Elements of Hindu Iconography v2.c16.76

v2.c16.76

*linga* and the *yōni*. For the past two thousand years at least, the Hindus, males and females, have been offering worship to this symbol of the Great Architect of the Universe, without in the least adverting to or feeling conscious of the so-called obscenity of this pure symbol of the fatherhood and motherhood of the supreme deity; to them it is a symbol and nothing more; there is nothing obscene in connection with its worship; the simplest and the purest materials, such as water from a well reserved for ceremonial purposes, flowers, incense and freshly cooked rice and cakes, are used in the worship of the *Linga*. If there be any the slightest lack of cleanliness and purity on the part of the officiating priest, it would be passed over unnoticed in a *Vishṇu* temple; but never in a *Śiva* temple, where absolute purity and cleanliness are rigorously demanded from the *pūjāri*. Thus, whatever might have been the original setting and the import of the symbolism, at the present time they are forgotten and lost; and the worship of the *Linga* and the *yōni*, is absolutely* and thoroughly