5. He also says that the Shiva lingam is not a fertility symbol. For this, he gives examples of the fertility symbols in other cultures and says that those look different than it.
Image 12.1 – Egyptian god Min is a god of fertility (licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Credit: Jeff Dahl
The symbols used by other cultures don’t need to exactly match with that of Hindus. E.g., the goddess Lajja Gauri (Image 10.2) is considered the symbol of fertility and abundance in India. The Egyptian symbol Ankh (6.2.1) is also considered a symbol of fertility. There are many ancient fertility symbols, which do not look like an erect phallus.
It seems that Mr. Devdutt Pattanaik’s view is based largely on the tantric texts. He has not given importance to the Lingodbhava story or the concept of Purusha and Prakriti. A very small number of Hindus practice Tantra. Also, not all tantric share the same view.