Ardhanarishwara

Source: wikipedia

Ardhanarishwara is one of the manifestations of Lord Shiva. Literally it means the lord who is half male and half female. The legend behind this form of Lord Shiva has its reference in several puranas and the epic Mahabharata. In almost all the major puranas there is the mention of Ardhanarishwara. The kshetra-purana in Tamil narrates the event that led to this manifestation. Once, all the sages and munis gathered at Kailash to pay their respects to Lord Shiva and Parvati. Sage Bhringi, who had vowed to worship only Lord Shiva, ignored Parvati. Enraged by this sage's behavior Parvati cursed Bhringi Rishi to become only a skeleton losing all his flesh and blood. On seeing this condition of sage Lord Shiva blessed him with a third leg so that he could stand erect. Parvati who felt defeated performed severe tapasya to please Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva granted her the boon of uniting with him so that Bhringi Rishi will be compelled to worship her along with Lord Shiva in the form of Ardhanarishwara. But the sage assumed the form of bumblebee and circumambulated only the male half of idol by drilling the hole in idol of the deity. Amazed by the devotion of the sage Parvati reconciled with the sage and blessed him. 

In the Kalika purana, Gauri is set to have suspected Lord Shiva of infidelity when she saw her own reflection in the breast of Lord Shiva. A conjugal dispute erupted and was resolved quickly. Parvati expressed a wish to fuse with Lord Shiva. Accepting her request Lord Shiva fused with Parvati to form Ardhanarishwar. In Shiva Purana the legend states that Brahma created Prajapatis who were all males so they were unable to create. Brahma approached Lord Shiva for help. Lord Shiva appeared as Ardhanarishwara at the request of Lord Brahma and a number of female beings were created to Ardhanarishwara for the creation to progress.

The idol of Shiva in Ardhanarishwara form is found in almost all Shiva temples in South India and South East Asia. The main temple is at Thiruchengode in Namakkal disctrict in Tamil Nadu and also in Rishivandiam near Kallakurichi in Tamil Nadu.