Posted on: 27 February 2014

Shiva Lingam Stone

Narmada River
Central Highland
India

Collected in the Narmada River as sacred stones by Hindus for over 4,000 years, lingams are ancient sacred objects. As symbols of Shiva, they are believed to impart powers of fertility. According to local belief, lingams were marked by a meteoric impact and, therefore, represent the union between heaven and earth. Iron oxide contributes the decorative brown/red markings on composite quartz granite. Shaped naturally in an elongated ovoid form, lingams are harvested during the dry season and are laboriously polished by hand using ancient methods without the use of mechanized tools.

Measuring 40 x 20 x 20in

Source: Bonhams


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Such a limiting/Donigerish interpretation by Bonham's. On the Narmada is an ancient temple, Mahakaleshwar which has an inscription from the Shiva purana on its walls, highlighting not just this transcendental Shiva form of linga-yoni ( "linga" means sign/characteristic) but also the 12 important "Jyotirlingas" ( lingas of light) - 12 forms of Shiva ( Somnath, Mallikarjuna, Mahakala, Omkara, Kedara, Bhimshankara. Vishvanatha, Tryambaka, Vaidynatha, Nagesha, Rameswara and Ghushnesha. ) in 12 locations - Saurashtra, Ujjain, Kedarnath, Rameshwaram etc.( see - http://gujaratikanudo.blogspot.in/2005/05/12-jyotirlingas-gujaratikanudo.html )

Of course, our Hindu world view has no limits. So ever since the Lonely Planet guide book published the Shiva Chakra mythology at wawel castle in Krakow, Poland, 7 global cities too have been added to the Shiva pilgrimage list ( http://claritaslux.com/blog/chakra-krakow/ )