This statue of Lord Shiva stands proudly at the entrance to the sacred Hindu site, Grand Bassin, on the beautiful Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

This statue is the second tallest statue of Lord Shiva in the world.

It stands at 108-feet-tall (33 metres), with his trident at the entrance of Ganga Talao (or Grand Bassin), and is a faithful copy of the Shiva statue of Sursagar lake in Vadodara, Gujarat, India.

Shiva is the god of the yogis and his characteristics are:

• the trident that represents the three gunas
• the snakes that show he is beyond the power of death and poison and also stand for the Kundalini energy
• the sound of Shiva’s two-sided drum maintains the rhythm of the heartbeat and creates the sound of AUM in the overtones
• the vehicle of Shiva is the white bull, Nandi (the joyful)
• Shiva is often seated on a tiger skin or wears one, representing the mind
• Shiva lives on Mount Kailasa in the Himalayas

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