Question: Was Shiva ever in the physical?
Sri Chinmoy: No, Lord Shiva was not in the physical like Sri Krishna. He remained in the subtle physical and stayed in the Himalayas. The Christ was in the physical, the Buddha was in the physical, but Lord Shiva was in the subtle physical. In the subtle physical Shiva was really real.
Sri Chinmoy, The Avatars and the Masters, Agni Press, 1979