Siva As A Destroyer-

Siva is the third person of the Hindu triad. As Brahma was creator, Vishnu was preserver in order to complete the system, as all things are subject to decay, a Destroyer was necessary and destruction is regarded as the peculiar work of Siva. This seems scarcely in harmony with the form by which he is usually represented. It must be remembered , however, that according to the teaching of Hinduism, death is not death in the sense of passing into non- existence, but simply a change into a new form of life. He who destroys, therefore , cause beings  to assume new phases of existence- the Destroyer is really a re – creator , hence the name Siva , the bright or Happy one, is given to him, which would not have been the case had he been regarded as the destroyer in the ordinary meaning of that term. Siva adopted the grab, and lived the life of an ascetic. Though generally worshipped under the form of the ling, he is represented in human form, sometimes in the act of trampling on or destroying demons, wearing round his black neck a serpent, and a necklace of skulls, and furnished with a whole apparatus of external emblems, such as white bull on which he rides, a trident, tiger’s skin. He has three eyes, one being in his forehead, in allusion either to or three Vedas. The home life of Siva and his Spouse does not appear to have been of the happiest. As they could each bestow gifts upon their worshippers, it sometimes happened that the one wanted to bless those whom the other wished to curse. Each god is represented as having special fondness for some bird or animal, on which he is supposed to travel, which therefore called vehicle.