View source for Lingam

{{Short description|Aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva}}
[[File:Shiv lingam Tripundra.jpg|thumb|right|A lingam with [[tripundra]], projected on a [[yoni]] base]]
{{Saivism}}

A '''lingam''' ({{langx|sa|लिङ्ग}} {{IAST3|liṅga}}, lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as '''linga''' or '''Shiva linga''', is an abstract or [[Aniconism|aniconic]] representation of the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] [[Hindu deities|god]] [[Shiva]] in [[Shaivism]].<ref name="Britannica"/> The word ''lingam'' is found in the [[Upanishads]] and [[Indian epic poetry|epic literature]], where it means a "mark, sign, emblem, characteristic",<ref name=mmw901/> the "evidence, proof, symptom" of Shiva and Shiva's power.<ref name="Britannica" /><ref name=mmw901/><ref name="Bonnefoy1993p38"/>{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}}<ref name="Ger Wuj 01" /><ref name="Larson2001p190" />

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.<ref name="Britannica"/>{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=217}} It is often represented within a disc-shaped platform,<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="sivaya subramuniyaswami 2001" /> the ''[[yoni]]'' – its feminine counterpart,<ref name=dasgupta107/><ref name="Beltzp204">{{cite journal | last=Beltz | first=Johannes | title=The Dancing Shiva: South Indian Processional Bronze, Museum Artwork, and Universal Icon | journal=Journal of Religion in Europe | publisher=Brill Academic Publishers | volume=4 | issue=1 | date=2011-03-01 | doi=10.1163/187489210x553566 | pages=204–222 | s2cid=143631560 }}</ref> consisting of a flat element, horizontal compared to the vertical lingam, and designed to allow liquid offerings to drain away for collection.<ref name="britannica"/>

The ''lingam'' is an emblem of generative and destructive power. While rooted in representations of the male sexual organ,{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=493–498}} the ''lingam'' is regarded as the "outward symbol" of the "formless reality", the symbolization of merging of the 'primordial matter' (''[[Prakṛti]]'') with the 'pure consciousness' (''[[Purusha]]'') in [[Transcendence (religion)#Hinduism|transcendental context]].{{sfn|Grimes|1996|p=17}} The ''lingam-yoni'' iconography symbolizes the merging of [[Microcosm–macrocosm analogy|microcosmos and macrocosmos]],<ref name="Beltzp204"/> the divine eternal process of creation and regeneration, and the union of the feminine and the masculine that recreates all of existence.<ref name="britannica"/><ref name=lochtefeld784>{{cite book|author=James G. Lochtefeld|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6FsB3psOTIC&pg=PA784|year=2001|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8239-3180-4|page=784|access-date=22 May 2021|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091517/https://books.google.com/books?id=g6FsB3psOTIC&pg=PA784|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ''lingam'' is typically the primary ''[[murti]]'' or [[Cult image#Hinduism|devotional image]] in [[Hindu temple]]s dedicated to Shiva, also found in smaller shrines, or as [[Svayambhu|self-manifested]] natural objects.<ref name=doh>{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=W.J.|title=A dictionary of Hinduism|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=9780191726705|edition=1st|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198610250.001.0001/acref-9780198610250-e-1458|access-date=5 January 2016|url-access=subscription|archive-date=18 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318040054/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198610250.001.0001/acref-9780198610250-e-1458|url-status=live}}{{ODNBsub}}</ref><ref name="Fowler">{{cite book|last1=Fowler|first1=Jeaneane|title=Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices|date=1997|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|location=Brighton|isbn=978-1-898723-60-8|pages=42–43|url=https://archive.org/details/hinduismbeliefsp0000fowl/mode/2up}}</ref>

== Etymology and nomenclature ==
Lingam, states [[Monier Monier-Williams]], appears in the [[Upanishads]] and [[Indian epic poetry|epic literature]], where it means a "mark, sign, emblem, characteristic".<ref name=mmw901>[http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/monier/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw0901-lAvaNaka.jpg Linga] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318211330/https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/monier/serveimg.pl?file=%2Fscans%2FMWScan%2FMWScanjpg%2Fmw0901-lAvaNaka.jpg |date=18 March 2020 }}, Monier Monier-Williams, Harvard University Archives, pp. 901-[http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/monier/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw0902-liGgakAraNavAda.jpg 902] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200311201322/https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/monier/serveimg.pl?file=%2Fscans%2FMWScan%2FMWScanjpg%2Fmw0902-liGgakAraNavAda.jpg |date=11 March 2020 }}</ref><ref name=lochtefeld390/> Other contextual meanings of the term include "evidence, proof, symptom" of Shiva and Shiva's power.<ref name=mmw901/><ref name="Bonnefoy1993p38">{{cite book|author=Yves Bonnefoy|title=Asian Mythologies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r4I-FsZCzJEC|year=1993|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-06456-7|pages=38–39|access-date=1 October 2018|archive-date=24 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424033253/https://books.google.com/books?id=r4I-FsZCzJEC|url-status=live}}</ref> 

The word ''lingam'' is found in [[Sanskrit literature|Sanskrit texts]], such as [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]], [[Samkhya]], [[Vaisheshika]] and others texts with the meaning of "evidence" of [[Brahman|God]] and God's existence,{{refn|{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}}<ref name="Ger Wuj 01" /><ref name="Larson2001p190" /><ref name="Britannica" /><ref name="mmw901" /><ref name="Bonnefoy1993p38" />}} or existence of formless [[Brahman]].<ref name="ajai16" /> The original meaning of ''lingam'' as "sign" is used in [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]], which says "Shiva, the Supreme Lord, has no liūga", liuga ({{langx|sa|लि‌ऊग}} {{IAST3|liūga}}) meaning he is transcendental, beyond any characteristic and, specifically, the sign of gender.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}}{{sfn|Constance|James|2006|p=410}} 

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.<ref name=mmw901/> It is a religious symbol in Hinduism representing Shiva as the generative power,<ref name=lochtefeld390>{{cite book |author=James G. Lochtefeld |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kl0DYIjUPgC |year=2001 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-8239-3179-8 |page=390 |access-date=1 October 2018 |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119140900/https://books.google.com/books?id=5kl0DYIjUPgC |url-status=live }}</ref> all of existence, all creativity and fertility at every cosmic level.<ref name=dasgupta107/><ref name=eliade332>{{cite book|author1=Lewis R. Rambo|author2=Charles E. Farhadian|title=The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U03gAgAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-971354-7|pages=332–333|access-date=1 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091517/https://books.google.com/books?id=U03gAgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

In early Sanskrit medical texts, ''linga'' means "symptom, signs" and plays a key role in the diagnosis of a sickness, the disease.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Wadher | first1=Rupesh | last2=Dwivedi | first2=RambabuR | title=Applicability and importance of Caraka′s concept of Aaturaparijnana Hetawah in understanding a patient | journal= AYU| volume=33 | issue=2 | year=2012 | doi=10.4103/0974-8520.105236 | pages=188–192|pmid=23559788| pmc=3611657 | doi-access=free }}, 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."</ref><ref>{{cite journal| author=Thakar VJ| title=Diagnostic methods in ayurveda| journal=Anc Sci Life | year= 1982 | volume= 1 | issue= 3 | pages= 139–45 | pmid=22556480 | pmc=3336683}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Junjarwad | first1=Ashwini | last2=Savalgi | first2=Pavan | last3=Vyas | first3=Mahesh | title=Critical review on Bhaishajya Kaala (time of drug administration) in Ayurveda | journal= AYU| volume=34 | issue=1 | year=2013 | doi=10.4103/0974-8520.115436 | pages=6–10|pmid= 24049398| pmc=3764882 | doi-access=free }}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter M. Scharf|title=The Denotation of Generic Terms in Ancient Indian Philosophy: Grammar, Nyāya, and Mīmāṃsā|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qh4LAAAAIAAJ|year=1996|publisher=American Philosophical Society|isbn=978-0-87169-863-6|pages=66, 136 with footnotes|access-date=2 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093029/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qh4LAAAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Hartmut Scharfe|title=Grammatical Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_VbnWkZ-SYC|year=1977|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-01706-0|pages=105–106|access-date=2 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093031/https://books.google.com/books?id=2_VbnWkZ-SYC|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the ''[[Vaisheshika]] Sutras'', it means "proof or evidence", as a conditionally sufficient mark or sign. This Vaisheshika theory is adopted in the early Sanskrit medical literature.<ref name="Ger Wuj 01">{{cite book|author1=Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld|author2=D. Wujastyk|title=Studies on Indian Medical History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xDvbumli2i0C|year=2001|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1768-5|pages=49–51 with footnotes|access-date=2 October 2018|archive-date=7 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907105227/https://books.google.com/books?id=xDvbumli2i0C|url-status=live}}</ref> Like the Upanishads, where linga means "mark, sign, characteristic", the texts of the ''[[Nyaya]]'' school of Hindu philosophy use ''linga'' in the same sense.<ref>{{cite book|author=Satis Chandra Vidyabhusana|title=A History of Indian Logic: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Schools|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0lG85RD9YZoC |year=1988|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0565-1|pages=377, 510–511}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Wilhelm Halbfass|title=Tradition and Reflection: Explorations in Indian Thought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=khXxReFRKCEC|year=1991|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-1-4384-0546-9|pages=159–161|access-date=2 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093117/https://books.google.com/books?id=khXxReFRKCEC|url-status=live}}</ref> In the ''[[Samkhya]] sutras'', and in [[Gaudapada]]'s commentary on ''[[Samkhyakarika]]'', the term ''linga'' has many contextual meanings such as in verses 1.124.136, 3.9.16 and 5.21.61, as it develops its theory of the nature of ''[[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]]'' (Self) and ''[[Three bodies doctrine|Sarira]]'' (body, [[Prakṛti|prakriti]]) and its proposed mechanism of rebirth.<ref name="Larson2001p190">{{cite book|author=Gerald James Larson|title=Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ih2aGLp4d1gC&pg=PA190|year=2001|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0503-3|pages=189–192, 270–271|access-date=2 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093032/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ih2aGLp4d1gC&pg=PA190#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=James W. Haag|author2=Gregory R. Peterson|author3=Michael L. Spezio|title=The Routledge Companion to Religion and Science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CRepAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA503|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-63417-8|pages=503–504|access-date=2 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093033/https://books.google.com/books?id=CRepAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA503#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> In the ''Purva [[Mīmāṃsā|Mimamsa]] Sutra'' and the ''Vedanta sutra'', as well as the commentaries on them, the term linga appears quite often, particularly in the form of ''"lingadarsanacca"'' as a form of citing or referencing prior Hindu literature. This phrase connotes "[we have found an] indicative sign", such as the "indicative sign is in a Vedic passage".<ref>{{cite journal|author=Alex Wayman| title=O, that Linga!|year = 1987|volume=68|issue=1/4| journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute| pages=19–20}}</ref>

[[File:4 Buddha and Shiva Linga Vajrayana Buddhism.jpg|thumb|right|A linga-yoni in Nepal carved with four seated Buddhas]]
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.<ref name=wayman1987>{{cite journal|author=Alex Wayman| title=O, that Linga!|year = 1987|volume=68|issue=1/4| journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute| pages=17, 22–25}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|Examples of this usage include the ''[[Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra]]'' in Buddhism, and Sukhlalji's ''bhasya'' on ''[[Tattvarthasutra]]'' in Jainism.<ref name=wayman1987/>}}

==Iconography==
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| image1            = Mukhalinga.JPG
| width1            = 125
| alt1              = a 5th-century Mukha-linga (with face)
| caption1          = a 5th-century Mukha-linga (with face)
| image2            = Bhubaneshwar ei040.jpg
| width2            = 125
| alt2              = a Sahasra-linga (with 1001 carvings).
| caption2          = a Sahasra-linga (with 1001 carvings).
| footer            = Lingam iconography exists in many forms, and their design are described in the Agama texts.
| direction         = horizontal
| total_width       = 250
}}

===Various styles===
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.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=217}}<ref name="Britannica">{{Cite encyclopedia |url= https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/342336/lingam |title= lingam |year= 2010 |encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date= 23 June 2022 |archive-date= 4 May 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150504222257/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/342336/lingam |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="Rao1993p76"/>

Various styles of lingam iconography are found on the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fj8l8v_yP5oC&pg=PA159|title=Champa and the Archaeology of Mỹ Sơn (Vietnam)|author=Andrew David Hardy |author2=Mauro Cucarzi |author3=Patrizia Zolese|year=2009|isbn=978-9971-69-451-7|page=NUS Press. pp. 138, 159|publisher=NUS Press }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/artofnepalcatalo0000palp |url-access=registration |title=Art of Nepal: A Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection|year=1985 |last=Pratapaditya Pal|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-05407-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/artofnepalcatalo0000palp/page/109 109]}}</ref> The historic lingam iconography has included:
* ''Lingam-yoni'', wherin the ''lingam'' is placed 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''.<ref name="Britannica"/>
* [[Mukhalinga]]m, where the lingam has the face of Shiva carved on it.<ref>{{cite book|author=Stella Kramrisch|title=Exploring India'S Sacred Art Selected Writings of Stella Kramrisch Ed. & With A Biographical Essay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxPeWwFz9MkC |year=1994|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1208-6|pages=141–147}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu Iconography Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0877-5|pages=97–99|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|author=N. S. Ramaswami|title=Monograph on temples of Mukhalingam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KyNuAAAAMAAJ|year=1976|publisher=Government of Andhra Pradesh|pages=1–9|access-date=1 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093539/https://books.google.com/books?id=KyNuAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Chakravarti1986p159">{{cite book|author=Mahadev Chakravarti|title=The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through the Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yMFwMHH4HzMC|year=1986|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0053-3|pages=159–161|access-date=1 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093540/https://books.google.com/books?id=yMFwMHH4HzMC|url-status=live}}</ref> Among the mukha-lingam varieties, the four face version are more common.<ref>{{cite book|author=S. Kramrisch|title=The Presence of Siva|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC|year=1994|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-01930-4|pages=178–183|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092524/https://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Ashtottara-sata linga, where 108 miniature lingas are carved on the ''pujabhaga'' (main linga) following certain geometric principles.<ref>{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu Iconography Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0877-5|pages=95–96|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Sahasra linga, where 1001 miniature lingas are carved on the ''pujabhaga'' (main linga) following certain geometric principles (set in 99 vertical lines, 11 horizontal).<ref>{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu Iconography Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0877-5|pages=96–97|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Dhara linga, where lingas have five to sixty four fluted facets, with prime numbers and multiples of four particularly favored.<ref>{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu Iconography Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0877-5|pages=96–98|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Lingodbhava]], where Shiva is seen as emerging from within a fiery lingam.<ref name="Britannica"/> On top of this icon is sometimes a relief of a swan representing Brahma as [[Hamsa (bird)|Hamsa]], and a wild boar at the bottom representing Vishnu as [[Varaha]]. This reflects the Shaiva legend describing a competition between Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu, as to who has priority and superiority in the [[Shiva Purana]].<ref name="Britannica"/>
[[File:ShivaLingam new.png|alt=|thumb|right|Lingam as interpreted in the [[Shaiva Siddhanta]] tradition, a major school of [[Shaivism]]. The icon is regarded to represent the [[Parashiva]] and [[Parashakti]] aspects of Shiva and Parvati.]]

===Construction===
A lingam may be made of clay ({{transliteration|hi|mrinmaya}}), metal ({{transliteration|hi|lohaja}}), precious stone ({{transliteration|hi|ratnaja}}), wood ({{transliteration|hi|daruja}}), stone ({{transliteration|hi|shailaja}}, most common), or a disposable material ({{transliteration|hi|kshanika}}).<ref name="Rao1993p76">{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu Iconography Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0877-5|page=76|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|url-status=live}}</ref> The construction method, proportions and design is described in Shaiva Agama texts.<ref name="Rao1993p76"/> The lingam is typically set in the center of a pindika (also called yoni or pithas, symbolizing Shakti). A pindika may be circular, square, octagonal, hexagonal, duodecagonal, hexadecagonal, elliptical, triangular or another shape.<ref>{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu Iconography Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0877-5|pages=99–100|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|url-status=live}}</ref> Some lingams are miniaturized and they are carried on one's person, such as by Lingayats in a necklace. These are called ''chala-lingams''.<ref name="Rao1993p76"/> The Hindu temple design manuals recommend geometric ratios for the linga, the sanctum and the various architectural features of the temple according to certain mathematical rules it considers perfect and sacred.<ref>{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu Iconography Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0877-5|pages=87–94|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|url-status=live}}</ref> Anthropologist Christopher John Fuller states that although most sculpted images ([[murti]]s) are [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] or [[Zoomorphism|theriomorphic]], the [[Aniconism|aniconic]] Shiva Linga is an important exception.<ref name = "Fuller">{{cite book|author=Christopher John Fuller|title=The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=To6XSeBUW3oC&pg=PA58|year=2004|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=58|isbn=9780691120485|access-date=24 September 2016|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093544/https://books.google.com/books?id=To6XSeBUW3oC&pg=PA58#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Meaning==

===Representation of Shiva===
The ''lingam'' is conceptualized both as an emblem of generative and destructive power,<ref name="britannica"/>{{sfn|Constance|James|2006|p=260-261}} particularly in the esoteric [[Kaula (Hinduism)|Kaula]] and [[Tantra]] practices, as well as the [[Shaivism]] and [[Shaktism]] traditions of Hinduism.{{sfn|Constance|James|2006|p=515-517}} 

The ''lingam'' and ''yoni'' together symbolize the merging of [[Microcosm–macrocosm analogy|microcosmos and macrocosmos]],<ref name="Beltzp204"/> the divine eternal process of creation and regeneration, and the union of the feminine and the masculine that recreates all of existence.<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |author1-last=Doniger |author1-first=Wendy |author1-link=Wendy Doniger |author2-last=Stefon |author2-first=Matt |title=Lingam (Hinduism) |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/lingam |date=24 December 2014 |orig-date=20 July 1998 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |location=[[Edinburgh]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |access-date=22 May 2021 |archive-date=11 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011224444/https://www.britannica.com/topic/lingam |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="lochtefeld784" /> The ''lingam'' is regarded as the "outward symbol" of the "formless Reality", the symbolization of merging of the 'primordial matter' (''[[Prakṛti]]'') with the 'pure consciousness' (''[[Purusha]]'') in [[Transcendence (religion)#Hinduism|transcendental context]].{{sfn|Grimes|1996|p=175-176}} [[Sivaya Subramuniyaswami]] elaborates that the lingam signifies three perfections of [[Shiva]].<ref name="sivaya subramuniyaswami 2001">{{cite book|first=Sivaya|last=Subramuniyaswami|author-link=Sivaya Subramuniyaswami|title=Dancing with Siva|year=2003|publisher=Himalayan Academy|location=USA|isbn=978-0-945497-94-3|url=https://archive.org/details/dancingwithsivah00subr_0}}</ref> The upper oval part of the lingam represents [[Parashiva]] and the lower part of the lingam, called the pitha, represents [[Parashakti]].<ref name="sivaya subramuniyaswami 2001"/> 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, [[Purusha|pure consciousness]], the power and primal substance of all that exists. Parashakti is regarded to possess form, unlike Parashiva, which is formless.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/media/books/dancing-with-siva/web/glossary_c.html|title=Dictionary of Dancing with Siva|at=Search for the 'Paraśiva: परशिव' and 'Parāśakti: पराशक्ति'|access-date=10 July 2018|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141403/https://www.himalayanacademy.com/media/books/dancing-with-siva/web/glossary_c.html|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}}

According to [[Sivananda Saraswati]], the lingam speaks unmistakable language of silence: "I am one without a second, I am formless".<ref name="Sivananda 1996"/> It is only the outward symbol of formless being, Shiva, who is [[Ātman (Hinduism)|eternal]], ever-pure, immortal essence of this vast universe, who is your innermost [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Self or Atman]], and who is identical with the [[Brahman|Supreme Brahman]], states Sivananda Saraswati.<ref name="Sivananda 1996"/>

To some Shaivites the ''lingam'' symbolizes the [[Axis mundi|axis of the universe]].<ref name="Bayly2003p55">{{cite book|author=Susan Bayly|title=Saints, Goddesses and Kings: Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society, 1700-1900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fxqtx8SflEsC|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-89103-5|pages=129–130 with footnote 55|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093036/https://books.google.com/books?id=Fxqtx8SflEsC|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref name="GoodallEtAl">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.</ref>

===Phallus symbol===

====Phallic origins====
Scholars, such as [[Wendy Doniger]] and [[Rohit K. Dasgupta|Rohit Dasgupta]], view ''linga'' as extrapolations of what was originally a phallic symbol.<ref>{{cite book|author=O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger|title=Śiva, the erotic ascetic|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1981|isbn=0-19-520250-3|location=Oxford}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger|title=On Hinduism|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=9780199360079|location=Oxford}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger|title=The Hindus: An Alternative History|publisher=Viking Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0143116691|location=United States}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Rohit Dasgupta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bHytBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA107|title=Cultural Encyclopedia of the Penis|date=26 September 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780759123144|editor1=Michael Kimmel|page=107|editor2=Christine Milrod|editor3=Amanda Kennedy|access-date=1 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091517/https://books.google.com/books?id=bHytBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA107#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> 

According to Doniger, there is persuasive evidence in later Sanskrit literature that the early Indians associated the lingam icon with the male sexual organ;{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=493–498}} the 11th-century CE 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).{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=493–498}}<ref>{{cite book|author=J. L. Brockington|title=Hinduism and Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hfe-DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33|year=2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-349-22280-3|page=33|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093119/https://books.google.com/books?id=hfe-DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=493–498}} 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).{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=493–498}} In Tamil Shaiva tradition, for example, the common term for lingam is ''kuri'' or "sign, mark" which is asexual.{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=493–498}} Similarly, in [[Lingayats|Lingayatism]] tradition, the lingam is a spiritual symbol and "was never said to have any sexual connotations", according to Doniger.{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=493–498}}

According to Dasgupta, the lingam symbolizes Shiva in Hinduism, and it is also a phallic symbol.<ref name=dasgupta107/>

Some extant ancient lingams, such as the [[Gudimallam Lingam]], unambiguously depict a male sexual organ.

====Sexualization in Orientalist literature====
Since the 19th century CE, 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.<ref name=dasgupta107/>

The [[Colonial India|colonial era]] [[Orientalism|Orientalists]] and [[Missionary#Christian missions|Christian missionaries]], raised in the [[Victorian era|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.<ref name="dasgupta107">{{cite book|title=Cultural Encyclopedia of the Penis|page=107|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bHytBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA107|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|author=Rohit Dasgupta|editor1=Michael Kimmel|editor2=Christine Milrod|editor3=Amanda Kennedy|isbn=9780759123144|date=26 September 2014|access-date=1 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091517/https://books.google.com/books?id=bHytBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA107#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Douglas T. McGetchin|title=Indology, Indomania, and Orientalism: Ancient India's Rebirth in Modern Germany|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PHVRDSM-tyMC|year=2009|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press|isbn=978-0-8386-4208-5|page=34}}</ref>{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |p=500 |ps=,&nbsp;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."}} The 19th and early 20th century CE 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.<ref name="dasgupta107" /><ref name="Ramos2017p56">{{cite book|author=Imma Ramos|title=Pilgrimage and Politics in Colonial Bengal: The Myth of the Goddess Sati|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FRhdDgAAQBAJ|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-84000-2|pages=56–58|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093537/https://books.google.com/books?id=FRhdDgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Hugh B. Urban|title=The Power of Tantra: Religion, Sexuality and the Politics of South Asian Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VKv3AgAAQBAJ|year=2009|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-0-85773-158-6|pages=8–10|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093538/https://books.google.com/books?id=VKv3AgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> To the Hindus, particularly the [[Shaivism|Shaivites]], these icons and ideas were the abstract, a symbol of the entirety of creation and spirituality.<ref name="dasgupta107" /> The [[British Raj|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".<ref name="Ramos2017p56" />

According to Doniger, the terms ''lingam'' and ''yoni'' became explicitly associated with human sexual organs in the western imagination after the widely popular first ''[[Kama Sutra|Kamasutra]]'' translation by [[Richard Francis Burton|Sir Richard Burton]] in 1883.{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=500–502}} 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, [[Richard Francis Burton|Burton]] adroitly avoided being viewed as obscene to the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] mindset by avoiding the use of words such as penis, vulva, vagina and other direct or indirect sexual terms in the [[Sanskrit literature|Sanskrit text]] to discuss sex, sexual relationships and human sexual positions. [[Richard Francis Burton|Burton]] used the terms ''lingam'' and ''yoni'' instead throughout the translation.{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=500–502}} This conscious and incorrect word substitution, states Doniger, thus served as an [[Orientalism|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."{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=500–502}} Similar [[Orientalism|Orientalist literature]] of the Christian missionaries and the British era, states Doniger, stripped all spiritual meanings and insisted on the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] vulgar interpretation only, which had "a negative effect on the self-perception that [[Hinduism|Hindus]] had of their own bodies" and they became "ashamed of the more sensual aspects of their own religious literature".{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=499–505}} 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.{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=499–505}}

====Rejection====
The sexualization is criticized by [[Stella Kramrisch]]{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=14}} 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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Winternitz|first=Moriz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRfuJFRV_O8C&pg=PA543|title=A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1|author2=V. Srinivasa Sarma|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=1981|isbn=978-81-208-0264-3|page=543 footnote 4|access-date=2 July 2021|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=JRfuJFRV_O8C&pg=PA543#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to Alex Wayman, various works on Shaivism by some Indian authors, following the Shaiva philosophical texts and spiritual interpretations, "deny that the linga is a phallus."<ref name=wayman30>{{cite journal|author=Alex Wayman| title=O, that Linga!|year = 1987|volume=68|issue=1/4| journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute| page=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."</ref> To the Shaivites, a linga is neither a phallus nor do they practice the worship of erotic penis-vulva, rather the linga-yoni is a symbol of cosmic mysteries, the creative powers and the metaphor for the spiritual truths of their faith.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Alex Wayman| title=O, that Linga!|year = 1987|volume=68|issue=1/4| journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute| pages=29–31}}</ref> 

According to [[Sivananda Saraswati|Swami Sivananda]], the correlation of the linga and phallus is wrong; the lingam is only the external symbol of Shiva's formless being. He further states that it is the light or power of consciousness, manifesting from [[Sadasiva|Sadashiva]].<ref> 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.</ref>
{{Quote|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.<ref>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.</ref>}}

==Worship==
[[File:Linga Temple 1.jpg|thumb|Badavlinga, [[Hampi]] ([[Vijayanagara Empire]])]]
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| image1            = A river and decorated Shiva linga pooja, Hindu rituals.jpg
| width1            = 272
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = 
| image2            = Lord Shiva devotees offering milk, flowers, fruits and bel leaves on a Shivaling for seeking divine blessings, in a city temple at the celebration of Maha Shivaratri, in New Delhi on February 23, 2009 (1).jpg
| width2            = 200
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| caption2          = 
| footer            = Linga-yoni worship in different ways; Left: river, Right: temple.
}}

The traditional lingam rituals in major Shiva temples includes offerings of flowers, grass, dried rice, fruits, leaves, water and a milk bath.<ref name="Britannica"/> Priests chant hymns, while the devotees go to the sanctum for a ''[[Darshan (Indian religions)|darshana]]'' followed by a clockwise circumambulation of the sanctum.<ref name="Britannica"/> On the sanctum walls, typically are reliefs of Dakshinamurti, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva. Often, near the sanctum are other shrines, particularly for Shakti (Durga), Ganesha and Murugan (Kartikeya). In the Hindu tradition, special pilgrimage sites include those where natural lingams are found in the form of cylindrical rocks or ice or rocky hill. These are called ''Svayambhuva'' lingam, and about 70 of these are known on the Indian subcontinent, the most significant being one in Kashi ([[Varanasi]]) followed by Prayaga, Naimisha and Gaya.<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Rao1993p81">{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu Iconography Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0877-5|pages=81–84|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Historical development and meaning==

=== Archeological finds from Indus Valley civilisation===
[[File:Cat_Tien_large_lingam.jpg|thumb|Stone lingam and yoni pedestal found in [[Cát Tiên archaeological site|Cát Tiên]], Vietnam, circa 8th century CE. At 2.1 meter tall, this is the largest lingam ever found in Southeast Asia]]
[[File:Dhamekh Stupa, where the Buddha gave the first sermon on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to his five disciples, Sarnath.jpg|thumb|A Buddhist [[stupa]] (above) may have influenced the later iconography of the Hindu Shiva-linga, according to [[Swami Vivekananda]].<ref name="E. U. Harding"/>{{refn|group=note|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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Subramanian K R|title=Origin of Saivism and Its History in the Tamil Land|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHaVqNy-V6UC|year=2002|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0144-4|pages=29–30|access-date=3 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091517/https://books.google.com/books?id=jHaVqNy-V6UC|url-status=live}}</ref>}}]]

The colonial-era archaeologists [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]] and [[Ernest J. H. Mackay|Ernest Mackay]] proposed that certain artifacts found at Harappan sites may be evidence of yoni-linga worship in Indus Valley Civilization.<ref name=aparpola1985>{{cite journal|author=Asko Parpola|author-link=Asko Parpola|title = The Sky Garment - A study of the Harappan religion and its relation to the Mesopotamian and later Indian religions| journal= Studia Orientalia| publisher= The Finnish Oriental Society| volume=57| year=1985|pages=101–107}}</ref> Jones and Ryan state that lingam/yoni shapes have been recovered from the archaeological sites at Harappa and [[Mohenjo-daro]], part of the [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Indus Valley civilisation]].{{sfn|Constance|James|2006|p=516}}<ref>{{cite book|title=The R̥gvedic deities and their iconic forms|page=185|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers|author=Jyotsna Chawla|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EX3XAAAAMAAJ|year=1990|isbn=9788121500821|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092059/https://books.google.com/books?id=EX3XAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Chakravarti, "some of the stones found in [[Mohenjo-daro|Mohenjodaro]] are unmistakably phallic stones". These are dated to some time before 2300 BCE. Similarly, states Chakravarti, the Kalibangan site of [[Harappa]] has a small [[terracotta]] representation that "would undoubtedly be considered the replica of a modern Shivlinga [a tubular stone]."{{sfn|Chakravarti|1986}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yDAlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA39|title=Hindu Images and Their Worship with Special Reference to Vaisnavism: A Philosophical-theological Inquiry|last=Lipner|first=Julius J.|author-link=Julius J. Lipner|publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group|year=2017|isbn=9781351967822|location=London; New York|page=39|language=en|oclc=985345208|access-date=25 July 2017|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414114704/https://books.google.com/books?id=yDAlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA39|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Srinivasan, in the [[Harappa|Harappan sites]], objects that resemble "lingam" have been found.{{sfn|Srinivasan|2004|p=434}} That includes "a seated trident-headed ithyphallic figure", which was found on Indus seals, "has been compared to Shiva as meditating [[Asceticism|ascetic]]", states Srinivasan.{{sfn|Srinivasan|2004|p=434}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Ancient Cities of the Indus Vally Civilization|first=Jonathan Mark|last=Kenoyer|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195779400|year=1998|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/ancient-cities-of-the-indus-valley-civilization-9780195779400|access-date=7 September 2021|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091523/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/ancient-cities-of-the-indus-valley-civilization-9780195779400?cc=us&lang=en&|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Britannica"/> 

Scholars such as [[Arthur Llewellyn Basham]] dispute whether such artifacts discovered at the archaeological sites of Indus Valley sites are yoni.<ref name=aparpola1985/><ref>{{cite book|author=Arthur Llewellyn Basham|title=The Wonder that was India: A Survey of the History and Culture of the Indian Subcontinent Before the Coming of the Muslims|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LscvuQEACAAJ|year=1967|publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson (1986 Reprint)|isbn=978-0-283-99257-5|page=24|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091517/https://books.google.com/books?id=LscvuQEACAAJ|url-status=live}}, Quote: "It has been suggested that certain large [[ringstone|ring-shaped stones]] are formalized representations of the female regenerative organ and were symbols of the Mother Goddess, but this is most doubtful."</ref>

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".<ref name=aparpola1985/> 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".<ref name=aparpola1985/> 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.<ref name=aparpola1985/> 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.<ref name=aparpola1985/>

Indologist Wendy Doniger rejects Srinivasan's interpretation, and states that this relatively rare artifact can be interpreted in many ways and has unduly been used for wild speculations such as being a linga. Another Indus [[stamp seal]] often called the [[Pashupati seal]], states Doniger, has an image with a general resemblance with Shiva and "the Indus people may well have created the symbolism of the divine phallus", but given the available evidence we cannot be certain, nor do we know that it had the same meaning as some currently project them to might have meant.{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=485–502}}

===Vedic texts===

====Vedas====
The word ''lingam'' is not found in the ''[[Rigveda]]'',{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=489–502}} or the other Vedas.<ref name=welden445>{{cite journal|title=The Samkhya Term, Linga| author= Ellwood Austin Welden|journal= The American Journal of Philology|volume= 31|number = 4| year=1910|pages= 445–459| publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|jstor=288521| doi= 10.2307/288521}}</ref> However, [[Rudra]] (proto-Shiva) is found in the Vedic literature.{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=489–502}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Charles Phillips|author2=Michael Kerrigan|author3=David Gould|title=Ancient India Myths and Beliefs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p3-RkE-Xxa0C|year=2011|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-4488-5990-0|pages=41–45|access-date=1 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092018/https://books.google.com/books?id=p3-RkE-Xxa0C|url-status=live}}</ref> 

Worship of the lingam was not a part of the [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic religion]]. The worship of the lingam originated from the famous hymn in the [[Samhita#Atharva veda|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 [[Historical Vedic religion|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''.<ref name="E.U.Harding">{{cite book  | last = Harding  | first = Elizabeth U.  | title = Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar  | chapter = God, the Father  | publisher = Motilal Banarsidass  | year = 1998  | pages = 156–157  | isbn = 978-81-208-1450-9}}</ref><ref name="paris_congress">{{cite book  | last = Vivekananda  | first = Swami  | title = The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda  | chapter = The Paris congress of the history of religions  | chapter-url = http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_4/translation_prose/the_paris_congress.htm  | volume = 4  | access-date = 30 September 2008  | archive-date = 24 February 2021  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210224162216/http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_4/translation_prose/the_paris_congress.htm  | url-status = live  }}</ref> 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.<ref name="paris_congress" />

There is a hymn in the [[Atharvaveda]] that praises a pillar (''[[stambha]]''), and this is one possible origin of linga worship.<ref name="nksingh">{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Nagendra Kr.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tVyPg9osxG8C&pg=PA1567|title=Encyclopaedia of Hinduism|date=1997|publisher=Centre for International Religious Studies|isbn=9788174881687|edition=1st|location=New Delhi|page=1567}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> 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.<ref name="E. U. Harding">{{cite book | last = Harding | first = Elizabeth U. | title = Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar | chapter = God, the Father | publisher = Motilal Banarsidass | year = 1998 | pages = 156–157 | isbn = 978-81-208-1450-9}}</ref><ref name="paris_congress" />

====Shvetashvatara Upanishad====
[[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]] states that, of the three significations of ''Lingam'', the primary one is "[[Purusha|the imperishable Purusha]]", [[Brahman|the absolute reality]],{{sfn|Constance|James|2006|p=410}} whereby the ''linga'' is "sign", a mark that provides the existence of [[Brahman]],{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}}{{sfn|DeVito|DeVito|1994|p=5}} which is itself formless.<ref name="ajai16">{{cite journal|title=Stewards of Creation Covenant: Hinduism and the Environment|last=Mansingh|first=Ajai|journal=Caribbean Quarterly|year=2016|volume=41|issue=1|publisher=A Journal of Caribbean Culture|page=62|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00086495.1995.11672075|doi=10.1080/00086495.1995.11672075|access-date=7 September 2021|archive-date=7 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907185105/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00086495.1995.11672075|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Furthermore, it mentioned that Shiva is transcendent, beyond any characteristic or ''liūga'', specifically the sign of gender.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}} Linga, "sign", not only signifies the existence of perceptible "things" but also denotes the imperceptible essence of "a thing" or pieces of [[Brahman]] called [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atma]]{{sfn|DeVito|DeVito|1994|p=5}} even before that thing has come to exist in any concrete form.{{refn|group=note|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.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}} 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]]).{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}}}} The imperceptible essence of "a thing", in its potentiality, is the ''liūga'' of the thing.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}} 

The insight of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad conveyed through the word ''liūga'' is formulated explicitly in [[Samkhya]] and [[Yoga (philosophy)|schools of Yoga]] or [[Darshana Upanishad|ways of looking at things]], that is, looking at their appearance and at Ultimate Reality.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}} ''Liūga'' here denotes the [[Three bodies doctrine|subtle body]], (liṇga śarīra) underlying and ontologically preceding anything perceptible.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}} The perceptible state, in this context, is the [[Three bodies doctrine|gross body]] (sthūla śarīra), or concrete reality as it appears to the sense organs. In between the Ultimate and concrete reality is [[Prakṛti]], also called [[Pradhana]]{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}} which is the imperceptible substratum of the manifest world or pre-matter.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=122}} Out of this imperceptible cosmic substance, all things have come out, and to which they will return ultimately.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}}

===Early iconography and temples (3rd century BCE - first mill. CE)===
[[File:Gudimallam Lingam in-situ photograph.jpg|thumb|right|Gudimallam Lingam]]
[[File:Worship of Shiva Linga by Gandharvas - Shunga Period - Bhuteshwar - ACCN 3625 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6098.JPG|thumb|Linga inside a railing (left), being worshipped by [[Gandharva]] winged creatures. [[Art of Mathura]], circa 100 BCE.<ref name="US435">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 |page=435 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA435 |language=en |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093549/https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA435#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

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 {{convert|20|km}} east of [[Tirupati]] in [[Andhra Pradesh]].<ref>{{cite book|author=John Guy|title=Indian Temple Sculpture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2YLqAAAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Harry N. Abrams|isbn=978-1-85177-509-5|page=35|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092019/https://books.google.com/books?id=2YLqAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> It has been dated to the 3rd-century BCE,<ref name="Britannica"/> or to the 2nd{{nbsp}}century BCE,<ref name="Klostermaier">{{cite book|last1=Klostermaier|first1=Klaus K.|title=A Survey of Hinduism|date=2007|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany, N.Y.|isbn=978-0-7914-7082-4|edition=3.|page=111|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E_6-JbUiHB4C|access-date=24 September 2016|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092030/https://books.google.com/books?id=E_6-JbUiHB4C|url-status=live}}</ref> and is mostly accepted to be from the 3rd- to 1st-century BCE,{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=491–493}}  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 [[Asceticism#Indian religions|ascetic]] manifestation of [[Shiva]],{{sfn|Srinivasan|2004|p=434}} carved on the front, holding an antelope and axe in his hands.{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=491–493}}<ref name="elgood">{{cite book|last1=Elgood|first1=Heather|title=Hinduism and the Religious Arts|date=2000|publisher=Cassell|location=London|isbn=978-0-8264-9865-6|page=47|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tAcF8RgbtZ0C|access-date=24 September 2016|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115081254/https://books.google.com/books?id=tAcF8RgbtZ0C|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name=rao227>{{cite book |author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao |title=Elements of Hindu Iconography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC |year=1997 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0877-5 |pages=223–229, 237 |access-date=30 September 2018 |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/24548 Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), Chola period, c. 10th/11th century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215105555/http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/24548 |date=15 February 2017 }} [[The Art Institute of Chicago]], United States</ref><ref name="Arundhati2002">{{cite book|author=P. Arundhati|title=Annapurna : A Bunch of Flowers of Indian Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cfK2LoH_j54C&pg=PA40|year=2002|publisher=Concept|isbn=978-81-7022-897-4|pages=40–45|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092523/https://books.google.com/books?id=cfK2LoH_j54C&pg=PA40#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> 

In this earliest representation, the phallic representation illustrates the centrality of the energetic principle of '''''Urdhva Retas''''' ({{langx|sa|ऊर्ध्वरेतस्}} {{IAST3|Ūrdhvaretas}}, lit. "ascent of vital energies or fluid") the upward flow of energy in spiritual pursuits and practice of [[Celibacy#Hinduism|celibacy]] ([[Brahmacharya|Brahmacarya]]),<ref name="govind52">{{cite journal|author=Ghurye, G.S.|year= 1952|title= Ascetic Origins|journal= Sociological Bulletin|volume= 1|issue= 2|publisher= Sociological Bulletin, 1(2)|pages= 162–184|doi=10.1177/0038022919520206|s2cid= 220049343}}</ref> contrary to fertility or release of vital energies.<ref name="brill72" /><ref name="urdhvaretas">{{cite web|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/urdhvaretas|website=www.wisdomlib.org|title=Urdhvaretas, Urdhvaretās, Ūrdhvaretas, Urdhva-retas: 7 definitions|date=9 September 2014|access-date=15 July 2021|archive-date=15 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715033141/https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/urdhvaretas|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=26}}<ref name="abha70">{{cite book|title=The Tantric Tradition|author=Swami Agehananda Bharati|year=1970|isbn=0877282536|publisher=Red Wheel/Weiser|page=294}}</ref><ref name="urdh_dev18">{{cite book|title=Shiva to Shankara: Giving Form to the Formless|author=Devdutt Pattanaik|pages=13–14|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=9789352641956|year=2018}}</ref> Lakulisa as an [[Asceticism#Indian religions|ascetic]] manifestation of Shiva is seen in later peninsular [[Linga Purana|Indian scriptures]] whose ithyphallic aspects connotes [[Asceticism#Indian religions|asceticism]] and conserved procreative potentialities ([[Brahmacharya|Brahmacarya]] or [[Celibacy#Hinduism|celibacy]]), rather than mere [[eroticism]].{{sfn|Srinivasan|2004|p=434}}<ref>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 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630063016/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1062019 |date=30 June 2021 }}.</ref> According to Stella Kramrisch, the pictorial symbol of the Gudimallam Lingam should not be mistaken for fertility or eroticism, due to incomplete or impure understanding of the underlying refined principles.{{refn|name="ilph_rep_l"|group=note}}{{refn|group=note|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.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=555}}}}{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=238}}
[[File:Natural Sivalinga near Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh.jpg|thumb|Natural rock linga, [[Arunachal Pradesh]]]]

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.<ref>{{cite book|author=S. Kramrisch|title=The Presence of Siva|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC|year=1994|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-01930-4|page=179|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092524/https://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Rao1993p63"/><ref name="Chakravarti1986p131">{{cite book|author=Mahadev Chakravarti|title=The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through the Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yMFwMHH4HzMC&pg=PA131|year=1986|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0053-3|pages=131–133|access-date=1 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092524/https://books.google.com/books?id=yMFwMHH4HzMC&pg=PA131#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Rao1993p63"/>{{refn|group=note|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."<ref name="Rao1993p63"/> 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.<ref name="Chakravarti1986p131"/><ref>{{cite book|author=C. Sivaramamurti|title=L'Art en Inde|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKgQAQAAMAAJ|year=1977|publisher=H. N. Abrams|isbn=978-0-8109-0630-3|page=77}}</ref>}} 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''{{refn|group=note|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.<ref name="patt06">Pattanaik, Devdutt. Shiva to Shankara: Decoding the phallic symbol. Indus Source, 2006.</ref><ref name="brill72" />}} during [[Sannyasa]] or [[Asceticism]].{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=26}}<ref name="brill72" /><ref name="abha70"/><ref name="Rao1993p63">{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu Iconography, Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0877-5|pages=63–67|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7mP3kDzGuoC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="urdh_dev18" />

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 century CE to 3rd century CE).<ref>{{cite book|author=Govind Sadashiv Ghurye|title=Indian Costume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=irh9dvlLz3MC&pg=PR16|year=1966|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7154-403-5|pages=xvi, xlvii|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092525/https://books.google.com/books?id=irh9dvlLz3MC&pg=PR16#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Shashi Asthana|title=Mathurā Kalā: Catalogue of Mathura Sculptures in National Museum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0efVAAAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=National Museum of India|isbn=978-81-85832-10-4|pages=23–28|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092526/https://books.google.com/books?id=0efVAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Asher1980p27">{{cite book|author=Frederick M. Asher|title=The Art of Eastern India: 300 - 800|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-gGxzx6wxIC|year=1980|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-1-4529-1225-7|page=27|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092526/https://books.google.com/books?id=d-gGxzx6wxIC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Meister1984p494">{{cite book|author=Michael W. Meister|title=Discourses on Siva|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9I3pAAAAMAAJ|year=1984|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-7909-2|page=494|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092526/https://books.google.com/books?id=9I3pAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Epics and puranas===
{{See also|Itihasa-Purana}}

====Mahabharata====
According to Wendy Doniger, ''lingam'' in the ''Mahabharata'' is represented as the phallic form which suggests [[Three bodies doctrine|Sthula sarira]] of Shiva,{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=491–493}}{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=220-222}} although not the primary significance,{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=221}} however it connotes much more than that.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=222}} The [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic shape]], in this specific context, functions as the [[Three bodies doctrine|"subtle body"]] (''Lińga Śarīra''){{sfn|Grimes|1996|p=176}} of Shiva in the ''Mahabharata''.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=222}} It is a superabundant evocation of fierce potency on a cosmic scale, although it states crassly phallic.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=222}} Doniger further finds that Shiva was called by many names, including [[Rudra]] or Girisha.{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=491–493}} Chapter 10.17 of the ''Mahabharata'' also refers to the word ''sthanu'' in the sense of an "inanimate pillar" as well as a "name of Shiva, signifying the immobile, ascetic, desexualized form of the ''lingam''", as it recites the legend involving [[Shiva]], [[Brahma]], Brahma as [[Prajapati]].{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=491–493}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Alf Hiltebeitel|title=Freud's Mahabharata|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4hhnDwAAQBAJ|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-087834-4|pages=123–124, footnote 179|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019092527/https://books.google.com/books?id=4hhnDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> This mythology weaves two polarities, one where the lingam represents the potentially procreative phallus (fertile lingam) and its opposite "a pillar-like renouncer of sexuality" (ascetic lingam), states Doniger.{{sfn |Doniger |2011 |pp=491–493}}

====Puranas====
The [[Linga Purana]] (5th century CE -10th century CE) states, "Shiva is signless, without color, taste, smell, that is beyond word or touch, without quality, motionless and changeless".<ref name="Daniélou1991p222"/> 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.<ref name="Daniélou1991p222"/> The ''Linga Purana'' and [[Ishvara Gita|Siva Gita]] texts builds on this foundation.{{Sfn|Kramrisch|1994|pp=171-185}}<ref>{{cite book|first=Anantharaman|last=K.V.|title=Siva Gita A Critical Study|url=https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/295754|chapter=Chapter X - Omnipotence of Siva Linga|hdl=10603/295754|access-date=16 July 2021|archive-date=30 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230125037/https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/295754|url-status=live}}</ref> Linga, states [[Alain Daniélou]], means sign.<ref name="Daniélou1991p222">{{cite book|author=Alain Daniélou|title=The Myths and Gods of India |url=https://archive.org/details/mythsgodsofindia00dani|url-access=registration|series=Princeton Bollingen Series|year=1991|publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co|isbn=978-0-89281-354-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mythsgodsofindia00dani/page/222 222]–224}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Daniélou1991p222"/>

According to the ''Linga Purana'', the lingam is a complete symbolic representation of the formless Universe Bearer{{snd}}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.<ref name="Sivananda 1996">{{cite book|last=Sivananda|first=Swami|title=Lord Siva and His Worship|publisher=The Divine Life Trust Society|year=1996|chapter=Worship of Siva Linga|chapter-url=http://www.dlshq.org/download/lordsiva.htm#_VPID_80|access-date=8 December 2008|archive-date=18 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218010322/http://www.dlshq.org/download/lordsiva.htm#_VPID_80|url-status=live}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Skanda">{{cite web|url=http://is1.mum.edu/vedicreserve/skanda.htm|title=Reading the Vedic Literature in Sanskrit|website=is1.mum.edu|access-date=2 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192901/http://is1.mum.edu/vedicreserve/skanda.htm|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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).<ref name="paris_congress"/>

According to [[Shiva Purana]] (10th century CE - 11th century CE), the legend about the origin of the phallic form of Shiva is that some [[brahmin]] devotees of Shiva were highly engrossed in the meditation of Shiva. In the meantime, Shiva came in a hideous naked [[Asceticism|ascetic]] form with ashes smeared all over his body holding his phallus, to test the devotion of his devotees. The wives of the sages were scared at this sight but some embraced the [[Asceticism|holy ascetic]]. Although Shiva put them to test, the sages and wives did not recognize him.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=206}} The sages were stupefied and deluded by Śiva's power of illusion, [[Maya (religion)|māyā]],{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=206}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2018-10-29|title=The reason for Śiva's assuming the phallic form (liṅga) [Chapter 12]|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/shiva-purana-english/d/doc226513.html|access-date=2021-03-05|website=www.wisdomlib.org|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414115236/https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/shiva-purana-english/d/doc226513.html|url-status=live}}</ref> became infuriated at this sight and cursed the ascetic form of Shiva: <ref name=":0"/> "You are acting pervertedly. This violates the Vedic path. Hence let your penis fall on the ground.”{{refn|group=note|Although the sages were also [[Asceticism|ascetics]], only because they observed established conventions, they failed when Shiva tested them with his outrageous ways.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=206}} 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.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=207}} But the sages were lost in anger, but Shiva allowed himself to be humiliated in the image that met the eye of the sages.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=207}} Even though Shiva excited some of them as the source of their desire, they were unable to see him as the killer of desires.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=207-208}} Although Shiva revealed his true nature by his dance ([[Tandava]]), yet so great was his power of illusion ([[Maya (religion)|māyā]]), the deluded sages did not recognize him.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=207-208}} 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 could not 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".<ref name=":0" /> 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.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=206}}}}

[[File:Lingothbhavar.jpg|thumb|[[Lingodbhava]] is a Shaiva sectarian icon where Shiva is depicted rising from the Lingam (an infinite fiery pillar) that narrates how Shiva is the foremost of the [[Trimurti]]; [[Brahma]] on the left and [[Vishnu]] on the right are depicted bowing to Shiva in the centre.]]
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{{snd}}the cosmic pillar of fire{{snd}}proving his superiority over the gods [[Brahma]] and [[Vishnu]]. It also describes right way to worship Shiva linga in its 11th chapter in detail <ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-08-19|title=Mode of worshiping the phallic form of Śiva and making gifts [Chapter 11]|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/shiva-purana-english/d/doc225556.html|access-date=2021-03-05|website=www.wisdomlib.org|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414114311/https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/shiva-purana-english/d/doc225556.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Chaturvedi">{{cite book|last=Chaturvedi|title=Shiv Purana|publisher=Diamond Pocket Books|isbn=978-81-7182-721-3|pages=11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bchgql0em9YC&q=shiva+purana&pg=PA29|edition=2006|year=2004|access-date=15 November 2020|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414160110/https://books.google.com/books?id=bchgql0em9YC&q=shiva+purana&pg=PA29|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="british museum">{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia/s/stone_statue_of_shiva_as_lingo.aspx|title=Stone statue of Shiva as Lingodbhava|last=Blurton|first=T. R.|year=1992|work=Extract from Hindu art (London, The British Museum Press)|publisher=British Museum site|access-date=2 July 2010|archive-date=6 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706053323/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia/s/stone_statue_of_shiva_as_lingo.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> This is known as [[Lingodbhava]]. The ''[[Linga Purana]]'' also supports this interpretation of lingam as a cosmic pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva.<ref name="british museum" /><ref name="E. U. Harding" /><ref name="paris_congress" />

===Muslim rule===
In the 11th-century CE, after [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|conquests of the subcontinent by Muslim rulers]], several sultans of Delhi, often [[Iconoclasm|iconoclastic]], regarded the lingam as a sexual and anthropomorphic statue of Shiva, and ordered as many be destroyed as possible and destroyed them all off then after.<ref name="Doniger2011p498">{{harvnb|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)"</ref> In some situations, the linga were deliberately laid at the thresholds of mosques for public usage and incorporated into Islamic architecture, notably at a mosque in [[Banbhore]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Mehrdad Shokoohy|title=Muslim Architecture of South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=InklyjG57csC&pg=PA17|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-49984-5|pages=17–18|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093039/https://books.google.com/books?id=InklyjG57csC&pg=PA17#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Lingayatism ==
[[File:Necklace with Shiva's Family LACMA M.85.140.jpg|thumb|upright=0.55|left|A necklace with linga-containing pendant is constantly worn by the Lingayats.{{sfn|Olson|2007|p=244}}]]
[[Lingayats]], a sect of the [[Shaivism|Shaivite]] religious tradition in India, wear a miniaturized linga called the {{transliteration|hi|istalinga}}.{{sfn|McCormack|1963|pp=59–62}} [[Lingayats]] wear a lingam inside a necklace, called ''[[Lingayats|Ishtalinga]]''.{{sfn|Dalal|2010|p=208-209}}{{sfn|Olson|2007|p=239–240}} Initially known as ''Veerashaivas'' (heroic worshippers of Shiva), since the 18th century CE adherents of this faith are known as ''Lingayats''.{{sfn|Schouten|1995|pp=71–72}} This tradition originated in Karnataka around the 12th-century CE.{{sfn|Dalal|2010|p=208-209}}{{sfn|Schouten|1995|p=6}} Lingayatism is derived from the term ''linga'' and suffix ''ayta''.<ref name="Iyer1965">{{cite book|author=L.K.A. Iyer|title=The Mysore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9jbqGLH7ioC|year=1965|publisher=Mittal Publications|pages=81–82|access-date=3 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093544/https://books.google.com/books?id=w9jbqGLH7ioC|url-status=live}}</ref> The term Lingayat is based on the practice of both genders of Lingayats wearing an {{transliteration|hi|iṣṭaliṅga}} (also called {{transliteration|hi|karasthala-linga}}) contained inside a box with a necklace all the time. The {{transliteration|hi|istalinga}} is a personalized and miniature oval-shaped linga and an emblem of their faith symbolising [[Parashiva]], the absolute reality and their spirituality.<ref name="Iyer1965"/>{{sfn|Blake Michael|1992|pp=22, 82-83}} 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 (Hinduism)|puja]] and then meditates about becoming one with the linga, in his or her journey towards the ''atma-linga''.<ref name="WaghorneCutler1996p184">{{cite book|author1=Joanne Punzo Waghorne|author2=Norman Cutler|author3=Vasudha Narayanan|title=Gods of Flesh, Gods of Stone: The Embodiment of Divinity in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LD91JTIl8uIC&pg=PA184|year=1996|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-10777-8|pages=184 note 15|access-date=3 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019093549/https://books.google.com/books?id=LD91JTIl8uIC&pg=PA184#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Pilgrimage sites ==
An [[Amarnath Temple#Shiva Linga|ice lingam]] at [[Amarnath Temple|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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/07/amarnath_journey_to_the_shrine.html|title=Amarnath: Journey to the shrine of a Hindu god|newspaper=Boston.com|date=13 July 2012|access-date=16 February 2018|archive-date=8 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708050954/http://archive.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/07/amarnath_journey_to_the_shrine.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Shri Parkasheshwar Mahadev Mandir Spatika Lingam.jpg
| width1 = 200
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = 
| image2 = Lord Amarnath.jpg
| width2 = 200
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| footer = Left: 2 sphatika (quartz) lingams in the Shri Parkasheshwar Mahadev Temple, Dehradun; Right: Ice Lingam in the cave at the [[Amarnath Temple]], Kashmir.
}}
In [[Kadavul Temple]], a 700-pound, 3-foot-tall, naturally formed [[Spatika Lingam|Sphatika (quartz) lingam]] is installed. In the future, this crystal lingam will be housed in the [[Iraivan Temple]]. It is claimed as among the largest known sphatika self formed ([[Svayambhu|Swayambhu]]) lingams.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/temples/kadavul|title=Kadavul Hindu Temple|last=under the section "General Introduction"|website=Himalayanacademy|access-date=15 February 2018|archive-date=28 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628072447/https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/temples/kadavul|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/temples/iraivan/in-the-news|title=Iraivan Temple in the News|access-date=15 February 2018|archive-date=28 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628072606/https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/temples/iraivan/in-the-news|url-status=live}}</ref> Hindu scripture rates crystal as the highest form of Shiva lingam.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=453|title=Rare Crystal Siva Lingam Arrives at Hawaii Temple|website=hinduismtoday|access-date=15 February 2018|archive-date=28 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628072358/https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=453|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Shivling (mountain)|Shivling]], {{convert|6543|m}}, is a mountain in [[Uttarakhand]] (the Garhwal region of Himalayas). It arises as a sheer pyramid above the snout of the [[Gangotri Glacier]]. The mountain resembles a Shiva lingam when viewed from certain angles, especially when travelling or trekking from Gangotri to Gomukh as part of a traditional Hindu pilgrimage.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

A lingam is also the basis for the formation legend (and name) of the [[Borra Caves]] in [[Andhra Pradesh]].{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

[[Banalinga]] are the lingam which are found on the bed of the [[Narmada River]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nadkarni |first=Vithal C. |date=2013-04-04 |title=Stones brook no contest |work=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/vedanta/stones-brook-no-contest/articleshow/19370160.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2023-09-24 |issn=0013-0389 |archive-date=6 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006191957/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/vedanta/stones-brook-no-contest/articleshow/19370160.cms?from=mdr |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lesser known [[Bhooteshwarnath]] Mahadeva in [[Gariaband district]] of [[Chhattisgarh]] is a rock Shivlinga and said to be the Largest Natural Shivlinga in the world,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.naidunia.com/spiritual/kehte-hain-here-is-the-world-largest-natural-shivling-288172|title=यहां है विश्व का सबसे बड़ा प्राकृतिक शिवलिंग|date=16 January 2015|access-date=28 September 2020|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414143543/https://www.naidunia.com/spiritual/kehte-hain-here-is-the-world-largest-natural-shivling-288172|url-status=live}}</ref> whose height is increasing with each passing year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://in.news.yahoo.com/miraculous-bhuteshwar-shivling-growing-every-own-075906962.html|title=Bhuteshwar Shivling|website=news.yahoo.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630185839/https://in.news.yahoo.com/miraculous-bhuteshwar-shivling-growing-every-own-075906962.html|archive-date=2018-06-30|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/chhattisgarh/unbelievable-this-shivling-in-chhattisgarh-grows-every-year_1836049.html|title=Shivling in Chhattisgarh|date=18 December 2015|access-date=30 June 2018|archive-date=30 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630213916/http://zeenews.india.com/news/chhattisgarh/unbelievable-this-shivling-in-chhattisgarh-grows-every-year_1836049.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The tallest Shiva lingam in the world is located at [[Chenkal]] village in [[Thiruvananthapuram]] district in the state of [[Kerala]], [[India]].<ref>{{Cite web|agency=TNN|date=Jan 10, 2019|title=Tallest Shiva lingam in country enters India book of records {{!}} Thiruvananthapuram News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/tallest-shiva-lingam-in-country-enters-india-book-of-records/articleshow/67478120.cms|access-date=2021-06-27|website=The Times of India|language=en|archive-date=30 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630003437/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/tallest-shiva-lingam-in-country-enters-india-book-of-records/articleshow/67478120.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery class="center">
File:Kbal_Spean, sur les pentes sud-ouest du mont Kulen (12).jpg|Lingam at [[Kbal Spean]], Cambodia 
File:Relief Showing Shiva Linga Worshipped by Saka Devotees - Kushan Period - Dampier Nagar - ACCN 36-2661 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5614.JPG|[[Shiva]] Linga worshipped by [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] devotees, circa 2nd century CE
File:Shiva dans le linga de feu (musée Guimet) (8205960337).jpg|[[Lingodbhava]] (Chola period)
File:ShivaManifesting-BMA.jpg|[[Lingodbhava]] (Chola period)
File:Statue of Pashupatinath Mandsaur.jpg|Eight-faced Shivlingam in [[Pashupatinath Temple, Mandsaur|Pashupatinath Temple]] at [[Mandsaur]], [[Madhya Pradesh]]
File:Nepalese stone linga SF Asian Art Museum.JPG|A 10th-century four-face [[Mukhalinga]], [[Nepal]]
File:Siva linga.jpg|64 lingams ([[Nepal]])
File:Plaque with Shivalinga and Worshipper LACMA M.85.125 (1 of 4).jpg|An 11th century CE linga-yoni plaque with a worshipper ([[Nepal]])
File:Shiva Ling.jpg|Lingam from [[Angkor|Angkor period]], [[Battambang province|Battambang Province]] ([[Cambodia]]) 
File:041 Linga and Yoni, Museum Mojopahit (40386002682).jpg|Linga-yoni, Java ([[Indonesia]]) 
File:Cattien copper linga.png|Copper lingam at the [[Cát Tiên archaeological site|Cát Tiên sanctuary]], [[Vietnam]] 
File:Jatalinga sur cuve à ablution (musée Guimet) (5153565239).jpg|A ''jatalinga'' with ''yoni'' ([[Champa]], [[Vietnam]])
File:Katas_Raj_Temple,_Lahore24.JPG|A lingam at the [[Katas Raj Temples]] in north [[Pakistan]]
File:Shiva phallus - Wat Hiranyawat - Chiang Rai - 2017-01-02 - 002.jpg|Ganesha and Shiva Linga, [[Chiang Rai]], [[Thailand]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{col div|colwidth=20em}}
* [[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]]
* ''[[Lingashtaka]]''
{{colend}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|refs=
{{refn|name="ilph_rep_l"|group=note|
Kramrisch claims that the representation of the phallic shape in the [[Gudimallam Lingam]] does not represent sexuality.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=218}} It represents "seminal retention" and practice of [[Celibacy#Hinduism|celibacy]] ([[Brahmacarya]]) (illustration of ''Urdhva Retas''),{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=26}}<ref name="brill72">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.</ref><ref name="patt06" /><ref>Ghurye, G.S., 1952. Ascetic Origins. Sociological Bulletin, 1(2), pp.162-184.</ref> and represents Shiva as "he stands for complete control of the senses, and for the supreme carnal renunciation".{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=218}}}}
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

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* {{Citation | last =McCormack | first =William | year =1963 | title =Lingayats as a Sect | journal =The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland | volume=93 | issue=1 | pages=59–71 | doi=10.2307/2844333 | jstor =2844333 }}
* {{Citation | last =Olson | first =Carl | year =2007 | title =The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction | publisher =Rutgers University Press | isbn =978-0813540689}}
*{{cite book |last=Śarmā |first=Rāmakaraṇa |title=Śivasahasranāmāṣṭakam : eight collections of hymns containing one thousand and eight names of Śiva |publisher=Nag Publishers |location=Delhi |year=1996 |isbn=9788170813507 |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}}.
* {{Citation | last = Schouten | first =Jan Peter | year =1995 | title =Revolution of the Mystics: On the Social Aspects of Vīraśaivism | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass | isbn =978-8120812383}}
* {{ Citation | last=Kramrisch |first=Stella |title=The Presence of Śiva |year=1994 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |isbn=978-0691019307 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/presenceofsivamy00skra}}
* {{cite book|last=Chakravarti|first=Mahadev |title=The concept of Rudra-Śiva through the ages  |year=1986|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ|isbn=81-208-0053-2}}
* {{cite book|first1=Jones|last1=Constance|first2=Ryan|last2=James|title= Encyclopedia of Hinduism|publisher= Facts On File |isbn= 0816054584|year=2006}}
* {{cite book|first1=Carole|last1=DeVito|first2=Pasquale|last2=DeVito|title= India - Mahabharata. Fulbright-Hays Summer Seminar Abroad 1994 (India)|year=1994|publisher= United States Educational Foundation in India|language=en}}
* {{cite book|first=Sharada|last=Srinivasan|title=World Archaeology|chapter=Shiva as 'cosmic dancer': On Pallava origins for the Nataraja bronze|doi=10.1080/1468936042000282726821|volume=36|year=2004|issue=3|pages=432–450|publisher=The Journal of Modern Craft|s2cid=26503807|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/1468936042000282726821}}
* {{cite book|first=John A.|last=Grimes|title=A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=1996|isbn= 0791430677}}
* {{cite journal|title= The Five Cosmic Elements as Depicted in Indian and Chinese Cosmologies|journal= The American Journal of Chinese Medicine|volume=17|year=1989|doi=10.1142/S0192415X89000346|last=Mahdihassan|first=S.| series=4|issue= 3n04|pages= 245–252|pmid= 2699158|access-date=16 September 2021|url=https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0192415X89000346|url-access=subscription}}

==External links==
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*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141933 Some interesting Linga images from Kalanjara and Ajaigarh], SK Sullerey (1980)
*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/41693312 O, that Linga!], Alex Wayman (1987)
*[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.532803/page/n81 Linga and Yoni worship], Urmila Agrawal (1995)
*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44147577 A note on the Linga with Sakti images in Bengal Art], KD Gupta (2011)

{{Shaivism|state=collapsed}}
{{Hindudharma}}

[[Category:Forms of Shiva]]
[[Category:Shaivism]]
[[Category:Objects used in Hindu worship]]
[[Category:Hindu symbols]]
[[Category:Hindu iconography]]
[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Shiva in art]]
[[Category:Gender and Hinduism]]
[[Category:Phallic symbols]]
[[Category:Aniconism]]