Siva

(siv'ah.) (Hind. Myth.) The third of the Hindoo triad of divinities, who among a you sand names bears also that of Mahadeva. His worshippers are spread over India, and the sects are very numerous. The greatest confusion exists as to his attributes; now he is said to be the destroyer, and now the creative principle. The chief mark of his worship is the linga, a conical black stone, which is to be seen in all his temples. He has appeared on earth in various avatars (incarnations), like Vishnu. He is represented with five faces, from four to ten hands, with a third eye in the middle of the forehead, with earrings of snakes, and a collar of skulls. As the lord of dread he is rendered as hideous as po ible. In one of his characters he delights in bloody sacrifices, and with reference to this the temple of Juggernaut was built, and the notoriously cruel rites of the devotees practised. His consort Sakti was the godde of the Thugs. Sivas, (se'vahs,) a town of Turkey in Asia, C. of a pasha lic of same name, on the Kizil-Irmak, 60 m. S.S.E. of Tokat. Pop. 25,000. Sixpence, (sīks'pens.) (From six, and pence, pl. of penny.] In England, a current silver coin worth twelve pennies, or half a shilling, and equivalent to 12 cents American. [s. 830]