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Ardhanareeshvara is a combination of three words “Ardha,” “Nari,” and “Ishwara” means “half,” “woman,” and “lord,” respectively, which when combined means the lord whose half is a woman. It is believed that the God is Lord Shiva and the woman part is his consort Goddess Parvati or Shakti. The Ardhanareeshvara represents a constructive and generative power. Ardhanareeshvara symbolizes male and female principles cannot be separated. It conveys the unity of opposites in the universe. The male half stands for Purusha and female half is Prakriti. Ardhanareeshvara harmonizes the two conflicting ways of life: The spiritual way of the ascetic as represented by Shiva, and the materialistic way of the householder symbolized by Parvati. It conveys that Shiva and Shakti are one and the same. A human being is not a pure unisexual organism. Each human organism bears the potentiality of both male and female sex. Neurohormonal mechanisms have been found to be greatly influencing the sexual behavior. The modern world has come to understand the concept of “Ardhanareeshwara” as it aspires to resolve the paradox of opposites into a unity, not by negation, but through positive experiences of life. The matching of opposites produces the true rhythm of life.

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Background: History of forensic mental health services provide knowledge regarding its evolution that has undergone tremendous changes over the past two centuries. Historical Perspective of Dharwad Forensic Mental Health Services during IntroductionIn 21 st century, writing the recent history of mental health services requires a conscious departure from the historiographical tropes of the past three centuries which have emphasised the experience of those identified (and legally defined) as 'lunatics' and the social, cultural, political, medical and institutional context of their treatment. A historical narrative structured around rights (to health and liberty) is now complicated by the rise of new organising categories such as 'costs' , 'risks' , 'needs' and 'values'[1]. In this article, we summarise the historical perspective of mental health services as well as the growth and development of an institution over the past two centuries. The current study compiles the historical data from available century-old mental health records that reflect the challenging medico-legal scenarios witnessed by the persons with mental illness (PwMI) and mental health professionals during pre-independence era in India.In India, till about 17 th century all abnormal behaviours were believed to be act of the 'devil' and 'mentally ill' were considered evil and described as witches [2]. Gradually over the 17 th -18 th century, mental illness was considered as 'deviant behaviour' and mentally ill as socially unacceptable, only to be detained in jails along with other criminals. 'Mentally ill' were coined as 'mad' , 'lunatic' or 'insane' confined in isolated and protected special places called as 'lunatic asylums' providing minimum basic needs, History of mental health servicesAim: To study the forensic mental health services and management of psychiatric patients during pre-independence era. Settings and Design:Retrospective, hospital based chart-review and descriptive study. Methods and Materials:Medical records of 85 cases preserved with the 170-year old psychiatric institute were retrieved to study the variables related to socio-demographic characteristics, family background, clinical profile, treatment methods, admission-discharge procedures, and mortality by retrospective chart-review method. Data was analysed using descriptive statistical measures with significance of P<0.05. Conclusion:Dharwad mental health services provide historical information about patient care and legislative measures of preindependence era. Longer remission and hospitalization duration, higher mortality reflect lack of effective pharmacological measures and scientific treatment methods that got established after 1950s. Results:Mean age of the sample was 32.53±9.65 years with male preponderance (3:1). Mean duration of illness was 16.19±37.88 months with mean duration of hospitalization of 23.01±46.24 months. 98% cases had at least one psychiatric disorder, with most common being mood disorders (54%), psychotic disorders (30.6%), and substance-relat...

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