Shiva does not seek to defy or deny the value of cultural rules, rites and rituals. He is simply ignorant of them. He is not a rebel; he is simple and pure. This is most evident during the marriage of Shiva and Parvati. Parvati insists that Shiva come to her house like a groom and ask her father for her hand in marriage. When her mother, Mena, and her sisters, step out to welcome the groom, the sight that awaits them horrifies them. Unlike normal grooms who come on a mare, Shiva comes on a bull. Instead of being draped in fine cloth and sandal paste, he comes wrapped in animal hide and smeared
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