31

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF UTTARAKHAND

This part of the country is most sacred to the Hindus including
those following Buddhism and Sikhism, and appealing as it does
with its awful solemnity and weird grandeur of landscape to all
that is romantic in the human soul, which makes it the fit abode
of the great gods of Hinduism and Buddhism. Buddha alongwith
Indian legendary Gods and Goddesses have left traces of their
greatness at various places. It is to Kedairnath and Badrinath in
the everlasting snows that they point as the home of their gods,
where gods lived. Mount Kailash is considered the perpetual
home of the Shiva.
Worship of Shiva
It was in the holy mountains of this part of the Himalaya that
the great Shiva is described as having dallied with the wives of
seven Rishis, or sages, who are the stars of the constellation
Ursa Major, and for this he was cursed that his ling should
fill the whole earth. He accordingly flung down his ling on
these very mountains and hence the origin of phallic worship.
The marriage of Shiva with the daughter of Himanchal forms
the basis of many a folklore which describes the nuptial attire
in truly awesome detail. "The Mahadeo smeared his body with