Skip to content

Form · Shaiva · South India · Tamil Nadu; Chidambaram

Bhikshatana

Also called: The wandering mendicant

Shiva as the naked wandering beggar who carries Brahma's skull as his bowl to atone for cutting the fifth head. The Tamil Tevaram poets give him a gentler, love-sick-women flavour, and Chidambaram parades the image at festivals.

Sources: Bhikshatana — Wikipedia · see Bhikshatana's web

Relations 1

Bhikshatana form of

Shiva (God) Shaiva · The fifth head and the skull that would not fall
Shiva as the skull-carrying beggar atoning for Brahma's fifth head.

Stories 1

The fifth head and the skull that would not fall
Legend · as Shiva as the wandering beggar carrying the skull · 8 tellings

Cited

Bhikshatana — Wikipedia Encyclopedia