'Shiva' means 'auspicious' and everything about Lord Shiva is auspicious. A great personality, he is delineated in the Vedas, Agamas and the Puranas. He is all powerful, an embodiment of austerity, penance and renunciation. During the churning of the mighty ocean, he is said to have consumed the deadliest of poisons, 'haalaahala', in order to save the world. When Shiva tried to kill Andhakasura who was his own creation, the demon turned into the Lord's devotee as the touch of the Lord's trident destroyed the ignorance that had pervaded his being. Shiva took his son Ganesha's help to bring the Tripura demons together as Brahma had decreed that their end would come only if they were brought together. Equipping himself with all possible divine force, Shiva wrecked havoc on the three cities of Tripura. In the end, however, due to the devotion of Banasura, the city of Suvarna was saved.
Shiva relented in one of the fiercest battles that he faced with Gajasura and in the end, wore the demon's skin , blessed the asura such that a linga would come out of the earth and be consecrated as Krithivaseshwara. Just as Lord Narayana took ten incarnations, Lord Sankara manifested himself as a Linga in twelve places.
