The Goddess Bhuvaneshwari and the Goddess Siddhidhatri

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     After the death of Madhu and Kaitabha, the Earth had land as well as water, but they needed energy from the sun to help provide life. So, the goddesses Tara and Kushmanda entered the sun. Kushmanda made the sun very bright and radiant and Tara made the sun radiate with energy and heat. Shakti then took the form of Goddess Shodashi. Goddess Shodashi planted a bamboo tree within the earth and poured water on it from her magical water pot. In this way, all plants on earth began to grow.
     After this, Brahma Vishnu and Rudra, a form of Shiva, didn't know what to do. Suddenly, a magical chariot appeared. The three of them got on the chariot and it flew them to a magical island. They saw a beautiful city and decided to go in there. The moment they entered the city, They turned into women. The reached the main palace where they learned that the island was called Manidvipa, and the ruler was Goddess Bhuvaneshwari, the queen of the universe. She was taken care of by many Yoginis who supplied her every need. She sat on the left thigh of Lord Sadashiva, the cosmic form of Lord Shiva.
     Bhuvaneshwari gave her shaktis in marriage to them. She gave Saraswathi to Brahma, Lakshmi to Vishnu, and Uma or Kali to Rudra. Bhuvaneshwari then created 14 planetary systems in the universe, each one different from the next. Goddess Shakti then took the form of Goddess Siddhidhatri and told them that their power comes from their wives, and that she will also create divine powers for them to use. Hence, she created the 8 main Siddhis, which are special powers one can gain through meditation. They are called Anima, Mahima, Garima, Laghima, Prapti, Prakamya, Ishitva, and Vishitva.
     Anima can make you shrink to the size of an atom, Mahima can make you grow infinitely big, Garima can make you heavy, Prapti can make you teleport to wherever you want, Prakamya can make you know whatever anyone wants, Ishitva allows you to control nature, and Vishitva allows you to control elemental forces. There are 15 secondary siddhis which can allow you to do many things, ranging from shapeshifting and telepathy, to teleportation and seeing the future. Throughout many stories, you see sages, demons, and yogis use these abilities. Goddess Shakti then created the goddess Kamalatmika, who spread prosperity among humanity.
     Once the universe was set in motion, Brahma called all the gods, his mind-born sons and daughters, and some brahmins to conduct the first yagna. Lord Shiva attended the yagna in the form of Bhikshatana, the god of ascetics. He was scary looking, with a corpse stuck on his trident, and he used a skull as a food bowl. He came outside the yagna arena and begged for food. But the brahmins didn't let him in, not wanting to waste their time with a creepy beggar when they had a yagna to conduct. So, Bhikshatana threw his skull bowl into the yagna arena and the brahmins threw it out. But another skull appeared and another, until the whole yagna arena was full of scary skulls, which were de-purifying the atmosphere of the area.
     So, Brahma went to Shiva and promised him that no yagna can be completed without a prayer to Lord Shiva. Hence Lord Shiva is known as Kapaleshwara, the Lord of skulls. After the yagna, Brahma returned to Brahmaloka and Vishnu returned to the milk ocean in Vaikuntha. Shiva felt very hot and so decided to live on Mount Kailash in the Himalayas, where he would be cool and comfortable. This is also why in todays world, people pour cold water and milk products on the lingam, which is a special form of worshipping Shiva.

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