If you search on the Internet “What is the color of Lord Shiva?,” most of the results will show that the color of Lord Shiva is white, but if you look for the images of Lord Shiva, most of the images depict Lord Shiva as blue in color. This has caused a great deal of confusion among Hindus whether Lord Shiva is white or blue in color.

What is the Color of Lord Shiva?

A. In Shiva Purana, there is a story of a female named Chanchula. When she reached the abode of Lord Shiva, she saw him. The description of Lord Shiva given in that chapter (SP Chapter 4: 42-45) is as follows:

42. She saw the three-eyed Mahādeva, the eternal, being served devotedly by Visnu, Brahma, and other gods.

43. He had the brilliance of ten million suns and was reverently served by Gaṇeśa, Bhrngi, Nandisa, Vīrabhadreśvara, and others.

44. His neck had a blue hue; he had five faces, three eyes, the crescent moon as crest-ornament and his left side was apportioned to Gaurī who had the brilliance of lightning.

45. He was white in complexion like camphor and wore all ornaments. Besmeared with white ashes all over the body and clad in white cloth he shone brilliantly.

Camphor is commonly used in Hindu rituals. It is white in color. Therefore, it is believed that Lord Shiva is white in color.

B. The second evidence that proves that Lord Shiva has white skin is mentioned in a famous Sanskrit shloka “Karpura Gauram Karunavataram”. The shloka and its meaning are as follows:

कर्पूरगौरं करुणावतारम् संसारसारं भुजगेन्द्रहारम् |

सदा वसन्तं हृदयारविन्दे भवं भवानीसहितं नमामि ||

karpūragauraṁ karuṇāvatāraṁ sansārasāram bhujagendrahāram |

sadāvasantaṁ hṛdayāravinde bhavaṁ bhavānīsahitaṁ namāmi ||

Meaning:

The one who is as white/pure as camphor, the embodiment of compassion.

The one who is the essence of the world, with the serpent king as his garland.

It seems that this shloka is inspired by the story in the Shiva Purana itself. Therefore these are not two separate pieces of evidence. But still, they are enough to prove that Lord Shiva is white in color.

C. Lord Shiva is called Neelkantha (the one with a blue throat). Since Lord Shiva drank Halahala (poison) that erupted out during the Samudra Manthana, his throat became blue as Goddess Parvati did not allow it to enter his body and stopped it in his throat. If he was blue in color, then why would he be called Neelkantha?

D. In the Vishnu Purana Book I, Chapter VIII, in the story of the birth of Lord Shiva, it is said that he had a purple complexion.

“At the beginning of the Kalpa, as Brahmā purposed to create a son, who should be like himself, a youth of a purple complexion appeared, crying with a low cry, and running about”

But then why is Lord Shiva Painted Blue in the Paintings?

What I think is, the actual color of Lord Shiva is blue because of the following reasons:

1. It is mentioned in the Shiva Purana as white because he smears his body with human ashes that are white in color. Also, this story is from the Shiva Purana Mahatmya section and not from actual Purana.

2. The reason behind calling Lord Shiva Neelkantha is also the same. As he smears ashes all over his body, his skin looks white but his blue throat stands out on white color.

3. One day I had a dream about Lord Shiva and he was dark blue in color. Also, there are some other people who claim to have seen him in their dreams say that he had a dark blue complexion. In fact, I had never seen Lord Shiva as dark blue in color before. What I had seen was a light blue color.

4. Not all Hindu gods are painted blue. Only Lord Vishnu, Lord Krishna, Lord Shiva, and sometimes Lord Rama is depicted blue in the paintings. Most of the other Hindu gods and goddesses are painted brown or fair in color. If it is an imagination of an artist, then why don’t they depict all gods blue?

Conclusion:

Therefore, I think the color of Lord Shiva is blue and not white.

What do you think about it?

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karpuragauram_Karunavataram