What is Shiva the god of? Different people seem to have different answers. 

To classical dancers, he is Nataraja, leg raised in the cosmic dance, Tandava. To followers of yoga, he is the Adiyogi, father of all asanas. To many transgender people, he is Ardhanareeshwara, the sacred balance of masculine and feminine.

And to his Ganas — that merry band of ghosts, ghouls, and hobgoblins — he is Bhootnath, the king of spirits. 

Shiva’s abode is Mount Kailasha, but he is often shown meditating in graveyards. The Ganas might be the reason for this. 

As the story goes, Shiva was searching for a place of great purity where he could immerse himself in tapas. Unable to find such a place, his frustration gave birth to the Ganas. Described as fearsome creatures, they were reviled by everyone else. But, as the Tamil saying goes, ‘Anbe Sivam’ — ‘to love is the essence of Shiva’. He made his home in cemeteries and cremation grounds, where his Ganas would always be welcome and he could meditate in peace.  

The Ganas are a diverse lot. Some have extra limbs or animal heads; others have fangs and sharp claws. From the perpetually hungry Preta, whose belly immediately burns up everything it eats, to the shapeshifting Bhoot, who skillfully mimics the human form but cannot cast a shadow, they use their powers for all sorts of mischief. 

A wicked thief named Gunanidhi once decided to steal prasad from a nearby Shiva temple. He waited for the devotees to fall asleep, then crept inside. The idol’s lamp had died out, and to navigate the dark better, Gunanidhi used a piece of his own shirt to relight it. He stole the prasad, but on the way out, he was caught by the devotees and thrashed to death. When Yama’s agents arrived to drag him to hell, they were stopped by Shiva’s Ganas. His act of lighting their lord’s lamp, unwitting as it may have been, was still worship to them. Gunanidhi was granted rebirth and led a noble life this time. He became an ardent devotee of Shiva, who made him the god of wealth and gave him a new name, ‘Kubera’.

Stories like this show the Ganas’ attachment to Shiva. They are quick to defend his honour and wage war against his enemies — like the lion-faced Keertimukha, who humbled Rahu, or the fierce Veerabhadra, who cut off Daksha’s head.

But the Ganas are more than Shiva’s bodyguards; they are his friends.

When Sati died and he was consumed by grief, they wept with him. When he found love again, with Parvati, they rejoiced for him. When his path was blocked by a stranger, they raged alongside him, and when the boy was later adopted as Ganesha, they celebrated with him. They take the act of feeling, which can otherwise be isolating, and turn it into a sense of community.  

In many ways, Shiva, the Supreme Being, is at his most human when he is with the Ganas. Perhaps, before the legends took over, they were as human as us.

The Ganas are said to be literate, with their own complex society and culture. Some stories claim they spoke in utter cacophony that only Shiva could understand, but other stories call this language ‘Paisachi’. Was it a real language spoken by tribal groups? Linguists continue to speculate, some linking it to the Pali language of Buddhist scripture and others believing fragments of it have survived in Konkani. 

Ash-smeared, garlanded in skulls, and with a fondness for bhang, Shiva has never been a conventional god. Is it possible that many misfits — people shunned by society for physical, mental, or social differences — found home within him? If so, what does it say about our stories and the way we depict them? 

The Ganas of yore may not exist anymore, but every year, between October and May, their spirit is well alive through dances like the Theyyam of Kerala and Bhuta Kola of Karnataka.

Read about many more such fascinating tales from mythology on the ACK Comics app!

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Nagas are one of the most prominent mythological beings mentioned in the Hindu scriptures. They are supernatural serpents in Hindu mythology and are depicted as either complete serpents, complete humans with multiple snake hoods emerging from their back, beings with half-snake and half-human body, and some having the ability to shapeshift between these forms. They are said to live in Patal Lok, an aquatic realm under the surface of the earth that is filled with treasures, unimaginable to humankind, and anthills are often considered as holy portals to this semi-divine underworld. Apart from that underworld, Nagas also dwell in other water bodies like lakes, rivers and oceans. These divine creatures with mystical powers are synonymous with nature spirits and are a symbol of rebirth, death, fertility, immortality, medicine, health and wealth. Due to this, snake worship has been a practice in India since ancient times. An iconic festival dedicated to snakes is Nag Panchmi. People all over the country offer their prayers to these nature spirits as a part of the celebrations.

According to Mahabharata, rishi Kashyap and Kadru, daughter of Daksh, are the parents of all nagas. Out of them, Shesha was the eldest, and then came Vasuki, Manasa, and many others. Kashyapa had another wife, who was also Kadru’s sister, Vinata. She gave birth to Vishnu’s vahana, Garuda, an eagle-human hybrid and he became the arch-nemesis of the nagas since eagles consume snakes. In the Ramayana, Indrajit used the Nagapasha astra on Rama and Lakshmana, which hurled venomous snakes over them. The two fell unconscious and Garuda came to their rescue. He got rid of the venomous snakes. There are various stories of enmity between Garuda and nagas in the scriptures, which depict the aggressive nature of the nagas. But on the contrary, there are also some nagas that are mentioned in the scriptures for their good deeds, in both Vaishnavism and Shaivism.

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