HOME | PHOTOS HOME | First | Previous Picture | Next Picture | Last | Thumbnails

Ardhanarishwara Swami, the Shiva linga that Shivabalayogi installed in Adivarapupeta.
It is a naturally formed linga from the Narmada River at Omkareshwar.  In it can be seen the male and female aspects of divinity (one side is convex, the other concave), which is the meaning of Ardhanarishwara (half-man, half-woman).
Ardhanarishwara is also the meaning of Shivabalayogi's name.  He embodies both the male (Shiva) and female (Bala, another name for Parvati) aspects of divinity.
In the back of the linga one can see the faces of Subramanyan, the divine child of Shiva and Parvati.
On the front of the linga, visible in this photo, are the features of Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Sati, an incarnation of the Divine Mother.  Shivabalayogi privately admitted that Ganesha was his first incarnation in this cycle of time.