Pashupati ( Sanskrit ''Paśupati''; devanagari पशुपति ) is a Hindu deity and an incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva as "lord of the animals". Pashupati is mainly worshipped in Nepal and India. Pashupati is also the national deity of Nepal.

Etymology

''Paśupati'' or ''Pashupatinath'', means "Lord of all animals". It was originally it is also was the epithet of Rudra in the Vedic period. and it is one of the epithets of Shiva also.

History

The earliest claimed evidence of Pashupati comes from the

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900&n ...

(3300 BCE to 1300 BCE), where the Pashupati seal has been said to represent a proto-Shiva figure.

The Deity

Pashupatinath is an avatar of Shiva, one of the

Hindu Trinity The Trimūrti (; Sanskrit: त्रिमूर्ति ', "three forms" or "trinity") are the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity in Hinduism, in which the cosmic functions of creation ex nihilo, creation, Conservation ...

. He is the male counterpart of Shakti. The five faces of Pashupatinath represent various incarnations of Shiva; Sadyojata (also known as Barun), Vamdeva (also known as Uma Maheswara), Tatpurusha, Aghor & Ishana. They face West, North, East, South and Zenith respectively, representing Hinduism's five primary elements namely earth, water, air, light and ether.Encyclopaedia of Saivism
Swami P. Anand, Swami Parmeshwaranand, Publisher Sarup & Sons, , , page 206 Puranas describe these faces of Shiva as:

By country

Nepal

Although Nepal is a secular state, its population is predominantly Hindu. Pashupatinath is revered as a national deity. The Pashupatinath Temple, located at the bank of the river Bagmati, is considered one of the most sacred places in Nepal. In mythology it is said that Lord Pashupatinath started living in Nepal in the form of a deer because he was enchanted by the beauty of

Kathmandu Valley The Kathmandu Valley ( ne, काठमाडौं उपत्यका; also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley ( ne, नेपाः उपत्यका, Nepal Bhasa: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑑅 𑐐𑐵𑑅, नेपाः गाः)), ...

India

A Pashupatinath temple is sited on the banks of the Shivana river in

Mandsaur Mandsaur is a city and a municipality in Mandsaur district located on Border of Mewar and Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers ...

, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is one of the most important shrines of Mandsaur, and Lord Shiva in the form of Lord Pashupatinath is its primary deity. Its main attraction is a unique

Shiva Linga A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional im ...

displaying eight faces of Lord Shiva. The shrine has four doors, representing the

cardinal direction The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are at ...

Pashupata Shaivism

Pashupata Shaivism is one of the oldest Shaivite sects that derives its name from ''Pashupati''. The sect upholds Pashupati "as the supreme deity, the lord of all souls, and the cause of all existence".Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide, p. 923, Roshen Dalal, Penguin UK

References

Sources

* * * * * * Includes ''Śivasahasranāmakoṣa'', a dictionary of names. This work compares eight versions of the Śivasahasranāmāstotra. The preface and introduction (in English) by Ram Karan Sharma provide an analysis of how the eight versions compare with one another. The text of the eight versions is given in Sanskrit. * {{Shaivism Forms of Shiva Animal gods Horned deities Hindu gods Shaivism