Khatvanga

A club or staff topped with a human
skull, it is one of the characteristic
objects in Hindu iconography. At times
the shaft of the staff was made from
another human bone, such as a thigh or
an arm bone. This symbol is most closely
associated with the god Shiva. Its use
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Khandava Forest
reflects his marginal, uncontrolled
nature and his utter disconnection with
the conventional values of ordinary
society. It is still sometimes carried by
ascetics, for whom Shiva is the model
ascetic, and a paradigm for emulation.