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02/24/2006
A Whole ‘Lotta Lingam
In Hindu Temples, more specifically temples dedicated to Shiva the Destroyer, one finds many lingams that are symbols of Shiva’s divine power and potency. My understanding is that worshippers perform a poojah (ritual) that sometimes entails, among other things, bathing the lingam in oil, milk or water. To clarify: a lingam is simply a male sexual organ. In these photos you can see all sorts of Shiva lingams. The larger temples in Tamil Nadu often have large enclosed hallways filled with hundreds of lingams.
Of course the idea of a lingam ritual makes most Americans slip into a fit of school boy giggles, but that just says a lot more about us than anything else.
05:10 Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this
Comments
I am not exactly sure that lingam is simply a male sexual organ. It is still debatable.
Posted by: anon | 02/26/2006
there's nothing simple about a male sex organ that size, especially when there are over a hundred of them in one hall being bathed in oil.
Posted by: max | 03/01/2006
Lingam is the symbol of abstract creation. force becomes the linga or organ of creation only on this earth. It is the sacred symbol of cosmic productive and regenerative power, whose multimyriad activities are manifest in universal nature and thus it was that in small or concrete as well as in the great or abstract, the idea was discovered and the spiritual aspect of the matter was dominant. hence the linga was made a symbol of shiva and of every other creative god. The linga (symbol of creative activity) and yoni(symbol of generative or productive activity) of shiva worship, stand too high philosophically in their original significance, its modern degeneration notwithstanding, in any wise to be called phallic worship, where the spiritual has been dragged down to become the animal, the sublime into grossness of the terrestrial.
Posted by: anon | 03/03/2006
When visiting temples and seeing a long line of lingam their symbolic beauty and power is not lost on me. (The preceding sentance is entirely sincere.) Thanks for the detailed explanation!
Posted by: Yitzy | 03/03/2006
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