Stories 6
All kinds
Origin
Legend
Local story
Folk tale
From the epics
Festival story
Temple legend
In stone and bronze
How a tradition frames it
Everywhere
Pan-India 95
South India 67
West India 30
East India 22
North India 15
The Himalaya 12
Northeast India 5
Southeast Asia 4
Central India 4
devotionbooncreationdisguisesupremacycursemarriagepenancepridetestdancepilgrimagesacrificebirthemanationfirebeheadingdemon slayingdesireiconographyausteritychurningcombined formcosmogonyhomecominglingapoisonrebirthriveratonement
Tradition: All traditions · clear
Legend · 4 tellings · contested
Andhaka, the blind demon who wanted his mother
Parvati in play covers Shiva's eyes and the worlds go dark.
Legend · 5 tellings · contested
Daksha's sacrifice and the death of Sati
At a gathering Shiva stays seated when Daksha enters; Daksha reads it as contempt.
Legend · 4 tellings · contested
Ganga comes down through Shiva's hair
King Sagara's sixty thousand sons, hunting his stolen sacrificial horse, accuse the sage Kapila and are burnt to ash by his glance.
Legend · 4 tellings · contested
Kama burnt by the third eye
Taraka can die only to a son of Shiva, and Shiva sits in grief and meditation after Sati.
Legend · 2 tellings · contested
Ravana's boon at Gokarna
Ravana and his brothers Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana perform austerities at Gokarna for ten thousand years.
Legend · 4 tellings · contested
Vamana and King Bali
The generous asura king Bali grants a dwarf brahmin three paces of land; two strides cover heaven and earth, Bali offers his own head for the third and is sent to rule Sutala with Vishnu as his doorkeeper.