lingodbhavamurti

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lingam

  • Shiva lingam and offerings
    In lingam

    …in South India is the lingodbhavamurti, which shows Shiva emerging out of a fiery lingam. This is a representation of a story in which the gods Vishnu and Brahma were once arguing about their respective importance when Shiva appeared in the form of a blazing pillar to quell their pride.…

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Sanskrit:
“abode,” “source,” “womb,” or “vagina”

yoni, in Hinduism, the symbol of the goddess Shakti, the feminine generative power and, as a goddess, the consort of Shiva. In Shaivism, the branch of Hinduism devoted to worship of the god Shiva, the yoni is often associated with the lingam, which is Shiva’s symbol. In sculpture and paintings, the lingam is depicted as resting in the yoni as a cylinder in a spouted dish. The two symbols together represent the eternal process of creation and regeneration, the union of the male and female principles, and the totality of all existence. In a myth narrated in several Puranas, the body of Sati, an avatar of Shakti, is dismembered and scattered throughout India. Her yoni falls, and remains, in Assam, regarded as the home of Tantra (esoteric practices).

This article was most recently revised and updated by Matt Stefon.