Mahadeva Round Clock

This mandala represents Shiva, for whom "Mahadeva" is another name. The half-rosette-as-three-eyes idea came to me during meditation; they represent the two physical eyes and the "third eye" of introspection and intuition located at the kshetra of the ajna chakra. The circle is blue because Shiva is traditionally depicted blue, while the three stripes correspond to the three stripes of sacred ash worn on the forehead by Shiva's devotees. The upward-pointing triangle represents the male-principle pure consciousness that is Shiva is, and the red crescent moon references Shiva's role as the bringer of change, the destroyer of the old to make way for the new. In his aspect as Nataraja, of Lord of the Dance, Shiva is traditionally depicted holding a flame in one hand, hence the flames. The tiger stripes represent the skin upon which Shiva sits in meditation, the snake represents those that always accompany Shiva in iconography (though I have chosen here the Greek form of the ouroboros, or self-devouring serpent) while the beam of light references the "lingam," another form Shiva takes.