| Zeus' Trident | Neptune's | Shiva's | Buddhist Art |
- Trident popular in Greece since Homers time 3,000 years ago
- The Greek sea god Poseidon is depicted carrying a trident 2,400 years ago, predating any known Indian representation
- The trishul first begins to appear in Buddhist and Jain temple art (100BC-401AD)
- The trishul surfaces in Mahabharata for the first time but historians cant say for certain when it was inserted
- It becomes part and parcel of Shivas world in Shiv Purana in 11th or 12th century AD, around the time trishul-wielding temple militia is created
- The trishul appears in South Indian temple art in the 16th and 17th centuries
- Calendar art in late 19th century makes trishuls popular
- 2003: VHP borrows trishul diksha concept from Hindu Mahasabha
The Legal Angle
Under the Arms Act, the government can regulate or ban any article that can be adapted as a weapon, including knives and spears and anything sharp-edged with blades longer than 9" or wider than 2". On April 8, the Rajasthan government issued an order regulating the "distribution, acquisition, possession or carrying of double or multi-bladed sharp or pointed weapons...except in religious institutions...functions and processions where such weapon is customarily used".
