South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c9.s2.2

c9.s2.2

since the whole creation finds its origin and rest there, it receives the name linga."¹ In the introduction to his translation of the Vishnu-Purāna (p. lxix) Professor H. H. Wilson makes the following remarks on the linga-worship in India: "The linga is twofold, external and internal. The ignorant who need a visible sign, worship Siva through a 'mark' or 'type' which is the proper meaning of the word linga—of wood or stone; but the wise look upon this outward emblem as nothing and contemplate in their minds the invisible inscrutable type which is Siva himself. Whatever may have been the origin of this form of worship in India, the notions upon which it was founded according to the impure fancies of European writers are not to be traced even in the Saiva Purānas." Mr. Havell thinks that it "was in all probability originally derived from the votive stūpa of Buddhism."² If Saivism is, however, granted to be older in its origin than Buddhism—the Sākyas themselves among whom Buddha was born being mentioned as having Siva for their tutelar deity³—this theory cannot be upheld. Various forms of the linga are worshipped, from the crude uncut conical gneiss usually believed to be svayambhū or self-born⁴ to the highly polished and hand-made shaft of 8, 16, 32 or more facets of the Pallava period.