite nature of Shaivism as follows:

Like Vişņu, Śiva is also a high god, who gives his name to a collection of theistic trends and sects: Śaivism. Like Vaişņavism, the term also implies a unity which cannot be clearly found either in religious practice or in philosophical and esoteric doctrine. Furthermore, practice and doctrine must be kept separate.

An example of assimilation took place in Maharashtra, where a regional deity named Khandoba is a patron deity of farming and herding castes. The foremost center of worship of Khandoba in Maharashtra is in Jejuri. Khandoba has been assimilated as a form of Shiva himself, in which case he is worshipped in the form of a lingam. Khandoba's varied associations also include an identification with Surya and Karttikeya.