With utmost reverence, the devotee begins the sacred ritual by approaching Nandī, the lord of the inner chamber. Nandī, resplendent in all ornaments and radiant like a golden mountain, is worshipped with devotion. Gentle and serene, he is crowned with the crescent moon, bearing three eyes and four arms. In his hands he holds a glowing trident, a graceful deer, a sharp rod, and stands as the master of the threshold. His face shines like the full moon’s disk or resembles the visage of Hari. At the northern side of the entrance, the devotee offers worship to Nandī’s wife, the daughter of the winds. She is the mother Suyaśā, virtuous and steadfast in her vows, intent on adorning the feet of the Lord. After honoring her, the devotee enters the inner chamber of the Supreme Lord. Inside, the ritual continues. The liṅga is worshipped with the prescribed substances. Once the offerings are made, the used items are removed, the liṅga is washed, and a flower is placed upon its head to purify it. Holding the flower, the devotee recites the mantra with power to purify the mantra itself. Caṇḍa is worshipped in the northeast, and the used offerings are taken away. Next, the devotee arranges the seat, its support, and all necessary items in proper order. Meditation is performed below the earth on the auspicious, dark-hued support-power. In front of her, the devotee visualizes an endless, coiled form—white, with five hoods, licking as if the sky. Above her lies the auspicious seat, four-footed like a wooden stool. The four supports are dharma, knowledge, detachment, and sovereignty, each colored white, red, yellow, and dark, corresponding to the directions beginning from the southeast. Unrighteousness and its companions are placed in order from the east to the north. The limbs of the seat are imagined as kingly jewels, and above this, a pure white lotus seat forms the covering. This lotus has eight petals, representing the eight powers beginning with aṇimā. The filaments, starting from the left, are the Rudra and leftward energies, and the seeds within are those very energies up to Unmanī. The inner receptacle is supreme detachment, the stalk is knowledge, and both are of the nature of Śiva. The bulb, embodying Śiva and dharma, sits at the end of the inner receptacle in three circles, and above these circles, the three principles—self and so on—form the seat. Above all these seats, a comfortable seat is arranged, spread with various coverings—a divine seat shining with pure knowledge. The devotee then performs invocation, establishment, containment, and gazing, as well as salutations, making the appropriate gestures separately. Water is offered for the feet, water for sipping, arghya, fragrance, and flowers. Incense, a lamp, and betel are presented, and then Śiva is put to rest. Alternatively, having arranged the seat and the image, completed with the root and other Brahmā mantras, the devotee invokes Śiva, the supreme cause, together with the goddess. The god stands unmoving and imperishable, shining like pure crystal. Śiva is the cause and essence of all worlds, effortlessly seen by devotees yet beyond the reach of gods such as Brahmā, Indra, Viṣṇu, and Rudra. The wise know him as the essence of the gods, yet he is said to be beyond perception—without beginning, middle, or end—a remedy for those afflicted by worldly existence. This is the principle of Shiva, the enduring purpose of Shiva in the world. The supreme liṅga is worshipped with fivefold offerings and deep devotion. The liṅga is the form of the great Lord, Shiva, the supreme Self. During bathing, auspicious rites are performed, beginning with the sound of victory. The liṅga is bathed with the five products of the cow—ghee, milk, curd, honey, and more—along with roots, fruit essences, sesame, mustard, and flour preparations. Wholesome seeds such as barley, powders from black gram and others, are used to bathe and anoint the liṅga with pastes, followed by a bath with warm water. Bilva leaves and similar items are used to rub away any residue of ointments and fragrances. The liṅga is bathed again with water, proceeding according to royal rites. Fragrant amalaki and turmeric are offered in due order, purifying the liṅga or image with water. It is then bathed with fragrant water, water containing kuśa grass and flowers, and water infused with gold and jewels, all empowered by mantras in the proper sequence. If the prescribed substances are not available, the devotee uses whatever is obtainable, or even water alone empowered by mantras, bathing Shiva with faith. The bathing is done using a pot, a conch, a vessel for increase, the hand, kuśa grass, or flowers, accompanied by mantra recitation. Hymns such as Pavamāna, Rudra, Nīla, and Tvarita, the Liṅga Sūkta and others, and the Atharvaśiras are recited. Verses from the Ṛg, Sāma, and five Śaiva Brahman hymns, along with the Praṇava of Shiva, are used to bathe the Lord of gods. Just as bathing and other rites are performed for the god, so also for the goddess, for there is no distinction between them—they are alike. First, bathing and other rites are performed for the god, then for the goddess, as commanded by the Lord of gods. In the worship of Ardhanārīśvara, there is no precedence of one over the other; offerings may be made to the liṅga or elsewhere, as appropriate. Having performed the abhiṣeka of the liṅga with pure and fragrant substances, the devotee wipes it with a cloth and offers a garment and a sacred thread. Water is offered for washing the feet, for sipping, arghya, fragrance, flowers, ornaments, incense, a lamp, food, drinking water, and mouth cleansing. Again, water for sipping and mouth perfume are offered, followed by a beautiful and auspicious crown adorned with all kinds of jewels. Pure ornaments, various garlands, fans, yak-tail whisks, an umbrella, a palm-leaf fan, and a mirror are presented, completing the sacred worship with devotion and care.