Lingam
A lingam (
The original meaning of lingam as "sign" is used in
The metaphorical creative principle of lingam-yoni, the union of the feminine and the masculine, the eternal
"Lingam" is found in Sanskrit texts, such as Shvetashvatara Upanishad, Samkhya, Vaisheshika and others texts with the meaning of "evidence, proof" of God and God's existence,[20] or existence of formless Brahman.[21] Lingam iconography found at archaeological sites of the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia includes simple cylinders set inside a yoni; mukhalinga rounded pillars with carvings such as of one or more mukha (faces); and anatomically realistic representations of a phallus such as on the Gudimallam Lingam.[note 1][25] In the Shaiva traditions, the lingam is regarded as a form of spiritual iconography.[26][27][28]
Nomenclature and significance
Lingam, states Monier Monier-Williams, appears in the Upanishads and epic literature, where it means a "mark, sign, emblem, characteristic".[18][27] Other contextual meanings of the term include "evidence, proof, symptom" of God and God's power.[18][19] The term also appears in early Indian texts on logic, where an inference is based on a sign (linga), such as "if there is smoke, there is fire" where the linga is the smoke.[18] It is a religious symbol in Hinduism representing Shiva as the generative power,[27] all of existence, all creativity and fertility at every cosmic level.[5][29]
The lingam of the Shaivism tradition is a short cylindrical pillar-like symbol of Shiva, made of stone, metal, gem, wood, clay or precious stones.[30][1][31] According to Encyclopædia Britannica, the lingam is a votary aniconic object found in the sanctum of Shiva temples and private shrines that symbolizes Shiva and is "revered as an emblem of generative power".[1] It often is found within a lipped, disked structure that is an emblem of goddess Shakti and this is called the yoni. Together they symbolize the union of the feminine and the masculine principles, and "the totality of all existence", states Encyclopædia Britannica.[1]
According to Alex Wayman, given the Shaiva philosophical texts and spiritual interpretations, various works on Shaivism by some Indian authors "deny that the linga is a phallus".
The popular belief is that the Siva Lingam represents the phallus or the virile organ, the emblem of the generative power or principle in nature. This is not only a serious mistake but a grave blunder. In the post-Vedic period, the Linga has become symbolic of the generative power of Lord Siva. Linga is the differentiating mark. It is certainly not the sex mark.[34]
According to Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, the lingam signifies three perfections of Shiva.[4] The upper oval part of the lingam represents Parashiva and the lower part of the lingam, called the pitha, represents Parashakti.[4] In the representation of Parashiva, Shiva is regarded to be the absolute reality, the timeless, formless, and spaceless. In the representation of Parashakti, Shiva is regarded to be all-pervasive, pure consciousness, the power and primal substance of all that exists. Parashakti is regarded to possess form, unlike Parashiva, which is formless.[35][9] According to Rohit Dasgupta, the lingam symbolizes Shiva in Hinduism, and it is also a phallic symbol.[5] Since the 19th century, states Dasgupta, the popular literature has represented the lingam as the male sex organ. This view contrasts with the traditional abstract values they represent in Shaivism wherein the lingam-yoni connote the masculine and feminine principles in the entirety of creation and all existence.[5]
According to Sivananda Saraswati, the lingam speaks unmistakable language of silence: "I am one without a second, I am formless".[36] It is only the outward symbol of formless being, Shiva, who is eternal, ever-pure, immortal essence of this vast universe, who is your innermost Self or Atman, and who is identical with the Supreme Brahman, states Sivananda Saraswati.[36]
Scholars, such as Wendy Doniger and Rohit Dasgupta, view linga as extrapolations of what was originally a phallic symbol.[37][38][39][40] This interpretation is criticized by Stella Kramrisch[41] and Moriz Winternitz who opines that the lingam in the Shiva tradition is "only a symbol of the productive and creative principle of nature as embodied in Shiva", and it has no historical trace in any obscene phallic cult.[42]
History
Archeological finds from Indus Valley civilisation
According to Chakrabarti, "some of the stones found in Mohenjodaro are unmistakably phallic stones". These are dated to some time before 2300 BCE. Similarly, states Chakrabarti, the Kalibangan site of Harappa has a small terracotta representation that "would undoubtedly be considered the replica of a modern Shivlinga [a tubular stone]."[43] According to Encyclopædia Britannica, while Harappan discoveries include "short cylindrical pillars with rounded tops", there is no evidence that the people of Indus Valley Civilization worshipped these artifacts as lingams.[1] According to Srinivasan, in the Harappan sites, objects that resemble "lingam" have been found.[44] That includes "a seated trident-headed ithyphallic figure", which was found on Indus seals, "has been compared to Shiva as meditating ascetic", states Srinivasan.[44][45]
The colonial-era archaeologists
According to the Indologist Asko Parpola, "it is true that Marshall's and Mackay's hypotheses of linga and yoni worship by the Harappans has rested on rather slender grounds, and that for instance, the interpretation of the so-called ring-stones as yonis seems untenable".[48] He quotes Dales 1984 paper, which states "with the single exception of the unidentified photography of a realistic phallic object in Marshall's report, there is no archaeological evidence to support claims of special sexually-oriented aspects of Harappan religion".[48] However, adds Parpola, a re-examination at Indus Valley sites suggest that the Mackay's hypothesis cannot be ruled out because erotic and sexual scenes such as ithyphallic males, naked females, a human couple having intercourse and trefoil imprints have now been identified at the Harappan sites.[48] The "finely polished circular stand" found by Mackay may be yoni although it was found without the linga. The absence of linga, states Parpola, maybe because it was made from wood which did not survive.[48]
Shvetashvatara Upanishad
Shvetashvatara Upanishad states that, of the three significations of Lingam, the primary one is "the imperishable Purusha", the absolute reality,[10] whereby the linga is "sign", a mark that provides the existence of Brahman,[9][53] which is itself formless.[21] Furthermore, it mentioned that Shiva is transcendent, beyond any characteristic or liūga, specifically the sign of gender.[9] Linga, "sign", not only signifies the existence of perceptible "things" but also denotes the imperceptible essence of "a thing" or pieces of Brahman called Atma[53] even before that thing has come to exist in any concrete form.[note 3] The imperceptible essence of "a thing", in its potentiality, is the liūga of the thing.[9]
The insight of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad conveyed through the word liūga is formulated explicitly in
The
Linga Purana
The Linga Purana states, "Shiva is signless, without color, taste, smell, that is beyond word or touch, without quality, motionless and changeless".[57] The source of the universe is the signless, and all of the universe is the manifested Linga, a union of unchanging principle and the ever changing nature.[57] The Linga Purana and Siva Gita texts builds on this foundation.[58][59] Linga, states Alain Daniélou, means sign.[57] It is an important concept in Hindu texts, wherein Linga is a manifested sign and nature of someone or something. It accompanies the concept of Brahman, which as invisible signless and existent Principle, is formless or linga-less.[57]
Vedic literature
The word lingam is not found in the Rigveda,[60] or the other Vedas.[61] However, Rudra (proto-Shiva) is found in the Vedic literature.[60][62] Worship of the lingam was not a part of the Vedic religion. The worship of the lingam originated from the famous hymn in the Atharva Veda Samhita sung in praise of the Yupa-Stambha, the sacrificial post. In that hymn, a description is found of the beginningless and endless Stambha or Skambha, and it is shown that the said Skambha is put in place of the eternal Brahman. Just as the Yajna (sacrificial) fire, its smoke, ashes, and flames, the Soma plant, and the ox that used to carry on its back the wood for the Vedic sacrifice gave place to the conceptions of the brightness of Shiva's body, his tawny matted hair, his blue throat, and the riding on the bull of the Shiva, the Yupa-Skambha gave place in time to the Shiva-Linga.[63][64] In the text Linga Purana, the same hymn is expanded in the shape of stories, meant to establish the glory of the great Stambha and the superiority of Shiva as Mahadeva.[64]
There is a hymn in the Atharvaveda that praises a pillar (stambha), and this is one possible origin of linga worship.[65] According to Swami Vivekananda, the Shiva-linga had origins in the idea of Yupa-Stambha or Skambha of the Vedic rituals, where the term meant the sacrificial post which was then idealized as the eternal Brahman. The Yupa-Skambha gave place in time to the Shiva-Linga, quite possibly with influence from Buddhism's stupa shaped like the top of a stone linga, according to Vivekananda.[46][64]
Early iconography and temples
The Gudimallam Lingam, one of the oldest examples of a lingam, is still in worship in the Parashurameshwara temple, Gudimallam, in a hilly forest about 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.[67] It has been dated to the 3rd-century BCE,[1] or to the 2nd century BCE,[23] and is mostly accepted to be from the 3rd- to 1st-century BCE,[68] though some later dates have been proposed. The stone lingam is clearly a representation of an anatomically accurate phallus, with a figure of Lakulisha, the ascetic manifestation of Shiva,[44] carved on the front, holding an antelope and axe in his hands.[68][69] He stands on top of a Apasmara (demon) dwarf, who symbolizes spiritual ignorance, greed, sensual desires or Kama and nonsensical speech on the spiritual path, hence must be subdued in spiritual pursuits.[70][71][72]
In this earliest representation, the phallic representation illustrates of the centrality of the energetic principle of Urdhva Retas (
The Bhita linga – now at the Lucknow museum – is also dated to about the 2nd century BCE, and has four directional faces on the pillar and a Brahmi script inscription at the bottom.[82][83][84] Above the four faces, the Bhita linga has the bust of a male with his left hand holding a vase and the right hand in the abhaya (no-fear) mudra.[83][note 5] The pillar itself is, once again, a realistic depiction of phallus but neither symbolizes fertility nor sexuality, but the refined energetic principles of Urdhva Retas[note 6] during Sannyasa or Asceticism.[76][74][77][83][78]
The Mathura archaeological site has revealed similar lingams, with a standing Shiva in front (2nd century CE) and with one or four faces around the pillar (1st to 3rd century CE).[87][88]
Numerous stone and cave temples from the mid to late 1st millennium feature lingams. The Bhumara Temple near Satna Madhya Pradesh, for example, is generally dated to late 5th-century Gupta Empire era, and it features an Ekamukha Lingam.[89][90]
Mahabharata
According to Wendy Doniger, lingam in the Mahabharata is represented as the phallic form which suggests
Puranas
According to
“You are acting pervertedly. This violates the Vedic path. Hence let your penis fall on the ground.”
Although the sages were also ascetics, only because they observed established conventions, they failed when Shiva tested them with his outrageous ways.[94] The purpose of Shiva's visit to the hermitage, the place where the sages were living with their wives, was to enlighten the false sages by allowing them to humiliate him.[96] But the sages were lost in anger, but Shiva allowed himself to be humiliated in the image that met the eye of the sages.[96] Even though Shiva excited some of them as the source of their desire, they were unable to see him as the killer of desires.[97] Although Shiva revealed his true nature by his dance (Tandava), yet so great was his power of illusion (māyā), the deluded sages did not recognize him.[97] That falling phallus burnt everything in front; wherever it went it began to burn everything there. It went to all three Hindu worlds (hell, heaven, earth). All the worlds and the people were distressed. The sages couldn't recognise it as Shiva and sought refuge from Brahma.
Brahma answered that they should pray to Parvati to assume a form of vaginal passage, and perform a procedure reciting vedic mantras and decorating the penis with flowers etc., so that the penis would become steady. As the phallus was held by Parvati in that form, an auspicion arrow formed. The pedestal shaped as the vagina and the phallus fixed therein are symbolic of the eternal creative forces personified as Śivā and Śiva. After the procedure was completed, the penis became static. This phallus was known as "hatesa" and "Siva Siva".[95] In one version of the story found in Vamana Purana, Shiva's visit to the hermitage in Deodar forests was an act of grace at Parvati's request.[94]
The Shiva Purana also describes the origin of the lingam, known as Shiva-linga, as the beginning-less and endless cosmic pillar (Stambha) of fire, the cause of all causes. Shiva is pictured as emerging from the lingam – the cosmic pillar of fire – proving his superiority over the gods Brahma and Vishnu. It also describes right way to worship Shiva linga in its 11th chapter in detail [98][99][100] This is known as Lingodbhava. The Linga Purana also supports this interpretation of lingam as a cosmic pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva.[100][46][64] According to the Linga Purana, the lingam is a complete symbolic representation of the formless Universe Bearer – the oval-shaped stone is the symbol of the Universe, and the bottom base represents the Supreme Power that holds the entire Universe in it.[36] A similar interpretation is also found in the Skanda Purana: "The endless sky (that great void which contains the entire universe) is the Linga, the Earth is its base. At the end of time the entire universe and all the Gods finally merge in the Linga itself."[101] In the Linga Purana, an Atharvaveda hymn is expanded with stories about the great Stambha and the supreme nature of Mahâdeva (the Great God, Shiva).[64]
Other literature
In early Sanskrit medical texts, linga means "symptom, signs" and plays a key role in the diagnosis of a sickness, the disease.[102][103][104] The author of classical Sanskrit grammar treatise, Panini, states that the verbal root ling which means "paint, variegate", has the sense "that which paints, variegates, characterizes". Panini as well as Patanjali additionally mention lingam with the contextual meaning of the "gender".[105][106]
In the
According to Doniger, there is persuasive evidence in later Sanskrit literature that the early Indians associated the lingam icon with the male sexual organ;[111] the 11th-century Kashmir text Narmamala by Kshemendra on satire and fiction writing explains his ideas on parallelism with divine lingam and human lingam in a sexual context. Various Shaiva texts, such as the Skanda Purana in section 1.8 states that all creatures have the signs of Shiva or Shakti through their lingam (male sexual organ) or pindi (female sexual organ).[111][112] According to Doniger, a part of the literature corpus regards lingam to be the phallus of Shiva, while another group of texts does not. Sexuality in the former is inherently sacred and spiritual, while the latter emphasizes the ascetic nature of Shiva and renunciation to be spiritual symbolism of lingam. This tension between the pursuit of spirituality through householder lifestyle and the pursuit of renunciate sannyasi lifestyle is historic, reflects the different interpretations of the lingam and what lingam worship means to its devotees. It remains a continuing debate within Hinduism to this day, states Doniger.[111] To one group, it is a part of Shiva's body and symbolically saguna Shiva (he in a physical form with attributes). To the other group, it is an abstract symbol of nirguna Shiva (he in the universal Absolute Reality, formless, without attributes).[111] In Tamil Shaiva tradition, for example, the common term for lingam is kuRi or "sign, mark" which is asexual.[111] Similarly, in Lingayatism tradition, the lingam is a spiritual symbol and "was never said to have any sexual connotations", according to Doniger.[111] To some Shaivites, it symbolizes the axis of the universe.[113]
The Lingashtaka is an octet regarding the significance of the lingam.[114]
The term linga also appears in Buddhist and Jaina literature, where it means "sign, evidence" in one context, or "subtle body" with sexual connotations in another.[115][note 7]
Muslim rule
In the 11th-century, after conquests of the subcontinent by Muslim rulers, several sultans of Delhi, often iconoclastic, regarded the lingam as sexual and anthropomorphic, and ordered as many be destroyed as possible.[116] In some situations, linga were deliberately laid at the thresholds of mosques for public usage and incorporated into Islamic architecture, notably at a mosque in Banbhore.[117]
Orientalist literature
Part of a series on |
Shaivism |
---|
Hinduism portal |
The colonial era Orientalists and Christian missionaries, raised in the Victorian mold where sex and sexual imagery were a taboo subject, were shocked by and were hostile to the lingam-yoni iconography and reverence they witnessed.[5][118][119] The 19th and early 20th-century colonial and missionary literature described lingam-yoni, and related theology as obscene, corrupt, licentious, hyper-sexualized, puerile, impure, demonic and a culture that had become too feminine and dissolute.[5][120][121] To the Hindus, particularly the Shaivites, these icons and ideas were the abstract, a symbol of the entirety of creation and spirituality.[5] The colonial disparagement in part triggered the opposite reaction from Bengali nationalists, who more explicitly valorised the feminine. Swami Vivekananda called for the revival of the Mother Goddess as a feminine force, inviting his countrymen to "proclaim her to all the world with the voice of peace and benediction".[120]
According to Wendy Doniger, the terms lingam and yoni became explicitly associated with human sexual organs in the western imagination after the widely popular first Kamasutra translation by Sir Richard Burton in 1883.[122] In his translation, even though the original Sanskrit text does not use the words lingam or yoni for sexual organs, and almost always uses other terms, Burton adroitly avoided being viewed as obscene to the Victorian mindset by avoiding the use of words such as penis, vulva, vagina and other direct or indirect sexual terms in the Sanskrit text to discuss sex, sexual relationships and human sexual positions. Burton used the terms lingam and yoni instead throughout the translation.[122] This conscious and incorrect word substitution, states Doniger, thus served as an Orientalist means to "anthropologize sex, distance it, make it safe for English readers by assuring them, or pretending to assure them, that the text was not about real sexual organs, their sexual organs, but merely about the appendages of weird, dark people far away."[122] Similar Orientalist literature of the Christian missionaries and the British era, states Doniger, stripped all spiritual meanings and insisted on the Victorian vulgar interpretation only, which had "a negative effect on the self-perception that Hindus had of their own bodies" and they became "ashamed of the more sensual aspects of their own religious literature".[123] Some contemporary Hindus, states Doniger, in their passion to spiritualize Hinduism and for their Hindutva campaign have sought to sanitize the historic earthly sexual meanings, and insist on the abstract spiritual meaning only.[123]
Iconography and worship
The traditional lingam rituals in major Shiva temples includes offerings of flowers, grass, dried rice, fruits, leaves, water and a milk bath.
The historic lingam iconography has included:
- Mukhalingam, where the lingam has the face of Shiva carved on it.[125][126] An Ekmukha lingam has just one face, Chaturmukha lingam has four faces in the cardinal directions, while a Panchamukha lingam has a total of five (the fifth is on the top) and represents Sadashiva.[127][128] Among the mukha-lingam varieties, the four face version are more common.[129]
- Ashtottara-sata linga, where 108 miniature lingas are carved on the pujabhaga (main linga) following certain geometric principles.[130]
- Sahasra linga, where 1001 miniature lingas are carved on the pujabhaga (main linga) following certain geometric principles (set in 99 vertical lines, 11 horizontal).[131]
- Dhara linga, where lingas have five to sixty four fluted facets, with prime numbers and multiples of four particularly favored.[132]
- Lingodbhavamurti, where Shiva is seen as emerging from within a fiery lingam.[1] On top of this icon is sometimes a relief of a swan or goose representing Brahma, and a boar at the bottom representing the Varaha avatar of Vishnu. This reflects the Shaiva legend describing a competition between Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu, as to who has priority and superiority.[1]
A lingam may be made of clay (mrinmaya), metal (lohaja), precious stone (ratnaja), wood (daruja), stone (sailaja, most common), or a disposal material (kshanika).
According to Shaiva Siddhanta, the linga is the ideal substrate in which the worshipper should install and worship the five-faced and ten-armed Sadāśiva, the form of Shiva who is the focal divinity of that school of Shaivism.[136]
The various styles of lingam iconography are found on the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia.[137][138]
Lingayatism
Lingayats, a sect of the Shaivite religious tradition in India, wear a miniaturized linga called the istalinga.[140] Lingayats wear a lingam inside a necklace, called Ishtalinga.[141][142] Initially known as Veerashaivas (heroic worshippers of Shiva), since the 18th century adherents of this faith are known as Lingayats.[143] This tradition originated in Karnataka around the 12th-century.[141][144] Lingayatism is derived from the term linga and suffix ayta.[145] The term Lingayat is based on the practice of both genders of Lingayats wearing an iṣṭaliṅga (also called karasthala-linga) contained inside a box with a necklace all the time. The istalinga is a personalized and miniature oval-shaped linga and an emblem of their faith symbolising Parashiva, the absolute reality and their spirituality.[145][146] It is viewed as a "living, moving" divinity within the Lingayat devotee. Every day, the devotee removes this personal linga from its box, places it in left palm, offers puja and then meditates about becoming one with the linga, in his or her journey towards the atma-linga.[147]
Pilgrimage sites
An ice lingam at Amarnath in the western Himalayas forms every winter from ice dripping on the floor of a cave and freezing like a stalagmite. It is very popular with pilgrims.[148]
In
A lingam is also the basis for the formation legend (and name) of the Borra Caves in Andhra Pradesh.[citation needed]
Lesser known Bhooteshwarnath Mahadeva in Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh is a rock Shivlinga and said to be the Largest Natural Shivlinga in the world.,[153] whose height is increasing with each passing year.[154][155]
The tallest Shiva lingam in the world is located at Chenkal village in Thiruvananthapuram district in the state of Kerala, India.[156]
Gallery
-
Lingodbhava (Chola period)
-
Lingodbhava (Chola period)
-
A 10th-century four-face Mukhalinga, Nepal
-
64 lingams (Nepal)
-
An 11th-century linga-yoni plaque with a worshipper (Nepal)
-
Lingam fromBattambang Province(Cambodia)
-
Linga-yoni, Java (Indonesia)
-
Copper lingam at theCát Tiên sanctuary, Vietnam
-
A jatalinga with yoni (Champa, Vietnam)
-
A lingam at the Katas Raj Temples in north Pakistan
-
Ganesha and Shiva-linga, Chiang Rai, Thailand
See also
- Banalinga
- Hindu iconography
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - a Lingam stone plays a central part in the film's plot
- Jyotirlinga
- Lingayatism
- Mukhalinga
- Gudimallam Lingam
- Pancharamas
- Shaligram
- Spatika Lingam
Notes
- ^ Kramrisch claims that the representation of the phallic shape in the
- ^ This view is shared by K.R. Subramanian, who writes that some Buddhist stupas have been worshipped by Tamil Saivites because they believe it is a Shivalinga, and some ancient stupa sculptures from Amaravati and Jaggayyapeta look so much like a linga that anyone would mistake them for one.[47]
- ^ The form of fire, which exists in the kindling stick in a latent form, may not be seen, yet its linga is not destroyed but be seized again by another kindling stick.[9] Fire in its latent condition, unkindled, the potential of fire, its imperceptible essence, is the liūga of fire, in contrast with and indispensable to its visible form (Rūpa).[9]
- ^ Furthermore, the phallic shape, standing erect, always negates its function as an organ of procreation. Rather, the shape or pictorial representation is conveying that, the seed was channeled upward, not ejected for the sake of generation, but was reversed, retained and absorbed for regeneration as creative energy.[80]
- ^ This linga is likely a dedication memorial stone according to the inscription which states, "The Linga of the sons of Khajahuti, was dedicated by Nagasiri, the son of Vasethi. May the deity be pleased."[83] Bloch objected to "Linga of the sons" interpretation, stating it made no sense. Other scholars maintain that to be a cryptic epigraphic reference to "worshipped by", given the mention of "deity" later in the inscription.[84][85]
- ^ In the practice of seminal retention through self-discipline and Sādhanā, the mind is stirred, but not by external stimuli, but the result of realisation of true nature of the Self in the path of liberation (moksha). However, due to lack of understanding of the iconography of Lingam, the representation is often misunderstood.[86][74]
- Tattvarthasutra in Jainism.[115]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "lingam". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ISBN 9780191726705. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016.(subscription or UK public library membershiprequired)
- ISBN 978-1-898723-60-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-945497-94-3.
- ^ ISBN 9780759123144. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ S2CID 143631560.
- ^ a b Doniger, Wendy; Stefon, Matt (24 December 2014) [20 July 1998]. "Lingam (Hinduism)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Edinburgh: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-8239-3180-4. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Kramrisch 1994, p. 221.
- ^ a b Constance & James 2006, p. 410.
- ^ Grimes 1996, p. 175-176.
- ^ from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ Mahdihassan 1989, p. 248.
- ^ Constance & James 2006, p. 260-261.
- ^ Constance & James 2006, p. 515-517.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-1768-5. Archivedfrom the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-0503-3. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d Linga Archived 18 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Monier Monier-Williams, Harvard University Archives, pp. 901-902 Archived 11 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ISBN 978-0-226-06456-7. Archivedfrom the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ [9][16][17][1][18][19]
- ^ from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0877-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7914-7082-4. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
- ^ Doniger 2011, p. 491.
- ^ [22][23][24]
- ^ a b Alex Wayman (1987). "O, that Linga!". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 68 (1/4): 30., Quote: "That is why today one will read in various works by Indians on Saivism a denial that the linga is a phallus; and the late Dr. Basham once told the present writer that in all the years of his India contacts he never found any Saivite admitting that the linga is a phallus."
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8. Archivedfrom the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ Doniger 2011, p. 503.
- ISBN 978-0-19-971354-7. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ Kramrisch 1994, p. 217.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-0877-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ Alex Wayman (1987). "O, that Linga!". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 68 (1/4): 29–31.
- ^ Lord Shiva and His Worship by Sri Swami Sivananda (1945), Chapter IX: Siva Yoga Sadhna, Section 7: Worship of Siva Lingam, 2015 edition, Allahabad Book World Ltd.
- ^ Lord Shiva and His Worship by Sri Swami Sivananda (1945), Chapter IX: Siva Yoga Sadhna, Section 7: Worship of Siva Lingam, Page 220, 2015 edition, Allahabad Book World Ltd.
- ^ "Dictionary of Dancing with Siva". Search for the 'Paraśiva: परशिव' and 'Parāśakti: पराशक्ति'. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
- ^ a b c Sivananda, Swami (1996). "Worship of Siva Linga". Lord Siva and His Worship. The Divine Life Trust Society. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
- ISBN 0-19-520250-3.
- ISBN 9780199360079.
- ISBN 978-0143116691.
- ISBN 9780759123144. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ Kramrisch 1994, p. 14.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0264-3. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
- from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d Srinivasan 2004, p. 434.
- ISBN 9780195779400. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-1450-9.
- ISBN 978-81-206-0144-4. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f Asko Parpola (1985). "The Sky Garment - A study of the Harappan religion and its relation to the Mesopotamian and later Indian religions". Studia Orientalia. 57. The Finnish Oriental Society: 101–107.
- ISBN 978-0-283-99257-5. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018., Quote: "It has been suggested that certain large ring-shaped stonesare formalized representations of the female regenerative organ and were symbols of the Mother Goddess, but this is most doubtful."
- ^ Constance & James 2006, p. 516.
- ISBN 9788121500821. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ Doniger 2011, pp. 485–502.
- ^ a b DeVito & DeVito 1994, p. 5.
- ^ Kramrisch 1994, p. 122.
- ^ a b c d e f Kramrisch 1994, p. 222.
- ^ Mahdihassan 1989, p. 247.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89281-354-4.
- ^ Kramrisch 1994, pp. 171–185.
- hdl:10603/295754. Archivedfrom the original on 30 December 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ a b Doniger 2011, pp. 489–502.
- JSTOR 288521.
- ISBN 978-1-4488-5990-0. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ISBN 978-81-208-1450-9.
- ^ a b c d e Vivekananda, Swami. "The Paris congress of the history of religions". The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. Vol. 4. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
- ]
- ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-85177-509-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f Doniger 2011, pp. 491–493.
- ISBN 978-0-8264-9865-6. Archivedfrom the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0877-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, United States
- ISBN 978-81-7022-897-4. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- S2CID 220049343.
- ^ a b c d Pensa, Corrado. "Some Internal and Comparative Problems in the Field of Indian Religions." Problems and Methods of the History of Religions. Brill, 1972. 102-122.
- ^ "Urdhvaretas, Urdhvaretās, Ūrdhvaretas, Urdhva-retas: 7 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. 9 September 2014. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ a b c Kramrisch 1994, p. 26.
- ^ ISBN 0877282536.
- ^ ISBN 9789352641956.
- ^ O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. "Asceticism and Sexuality in the Mythology of Śiva. Part I." History of Religions 8, no. 4 (1969): 300-37. Accessed September 7, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1062019 Archived 30 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Kramrisch 1994, p. 555.
- ^ Kramrisch 1994, p. 238.
- ISBN 0-691-01930-4. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-0877-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-0053-3. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-8109-0630-3.
- ^ a b Pattanaik, Devdutt. Shiva to Shankara: Decoding the phallic symbol. Indus Source, 2006.
- ISBN 978-81-7154-403-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-81-85832-10-4. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-4529-1225-7. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-8122-7909-2. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ Kramrisch 1994, p. 220-222.
- ^ Grimes 1996, p. 176.
- ISBN 978-0-19-087834-4. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ a b c d Kramrisch 1994, p. 206.
- ^ a b c "The reason for Śiva's assuming the phallic form (liṅga) [Chapter 12]". www.wisdomlib.org. 29 October 2018. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- ^ a b Kramrisch 1994, p. 207.
- ^ a b Kramrisch 1994, p. 207-208.
- ^ "Mode of worshiping the phallic form of Śiva and making gifts [Chapter 11]". www.wisdomlib.org. 19 August 2018. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- ISBN 978-81-7182-721-3. Archivedfrom the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ a b Blurton, T. R. (1992). "Stone statue of Shiva as Lingodbhava". Extract from Hindu art (London, The British Museum Press). British Museum site. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
- ^ "Reading the Vedic Literature in Sanskrit". is1.mum.edu. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- PMID 23559788., Quote: "Linga or Symptomatology: Linga acquires the second position in the Tri Sutra. It includes entire signs and symptoms of the diseases and health also. Only the knowledge of Hetu is not sufficient for the diagnosis of Aaturavastha. Hence Linga or the symptomatology is very useful tool in the diagnosis of a disease."
- PMID 22556480.
- PMID 24049398.
- ISBN 978-0-87169-863-6. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ISBN 978-3-447-01706-0. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0565-1.
- ISBN 978-1-4384-0546-9. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-136-63417-8. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ Alex Wayman (1987). "O, that Linga!". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 68 (1/4): 19–20.
- ^ a b c d e f Doniger 2011, pp. 493–498.
- ISBN 978-1-349-22280-3. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-521-89103-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ Shivakumar, K. N. (14 January 2021). Shlokas and Bhajans: with general knowledge and subhashitams. Sangeet Bharati. p. 54.
- ^ a b Alex Wayman (1987). "O, that Linga!". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 68 (1/4): 17, 22–25.
- ^ Doniger 2011, pp. 498–499: "But several of the Delhi sultans, those who were particularly devout and iconoclast Muslims, regarded the lingam as sexual and anthropomorphic, and took pride in destroying as many lingams as they could. In 1026, Mahmud of Ghazni attacked the temple of Somnath, which held a famous Shiva lingam; this much, at least, seems to be historical fact. But then comes the mythologizing. According to some versions of the story, including early Turko-Persian triumphalist sources, Mahmud stripped the great gilded lingam of its gold and hacked it to bits with his sword, sending the bits back to Ghazni, where they were incorporated into the steps of the new mosque (Keay 2000: 207–209). Medieval Hindu epics of resistance created a countermythology in which the stolen image came to life (another bit of evidence that it was regarded as a living thing, a body in itself) and eventually, like a horse trotting back to the stable, returned to the temple to be reconsecrated (Davis 1997: 90–112)"
- ISBN 978-1-136-49984-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-8386-4208-5.
- ^ Doniger 2011, p. 500, Quote: "The British missionaries most despised what they regarded as the obscene idolatry of the lingam. The British in general, who were of course Victorian in every sense of the word, regarded the Hindus, as they regarded most colonized people of color, as simultaneously oversexed and impotent, and the British presence had a negative effect on the self-perception that Hindus had of their own bodies (Nandy 1983). For, still reeling from the onslaught of the Muslim campaigns against lingams, the Hindus who worked with and for the British internalized their colonizers' scorn."
- ^ ISBN 978-1-351-84000-2. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-85773-158-6. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ a b c Doniger 2011, pp. 500–502.
- ^ a b Doniger 2011, pp. 499–505.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0877-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-81-208-1208-6.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0877-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ N. S. Ramaswami (1976). Monograph on temples of Mukhalingam. Government of Andhra Pradesh. pp. 1–9. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0053-3. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ISBN 0-691-01930-4. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0877-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0877-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0877-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0877-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0877-5. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ISBN 9780691120485. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
- ^ Dominic Goodall, Nibedita Rout, R. Sathyanarayanan, S.A.S. Sarma, T. Ganesan and S. Sambandhasivacarya, The Pañcāvaraṇastava of Aghoraśivācārya: A twelfth-century South Indian prescription for the visualisation of Sadāśiva and his retinue, Pondicherry, French Institute of Pondicherry and Ecole française d'Extréme-Orient, 2005, p.12.
- ISBN 978-9971-69-451-7.
- ISBN 978-0-520-05407-3.
- ^ Olson 2007, p. 244.
- ^ McCormack 1963, pp. 59–62.
- ^ a b Dalal 2010, p. 208-209.
- ^ Olson 2007, p. 239–240.
- ^ Schouten 1995, pp. 71–72.
- ^ Schouten 1995, p. 6.
- ^ a b L.K.A. Iyer (1965). The Mysore. Mittal Publications. pp. 81–82. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ Blake Michael 1992, pp. 22, 82–83.
- ISBN 978-0-231-10777-8. Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ "Amarnath: Journey to the shrine of a Hindu god". Boston.com. 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ^ under the section "General Introduction". "Kadavul Hindu Temple". Himalayanacademy. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ "Iraivan Temple in the News". Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ "Rare Crystal Siva Lingam Arrives at Hawaii Temple". hinduismtoday. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
- ^ "यहां है विश्व का सबसे बड़ा प्राकृतिक शिवलिंग". 16 January 2015. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ "Bhuteshwar Shivling". news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018.
- ^ "Shivling in Chhattisgarh". 18 December 2015. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ^ "Tallest Shiva lingam in country enters India book of records | Thiruvananthapuram News - Times of India". The Times of India. TNN. 10 January 2019. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ a b Kramrisch 1994, p. 218.
- ^ Ghurye, G.S., 1952. Ascetic Origins. Sociological Bulletin, 1(2), pp.162-184.
Bibliography
- Basham, A. L. The Wonder That Was India: A survey of the culture of the Indian Sub-Continent before the coming of the Muslims, Grove Press, Inc., New York (1954; Evergreen Edition 1959).
- Blake Michael, R. (1992), The Origins of Vīraśaiva Sects: A Typological Analysis of Ritual and Associational Patterns in the Śūnyasaṃpādane, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-0776-1
- Chakravarti, Mahadev. The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through the Ages, Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass (1986), ISBN 8120800532.
- Dalal, Roshen (2010), The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths, Penguin Books, ISBN 978-0-14-341517-6
- Davis, Richard H. (1992). Ritual in an Oscillating Universe: Worshipping Śiva in Medieval India. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691073866.
- ISBN 0-89281-354-7.
- Doniger, Wendy (2011), "God's Body, or, The Lingam Made Flesh: Conflicts over the Representation of the Sexual Body of the Hindu God Shiva", Soc. Res. Social Research, 78 (2): 485–508, OCLC 772197753
- Drabu, V.N. Śaivāgamas: A Study in the Socio-economic Ideas and Institutions of Kashmir (200 B.C. to A.D. 700), New Delhi: Indus Publishing (1990), ISBN 8185182388.
- Kramrisch, Stella (1988). The Presence of Siva. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 9788120804913.
- McCormack, William (1963), "Lingayats as a Sect", The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 93 (1): 59–71, JSTOR 2844333
- Olson, Carl (2007), The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction, Rutgers University Press, ISBN 978-0813540689
- Śarmā, Rāmakaraṇa (1996). Śivasahasranāmāṣṭakam : eight collections of hymns containing one thousand and eight names of Śiva. Delhi: Nag Publishers. OCLC 36990863. Includes Śivasahasranāmakoṣa, a dictionary of names. This work compares eight versions of the Śivasahasranāmāstotra. The preface and introduction (in English) by Ram Karan Sharma provide an analysis of how the eight versions compare with one another. The text of the eight versions is given in Sanskrit.
- Schumacher, Stephan and Woerner, Gert. The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion, Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, Hinduism, Shambhala, Boston, (1994) ISBN 0-87773-980-3.
- Schouten, Jan Peter (1995), Revolution of the Mystics: On the Social Aspects of Vīraśaivism, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120812383
- Kramrisch, Stella (1994), The Presence of Śiva, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691019307
- Chakravarti, Mahadev (1986). The concept of Rudra-Śiva through the ages. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 81-208-0053-2.
- Constance, Jones; James, Ryan (2006). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Facts On File. ISBN 0816054584.
- DeVito, Carole; DeVito, Pasquale (1994). India - Mahabharata. Fulbright-Hays Summer Seminar Abroad 1994 (India). United States Educational Foundation in India.
- Srinivasan, Sharada (2004). "Shiva as 'cosmic dancer': On Pallava origins for the Nataraja bronze". World Archaeology. Vol. 36. The Journal of Modern Craft. pp. 432–450. S2CID 26503807.
- Grimes, John A. (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0791430677.
- Mahdihassan, S. (1989). "The Five Cosmic Elements as Depicted in Indian and Chinese Cosmologies". The American Journal of Chinese Medicine. 4. 17 (3n04): 245–252. PMID 2699158. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
External links
- Some interesting Linga images from Kalanjara and Ajaigarh, SK Sullerey (1980)
- O, that Linga!, Alex Wayman (1987)
- Linga and Yoni worship, Urmila Agrawal (1995)
- A note on the Linga with Sakti images in Bengal Art, KD Gupta (2011)