Disenting  Lingam  /  photography  ©  abul kalam azad / 60''x 60'' pigment prints 2010

Discending  '' Linga ''


The lingam  linga, ling, ,liṅgaṃ, meaning "mark", "sign", "inference" or is a representation of the pre-Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples. In traditional Indian society, the linga is rather seen as a symbol of the energy and potentiality of the God.

The popular belief is that the 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 also a grave blunder. In the post-Vedic period, the Linga became symbolical of the generative power of the Lord Siva. Linga is the differentiating mark. It is certainly not the sex-mark. The lingam is often represented alongside the yoni, a symbol of the goddess or of Shakti, female creative energy. The union of lingam and yoni represents the "indivisible two-in-oneness of male and female, the passive space and active time from which all life originates".
The lingam and the yoni have been interpreted as the male and female sexual organs since the end of the 19th century by some western scholars, while to practising Hindus they stand for the inseparability of the male and female principles and the totality of creation.