Paintings by Walter Rhoads

Shiva the Destroyer

In 2003 the theme for Burning Man was “Beyond Belief,” and the general interpretation was an open exploration of the varieties of religious belief. The base of the Man that year was an ornately decorated flat-topped pyramid with alcoves recessed at intervals around the base. Volunteers were invited to station themselves in these alcoves as living representations of the deity or fictitious character of their choice.

I chose to portray the Hindu god Shiva. Shiva's too complex a character to describe adequately in just a few words, but he's a necessary part of the cycle of creation and destruction. Brahma is the Creator, Vishnu is the Preserver, and Shiva is the Destroyer. He's also not only the ultimate ascetic and mystic, being credited more or less with inventing yoga, but when he shifts to the other pole of his personality, he's the ultimate lover, supposedly engaging in Tantric intercourse for years at a time. Obviously a very cool character.

Photo above by Rancher Dan. Used by permission.

Standing in front of our camp with the sign for our camp that was one of the sides for our trailer.

My top-heavy Shiva wig was a pain to wear, and kept pulling on my scalp. I put a lot of work into making the trident (trishula) and double-ended drum (damaru). I also cut out the crescent moon from a piece of aluminum and hand-painted the beads. The goddess figure in my hair (who represents the river Ganges) was a cake decoration from a dime store, and the wig was a thrift-store item. The cobra around my neck I got through mail order. The pink lei was a gift from a party at Burning Man the year before.
The blue is food coloring.

We bought some fake tiger fur yardage at a fabric store, and Julie made this wrap for me. Shiva typically wears a leopard or tiger skin and usually sits on a tiger skin, as in the photo at top.

I can't say I like the way I look here, but I did succeed in looking different from the way I usually do.

Kailasa is Shiva's mountaintop home in the Himalayas.

Our favorite Burning Man discussion group has a cocktail party every year at the event, and people typically dress up, down, or sideways for it. That's Julie as my consort, the goddess Parvati, me in the middle as Shiva, and a fellow named Max Icon. I don't think he usually wears a dress in the “real world.”

Standing in front of our camp with the sign for our camp that was one of the sides for our trailer.		My top-heavy Shiva wig was a pain to wear, and kept pulling on my scalp. I put a lot of work into making the trident (trishula) and double-ended drum (damaru). I also cut out the crescent moon from a piece of aluminum and hand-painted the beads. The goddess figure in my hair (who represents the river Ganges) was a cake decoration from a dime store, and the wig was a thrift-store item. The cobra around my neck I got through mail order. The pink lei was a gift from a party at Burning Man the year before. The blue is food coloring.
We bought some fake tiger fur yardage at a fabric store, and Julie made this wrap for me. Shiva typically wears a leopard or tiger skin and usually sits on a tiger skin, as in the photo at top.
		I can't say I like the way I look here, but I did succeed in looking different from the way I usually do.
Kailasa is Shiva's mountaintop home in the Himalayas.
Our favorite Burning Man discussion group has a cocktail party every year at the event, and people typically dress up, down, or sideways for it. That's Julie as my consort, the goddess Parvati, me in the middle as Shiva, and a fellow named Max Icon. I don't think he usually wears a dress in the “real world.”