Lord Shiva: In all the pictures of Lord Shiva we see that the moon is adorned on his head. But do you know why Mahadev is wearing the moon on his head? Let us look at the classical side-
According to Kamika Agama 3.337–339, the powerful glowing moon represents Lord Shiva’s extensive knowledge and shows that Lord Shiva is all-knowing.
According to Skanda Purana Maheshwar Kedarkhand Chapter Number 12, the story of Shiva wearing the moon on his forehead is given. According to the story, after the Devasura war, at the behest of Lord Vishnu, the gods and demons made a treaty and agreed to work together. A plan was made to churn the ocean to retrieve the precious gems of the Gods which had gone into the ocean after the victory of the demons.
The ocean was churned by using Mandarachal as a churner and Vasuki as a rope, in which Lord Vishnu in the form of a tortoise lifted Mandarachal from the seabed. Where nectar came out along with many priceless gems in the sea, poison also came out. Both gods and demons were keen to drink the nectar. If the demons drank this nectar, they would become more powerful than the gods. In this situation, Lord Vishnu handled this dilemma by taking the form of Mohini.
Shiva drank that Kalkoot poison. Lord Vishnu in the form of Mohini, under the influence of Yogamaya, charmed all the demons and kept all the nectar with them saying that it will be consumed tomorrow and reside there today. You have received nectar by divine grace. To please God, invest one-tenth of the wealth acquired in a just manner in good deeds (Nyayopaarjitvittasya deshmanshan slowness. Duties Viniyogasch Ishpreetyarthmev Ch. Skanda Purana Maheshwar Kedarkhand 13.35).
The next day, when the gods also appeared there, Mohini asked the demons to honor the guest. Giving donations to them is not only a duty but also consider yourself blessed by doing this.Parshomoopakaram cha ye kurvanti savshaktiṭh. Dhanyast eva vijyeya: Pavitra Lokpalak:. Skanda Purana Kedar section 12.42-53).
At the behest of Mohini, the demons called the gods to drink nectar. Mohini had to satisfy the selfishness of the gods. Therefore he said that Vedic Shruti says that guests are welcomed first (आदौ हैभ्यागता: Pujya Iti Vai Vedic Shruti, Skanda Purana Kedar section 12.58)
Later, after getting approval from the demons, Mohini started deliberately feeding more nectar to the gods. At the same time a demon named Rahu came and sat in the row of gods. As soon as he started drinking the nectar, the Sun and the Moon informed Lord Vishnu about this. God then cut off Rahu’s head.
After this incident all the demons jumped into battle. Rahu then ran after the moon. That terrible monster was everywhere. The frightened Moon ran towards heaven along with the gods. The distraught Moon sought refuge with Shiva and pleaded for protection. Then Shiva appeared and kept the moon in his locks. Since then the moon is situated on the head of Lord Shiva.
Reason behind Waxing and Waning of Moon: –
According to Shiv Purana Koti Rudra Samhita 14.45, when Lord Shiva was pleased with the penance of the Moon, he said to the Moon, “O Moon! In one side, your art (each one) will diminish every day and again in the other side, that art will increase continuously. Moon is ‘Soma’ and its Lord Lord Shiva is ‘Somnath’.
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