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92-542: A phallus ( pl. : phalli or phalluses ) is a penis (especially when erect ), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic . Any object that symbolically—or, more precisely, iconically—resembles a penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic (as in " phallic symbol "). Such symbols often represent fertility and cultural implications that are associated with
184-402: A prepuce when not erect. Mammals have either musculocavernous penises, which expand while erect, or fibroelastic penises, which become erect by straightening without expanding. Preputial glands are present in some prepuces. The penis bears the distal part of the urethra in placental mammals . The perineum of testicond mammals (mammals without a scrotum ) separates the anus and
276-463: A 28,000-year-old siltstone phallus discovered in the Hohle Fels cave and reassembled in 2005, is among the oldest phallic representations known. The phallus played a role in the cult of Osiris in ancient Egyptian religion . When Osiris' body was cut in 14 pieces, Set scattered them all over Egypt, and his wife Isis retrieved all of them except one, his penis, which a fish swallowed; Isis made him
368-582: A calendar printed in St. Gallen omitted the genitals from the heraldic bear of Appenzell , nearly leading to war between the two cantons. Figures of Kokopelli and Itzamna (as the Mayan tonsured maize god) in Pre-Columbian America often include phallic content. Additionally, over forty large monolithic sculptures ( Xkeptunich ) have been documented from Terminal Classic Maya sites, with most examples occurring in
460-677: A conditionally sufficient mark or sign. This Vaisheshika theory is adopted in the early Sanskrit medical literature. Like the Upanishads, where linga means "mark, sign, characteristic", the texts of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy use linga in the same sense. In the Samkhya sutras , and in Gaudapada 's commentary on Samkhyakarika , the term linga has many contextual meanings such as in verses 1.124.136, 3.9.16 and 5.21.61, as it develops its theory of
552-510: A fertility god. Pan , son of Hermes , was often depicted as having an exaggerated erect phallus. Priapus is a Greek god of fertility whose symbol was an exaggerated phallus. The son of Aphrodite and Dionysus , according to Homer and most accounts, he is the protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens, and male genitalia. His name is the origin of the medical term priapism . The city of Tyrnavos in Greece holds an annual Phallus festival ,
644-585: A figure in human form are ithyphallic, for example, in coins of the Kushan Empire . Some figures up to about the 11th century AD have erect phalluses, although they have become increasingly rare. According to the Indonesian chronicles of the Babad Tanah Jawi , Prince Puger gained the kingly power from God by ingesting semen from the phallus of the already-dead Sultan Amangkurat II of Mataram . The phallus
736-420: A figure of Lakulisha , the ascetic manifestation of Shiva , carved on the front, holding an antelope and axe in his hands. He stands on top of a Apasmara (demon) dwarf , who symbolizes spiritual ignorance, greed, sensual desires or Kama and nonsensical speech on the spiritual path, hence must be subdued in spiritual pursuits. In this earliest representation, the phallic representation illustrates
828-474: A key role in the diagnosis of a sickness, the disease. The author of classical Sanskrit grammar treatise, Panini, states that the verbal root ling which means "paint, variegate", has the sense "that which paints, variegates, characterizes". Panini as well as Patanjali additionally mention lingam with the contextual meaning of the "gender". In the Vaisheshika Sutras , it means "proof or evidence", as
920-506: A linga. Another Indus stamp seal often called the Pashupati seal , states Doniger, has an image with a general resemblance with Shiva and "the Indus people may well have created the symbolism of the divine phallus", but given the available evidence we cannot be certain, nor do we know that it had the same meaning as some currently project them to might have meant. The word lingam is not found in
1012-560: A lingam, is still in worship in the Parashurameshwara temple, Gudimallam , in a hilly forest about 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh . It has been dated to the 3rd-century BCE, or to the 2nd century BCE, and is mostly accepted to be from the 3rd- to 1st-century BCE, though some later dates have been proposed. The stone lingam is clearly a representation of an anatomically accurate phallus , with
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#17328511477161104-465: A male sexual organ. Since the 19th century, states Dasgupta, the popular literature has represented the lingam as the male sex organ. This view contrasts with the traditional abstract values they represent in Shaivism wherein the lingam-yoni connote the masculine and feminine principles in the entirety of creation and all existence. The colonial era Orientalists and Christian missionaries , raised in
1196-484: A milk bath. Priests chant hymns, while the devotees go to the sanctum for a darshana followed by a clockwise circumambulation of the sanctum. On the sanctum walls, typically are reliefs of Dakshinamurti, Brahma and Vishnu. Often, near the sanctum are other shrines, particularly for Shakti (Durga), Ganesha and Murugan (Kartikeya). In the Hindu tradition, special pilgrimage sites include those where natural lingams are found in
1288-484: A modern Shivlinga [a tubular stone]." According to Srinivasan, in the Harappan sites , objects that resemble "lingam" have been found. That includes "a seated trident-headed ithyphallic figure", which was found on Indus seals, "has been compared to Shiva as meditating ascetic ", states Srinivasan. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, while Harappan discoveries include "short cylindrical pillars with rounded tops", there
1380-415: A part of the literature corpus regards lingam to be the phallus of Shiva, while another group of texts does not. Sexuality in the former is inherently sacred and spiritual, while the latter emphasizes the ascetic nature of Shiva and renunciation to be spiritual symbolism of lingam . This tension between the pursuit of spirituality through householder lifestyle and the pursuit of renunciate sannyasi lifestyle
1472-454: A penis, no one can possess the symbolic phallus. Jacques Lacan 's Ecrits: A Selection includes an essay titled The Signification of the Phallus in which sexual differentiation is represented in terms of the difference between "being" and "having" the phallus, which for Lacan is the transcendent signifier of desire. Men are positioned as men insofar as they wish to have the phallus. Women, on
1564-404: A penis. Most male birds (e.g., roosters and turkeys ) have a cloaca (also present on the female), but not a penis. Among bird species with a penis are paleognaths ( tinamous and ratites ) and Anatidae (ducks, geese and swans). The magpie goose in the family Anseranatidae also has a penis. A bird penis is different in structure from mammal penises, being an erectile expansion of
1656-475: A preputial sheath in the male's urogenital sinus when not erect. Monotremes and marsupial moles are the only mammals in which the penis is located inside the cloaca. Male turtles and crocodilians have a penis, while male specimens of the reptile order Squamata , which are snakes and lizards , have two paired organs called hemipenes . Tuataras must use their cloacae for reproduction. Due to evolutionary convergence , turtle and mammal penises have
1748-475: A second, I am formless". It is only the outward symbol of formless being, Shiva, who is eternal , ever-pure, immortal essence of this vast universe, who is your innermost Self or Atman , and who is identical with the Supreme Brahman , states Sivananda Saraswati. To some Shaivites the lingam symbolizes the axis of the universe . According to Shaiva Siddhanta , the linga is the ideal substrate in which
1840-403: A similar structure. In some fish, the gonopodium, andropodium, and claspers are intromittent organs (to introduce sperm into the female) developed from modified fins. Harvestmen are the only male arachnids that have a penis . In male insects , the structure analogous to a penis is known as an aedeagus . The male copulatory organ of various lower invertebrate animals is often called
1932-432: A traditional event celebrating the phallus on the first days of Lent . The phallus was ubiquitous in ancient Roman culture , particularly in the form of the fascinum , a phallic charm. The ruins of Pompeii produced bronze wind chimes ( tintinnabula ) that featured the phallus, often in multiples, to ward off the evil eye and other malevolent influences. Statues of Priapus similarly guarded gardens. Roman boys wore
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#17328511477162024-478: A wooden replacement. The phallus was a symbol of fertility, and the god Min was often depicted as ithyphallic, that is, with an erect penis. In traditional Greek mythology , Hermes , the god of boundaries and exchange (popularly the messenger god), is considered to be a phallic deity by association with representations of him on herms (pillars) featuring a phallus. There is no scholarly consensus on this depiction, and it would be speculation to consider Hermes
2116-445: Is a male sex organ that is used to inseminate female or hermaphrodite animals during copulation . Such organs occur in both vertebrates and invertebrates , including humans, but not in all male animals. The term penis applies to many intromittent organs , but not to all. As an example, the intromittent organ of most Cephalopoda is the hectocotylus , a specialized arm, and male spiders use their pedipalps . Even within
2208-399: Is a plural divinity. In Bulgaria, a ritual spectacle of spring (a sort of carnival performed by Kukeri ) takes place after a scenario of folk theatre, in which Kuker's role is interpreted by a man attired in a sheep or goat-pelt, wearing a horned mask and girded with a large wooden phallus. During the ritual, various physiological acts are interpreted, including the sexual act, as a symbol of
2300-580: Is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism . The word lingam is found in the Upanishads and epic literature , where it means a "mark, sign, emblem, characteristic," the "evidence, proof, symptom" of God and God's power. The lingam of the Shaivism tradition is a short cylindrical pillar-like symbol of Shiva, made of stone, metal, gem, wood, clay or precious stones. It
2392-678: Is commonly depicted in its paintings . Wooden phalluses, with white ribbons hanging from the tip, are often hung above the doorways of houses to deter evil spirits. Khalid Nabi Cemetery ( Persian : گورستان خالد نبی, "Cemetery of the Prophet Khaled") is a cemetery in northeastern Iran 's Golestan province . Touristic visitors often have perceived the cylindrical shafts with the thicker top as depictions of male phalli. This gave rise to popular hypotheses about pre-Islamic fertility cults . The Mara Kannon Shrine ( 麻羅観音 ) in Nagato , Yamaguchi prefecture
2484-573: Is found in Sanskrit texts , such as Shvetashvatara Upanishad , Samkhya , Vaisheshika and others texts with the meaning of "evidence" of God and God's existence, or existence of formless Brahman . The original meaning of lingam as "sign" is used in Shvetashvatara Upanishad , which says "Shiva, the Supreme Lord, has no liūga", liuga ( Sanskrit : लिऊग IAST : liūga ) meaning he
2576-531: Is historic, reflects the different interpretations of the lingam and what lingam worship means to its devotees. It remains a continuing debate within Hinduism to this day, states Doniger. To one group, it is a part of Shiva's body and symbolically saguna Shiva (he in a physical form with attributes). To the other group, it is an abstract symbol of nirguna Shiva (he in the universal Absolute Reality, formless, without attributes). In Tamil Shaiva tradition, for example,
2668-569: Is no evidence that the people of Indus Valley Civilization worshipped these artifacts as lingams. Scholars such as Arthur Llewellyn Basham dispute whether such artifacts discovered at the archaeological sites of Indus Valley sites are yoni. According to the Indologist Asko Parpola , "it is true that Marshall's and Mackay's hypotheses of linga and yoni worship by the Harappans has rested on rather slender grounds, and that for instance,
2760-416: Is often represented within a disc-shaped platform, the yoni – its feminine counterpart, consisting of a flat element, horizontal compared to the vertical lingam, and designed to allow liquid offerings to drain away for collection. The lingam is an emblem of generative and destructive power. While rooted in representations of the male sexual organ, the lingam is regarded as the "outward symbol" of
2852-854: Is one of many fertility shrines in Japan that still exist today. Also present in festivals such as the Danjiri Matsuri ( だんじり祭 ) in Kishiwada , Osaka prefecture , the Kanamara Matsuri in Kawasaki , and the Hōnen Matsuri ( 豊年祭 , Harvest Festival) in Komaki , Aichi Prefecture , though historically phallus adoration was more widespread. Kuker is a divinity personifying fecundity, sometimes in Bulgaria and Serbia it
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2944-414: Is regarded to be the absolute reality, the timeless, formless, and spaceless. In the representation of Parashakti, Shiva is regarded to be all-pervasive, pure consciousness , the power and primal substance of all that exists. Parashakti is regarded to possess form, unlike Parashiva, which is formless. According to Sivananda Saraswati , the lingam speaks unmistakable language of silence: "I am one without
3036-668: Is shown that the said Skambha is put in place of the eternal Brahman . Just as the Yajna (sacrificial) fire, its smoke, ashes, and flames, the Soma plant, and the ox that used to carry on its back the wood for the Vedic sacrifice gave place to the conceptions of the brightness of Shiva's body, his tawny matted hair, his blue throat, and the riding on the bull of the Shiva, the Yupa-Skambha gave place in time to
3128-579: Is that the Siva Lingam represents the phallus or the virile organ, the emblem of the generative power or principle in nature. This is not only a serious mistake but a grave blunder. In the post-Vedic period, the Linga has become symbolic of the generative power of Lord Siva. Linga is the differentiating mark. It is certainly not the sex mark. The traditional lingam rituals in major Shiva temples includes offerings of flowers, grass, dried rice, fruits, leaves, water and
3220-471: Is the gross body (sthūla śarīra), or concrete reality as it appears to the sense organs. In between the Ultimate and concrete reality is Prakṛti , also called Pradhana which is the imperceptible substratum of the manifest world or pre-matter. Out of this imperceptible cosmic substance, all things have come out, and to which they will return ultimately. The Gudimallam Lingam , one of the oldest examples of
3312-539: Is the liūga of the thing. The insight of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad conveyed through the word liūga is formulated explicitly in Samkhya and schools of Yoga or ways of looking at things , that is, looking at their appearance and at Ultimate Reality. Liriga here denotes the subtle body , (liṇga śarīra) underlying and ontologically preceding anything perceptible. The perceptible state, in this context,
3404-493: Is transcendental, beyond any characteristic and, specifically, the sign of gender. The term also appears in early Indian texts on logic, where an inference is based on a sign (linga), such as "if there is smoke, there is fire" where the linga is the smoke. It is a religious symbol in Hinduism representing Shiva as the generative power, all of existence, all creativity and fertility at every cosmic level. In early Sanskrit medical texts, linga means "symptom, signs" and plays
3496-439: Is typically the primary murti or devotional image in Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva, also found in smaller shrines, or as self-manifested natural objects. Lingam, states Monier Monier-Williams , appears in the Upanishads and epic literature , where it means a "mark, sign, emblem, characteristic". Other contextual meanings of the term include "evidence, proof, symptom" of God and God's power. The word lingam
3588-635: The Rigveda , or the other Vedas. However, Rudra (proto-Shiva) is found in the Vedic literature. Worship of the lingam was not a part of the Vedic religion . The worship of the lingam originated from the famous hymn in the Atharva Veda Samhita sung in praise of the Yupa-Stambha , the sacrificial post. In that hymn, a description is found of the beginningless and endless Stambha or Skambha , and it
3680-448: The bulla , an amulet that contained a phallic charm until they formally came of age. According to Augustine of Hippo , the cult of Father Liber , who presided over the citizen's entry into political and sexual manhood, involved a phallus. The phallic deity Mutunus Tutunus promoted marital sex. A sacred phallus was among the objects considered vital to the security of the Roman state, which
3772-562: The Devonian , about 410 million years ago, when tetrapods began to abandon the aquatic environment. In fact, the necessity to overcome the absence of a liquid phase in which to release the gametes was achieved through the transition to internal fertilization . Among amniotes, the development of an erectile penis occurred independently for mammals , squamates ( lizards and snakes ), testudines (turtles), and archosaurs ( crocodiles and birds ). Over time, birds have lost this organ, with
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3864-583: The Shiva-Linga . In the text Linga Purana , the same hymn is expanded in the shape of stories, meant to establish the glory of the great Stambha and the superiority of Shiva as Mahadeva. There is a hymn in the Atharvaveda that praises a pillar ( stambha ), and this is one possible origin of linga worship. According to Swami Vivekananda, the Shiva-linga had origins in the idea of Yupa-Stambha or Skambha of
3956-662: The Vertebrata , there are morphological variants with specific terminology, such as hemipenes . The word "penis" is taken from the Latin word for " tail ". Some derive that from Indo-European *pesnis , and the Greek word πέος = "penis" from Indo-European *pesos . Prior to the adoption of the Latin word in English, the penis was referred to as a "yard". The Oxford English Dictionary cites an example of
4048-568: The Victorian mindset by avoiding the use of words such as penis, vulva, vagina and other direct or indirect sexual terms in the Sanskrit text to discuss sex, sexual relationships and human sexual positions. Burton used the terms lingam and yoni instead throughout the translation. This conscious and incorrect word substitution, states Doniger, thus served as an Orientalist means to "anthropologize sex, distance it, make it safe for English readers by assuring them, or pretending to assure them, that
4140-423: The Victorian mold where sex and sexual imagery were a taboo subject, were shocked by and were hostile to the lingam-yoni iconography and reverence they witnessed. The 19th and early 20th-century colonial and missionary literature described lingam-yoni , and related theology as obscene, corrupt, licentious, hyper-sexualized, puerile, impure, demonic and a culture that had become too feminine and dissolute. To
4232-607: The bulbus glandis . During copulation, the spotted hyena inserts his penis through the female's pseudo-penis instead of directly through the vagina , which is blocked by the false scrotum. The pseudo-penis and pseudo-scrotum, which are actually a masculinized vulva , closely resemble the male hyena's genitalia, but can be distinguished from the male by the female's greater thickness and more rounded glans . Domestic cats have barbed penises, with about 120–150 one millimetre long backwards-pointing spines . Marsupials usually have bifurcated penises that are retracted into
4324-433: The cirrus . In 2010, entomologist Charles Linehard described a new genus of barkflies called Neotrogla . Species of this genus have sex-reversed genitalia: females have penis-like organs called gynosomes that are inserted into vagina-like openings of males during mating. A similar female structure has also been described in the closely related Afrotrogla . Scientists who study these insects have occasionally called
4416-432: The phallōs was a symbol of the real penis in its erect imaginary form. Norbert Wiley states that Lacan's phallus is akin to Durkheim's mana . In Gender Trouble , Judith Butler explores Freud's and Lacan's discussions of the symbolic phallus by pointing out the connection between the phallus and the penis. They write, "The law requires conformity to its own notion of 'nature'. It gains its legitimacy through
4508-409: The "formless Reality", the symbolization of merging of the 'primordial matter' ( Prakṛti ) with the 'pure consciousness' ( Purusha ) in transcendental context . The lingam-yoni iconography symbolizes the merging of microcosmos and macrocosmos , the divine eternal process of creation and regeneration, and the union of the feminine and the masculine that recreates all of existence. The lingam
4600-472: The "indicative sign is in a Vedic passage". The term linga also appears in Buddhist and Jaina literature, where it means "sign, evidence" in one context, or "subtle body" with sexual connotations in another. The lingam of the Shaivism tradition is a short cylindrical pillar-like symbol of Shiva, made of stone, metal, gem, wood, clay or precious stones. Various styles of lingam iconography are found on
4692-618: The 1980s in Montreal, Quebec, by D. F. Cassidy, it has a following mainly among homosexual men in Canada and the United States. Semen is also treated with reverence, and its consumption is an act of worship. Semen is esteemed as sacred because of its divine life-giving power. The symbolic version of the phallus, a phallic symbol, is meant to represent male generative powers. According to Sigmund Freud 's theory of psychoanalysis , while males possess
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#17328511477164784-695: The 20th century with the rise of Sigmund Freud , the founder of modern psychoanalysis of psychology . One example is " Princess X " by the Romanian modernist sculptor Constantin Brâncuși . He created a scandal in the Salon in 1919 when he represented or caricatured Princess Marie Bonaparte as a large gleaming bronze phallus. This phallus likely symbolizes Bonaparte's obsession with the penis and her lifelong quest to achieve vaginal orgasm. Penis A penis ( / ˈ p iː n ɪ s / ; pl. : penises or penes )
4876-569: The Hindus, particularly the Shaivites , these icons and ideas were the abstract, a symbol of the entirety of creation and spirituality. The colonial disparagement in part triggered the opposite reaction from Bengali nationalists, who more explicitly valorised the feminine. Swami Vivekananda called for the revival of the Mother Goddess as a feminine force, inviting his countrymen to "proclaim her to all
4968-509: The Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia. The historic lingam iconography has included: A lingam may be made of clay ( mrinmaya ), metal ( lohaja ), precious stone ( ratnaja ), wood ( daruja ), stone ( sailaja , most common), or a disposable material ( kshanika ). The construction method, proportions and design is described in Shaiva Agama texts. The lingam is typically set in
5060-729: The Mackay's hypothesis cannot be ruled out because erotic and sexual scenes such as ithyphallic males, naked females, a human couple having intercourse and trefoil imprints have now been identified at the Harappan sites. The "finely polished circular stand" found by Mackay may be yoni although it was found without the linga. The absence of linga, states Parpola, maybe because it was made from wood which did not survive. Indologist Wendy Doniger rejects Srinivasan's interpretation, and states that this relatively rare artifact can be interpreted in many ways and has unduly been used for wild speculations such as being
5152-470: The Puuc region of Yucatán (Amrhein 2001). Uxmal has the largest collection, with eleven sculptures now housed under a protective roof. The largest sculpture was recorded at Almuchil measuring more than 320 cm high with a diameter at the base of the shaft measuring 44 cm. St. Priapus Church (French: Église S. Priape ) is a North American new religion that centres on the worship of the phallus. Founded in
5244-529: The Shiva tradition is "only a symbol of the productive and creative principle of nature as embodied in Shiva", and it has no historical trace in any obscene phallic cult. According to Alex Wayman, various works on Shaivism by some Indian authors, following the Shaiva philosophical texts and spiritual interpretations, "deny that the linga is a phallus." To the Shaivites, a linga is neither a phallus nor do they practice
5336-421: The Vedic rituals, where the term meant the sacrificial post which was then idealized as the eternal Brahman . The Yupa-Skambha gave place in time to the Shiva-Linga , quite possibly with influence from Buddhism's stupa shaped like the top of a stone linga, according to Vivekananda. Shvetashvatara Upanishad states that, of the three significations of Lingam , the primary one is " the imperishable Purusha ",
5428-549: The absolute reality , whereby the linga is "sign", a mark that provides the existence of Brahman , which is itself formless. Furthermore, it mentioned that Shiva is transcendent, beyond any characteristic or liūga , specifically the sign of gender. Linga, "sign", not only signifies the existence of perceptible "things" but also denotes the imperceptible essence of "a thing" or pieces of Brahman called Atma even before that thing has come to exist in any concrete form. The imperceptible essence of "a thing", in its potentiality,
5520-564: The archaeological sites at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro , part of the Indus Valley civilisation . According to Chakravarti, "some of the stones found in Mohenjodaro are unmistakably phallic stones". These are dated to some time before 2300 BCE. Similarly, states Chakravarti, the Kalibangan site of Harappa has a small terracotta representation that "would undoubtedly be considered the replica of
5612-399: The binary and asymmetrical naturalization of bodies in which the phallus, though clearly not identical to the penis, deploys the penis as its naturalized instrument and sign". In Bodies that Matter , they further explore the possibilities for the phallus in their discussion of The Lesbian Phallus . If, as they note, Freud enumerates a set of analogies and substitutions that rhetorically affirm
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#17328511477165704-463: The bust of a male with his left hand holding a vase and the right hand in the abhaya (no-fear) mudra. The pillar itself is, once again, a realistic depiction of phallus but neither symbolizes fertility nor sexuality, but the refined energetic principles of Urdhva Retas during Sannyasa or Asceticism . The Mathura archaeological site has revealed similar lingams, with a standing Shiva in front (2nd century CE) and with one or four faces around
5796-403: The center of a pindika (also called yoni or pithas, symbolizing Shakti). A pindika may be circular, square, octagonal, hexagonal, duodecagonal, sixteen sided, elliptical, triangular or another shape. Some lingams are miniaturized and they are carried on one's person, such as by Lingayats in a necklace. These are called chala-lingams . The Hindu temple design manuals recommend geometric ratios for
5888-587: The centrality of the energetic principle of Urdhva Retas ( Sanskrit : ऊर्ध्वरेतस् IAST : Ūrdhvaretas , lit. "ascent of vital energies or fluid") the upward flow of energy in spiritual pursuits and practice of celibacy ( Brahmacarya ), contrary to fertility or release of vital energies. Lakulisa as an ascetic manifestation of Shiva is seen in later peninsular Indian scriptures whose ithyphallic aspects connotes asceticism and conserved procreative potentialities ( Brahmacarya or celibacy ), rather than mere eroticism . According to Stella Kramrisch,
5980-404: The cloacal wall (in ducks) and being erected by lymph , not blood. It is usually partially feathered and in some species features spines and brush-like filaments, and in a flaccid state, curls up inside the cloaca. As with any other bodily attribute, the length and girth of the penis can be highly variable between mammals of different species . In many mammals, the penis is retracted into
6072-516: The common term for lingam is kuRi or "sign, mark" which is asexual. Similarly, in Lingayatism tradition, the lingam is a spiritual symbol and "was never said to have any sexual connotations", according to Doniger. According to Dasgupta, the lingam symbolizes Shiva in Hinduism, and it is also a phallic symbol. Some extant ancient ligams, such as the Gudimallam Lingam , unambiguously depict
6164-473: The course of evolution. An erection is the stiffening and rising of the penis, which occurs during sexual arousal , though it can also happen in non-sexual situations. During ejaculation , a series of muscular contractions delivers semen, containing male gametes known as sperm cells or spermatozoa , from the penis. Ejaculation is usually accompanied by orgasm . The last common ancestor of all living amniotes (mammals, birds and reptiles) likely possessed
6256-419: The esoteric Kaula and Tantra practices, as well as the Shaivism and Shaktism traditions of Hinduism. The lingam and yoni together symbolize the merging of microcosmos and macrocosmos , the divine eternal process of creation and regeneration, and the union of the feminine and the masculine that recreates all of existence. The lingam is regarded as the "outward symbol" of the "formless Reality",
6348-417: The exception of Paleognathae and Anseriformes . The penis is an intromittent organ used to transfer sperm into the female genital tract (i.e., vagina or cloaca ) for potential fertilization and, in the case of placentals , also for the excretion of urine . The penises of different animal groups are not homologous with each other, but were created several times independently of each other in
6440-466: The female genital tract and deposits sperm". Pizzles are represented in heraldry , where the adjective pizzled (or vilené ) indicates that part of an animate charge 's anatomy, especially if coloured differently. Lingam This is an accepted version of this page Saiddhantika Non - Saiddhantika A lingam ( Sanskrit : लिङ्ग IAST : liṅga , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga ,
6532-626: The form of cylindrical rocks or ice or rocky hill. These are called Svayambhuva lingam, and about 70 of these are known on the Indian subcontinent, the most significant being one in Kashi ( Varanasi ) followed by Prayaga, Naimisha and Gaya. The colonial-era archaeologists John Marshall and Ernest Mackay proposed that certain artifacts found at Harappan sites may be evidence of yoni-linga worship in Indus Valley Civilization. Jones and Ryan state that lingam/yoni shapes have been recovered from
6624-414: The fundamental transferability of the phallus from the penis elsewhere, then any number of other things might come to stand in for the phallus. The phallus is often used for advertising pornography , as well as the sale of contraception . It has often been used in provocative practical jokes and has been the central focus of adult-audience performances. The phallus had a new set of art interpretations in
6716-525: The god's sacred marriage, while the symbolical wife, appearing pregnant, mimes the pains of giving birth. This ritual inaugurates the labours of the fields ( ploughing , sowing ) and is carried out with the participation of numerous allegorical personages, among which are the Emperor and his entourage. In Switzerland , the heraldic bears in a coat of arms had to be painted with bright red penises , otherwise, they would have been mocked as being she-bears. In 1579,
6808-416: The gynosome a "female penis" and insisted to drop the definition of penis as "the male copulatory organ". Motivations for using the term "female penis" include that such a term "is easier to understand and much more eye-catching" and that the gynosome have "analogous features" with male penises. Meanwhile, critics have argued that it does not fit the intromittent organ definition of "a structure that enters
6900-468: The interpretation of the so-called ring-stones as yonis seems untenable". He quotes Dales 1984 paper, which states "with the single exception of the unidentified photography of a realistic phallic object in Marshall's report, there is no archaeological evidence to support claims of special sexually-oriented aspects of Harappan religion". However, adds Parpola, a re-examination at Indus Valley sites suggest that
6992-442: The linga, the sanctum and the various architectural features of the temple according to certain mathematical rules it considers perfect and sacred. Anthropologist Christopher John Fuller states that although most sculpted images ( murtis ) are anthropomorphic or theriomorphic, the aniconic Shiva Linga is an important exception. The lingam is conceptualized both as an emblem of generative and destructive power, particularly in
7084-502: The lingam icon with the male sexual organ; the 11th-century Kashmir text Narmamala by Kshemendra on satire and fiction writing explains his ideas on parallelism with divine lingam and human lingam in a sexual context. Various Shaiva texts, such as the Skanda Purana in section 1.8 states that all creatures have the signs of Shiva or Shakti through their lingam (male sexual organ) or pindi (female sexual organ). According to Doniger,
7176-468: The male sexual organ, as well as the male orgasm . The term is a loanword from Latin phallus , itself borrowed from Greek φαλλός ( phallos ), which is ultimately a derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root * bʰel - "to inflate, swell". Compare with Old Norse (and modern Icelandic ) boli , " bull ", Old English bulluc , " bullock ", Greek φαλλή , " whale ". The Hohle phallus,
7268-405: The more sensual aspects of their own religious literature". Some contemporary Hindus, states Doniger, in their passion to spiritualize Hinduism and for their Hindutva campaign have sought to sanitize the historic earthly sexual meanings, and insist on the abstract spiritual meaning only. The sexualization is criticized by Stella Kramrisch and Moriz Winternitz who opines that the lingam in
7360-518: The nature of Atman (Self) and Sarira (body, prakriti ) and its proposed mechanism of rebirth. In the Purva Mimamsa Sutra and the Vedanta sutra , as well as the commentaries on them, the term linga appears quite often, particularly in the form of "lingadarsanacca" as a form of citing or referencing prior Hindu literature. This phrase connotes "[we have found an] indicative sign", such as
7452-457: The old temples and in museums in India and abroad, which are often more clearly phallic than later stylized lingams. The famous "man-size" Gudimallam Lingam in Andhra Pradesh is about 1.5 metres (5 ft) in height, carved in polished black granite, and clearly represents an erect phallus, with a figure of the deity in relief superimposed down the shaft. Many of the earliest depictions of Shiva as
7544-471: The other hand, wish to be the phallus. This difference between having and being explains some tragicomic aspects of sexual life. Once a woman becomes, in the realm of the signifier, the phallus the man wants, he ceases to want it because one cannot desire what one has, and the man may be drawn to other women. Similarly, though, for the woman, the gift of the phallus deprives the man of what he has and thereby diminishes her desire. It should be remembered that
7636-432: The penis is the subject of many slang words and euphemisms for it, a particularly common and enduring one being "cock". See WikiSaurus:penis for a list of alternative words for penis. The Latin word " phallus " (from Greek φαλλος) is sometimes used to describe the penis, although "phallus" originally was used to describe representations , pictorial or carved, of the penis. The external genital organs appeared in
7728-407: The penis. A bone called the baculum is present in most placentals but absent in humans, cattle and horses. In mammals, the penis is divided into three parts: The internal structures of the penis consist mainly of cavernous, erectile tissue , which is a collection of blood sinusoids separated by sheets of connective tissue (trabeculae). Canine penises have a structure at the base called
7820-561: The pictorial symbol of the Gudimallam lingam should not be mistaken for fertility or eroticism, due to incomplete or impure understanding of the underlying refined principles. The Bhita linga – now at the Lucknow museum – is also dated to about the 2nd century BCE, and has four directional faces on the pillar and a Brahmi script inscription at the bottom. Above the four faces, the Bhita linga has
7912-414: The symbolization of merging of the 'primordial matter' ( Prakṛti ) with the 'pure consciousness' ( Purusha ) in transcendental context . Sivaya Subramuniyaswami elaborates that the lingam signifies three perfections of Shiva . The upper oval part of the lingam represents Parashiva and the lower part of the lingam, called the pitha, represents Parashakti . In the representation of Parashiva, Shiva
8004-542: The text was not about real sexual organs, their sexual organs, but merely about the appendages of weird, dark people far away." Similar Orientalist literature of the Christian missionaries and the British era, states Doniger, stripped all spiritual meanings and insisted on the Victorian vulgar interpretation only, which had "a negative effect on the self-perception that Hindus had of their own bodies" and they became "ashamed of
8096-496: The word yard used in this sense from 1379, and notes that in his Physical Dictionary of 1684, Steven Blankaart defined the word penis as "the Yard, made up of two nervous Bodies, the Channel, Nut, Skin, and Fore-skin, etc." According to Wiktionary , this term meant (among other senses) "rod" or "bar". As with nearly any aspect of the body involved in sexual or excretory functions,
8188-487: The world with the voice of peace and benediction". According to Doniger, the terms lingam and yoni became explicitly associated with human sexual organs in the western imagination after the widely popular first Kamasutra translation by Sir Richard Burton in 1883. In his translation, even though the original Sanskrit text does not use the words lingam or yoni for sexual organs, and almost always uses other terms, Burton adroitly avoided being viewed as obscene to
8280-438: The worship of erotic penis-vulva, rather the linga-yoni is a symbol of cosmic mysteries, the creative powers and the metaphor for the spiritual truths of their faith. According to Swami Sivananda , the correlation of the linga and phallus is wrong; the lingam is only the external symbol of Shiva's formless being. He further states that it is the light or power of consciousness, manifesting from Sadashiva . The popular belief
8372-404: The worshipper should install and worship the five-faced and ten-armed Sadāśiva, the form of Shiva who is the focal divinity of that school of Shaivism. Scholars, such as Wendy Doniger and Rohit Dasgupta , view linga as extrapolations of what was originally a phallic symbol. According to Doniger, there is persuasive evidence in later Sanskrit literature that the early Indians associated
8464-608: Was in the keeping of the Vestal Virgins . Sexuality in ancient Rome has sometimes been characterized as " phallocentric ". Shiva , one of the most widely worshiped male deities in Hinduism pantheon, is worshiped much more commonly in the form of the lingam . Evidence of the lingam in India dates back to prehistoric times. Although Lingam is not a mere phallic iconography, nor do the textual sources signify it as so, stone Lingams with several varieties are found to this date in many of
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