Why Did Shiva Drink the Poison? A Kathasagar Story
Samudra Manthan, Halahala, and the blue throat — Neelkanth in six panels.
Panel 1
To regain amrita, Devas and Asuras churn the milky ocean — Mount Mandara as the rod, Vasuki as the rope, Vishnu as Kurma beneath.
Panel 2
What rises first is not nectar — it is Halahala, a poison fierce enough to end creation.
Panel 3
Shiva steps forward and gathers the poison — not for glory, but so the worlds may survive.
Panel 4
Parvati holds his throat so the poison cannot descend. It stays there, staining his neck blue — Neelkanth.
Panel 5
Only then do blessings rise: Lakshmi, the moon, and finally amrita. The story can continue because Shiva drank first.
Panel 6
That is why Maha Shivratri devotees remember the blue throat — the mark of the one who absorbs what others cannot bear.