Tandavamurthy: Lord Shiva is a master of dance forms. He is the author of all dance forms. The science of dance (Natyasasthra) dealing with the 108 types of classical Indian dance forms said to have originated from him along with all the yogic postures. For Lord Shiva, all dance is a form of expression, which he uses either to relieve the tensions in the world or alleviate the sufferings of his devotees. Sometimes he entertains the gods or his wife or his devotees with his dance. About nine forms of Shiva in dancing mode are described, of which the most popular form is Nataraaja (the king of dance). Though we have a number of icons of Shiva as Nataraja, he is rarely worshipped in this form. His other dance forms include Ananda-tandava-murhty, dancing in a pleasant and cheerful mood, Uma-tandava-murhty, dancing in the company of Parvathi, Tripura-tandava-murthy, dancing while slaying Tripurasura and Urddha-tandava-murhty, dancing in the air.

The Eleven Rudras: Shiva has eleven forms of Rudra. He has several names and avataras and various scriptures and religious books give different names. However the 11 Rudras worshipped in the Ekadasa Rudrabhishekam Pooja is the most reliable information. The 11 Rudras are as follows:

1. Mahadeva, 2. Shiva , 3. Maha Rudra, 4. Shankara, 5. Neelalohita, 6. Eeshana Rudra, 7. Vijaya Rudra, 8. Bheema Rudra, 9. Devadeva, 10. Bhavodbhava and 11. Adityatmaka Srirudra.

Their 11 consorts of these 11 Rudras respectively are:-
1. Dhee devi, 2. Dhritti devi, 3. Ushna (Rasala) devi, 4. Uma devi, 5. Neeyut devi, 5. Sarpi devi, 7. Eela devi, 8. Ambika devi, 9. Ieravati devi, 10. Sudha devi and 11. Deeksha devi.

The auspicious and sacred Easwara principle is present in every man. This divine principle can be manifested only through the practice of pure thoughts and actions. The Rudras turn the intellect (Buddhi) towards sensuous objects and thrust the individual in the sea of (worldly life). The Paramatama (Supreme Spirit) is master of all the Rudras. Only the man who has conquered the eleven Rudras can expect to realize the Supreme. There are so many theories and notions about the eleven Rudras as well. One of them is, the Rudras are the symbolism of the eleven sensory organs. Man must seek to control as much as possible these eleven organs. From ancient times, the sages have stressed the supreme importance of sense-control as the means to God-realization. The eleven organs consists of ~

Karmendriya - The five organs of action(Sanskrit: karma = work; indriya = sense organ):

1. Chakshu (eyes)
2. Karna (ears)
3. Naasika (nose)
4. Jihavaa (tongue)
5. Tvak (skin)

Gnyanendriya - The five organs of perception
(Sanskrit: gnyana = knowledge; indriya = sense organ):

6. Baak (speech)
7. Paad (feet)
8. Paani (hands)
9. Paayu (anus)
10. Upastha (excretory organs- penis/vagina)

Ubhayendriya - One organ, acting as both
(Sanskrit: ubhaya = both; indriya = sense organ):

11. Manah (mind)

Nataraaja: For Shiva dance is a kind of entertainment, or just an activity that is spontaneous and without any purpose. Just as the entire creation is said to be an activity of God for His own entertainment and does not seem to have a definite purpose, so is the dance of Shiva. It is not a specific artistic activity. It is not some kind of a sport with a particular aim. It is a spontaneous movement of rhythm and harmony, that bursts out like a flower from the bud, a smile from a baby or a rainbow from the sky, without a flaw and pleasing to the mind and the senses.

Everything he does, each and every movement of his body, is a spontaneous expression of beauty and rhythm. Nataraja (pronounciation: Nataraaja) is Shiva who is hidden in all the rhythmic movements of the manifest creation, the so-called cosmic dance that ensures the orderliness (Rta) of the universe, the movement of the earth and the heavens, the arrangement of the galaxies and the interstellar spaces, on which depends precariously the whole balance. His dance is a divine activity that has no conflict. It entertains our suffering minds and dispels our ignorance. It destroys our illusions and burns the worlds of demons and darkness. Finally, at the end of creation it dissolves the entire universe into a mysterious period of suspended activity. He dances upon our ignorance. TheApsmarapurusha (the forgotten and deluded self, or the ignorant darkness and the inauspicious aspects of creation), on whose body he rests his feet in the image of Nataraja symbolizes this fact. And for Shiva this whole wide world of apasmarapurushas is a stage on which he enacts his dance drama.

Dakshinamurthy: This is Shiva in his aspect as the universal teacher, teaching the secrets of yoga, tantras, yantras, alchemy, magic, occult knowledge, arts and sciences, ancient history or knowledge of the future to the sages and saints, gods and goddesses and his highly qualified devotees. He is called Dakshinamurthy, because he does his teachings sitting on the snowy mountains of Himalayas and facing towards the Indian subcontinent, which is in the southerly direction.

The images of Dakshinamurthy, depict Shiva in his pleasant mood, seated on a high seat, with one leg folded while the other rests on the Apasmarapurusha, the deluded self. Two of his arms hold a snake or rosary or both in one hand and fire in the other. The snake is a symbol of (tantric) knowledge and the fire is the symbol of enlightenment. Of the remaining two one is in abhayamudra (posture of assurance) and the other holds a scripture in gnanamudra (posture of presenting knowledge).

Lingodbhava-murthy: This image signifies the importance of Shiva, as has been described in the texts of the Linga Purana & the Shiva Purana (Puranas dedicated to the glory of Lord Shiva), in the form of a magnanimous Linga (phallus) of fire, with no beginning, middle or end, as the Supreme Self. According to Hindu mythology, Shiva once revealed his infinity to Brahma and Vishnu in the form of a pillar of fire that could not be scaled by either of them from one end to the other. As Lingodhbava-murthy, Shiva appears seated in the heart of a Linga, with four arms, while Brahma and Vishnu adore him from the two sides.

Bhikshatana-murthi: This is Shiva in his ascetic aspect, wandering from place to place, with a begging bowl made of human skull (from Goddess Annapurnaa- holding the golden bowl of cooked rice to give alms to Lord Shiva and rescue the world with food, being another form of Parvathi, Shiva's consert), doing penance or lost in his own thoughts. Even today we can see some followers of Shiva going around the villages in India in this form. Some of them even do a little magic to attract our attention or scare away the trailing children.

Hridaya-murthy: This is Shiva in a mood of reconciliation and friendship with Lord Vishnu. Also known as Harihara or Sankaranarayana. The image shows sometimes the right half of Shiva on the right side of the image and the left half of Vishnu on the left side, or the vice versa.

Ardhanarishwara: This Shiva and Parvathi together in one form signifying the unity of Purusha (form of male) and Prakriti (energy as female). The feminine left half of Parvathi is fused with the masculine right half of Shiva in one continuous form, sometimes standing with the Bull Nandi in the background, or sitting on a pedestal and blessing the worlds, with eyes open or closed.

The Destructive & the Regenarting Aspects

Shiva is believed to be at the core of the centrifugal force of the universe, because of his responsibility for death and destruction. Unlike the godhead Brahma, the Creator, Shiva is the dissolving force in life. But Shiva dissolves in order to create, since death is the medium for rebirth into a new life. So the opposites of life and death and creation and destruction both reside in his character.