Real Story Shiva Lingam

Some idiots translate "Linga" as penis which is Wrong and this myth is spread by missionaries and muslims

The Linga has different meanings - shapeless, without organs, long drum like, etc

penis is called linga by some people due to its shape...the actual world for penis is "Shishna" in sanskrit

Shiva Linga here means, Shiva without form... it is like when we die our soul is called "Linga Sharira"

Shiva being worshipped as Linga means the Consciousness in its primodal form...where Consciousness is entering into the Eternal Energy (Shakti).

Thus shivalinga is the state of god, just before the manifestation of Universe, a little before bag bang.

Shiva is worshipped as Linga...because that is the highest of all manifested gods, formless, attributeless.... simple Consciousness and Energy (shiva and shakti)

---------------------------------------- XXXXXXXXXXXX------------------------------------------------------XXXXXXXXX------------------


Linga means "sign, mark, or symbol". It also refers to a digging implement or plough. Since the plough readies the earth for insemination, the word linga is also applied to the phallus, particularly as the phallic emblem of Shiva. Though Shiva is considered the destroyer (Trimurti) according to Hindu belief, creation (Srishti) follows destruction. The linga is therefore associated with the sexual union of Shiva and Parvati, which results in creation. It is a symbol of the procreative power of the universe. 
Linga is derived from the Sanskrit word lingam, which comes from li meaning, "to dissolve" and gam "to move on". This refers to the belief that one appears as a being in the world and then dissolves back into the universe. 

A Shivalinga is phallus-shaped and fixed on a base, which is shaped like a yoni. The structure symbolises the supreme creative energy. It is usually made of stone but can also be of wood, metal, crystal, and soapstone. 

There are various explanations as to why the linga represents Shiva. According to the Vamana Purana, after Sati's death, Shiva went to mourn in the forest. Seeing the virile god, the wives of the sages living in the forest were enamoured and followed Shiva around. Enraged, the sages cursed Shiva, causing his phallus to fall off. The moment it touched the ground, his phallus started growing. Soon the earth, unable to support its weight, began quivering. When Brahma and Vishnu realised why the earth was shaking, they requested Shiva to take back his phallus. Shiva consented to do so on the condition that the sages worshipped his phallus. He pronounced that nothing would be impossible for one who worshipped the Shivalinga. 


The Linga Purana says that Brahma and Vishnu were once arguing over who was the supreme being. Suddenly, there appeared Sivalinga before them a huge column of fire. Both of them decided to find one end each. Whoever returned first would be acknowledged as supreme. Vishnu assumed the form of a boar and dug into the earth. Brahma, in the form of a swan, flew upwards. They searched for days but in vain. Then Shiva appeared in the fiery column. Brahma and Vishnu realised their mistake and acknowledged Shiva as the Supreme Being. The Shivalinga represents that column of fire Jyotirlinga

The phallic cult appears to have been prevalent in India since the Indus Valley Civilisation (c. 3000 BC - 700 BC). Emblems resembling the linga and yoni have been discovered in excavations of ancient cities. Although the Vedas are contemptuous of the linga because of its association with the phallus, later literature like the Puranas and tantric texts laud phallic worship. According to these texts, Brahma, Vishnu and other gods live at the site where Shiva exists in the form of a linga. The Vamana Purana says that during Chaturmasya, Shiva sleeps in all lingas. Therefore, praying at any linga during this time is considered especially auspicious. It is believed that the land within 100 cubits (about 160 ft) of a linga is very sacred and called Shivasthala. 

There are approximately 30 million lingas in temples and shrines all over India. Most of them are named after the place where they are located or after the person who established them there. Lingas fall into three categories. The first are the Anadi or Svayambhu, or self-generated lingas. They are believed to be the most sacred and are said to have fallen from heaven. Next are the Sithavara, or fixed lingas. These are crafted and then, after an initiation ceremony done according to Puranic rites, installed at a sacred location. It is believed that once a linga is installed, it should never be moved as that would result in a calamity. The third category of lingas are the Jangam, or movable lingas. These are the miniature lingas, which are made of stone, clay, metal, or other material. They are worn as amulets and necklaces, or worshipped in the homes of Shiva's devotees. 

The actual worship of the Shivalinga begins with bathing it, first with water mixed with earth, and then with water mixed with the Panchagavya. The linga is then smeared with sandalwood paste. Next, flowers and leaves are offered especially bel leaves. Next comes the arati, followed by the devotee's prayer. Shiva is believed to be very hot-tempered: bathing the linga and applying sandalwood paste are believed to soothe him.

------------------------------
Shiva Linga is a wide spread Indian Phallic figure. It consists of a feminine base ‘Yoni’ or ‘vagina’ and a rising masculine portion ‘the Phallus’ or ‘penis.’ The Linga artifacts, dating from the first century BC to the third century AD, are shaped like realistic ‘Phalli’. Thereafter the shape becomes progressively more abstract. By medieval times, its observable portion, rising from the Yoni, forms a round block with domed apex. 
Shiva, the lord of erect Phallus (urdhvalinga), is traced to the ithyphallic figure of Indus Valley civilization or to the phallic images found more generally in prehistoric India. The epics and Puranas tell how a great fire appeared from the cosmic waters, and from this flame Linga Shiva emerged to claim supremacy and worship over Brahma and Vishnu, when he was castrated because he seduced sages’ wives in the pine forests of Himalayas. He castrated himself because no one could castrate the Supreme Lord. Thus fallen phallus of the Supreme Lord destroyed all the worlds until it reached the Yoni of Uma/Parvati and cooled down. All procreation of worlds started after the worship of Yoni-Linga was restored and all Gods, including Vishnu and Brahma accepted supremacy of Lord Shiva. 

Lord Shiva’s other form is ‘Ardhanariswara’, half man and half woman. Lord Shiva, with his consort Parvati, is always in a celestial dance of procreation and destruction of the worlds. He is not only the embodiment of ‘Kama’ (the sexual lust, desire or pleasure, the force that is the basis for the evolution of diverse life forms and Humans on earth) in the forms of Phallus and androgynous Ardhanarishwara, but also the destroyer of ‘Kama’ when he destroyed ‘Kamadeva’ only to restore his life at the request of Kama’s wife Rati, ‘the coitus or the sexual intercourse.’ Without the sexual desire (Kama) there is no sexual intercourse (Rati) and no procreation. Lord Shiva’s manifestations are memorialized in the local texts of great shrines ranging from temple complexes of Khajuraho in the north to Madhurai in the south. 


Shiva mythology, in fact, is a rich source of Indian thinking about sexuality, social relations, ritual, cosmic process, and metaphysics. The Male-Female union in the form of “Phallus or Shiva Linga or Yoni-Linga” or “the Ardhanarishwara” may be visualized as a parallel to the Chinese philosophy of “Yin-Yang” or ‘the Male-Female.” Metaphysically, it also is the most scientific philosophy that explains fundamentals of existence through ‘positive and negative’ or ‘male and female’ aspects of matter and life. Moksha is only after Kama, of the four principles of life-Dharma, Ardha, Kama, and Moksha. Kama is a sacred duty of men and women. 

Unfortunately, some of us are ashamed of it because of Christian and Islamic influences. It was unacceptable, shameful and sinful to the Christians. They denounced it without understanding the culture, wrote demeaning articles, made laws and were able to influence the population to some extent. Their purpose was to teach us (the cultures which consider sex as sacred) the true path to God, the Christianity that considers sex as sin and purification of which is attained only by the blood of Jesus, the savior. Victorian Christians had the same kind of shock when they colonized Polynesian islands, for those islanders were sexually explicit in their lifestyle. The shocked Christian missionaries vowed and succeeded to eradicate the satanic culture by converting them to Christianity! 

Fortunately, in the Indian continent non-Christians and non-Muslims still survive and continue age-old practices of respect for nature, animals and recognize the sacred aspect of sex. That is why we are considered an old and continuing civilization without any break, while our brethren in Europe lost their religion and culture totally to Christianity. The Indian reformers, with the British influence and help, got rid of some oppressive customs like Devdasi, Basivi, Sati etc., that forced women into prostitution and self-immolation in the name of religion. Ironically, today the Indian society looks down upon the west as a promiscuous society, and attempts to protect itself from the western vulgarity, indiscrimination and extramarital sex by censorship, a legacy of puritanical Christian and Islamic influence, while maintaining the sacred sensuality in the religion and within the marriage.

Monday, October 15, 2012 by deivam P Mohanraj · 2