Stories 5
Tradition: Shaiva · clear
Brahma's fifth head and the skull that would not fall
Bhairava, born from Shiva's brow, cuts off Brahma's fifth head; the skull sticks to his hand and the sin of brahmin-killing follows him; he wanders as a beggar, kills Vishnu's gatekeeper, is fed blood from Vishnu's forehead, and is freed when the skull falls at Kashi.
Rama installs the linga at Rameswaram
Rama worships Shiva as a linga on the island of Rameswaram — before the bridge in the Ramayana, or after Ravana's death to expiate the killing of a brahmin in temple tradition, where Sita's sand linga and Hanuman's linga from Kailasa stand side by side.
The secret of immortality in the ice cave
Parvati asks Shiva for the secret of never dying.
The twelve pillars of light
Brahma and Vishnu quarrel over who is supreme.
Vishnu's thousand lotuses and his eye
Vishnu pledges a thousand lotuses to Shiva at Kashi; finding one missing, he offers his own lotus-eye; Shiva restores the eye and gives him the Sudarshana discus. The day is kept as Vaikuntha Chaturdashi; a related Kashi charter has Vishnu's penance create Manikarnika.