8. The shape of a Shiva Lingam
Image 8.1 – Shiva lingam in Raktakamaleshwar Shiva Mandir in Kolkata
Image Credit: Biswarup Ganguly (licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0)
The common shape of a lingam is cylindrical and rounded on the top and of a peetham is round with a spout.
“Goddess Uma has the form of the pedestal. Siva has the form of Linga. After installing them assiduously, Devas and Asuras worship them” (Linga Purana 2.11.31).
Looking at the structure, some people think these are the sexual organs of Lord Shiva and Goddess Shakti. Those who think it is a cosmic pillar, think that it looks more like a pillar. It is rounded at the top to symbolize its unending nature. As we have seen before, a thumb also looks like a Shiva lingam and symbolizes Purusha. But because of the contemporary meaning of the word linga, the first thing that comes into the mind is a sexual organ.
Many scholars believe that after Sigmund Freud claimed that sexuality largely influences human behavior, many people look for a sexual symbol in everything.
Similarities and Differences between a Shiva Lingam and Sexual Organ/s:
1. Mostly, the lingam does not have a glans, but the phallus does have one.
2. The lingam does not have a urethra, but the phallus does.
3. The Banalinga looks like an egg and not like a penis.
4. Swayambhu Shiva lingams look more like a pillar/egg than a male sexual organ.
5. The lingam and penis are both cylindrical, but so are the pillars.
6. The lingam and penis are round at the top.
7. The peetham is not always circular. It can be square, oblong, octagonal, elongated octagon, hexagon, elongated hexagon, duodecagon, elongated duodecagon, 16-sided, regular or elongated, elliptical, triangular, and semi-circular.
Many things are cylindrical and rounded at the top. It depends on the attitude of the viewer to what he sees in them. The Shiva lingam in the Kedarnath temple looks like a pyramid. The one in the Mahabaleshwar Temple is arbitrary in shape. It looks like a rudraksha (the seed of a tree), which means “the tear of Lord Shiva.”
Image 8.2 – Rudraksha-shaped Shiva Lingam in the Mahabaleshwar Temple
Credit: Madhusudana Reddy Singana (licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0)
Therefore, just from the shape of the Shiva lingam, we cannot say that it is a male sexual organ.