Tribhuvanamaheśvara—great lord of the threefold world

Dr Uday Dokras PhD Stockholm

Shiva on top of the Head of Kala the mythical Devata sitting over Kala in yogic posture, Banteay Srei
Temple, Cambodia

.Built in the 10th century, the Tribhuvanmaheshwar Shiva temple in Cambodia has a magnificent
carving in which the deity is shown sitting in a yogic posture on top of Kaal. The name is an
appellation of the Mahadev Shiva. The greatest of Gods.
“The famous Khmer temple, Banteay Srei, was built by Yajñavarāha, a Brāhmaṇa priest, who
served during the reigns of Khmer kings Rajendravarman and Jayavarman V. According to stele
inscription of Banteay Srei, work on its construction began in 967 CE and Yajñavarāha's brother,
Viṣṇukumāra, is also mentioned as a co-patron. Banteay Srei was the only major temple at
Angkor not built for the king. This temple lies near the hill of Phnom Dei located twenty-five km
to the northeast of the main group of temples, where Yaśodharapura, the Khmer capital of that
time, was located. It consists of three shrines, laid out in a row from north to south: the north
shrine (dedicated to Viṣṇu), and the central and south shrines (both dedicated to Śiva).

The original name of this temple was Śrī Tribhuvanamaheśvara (Great Lord of the Threefold
World), an appellation of Lord Śiva. The temple's modern name, Banteay Srei‒ citadel of women
or citadel of beauty‒ is most probably related to the intricate the bas-relief carvings that can be
found on the walls as well as the tiny dimensions of the structures themselves.” 1
There is another explanation – it has many devatās (female deities of fertility) carved into the
walls of the structures. A typical devatā, embellishing each of the corners of the various shrines,
is shown as standing with a lamp hung over her head and swans adorning the base. These
devatās, with naked torsos and playing with flowers, are known for being the most voluptuous of
the Angkor devatās.” Yajñavarāha's temple was primarily dedicated to the Hindu god Śiva. Its
original name Tribhuvanamaheśvara—great lord of the threefold world is in reference to
the Shaivite linga that served as its central religious image.Tribhuvana- three fold…
Maheshvara…Biggest God

Declension table of tribhuvanamaheśvara

Masculine Singular Dual Plural

Nominative tribhuvanamaheśvaraḥ tribhuvanamaheśvarau tribhuvanamaheśvarāḥ

Vocative tribhuvanamaheśvara tribhuvanamaheśvarau tribhuvanamaheśvarāḥ

Accusative tribhuvanamaheśvaram tribhuvanamaheśvarau tribhuvanamaheśvarān

Instrumental tribhuvanamaheśvareṇa tribhuvanamaheśvarābhyām tribhuvanamaheśvaraiḥ

Dative tribhuvanamaheśvarāya tribhuvanamaheśvarābhyām tribhuvanamaheśvarebhyaḥ

Ablative tribhuvanamaheśvarāt tribhuvanamaheśvarābhyām tribhuvanamaheśvarebhyaḥ

Genitive tribhuvanamaheśvarasya tribhuvanamaheśvarayoḥ tribhuvanamaheśvarāṇām

Locative tribhuvanamaheśvare tribhuvanamaheśvarayoḥ tribhuvanamaheśvareṣu

Compound tribhuvanamaheśvara-Adverb -tribhuvanamaheśvaram –tribhuvanamaheśvarāt
______________________________________________________________________

1.At the Conference: International Seminar on Civilizational Dialogue between India and ASEAN, organized by the
Ministry of External Affairs and Indian Council of Cultural Relations in association with Nālandā University and
Government of Bihar, Patna, 20-22 July 2012. AUTHOR Karam Tej Sarao on the topic Banteay Srei, the
Cambodian Citadel of Women: A Look at the Scenes from the Ancient Indian Epics and the Purāṇas used the
above words to introduce his work
The entrance to the temple is from the East through the cruciform gopura, passing
through which are on the Avenue of processions with a series of low bars and pillars on
either side. Approximately in the middle of the road on the right and left remnants of
two exits, leading to dilapidated buildings (buildings), leaving only the entrance
doorways and part of the walls: to the North one to the South three. In front of the
gopuras of the first (external) investments the ruins of two buildings. After passing
through the gopura, offers stunning views of ponds, filled with water, and the temple. On
all extent of the reservoirs were stairs, what look like overgrown piles of stones.
Gopuram of the second attachments are very well preserved. Next find yourself on a
narrow platform, which the perimeter is six buildings, North and South, one from the
East and West – two. On all preserved pediments of the buildings reproduced image of
a religious nature, scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, various decorative
ornaments.

As for the third (inner) attachment, all the buildings and towers were restored, and thus
demonstrates once again the sophistication and beauty of the decor. There are three
towers of the temple, the tops of which resemble vessels for water, with a corridor to
them. Entrance translate figures of the APE warriors (unary). Here are two buildings
libraries. Inside some of the buildings you can see the pedestals under the Linga.
 

 
  

 
 Banteay SREI Images

Philosophy behind TribhuvanaMaheshwara

 
MAHADEV महादेव
Also known as Shiva: 'The Great God' is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is
the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism.Shiva has pre-
Vedic tribal roots, and the figure of Shiva as we know him today is an amalgamation of various
older non-Vedic and Vedic deities, including the Rigvedic storm god Rudra who may also have
non-Vedic origins, into a single major deity.
Shiva is known as "The Destroyer" within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that
includes Brahma and Vishnu. In the Shaivite tradition, Shiva is the Supreme Lord who creates,
protects and transforms the universe In the Shakta tradition, the Goddess, or Devi, is described as
one of the supreme, yet Shiva is revered along with Vishnu and Brahma. A goddess is stated to
be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Parvati (Sati) the equal complementary
partner of Shiva. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of
the Smarta tradition of Hinduism.
Shiva is the primal Atman (Self) of the universe. There are many both benevolent and fearsome
depictions of Shiva. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives
an ascetic life on Mount Kailash as well as a householder with wife Parvati and his two
children, Ganesha and Kartikeya. In his fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons.
Shiva is also known as Adiyogi Shiva, regarded as the patron god of yoga, meditation and arts.
The iconographical attributes of Shiva are the serpent around his neck, the
adorning crescent moon, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the third eye on his
forehead, the trishula or trident, as his weapon, and the damaru drum. He is usually worshipped
in the aniconic form of lingam. Shiva is a pan-Hindu deity, revered widely by Hindus,
in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. There are multiple names for God's various manifestations
worshiped in Hinduism. Some of the common names for these deities in Hinduism are:

 Bhagavan (भगवान्) the most frequently used name for God in Hinduism. The
equivalent term used for female deities is Bhagavati (भगवती).
 Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) is a theological concept espoused in Vedanta philosophy of
Hinduism, which is of neuter gender. The word Paramatman (परमात्मन्) popularly
pronounced as Paramatma (परमात्मा) is also used synonymously with it. The word is
used to denote the Supreme Divinity/Supreme Soul.
 Isvara (ईश्वर) shortened as Isha (ईश) means 'lord' in religious and secular context
(for example in the Gita, Arjuna is referred to as Manujeshvara which is a compound
of the two words manuja, 'human' and Ishvara, thus the word means 'lord of humans',
i.e. 'king'). The term Parameshvara ('Supreme Lord') is used to refer to
one's Ishta (chosen deity for personal veneration) in general terms. The feminine
equivalents are Isvari (ईश्वरी) and Parameshvari (परमेश्वरी) used in case of female deities.
 Deva/Devata (देव/देवता) is the most commonly used suffix used for male deities in
Hinduism. The feminine equivalent is Devi (देवी).
Additionally, most Hindu deities have a collection of 8/12/16/32/100/108/1000/1008
names exclusively dedicated to them known as Namavali.
Arya Samaj Maharishi Dayanand in his book Vaghasiya Ayush has listed 100 names of
God each representing some property or attribute thereof mentioning "Om" or "Aum" as

God's personal and natural name,

SHRI TRIMBAKESHWAR DEVASTHAN TRUST, TRIMBAKESHWAR, NASHK,INDIA
Trimbakeshwar town is an ancient Hindu Pilgrim centre located at the source of the Godavari
River, the longest river in peninsular India. Trimbakeshwar is abode of one of the twelve
Jyotirlingas. The extraordinary feature of the Jyotirlinga located here is the Linga in the temple is
in the form of a three faced embodying Tridev, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva.
The present Trimbakeshwar temple was constructed by third Peshwa Balaji Bajirao (1740-1760)
on the site of an old temple. There are entry gates on all the four sides, viz. East, West, South and
North. As per spiritual conceptions the direction East denotes the beginning, West denotes
maturity, south denotes fulfillment or completion and the North stands for the revelation.
In the year 1954 the Sansthan was registered under public trust registration act. Shri
Trimbakeshwar Sansthan takes care of daily three time pooja, all the festivals and gala carnivals
of the year. It is dedicated to the god Shiva and is one of the twelve jyotirlingas where the Hindu
genealogy registers at Trimbakeshwar, Maharashtra are kept. The origin of the sacred Godavari
river is near Trimbak.

Kusavarta kunda (sacred pond) in the temple premises, built by Shrimant Sardar Raosaheb

Parnerkar who was the Fadnavis of Indore State, is the source of the Godavari River, the longest
river in peninsular India. A bust of Sardar Fadnavis and his wife can be seen on the edge of the
kunda. The current temple was built by Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao. The temple is located between
three hills namely Brahmagiri, Nilagiri and Kalagiri. The temple has three lingas (an iconic form
of Shiv) representing Shiv, Vishnu and Brahma. The temple tank is called Amritavarshini, which
measured 28 m (92 ft) bu 30 m (98 ft). There are three other bodies of water, namely,
Bilvatheertha, Viswananthirtha and Mukundathirtha. There are images of various deities,
namely, Gangadevi, Jaleswara, Rameswara, Gautameswara, Kedarnatha, Rama, Krishna,
Parasurama and Lakshmi Narayana. The temple has also several monasteries and samadhis of
saints.

As per the Shiva Purana, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God
of preservation) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation. To test them, Shiva pierced
the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their
ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either direction.
Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as the
second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while
Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity. The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless
reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The Jyotirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva
appeared as a fiery column of light. Originally there were believed to be 64 jyotirlingas while 12
of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy. [2] Each of the twelve jyotirlinga sites take
the name of the presiding deity - each considered different manifestation of Shiv. [  At all these
sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar,
symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiv. The
twelve jyothirlinga are Somnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andhra
Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya
Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himalayas, Bhimashankar in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar
Pradesh, Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra, Vaidyanath at Deoghar in Jharkhand, Nageshwar
Temple at Dwaraka in Gujarat, Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil
Nadu and Grishneshwar at Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

Lord Shiva showed himself as a Jyotirlinga on the night of the Aridra Nakshatra. It is believed
that a person can see the Jyotirlingas as columns of fire piercing through the earth as he reaches a
higher level of spiritual attainment. Each Jyotirlinga site takes the name of the presiding deity.
Basically, the Jyotirlinga signifies the infinite nature of Lord Shiv. At the highest level, Shiva is
regarded as formless, limitless, transcendent and unchanging absolute Brahman and the primal
Atman (soul, self) of the universe.
Genealogy registers
Hindu genealogy registers at Trimbakeshwar are the genealogy registers of pilgrims
maintained here by pandas.

Tribhuvana Mahadevi
Female equivalent is given by the name of the Queen of Odisha, India Paramavaishnavi
Goswamini Devi or Tribhuvana Mahadevi I (Odia: ପ୍ରଥମ ତ୍ରିଭୁବନ ମହାଦେବୀ) was the first female
ruler of the Bhaumakara Dynasty in ancient Odisha and the widow of king Santikara I who
ascended the throne of Toshali or Utkala between the years 843 A.D to 845 A.D and ruled until
850 A.D after the premature death of her ruling son Subhakara III

Vaitala Deula or Baitala Temple at Bhubaneswar Built by Tribhuvana Mahadevi in a mixed

Kalingan and Dravidian architecture
Many Goddesses are revered with a prefix TRIBHUVANI such as Tribhuvana Sundari
which means most beautiful person in the 3 worlds. SEE PIC to RIGHT above
Trailokya (Sanskrit: त्रैलोक्य; Kannada: ತ್ರೈಲೋಕ್ಯ; Pali: tiloka, Wylie: khams gsum ; Chinese: 三
界) literally means "three worlds"It can also refer to "three spheres," "three planes of existence,"
"three realms"and "three regions."

1,000 names of Shiva

The Sanskrit word śaiva means "relating to the god Shiva", and this term is the Sanskrit name
both for one of the principal sects of Hinduism and for a member of that sect. It is used as an
adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism
The Vishnu sahasranama interprets Shiva to have multiple meanings: "The Pure One", and "the
One who is not affected by three Guṇas of Prakṛti (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas)". Shiva is known
by many names such as Viswanatha (lord of the universe), Mahadeva, Mahandeo, Mahasu,
Mahesha, Maheshvara, Shankara, Shambhu, Rudra, Hara, Trilochana, Devendra (chief of the
gods), Neelakanta, Subhankara, Trilokinatha (lord of the three realms), and Ghrneshwar (lord of
compassion). The highest reverence for Shiva in Shaivism is reflected in his
epithets Mahādeva ("Great god"; mahā "Great" and deva "god"), Maheśvara ("Great
Lord"; mahā "great" and īśvara "lord"),and Parameśvara ("Supreme Lord").
Sahasranama are medieval Indian texts that list a thousand names derived from aspects and
epithets of a deity. There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama,
devotional hymns (stotras) listing many names of Shiva. The version appearing in Book 13
(Anuśāsanaparvan) of the Mahabharata provides one such list. Shiva also has Dasha-
Sahasranamas (10,000 names) that are found in the Mahanyasa. The Shri Rudram Chamakam,
also known as the Śatarudriya, is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names.
Sahasranāma is a Sanskrit term which means "a thousand names". It is also a genre
of stotra literature, usually found as a title of the text named after a deity, such as Vishnu
Sahasranāma, wherein the deity is remembered by 1,000 names, attributes or epithets.
As stotras, Sahasra-namas are songs of praise, a type of devotional literature.The word is a
compound of sahasra "thousand" and nāman "name". A Sahasranāma often includes the names
of other deities, suggesting henotheistic equivalence and/or that they may be attributes rather
than personal names.[5] Thus the Ganesha Sahasranama list of one thousand names
includes Brahma, Vishnu, Shakti, Shiva, Rudra, SadaShiva and othersIt also includes epithets
such as Jiva (life force), Satya (truth), Param (highest), Jnana (knowledge) and others.The
Vishnu Sahasranama includes in its list work and jñāna-yājna (offering of knowledge) as two
attributes of Vishnu. The Lalita Sahasranama, similarly, includes the energies of a goddess that
manifest in an individual as desire, wisdom and action.
A sahasranama provides a terse list of attributes, virtues and legends symbolized by a deity.
There are also many shorter stotras, containing only 108 names and accordingly
called ashtottara-shata-nāma. Shiva is known by many names such as Viswanatha (lord of the
universe), Mahadeva, Mahandeo, Mahasu etc.
TRIBHUVANA in Jainism: The early Jain contemplated the nature of the earth and universe
and developed a detailed hypothesis on the various aspects of astronomy and cosmology.
According to the Jain texts, the universe is divided into 3 parts:

1. Urdhva Loka – the realms of the gods or heavens

2. Madhya Loka – the realms of the humans, animals and plants
3. Adho Loka – the realms of the hellish beings or the infernal regions
Jain temple noted for its 1000 pillars ; Saavira Kambada Temple (Sāvira Kambada
Basadi) or Tribhuvana Tilaka Cūḍāmaṇi), is a basadi or Jain temple noted for its 1000
pillars in Moodabidri, Karnataka, India. The temple is also known as "Chandranatha
Temple" since it honours the tirthankara Chandraprabha, whose eight-foot idol is
worshipped in the shrine.The town of Moodabidri is noted for its 18 Jain temples, but
Saavira Kambada Temple is considered the finest among them. The temple is considered
an architectural wonder and is a major attraction of Moodabidri.Shows that 1000 has
significance in the cultures here.