The lingam

     The world-wide cult of the phallus

From the Neolithic cultures to our days, the phallic symbol has been worshipped, admired and revered. It has a life-bearing meaning: the concepts of masculinity and fertility are part of its general symbolism, along with the connotation of strength (physical as well as social) and courage.

Typically, it is always the erected penis that is worshipped, as only an erected penis can ejaculate and fertilise. An erected penis is called a phallus. One can easily imagine how in early primitive societies, the life-bearing phallus became associated with the Creator God of the universe. The phallus was never a mere statement of admiration for the male genital organ, nor a display of phallic intimidation. In general it implied a relation between the human soul and the divine creative phenomena of nature.

     The East

In the ancient societies of the East (India, China, Japan, Cambodia, ) the cult of the phallus was generally very important. It was even more deeply and overtly nestled in religious and social activities than in most other cultures in the world, forming a tradition that even up until today has remained very much alive.

A deep religious awareness and a respect for nature made the cult of the phallus part and parcel of all elementary oriental religious systems - which are not involved with a unique God under whom all human beings and nature reside, but were rather impregnated with a sense of the equality of nature, humanity and the gods.

     The concept of Shiva

The roots of the phallic cult in the East are to be found in India, some 4000 years ago at a time when a great many other aspects of oriental cultures originated as well.

The phallus is inherent to the Hindu tradition, where the original vedic gods in the course of time evolved into the well-known trinity (trimurti) of Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva. These three gods are the manifestation of one and the same formless universal Essence, of which each one of them represents a particular aspect. Brahma is the god of the rising sun, the creator of the whole world, the future. Vishnu is the god of the noon sun, the supporter, the present. And Shiva is the god of the setting sun, the destroyer, the past.

In the practice of bhakti - the picking of one of these gods as a personal guardian - one of them was revered as the superior. To the Shivaite cult, Shiva unites all aspect of the other gods, which enables him to recreate the whole universe after the completion of a cycle of creation, supporting and destruction. This turns Shiva into both creator and destroyer, as amiable as horrifying. (Cfr. the mysterium tremendum et fascinans of Christian mythology.)

     Shiva, from concept to visual representation

We do not know when exactly the Indian people began to represent the concept of Shiva as an abstract phallus or lingam (or linga, the Sanskrit term often referred to as Shiva-linga), but it certainly preceded the human representation of Shiva.

The idea to represent Shiva in a human shape probably dates from around the 2nd century BC. (However, a seal of the Harappan culture (a broad-nosed people of phallus-worshippers living in the Indus valley, ca 2300-1750 BC) has been found, which is thought to represent a god, possibly Shiva.)

One should realise though, that this conceptualisation of Shiva into such a complex and ambiguous god has been a long philosophical/religious process. The next step the concepts visual representation was not entirely logical, because Shiva, as mentioned before, was a manifestation of the formless and universal Essence.

     The Shiva-lingam cult

For the abstracted concept the erected phallus was chosen in stead of the penis, because tradition claimed that Shiva never ejaculated, so he could be the ever potent creator, and maintain control (yoga).

In the Shivaite tradition no man-made object was holier than the lingam, and temples, it is put in the very centre of the main hall. No other sculpture is more important in the temple than the lingam, and never a second lingam would be allowed.

A lingam is usually installed unto a yoni, an abstracted version of the female genital organ bearing similar connotations. Every day worshippers of the lingam come and sprinkle it with water to symbolise semen and fertilisation. In this way the whole of humanity (men and women) and all human life are shown united.

     The cult of devaraja (god-king)

Political and religious powers in ancient India (and later in Cambodia) combined the idea of bhakti with that of devaraja (Sanskrit: deva = god, raja = king) where the king occupied the position of a god on earth. A Shiva lingam in the centre of the temple therefore implied the presence of political power, and the very essence of kingship, divinity, fertility and the whole of humanity. Not only a religious expression, but also a smart and manipulative political affirmation.