Avataareshwar-Rameshwar and Krishneshwar

Shri Ram and Shri Krishna are considered to be Avataars of Vishnu and is worshipped through out the world.

Shiva as Krishneshwar

From both Shiva Puran and also from Mahabharata we get an account of Krishna visiting Sage Upamanyu for Diksha.

CONVERSATION BETWEEN KRISHNA & UPAMANYU

Once, Lord Krishna went to Kailash mountain to do penance with the desire of having a son. He found Maharishi Upamanyu engrossed in his meditation.

He told Upamanyu about his desire and requested him to describe about the greatness of lord Shiva.

Upamanu described about his own experience when he had divine glimpses of lord Shiva who was meditating "Once I saw Shiva who was surrounded by all the deities. Lord Shiva was engrossed in his deep meditation. Shiva had in his possession all the divine weapons like - Trident, Axe, Noose, Sudarshan etc. Lord Vishnu and Brahmaji were also present there. I eulogized lord Shiva who became pleased with me. Lord Shiva wanted to bless me with a boon. I requested lord Shiva to bless me with three things- 1) I should always remain his devotee b) to be able to know about the past, present and future events, c) My family should never feel the scarcity of rice and milk." "Lord Shiva not only blessed me with all these three things, but also to be able to see the Vaivasvat kalpa." After completing his story, sage Upamanyu told Krishna he must worship lord Shiva if he was desirous of a son, because Lord Shiva can be pleased quite easily.

SRI KRISHNA DOES PENANCE

Sri Krishna then proceeded to do his penance after getting initiated by Upamanyu with the mantra - Om Namah Shivay. He did a tremendous penance for fifteen months by standing on his toe. In the sixteenth month lord Shiva and Parvati appeared before him after being pleased by his penance.

Lord Shiva expressed his desire to bless Krishna. Krishna demanded eight boon.

1) May his intelligence always remain inclined towards religiousness.

2) May he attain immortal fame,

3) May he has his abode in Shiva's proximity,

4) May his faith and devotion in Shiva be unswerving,

5) May he have ten valiant sons,

6) May he be victorious against his enemies,

7) May all his enemies be destroyed and

8) May be dear to all the yogis.

After receiving eight boons from Lord Shiva, Krishna demanded one boon from goddess Parvati May he always be in the service of his parents and the brahmins.

Sri Krishna then went back to Upamanyu and narrated the whole story. At last he returned to Dwarka.

Shiva as Rameshwar

Sri Ram Chandra worshipping Shiva.

There are two stories on Rameshwaram, the place where Ram worshipped Shiva.

One story is that Ram installed and worshipped the Sivalinga before starting the setu-bandhan to Lanka so that the he could succeed in destroying the great demon king Ravana who was a strong devotee of Lord Siva.

The other story is that Ram performed the Shiva-puja after the battle with Ravana. In this story Ram installed the linga to please Lord Siva, because He had on Him the sin of brahmahatya for killing Ravana.

However, it is clear from both stories that Ram performed the puja of Shiva and thus Shiva came to be known as Rameshwar.