South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c9.s3.2

c9.s3.2

It may be noted that, while worship is offered in the central shrine of a Siva temple only to the formless stone linga, for processional purposes images made of metal are used; and these are of various forms and go by various names, such as Sōmāskanda, Vrishārūdha, Gangādhara, Kalyānasundara, Ardhanāri, Bhikshātana, Natarāja, etc. Instances are not uncommon where images of Siva in one of his processional forms receives more attention from the worshippers than the linga itself. In Chidambaram, for example, the image of Natarāja receives more attention and is more famous than the movable linga of pebble which is known as Ratnasabhāpati, or the stone linga of Mūlasthāna. At Bhikshāndārkōyil in the Trichinopoly district the mendicant form of Siva is worshipped. Ardhanāri is the god worshipped at Tiruchchengōdu (Salem) and so is the bronze image of Somāskanda (under the name Tyāgarāja) worshipped at Tiruvārūr.