Siva and his Family

Though Siva is an ascetic, he lives with his family. He is very fond of his consort, Parvathi, whom he married after subjecting her to a lot of tests. Siva treats his wife as his equal and shares his seat with her. She is literally his better half and occupies half of his body. This earned him the title ardhanariswara (half female, half male). Normally we find Parvathi always by his side, especially when he is seated in Kailash, sharing with her all the honors that he receives.

His beloved children are Skanda or Kumara and Lord Ganesha or Vinayaka. The Bull Nandi is his vehicle. Nandiswara is humility personified. He is very knowledgeable also. Nandi taught universe the secrets of Vedas and lessons in humility! Hanuman is a form of representation of the powers of Lord Siva. Another important member of his pariwar is Bhringi, the zealous devotee who was not inclined to worship anyone other than Siva and refused to worship even Parvathi, till he was made to realize his mistake. Although a mountain dweller, Siva is not attached to anything and true to his ascetic nature, keeps wandering from place to place. Mount Kailash is his abode, where live his family, his devotees who attained liberation and his great army of goblins, imps and ghosts.