Shiva...

[jimutavahana]

[attachmentid=29024][attachmentid=29025]I have posted two photos (perhaps incorrectly in 'Natural Phenomena') taken on the morning of Shivratri (Shivas marriage to Parvati) in March 2005 whilst I was staying at Sivananda ashram in Kerala. I didnt see these images when I took the photos but since then, wow...

Id love to hear from any Siavites, Hindus & Indians specifically about what they think of these. For anyone who recognises the characteristics associated with Shiva, there seems to be several in this 'cloud' which for me, coupled with the auspicious day it was taken makes it too much co-incidence...

I look forward to hearing your theories!

[jimutavahana]

ok, a few views but no comments as yet so let me put forward my own interpretation of what these images may represent...

In the left hand image I think its fairly easy to see the area of interest, towards the mid-top right of the photo. First of all, there are no 'clouds' in this part of the sky apart from this strange figure so this image seems out of place straight away.

I have had many opinions on this, the most popular being 'genie', 'witch, 'jesus in the clouds' and others of a similar nature. For me however, this represents Shiva using the following assertions:

Look at any image of Shiva from Hindu folklore and he will at various times be carrying a trishul (trident) and an earthenwear pot - both are visible to me in this image, the trident sticks out and the pot is under his 'arm'

You can clearly make out a human form, with an eye, and my interpretation of the white clouds on his head are the garland of snakes commonly attributed to Shiva.

And he has a ponytail!! - Saivites the world over have this!!!

Also.....it may be stretching things a little but I'm convinced I can make out MOST of an Om symbol in the 'tail' sweeping behind him....

Added to the fact that this was taken on the most auspicious day of the Hindu calendar, Shivratri, and I was er full of devotion (yoga) at the time, I conclude that my interpretation of this is Shiva, welcoming the Sun on his Wedding day......

Now look at the picture on the right which I took a few minutes before....and concentrate on the same right hand side of the picture....there's something going on here too!

I'd really like to hear others views on this theory, and their own on the images too....

ps Jimutavahana is one of the many names attributed to Shiva and it means....'he who rides the clouds' !!!

[evil_mika]

that is so wild! i see exactly what you're talking about, the trident he's holding, the garland of snakes, and everything. wow, and its amazing that it was taken on shivaratri. i don't think there are too many photos like this at all. did you post this in the image gallery section? i don't see how anyone could just write it off as a coincidence.

[coldethyl]

Thank goodness for your second post or I would have never known what in the world you were talking about. I had no idea what a Shiva was.

Anyway this is a classic case of pareidolia. You're just seeing shapes in the clouds.

[The Skeptic Eric Raven]

I see some fluffy clouds.

[bLu3 de 3n3rgy]

Thank goodness for your second post or I would have never known what in the world you were talking about. I had no idea what a Shiva was.

Anyway this is a classic case of pareidolia. You're just seeing shapes in the clouds.

I was thinking the same, and I agree it's pareidolia, but it's still a cool pic esp if you didn't notice the formation at the time!

[my_psychosis]

Found a pic. http://gallery.shaivam.org/image/shiva/shiva_lingam1.jpg

[AnuKabal]

i do seee the formation that u speak of, but it is probably nothing and i'm just seeing it because i think i'm supposed to.

[jimutavahana]

Thanks all

I thought I may have to elaborate a bit before people got my interpretation and of course this is where the pareiodolia comes in as once you have a 'brief' then its much easier to 'see'...

I'd counsel against such definitive responses though! - this is an unexplained mystery for sure and cant just be dismissed so readily, i mean how many characteristics d'ya want?!!!

And if you think that one is freaky wait until I theorise about the second picture....read on

If you look at the second one, across in the far right of the picture you can see some clouds. When I enlarged this section of the photo i nearly freaked, as what looks like a profile of what I thought is a human / buddha-like figure becomes visible. The most damning aspect is a perfectly formed eye, and once you see this you can make out an eyebrow, hair, and a beard....but something wasnt right, the nose.....so I thought about for a while and then hit upon the idea that this isnt a nose at all, its a snout, like from a BULL.....

And then this really started to freak me (at the time) as Shivas consort and leader of his Ganas is none other than Nandi the bull whom he rides the skies with!!

The final piece of this is the timing of the pictures....the right hand one was taken 90 secs - 2mins before the Shiva picture, so putting it all together, in my mind its not too fantastical to theorise that this is Nandi blowing Shiva across the sky to welcome the sun on his wedding day!! hehe mental eh??

But before you rain down on me with offers of straightjackets etc, look at the pics again, enlarge them if you can and follow the above train of thought, and maybe maybe you might begin to agree that there is just too many co-incidences here....

Historically lots of strange & wonderful things happen on Shivratri, I'd appreciate any Indian / Hindu comments to back this up.

Om namah Sivaya!

[the right hand of sanct2]

I see exactly what your talking about in the first(Also there looks to be a rearing horse on the left of the mountain.) However in the second even after enlarging I fail to see what your getting at.

[jimutavahana]

yea it does take a certain amount of lateral thinking, plus when you open the jpeg and have the zoom facility available on your PC it makes it much easier to see.

Basically from the far right of the 2nd picture, starting at the fluffy white clouds (hair) trace a line left at about 45 degrees and you can make a profile consisiting of eyebrow (drk cloud) then eye (dark) then snout (dark) then mouth (dark) then beard (white) and it looks like it is blowing the white clouds back into the centre of the picture.

and 2 minutes later the other image appeared in the second photo....

this is what I see & of course interpretation is everything. However put together with all the characteristics and the occasion it just seems like too many co-incidences....not that I can prove anything hehe but thats the point innit? - for me its an unexplained mystery!!!

I hope some Indians will view & comment!

[Bella-Angelique]

Do you believe it is a sign of war?

[jimutavahana]

Do you believe it is a sign of war?

no, quite the opposite actually...

Shiva may be the destroyer in the Hindu trinity but i take his destructive nature to refer to mans 'lesser' qualities i.e the ego and self-regarding aspects of the mind. Once these are overcome through yoga, meditation then the true nature of being can be recognised. Ok thats the yogic theory anyway.

What are your thoughts on the photos?

[AnuKabal]

shiva is the destroyer of the bad quilaties, and evil nature.

[crouton]

In the left hand photo, I see, in the cloud formation to the left, where the sun is, a headless figure sitting 'Indian' style (crosslegged on the ground) but floating above the mountain. Where the head should be is a strange arrow shaped thing.

[FrankBlunt]

In the left hand image I think its fairly easy to see the area of interest, towards the mid-top right of the photo. First of all, there are no 'clouds' in this part of the sky apart from this strange figure so this image seems out of place straight away.

I do see what you're referring to on the right hand side. From this same photo, I found similarities between images of Shiva that I downloaded and the cloud formation on the left side of the photograph. The head and ponytail are distinguishable, and the pose of the figure appears to depict one descending from the mountain top.

The majority of my pattern recognitions have been in names and dates, but I don't discount cloud formations providing signs within an intelligent design.

[Lord Umbarger]

I'm Jewish. We "sit SHIVA" for a time after the death of a loved one. That's what I thought this was about before I actually read the first two posts!

[jimutavahana]

If anyone has any other stories surrounding weird and wonderful happenings on Shivratri I'd be grateful for information...I did a lot of research since these were taken, books on Shiva, Sage Agastya, the mountains in Kerala where this was taken etc, but can only find folklore / mythology type events from ancient times, I'm keen to find examples from the present era, any shaivites out there reading?

[Bone_Collector]

Hi jimutavahana!

The first pic shows a cloud, a little out of place but we see clouds like that all the time. I had no idea that it looked like Shiva until you pointed out the similarities. The pic is a little strange at most but it doesn't look much like Shiva at all. I guess you are seeing things you really want to see in that pic. Nice pic though.

To me the shape in the first pic looks like a genie and I have no clue what you are talking about in the second pic. Could you please mark it in paint and post so that I can look at that area specifically?

Edited October 26, 2006 by Bone_Collector

[jimutavahana]

Hi jimutavahana!

The first pic shows a cloud, a little out of place but we see clouds like that all the time. I had no idea that it looked like Shiva until you pointed out the similarities. The pic is a little strange at most but it doesn't look much like Shiva at all. I guess you are seeing things you really want to see in that pic. Nice pic though.

To me the shape in the first pic looks like a genie and I have no clue what you are talking about in the second pic. Could you please mark it in paint and post so that I can look at that area specifically?

namaskar

thanks but I'm not looking for answers,...what i am doing is suggesting that these characteristics, the position in the sky plus the day it was taken all add up to a bit more than a co-incidence, I dont agree that i 'wanted' to see these things as i didnt see this 'cloud' at all when i took the picture, and it was someone else later that day said 'what is THAT???'

I can email the original pics to you, send me a message with your email.

[Bone_Collector]

I'm not saying you wanted to see something and took this pic on Shivratri. Even you said it did not strike you initially, you only observed it closely when someone else said the picture looked strange. That's exactly what I'm saying, It doesn't strike you immediately as Lord shiva's image when you first take a look at it, for it does not have an obvious resemblance.

Try showing this pic to some people, tell them absolutely nothing at all, just ask them what they think of it? I wonder how many would say it looks like Lord Shiva.

The position in the sky that you're talking about is not of significant importance. When the sun is going down, no matter what position the cloud is, it would produce a similar effect, depends from which position you are looking at it.

I 've seen the pics you posted and I believe they are the originals? I was just wondering if you could mark the place in the second pic where you saw a bull.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good pic, and if you look long enough you will

find some resemblance but the resemblance is not something that is obvious but still it's a good coincidence that it was taken on Shivratri.

Edited October 26, 2006 by Bone_Collector

[jimutavahana]

I'm not saying you wanted to see something and took this pic on Shivratri. Even you said it did not strike you initially, you only observed it closely when someone else said the picture looked strange. That's exactly what I'm saying, It doesn't strike you immediately as Lord shiva's image when you first take a look at it, for it does not have an obvious resemblance.

Try showing this pic to some people, tell them absolutely nothing at all, just ask them what they think of it? I wonder how many would say it looks like Lord Shiva.

The position in the sky that you're talking about is not of significant importance. When the sun is going down, no matter what position the cloud is, it would produce a similar effect, depends from which position you are looking at it.

I 've seen the pics you posted and I believe they are the originals? I was just wondering if you could mark the place in the second pic where you saw a bull.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good pic, and if you look long enough you will

find some resemblance but the resemblance is not something that is obvious but still it's a good coincidence that it was taken on Shivratri.

OK, I have attached the picture again. If you go to the mountain in the bottom right hand corner of the picture then look directly above this until you come to the first dark cloud, this is the beard. If you establish this you can then picture a profile i.e a side view of a face looking towards the sun and make out the other clouds that make up the other features i.e mouth, snout, very detailed eye, eyebrow and finally the white fluffy clouds at the top are the hair. To appreciate this fully you need to save the picture, then enlarge it focussing in on this area until it fills the bottom right hand corner of the screen. the eye at this magnitude is pretty uncanny. Have a go....

ps it was actually taken in the morning, as the sun was rising...[attachmentid=29093]

[Bone_Collector]

I'm sorry but I cannot see anything. I attached the zoomed portion of the area in question, could you please draw the face on it with paint and post it back?

Edited October 27, 2006 by Bone_Collector

[jimutavahana]

I'm sorry but I cannot see anything. I attached the zoomed portion of the area in question, could you please draw the face on it with paint and post it back?

I can't for some reason, but let me try another way of explaining. Looking at your thumbnail as it is the image of a profile is pretty clear to me. It looks like the left hand side profile of a face blowing a puff of cigarette smoke back towards the centre of the picture.

As i said, the white cloud at the top of your thumbnail is the hair, the next dark line of cloud is the eyebrow, then a detailed, lazy eye in dark cloud, then what looks like a bulls snout, then the mouth and white beard / smoke. I know its confusing but thats what I see and it really is clear as day to me.

Anyone else see what I'm on about?

At the end of the day it doesnt matter, I'm satisfied that something wonderful is going on in both these pictures!!

[Bearly]

I am not trying to be disrespectful, and I think it is great that you view the cloud as Shiva. This show your devotion to your religion of choice, and I think that is a wonderful thing.

But if I was to be honest, and I do have a strong sense of humor so that may effect what I see, in the left picture the cloud looks to me like a smurf appearing as a genie and giving the 'thumbs up' with his left hand. But that's just me, and I hope you continue to see it as Shiva. It is a nice picture, I like the rays of sunlight and the mountain in the back ground.