India, July 3 -- By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik - Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist

Shiva, the ascetic form of the Hindu divine, has a long history. The Vedic Rudra (1000 BC) is distinct from the later Puranic Shiva (500 AD), who lives atop Mount Kailasa with his wife and children.

The Vedic Rudra has a bow, not a trident. He shoots arrows at Prajapati Brahma. He destroys the yagna, when not invited. And he is given leftover offerings. But by the time of the Mahabharata, he is a powerful god invoked by Amba and Ashwatthama to help them destroy their enemies.

Ramayana tells for the first time the story of Shiva catching the Ganga river that descends from the sky on the locks of his hair. The Gudimallam linga shows a thick-haired man, ...