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| Home > Types Of Sculpture > Numen and Form > The Lingam Of Shiva
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| | The Lingam form of Sculpture
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Among all the numinous emblems of India, the one, which has the longest history of all, is the lingam.  Lingam is considered as a stylized image of the masculine sexual organ. Around this lingam, a whole mass of legend has seen to be accreted, but of course the image is older than the legend itself. Therefore, all temples that are dedicated to Lord Shiva and others besides have a lingam installed in their holy places. This strengthens the idea that the lingam is perhaps the most obvious & a direct symbol for presenting afflatus of the divine, the driving force of procreation and growth.
At one side, the human generative organ is considered as the object of reverence to yogis or saints. And at another side, in every stratum of Indian society the human sexual power is felt to be of transcendent origin. And in fact, it is the same origin as the numina of the countryside. Thus as an essence, the creative power of sexuality is the most directly parallel for the numinous power of the divine power.
This lingam that is placed in most temples is made up of stone, its shaft chamfered in steps from a square at the root towards a rounded top. Often a face or even a whole figure represents the indwelling deity that is carved on the front side. As found in some places, there are natural objects which are identified by people as lingams, and may become the objects of pilgrimage. An famous example of this is in the cave of Amar Nath, high in the Himalayas ranges.
 From a particularly kind of version of the lingam, the lingam icon shows as united with a stylized image of the female organ, the yoni. This image is perfectly shaped as to appear a stone basin into which the male portion is set properly. The basin appears as a shallow circular oval, with a projecting spout that is tuned inside. This perhaps like the lingam itself, will be a sophisticated version of an originally more obvious emblem form of the yoni like that of a ring stone. The yoni has always been an object of veneration, both as fact and as image found its references in history. Even many ancient ring stones are known that are big enough for a person to allow passing through it, which may have played a role in rebirth ceremonials.
When all such images are installed in the temples, which are considered as a sacred place, are must be felt to be repositories of power that can benefit the whole community. They receive offerings; they are attended by Brahmins, sometimes are daubed with red paint, bathed with melted butter and hung with garlands. Even if the visitors glimpse towards them it confirms great benefits for them. From all directions their influence is purposefully felt to radiate for well being. And therefore in many temples, especially from that of south, large numbers of lingams are made, placed & dedicated, so as to increase the power and potential of the shrine. In fact, the very fabric of the temple itself is felt to be an outward expression of the divine afflatus of the image.
The Hindu temple has a characteristic that it is not conceived like a western shrine. In a  western shrine, space inside the place is filled with structure with an open & articulated environment where men carry out their religious duties. But the internal space or volumes of an Indian temple are relatively small in appearance. Its center of the nucleus is a little cell, can be treated as the holy of holies, termed as the garbha griha, or womb house, to which a portico or antechamber is added. As temples became larger and more elaborate, the structure of temple has included pillared balconies, ambulatory, and approach terraces. All this is constructed around enveloping the nucleus. And in the pavilions, an image of a seated bull, emblem of Shiva is seen or on some places provided open space for the performance of dancing at certain times of day. But one of the important fact to be noticed in all is - these structures have relatively small internal volumes when compared with the exterior mass of the fabric, which is of an excellent look & formed of a solid pile of masonry upon which sculptors have carved a marvelous art of decoration.
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