Lingam 1

The lingam (also, linga, ling, Shiva linga, Shiv ling, Sanskrit लिङ्गं liṅgaṃ, Tamil லிங்கம் , meaning "mark", "sign", "gender", "phallus", "inference" or "eternal procreative germ") is a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples. Whether the lingam symbolizes the physical body of the god or something purely spiritual is the topic of a many century-old debate within Hinduism. The Hindu scripture Shiva Purana describes the worship of the lingam as originating in the loss and recovery of Shiva's penis, though the Shiva Purana also describes the origin of the Linga as a great column . Today most Hindus view the linga as a symbol of divine energy rather than as a sexual symbol.^{[citation needed]}

The lingam has also been interpreted as a symbol of male creative energy or of the phallus, though many Saivite Hindus deny this and do not view the lingam as a phallus. The lingam is often represented with the yoni, a symbol of the goddess or of Shakti, female creative energy. The union of lingam and yoni represents the "indivisible two-in-oneness of male and female, the passive space and active time from which all life originates". The lingam and the yoni have been interpreted as the male and female sexual organs since the end of the 19th century by some scholars, while to practising Hindus they stand for the inseparability of the male and female principles and the totality of creation.