In general, the Angkorian Khmer represented and worshipped Shiva in the form of a lingam, though they also fashioned anthropomorphic statues of the god.

The Hindu scripture Shiva Purana describes the worship of the lingam as originating in the loss and recovery of Shiva's phallus, though it also describes the origin of the lingam as the beginning-less and endless pillar ( Stambha ).

According to Swami Sivananda, the view that the Shiva lingam represents the phallus is a mistake ; The same sentiments have also been expressed by H. H. Wilson in 1840.

The Britannica encyclopedia entry on lingam also notes that the lingam is not considered to be a phallic symbol ;

* Hinduism, especially Shaivism, the form of Hinduism focussed on the worship of Shiva and the lingam as the symbol of Shiva, but also Vaishnavism, the form of Hinduism focussed on the worship of Vishnu ;

Characteristic of the religion of Chenla also was the cult of the lingam, or stone phallus that patronized and guaranteed fertility to the community in which it was located.

They also claim that the structure which some Hindus have identified as a lingam is actually the broken base of a statue of the Buddha.

The lingam has been interpreted as a symbol of male creative energy or of the phallus, though today most Hindus view the linga as a symbol of divine energy rather than as a sexual symbol.

* A linga ( or lingam ) is a phallic post that serves as a representation of Shiva.

He leaves references to the sexual organs as in the original: persistent usage of the words " lingam " and " yoni " to refer to them in older translations of the Kama Sutra is not the usage in the original Sanskrit ; he argues that " to a modern Hindu " lingam " and " yoni " mean specifically the sexual organs of the god Shiva and his wife, and using those words to refer to humans ' sexual organs would seem irreligious.

A Shiva lingam worshipped at Jambukesvara temple in Thiruvanaikaval ( Thiruaanaikaa )

A figure of Shiva is carved into the front of the lingam.

* D. R. Nanayakkara as Shaman: The leader of a small village that recruits Indiana to retrieve their stolen sacred Shiva lingam stone

The name of the central lingam was the name of the king himself, combined with the suffix-esvara, which designated Shiva.

Through the worship of the lingam, the king was identified with Shiva, and Shaivism became the state religion.

Bhrigusamhita is believed to be the first book of its kind in the field of astrology. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great .... the daughter of Himavat and Menā and is named Kali, ' the dark one ', because of .... lingam of Shiva, who was cursed by sage Bhrigu to be the form of the lingam.

Angkor scholar George Coedès has theorized that Jayavarman stood squarely in the tradition of the Khmer monarchs in thinking of himself as a " devaraja " ( god-king ), the salient difference being that while his predecessors were Hindus and regarded themselves as consubstantial with Shiva and his symbol the lingam, Jayavarman as a Buddhist identified himself with the Buddha and the bodhisattva.

The inscription on its stele ( classified K. 826 ) says that in 881 King Indravarman I dedicated the temple to the god Shiva and consecrated its central religious image, a lingam whose name Sri Indresvara was a combination of the king's own and the suffix "- esvara " which stood for Shiva (" Iśvara ").

* Nandi Mandapam ( or Nandi mandir )-In the Shiva temples, pavilion with a statue of the sacred bull Nandi, looking at the statue or the lingam of Shiva.

Rudrabhisheka of the Shiv lingam is a important part of Shiva-puja.

British missionary William Ward criticized the worship of the lingam ( along with virtually all other Indian religious rituals ) in his influential 1815 book A View of the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindoos, calling it " the last state of degradation to which human nature can be driven ", and stating that its symbolism was " too gross, even when refined as much as possible, to meet the public eye.

" Some scholars, such as David James Smith, believe that throughout its history the lingam has represented the phallus ; others, such as N. Ramachandra Bhatt, believe the phallic interpretation to be a later addition.

Its counterpart is the lingam, interpreted by some as the phallus.

The image given is that of a serpent coiled three and a half times around a smokey grey lingam.

" The view that lingam means only " sexual organs " is disputed by academics like S. N. Balagangadhara.

Whether the lingam symbolizes the physical body of the god or something purely spiritual is the topic of many a century-old debate within Hinduism.

The lingam is often represented with the yoni, a symbol of the goddess or of Shakti, female creative energy.

The oldest example of a lingam which is still used for worship is in Gudimallam.

The lingam is the transcendental source of all that exists.

She is represented as a snake wrapped three and a half times around a smokey grey lingam.

At all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva.

According to Hindu mythology, just after creating the universe, Lord Brahma performed the Ashvamedha at Bithoor and established a lingam there.

The spider or Sri tried to protect the deity from external damage by weaving his web and to provide shelter for the Shiva lingam.

There are references to one Aryaraja ( 32BCE-17CE ) who used to worship a lingam formed of ice in Kashmir.

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.

Recently a temple has been made for that lingam.

After a long search for such a place, which was very difficult to locate, Maandhatha, the first one to receive the lingam found out a small place for that description, only that much land which could accommodate a small plate.

There is no dhaara, the constant pouring of holy water, for the lingam here in other Shiva temple.

They asked the king to dig the place and relieve the lingam and the dharapatra symbolising Mangaladevi and install them in a shrine along with Nagaraja for providing protection.

Ramakrishna practiced Jivanta-linga-puja, or " worship of the living lingam ".

* Indigenous religious cults, including those centered on worship of the ancestors and of the lingam ;