Parashurama There was a king named Gadhi. His daughter was name Satyavati. Satyavati was married to the sage Richika. Richika arranged for a spectacular sacrifice. Some rice pudding was obta... Read more
Ruru There was another demon who wanted to marry Parvati as well. His name was Ruru. He happened to see Parvati and decided that this was the woman who would be his wife. He began to to perf... Read more
Upamanyu The sage Vyaghrapada had a son named Upamanyu. When he was small, he wanted some milk from his mother. But he was not at all happy with the milk that his mother gave him. He complai... Read more
Nandi There was a sage named Shilada. He once saw that his ancestors were being tortured in hell. When he tried to find out why this was so, he was told that htis was because Shilada did not... Read more
Shivarati Vrata Shivaratri is the tithi (lunar day) on which Brahma and Vishnu had worshipped Shiva. A vrata is a special religious rite that is performed. A vrata observed on shivaratri (th... Read more
Shiva’s Thousand Names When the sages heard this story, they said, Romaharshana, what are these thousand names of Shiva that you have mentioned? Relate them to us. Romaharshana obliged. For... Read more
Ravana and Vaidyanatha The ninth of the jyotirlingas is named Vaidyanatha. Ravana, the king of the rakshasas, meditated in the Himalayas so as to please Shiva. First he prayed on Mount Kaila... Read more
Vindhya and Omkara The fourth of the jyotirlingas is Omkara. Narada had once gone on a visit to the mountain Vindhya. Vindhya worshipped Narada. But because Vindhya was slightly proud, he a... Read more
Linga A linga is an image of Shiva. There are several lingas. Whichever is the place where devotees congregate, there Shiva manifests himself in the form of a linga. However, there are twelv... Read more
Narada and the Champaka Tree Nor must a champaka flower be used. In the land of Gokarna there was a temple dedicated to Shiva. Narada decided that he would go and visit the temple. On the w... Read more
