UNEARTHED - SHIVA

8 min read

Deviation Actions

Tomb-Raider-Groupies's avatar
Published:
1.7K Views


Welcome to another segment of Tomb-Raider-Groupies's UNEARTHED, where we show you the real and unique facts behind Lara's adventures. Today, we will be focusing on a particular enemy that Lara encounter in her third adventure in India: the Shiva statues of Doom. We are going to explore the real story behind Shiva and who he is and why Lara encountered statues-to-life in her adventure!

_________________________________


In traditional Hinduism, there is a trinity composed of three gods which are very sacred to those who practice the religion: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Shiva is probably one of the most interesting of the three for just the sake of his very duality like origins. Shiva himself, represents or is associated with goodness, benevolence, and while he may serve as a protector, it's almost as if these characteristics have a price. For he is also tied between being the leader of evil spirits, vampires, ghosts, master of beggars, thieves and villains. He has been called, "The Destroyer" for his link with time and how once every 2,160,000,000 years, he destroys the world and creates a new one to take it's place.

One of the rather dark or brutal stories of Shiva was his marriage to Parvati or better known as "Kali". Her father, (also a god), Daksha, did not approve of their union and did not want his daughter to marry Shiva, so much that he excluded Shiva from a special ceremony to honor all the gods. This offended Parvati so much, that she threw herself upon the fire during the ceremony. When Shiva learned of this, he grew enraged and spawned two demons who wreaked destruction upon the gods and decapitated Dashka for his offense. It was only after the other gods pleaded with Shiva, that he calmed down and ended his wrath. (Parvati was latter reincarnated as Kali and re-married Shiva again.)

However, Shiva did do some great things as well. In one instance, for example, Vasuki, the King of Serpents, swore he would vomit snake venom into the entire sea to destroy the world. Shiva, turned into a giant tortoise, drank the venom to protect mankind from extinction. This incident permanently hurt him and left a blue scar in his throat.  

Different cultures such as Indian, Cambodian or Japanese, depict Shiva in multiple ways but the common ground for his appearance is usually naked, his hair is tied in a top-knot, he has multiple arms, and usually a third vertical eye in the middle of his forehead. It is not surprising that Lara in her time in India, would come across the statues of Shiva, for he is the protector and his statues, made in his image, were meant to guard the Infada Stone. Whether his "minions" or statues scared you or you found the fight enjoyable, Shiva's brutality, strength, and quick-temper are not to be forgotten.

We hope you enjoyed our article and if you like to speak on this issue, feel free to leave a comment below of what you think of Shiva or how you felt about the fight that Lara had with his statues! Happy Raidings!



ARTWORK OF SHIVA IN ART CULTURE DONE BY MEMBERS OF DEVIANTART



shiva by CRYSTAL-2012 Shiva by ChristasVengel Shiva by e-mel Shiva by GENZOMAN

© 2015 - 2024 Tomb-Raider-Groupies
Comments1
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Novanplz's avatar
While I may not have played TR3, that statue of Shiva in Underworld was certainly impressive!