Word: shiva
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...thousand years ago in the central Indian town of Khajuraho, the monarchs of the Chandella dynasty commissioned a vast temple complex, consecrated to the great triumvirate of Hinduism: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. What makes the complex unique is that among the thousands of exquisitely carved images are scores of sculptures portraying gods, humans and animals in uninhibited sexual embrace. Once lost beneath dense jungle, the site has emerged in recent years as a popular attraction. "What better way to end the millennium," suggests Betty Bohnenblust, a local hotelier, "than to relive its beginning...
...almost as if MADONNA can't leave the stage until someone has been offended. Her appearance on the MTV Awards as Shiva, a Hindu god, who then transmogrified into a different, more booty-shaking type of avatar altogether, vexed some Hindus. The World Vaishnava Association said her makeup, reminiscent of Hindu facial markings that indicate purity and devotion, did not go too well with her diaphanous top and suggestive dancing. Luckily, Hindus don't believe in fatwas. And besides, other Hindu groups were more complimentary, saying her pronunciation of chants was improving and she should be commended for her interest...
...Karma Club in Chicago (the sister nightclub of the one in Boston) also came under fire recently, for its interior decor. According to AHAD, this club features extravagant displays of religious icons in "compromising environments." For example, pictures of the Hindu gods Shiva and Krishna occupy the wall of a bar, behind a number of bottles of liquor. A large statue of a dancing Shiva stands in the midst of the dance floor; a scantily clad man wearing a mask with three heads (apparently representing Lord Brahma) dances erotically on a pedestal. Finally, a statue of Lord Ganesha--the same...
Stone takes his time putting all the elements of an enormously complicated plot into place. Much religious arcana are offered: "How the Kabbalistic doctrine of ayin, the unknowable element in which the Infinite exists, had its Hindu cognate in the concept Nishkala Shiva, the remote absolute." Reading the first half of Damascus Gate can, at such moments, feel like a long uphill trek...
...Games began, in fact, the athletes looked just like classic kids but in Speed Generation gear. "It's amazing," marveled Shiva Keshavan, 16, the Indian luger, of the sport he took up 18 months ago. "I go faster than most cars do." Jennifer Rodriguez, a Miami speed skater with a pierced navel and a pierced-tongue speed-skating boyfriend, confesses, "Deep down, a little bit of everybody, no matter how rebellious you are, wants to go to the Olympics and just enjoy the magic...