The Form and Formlessness of Śiva: TheLingain Indian Art, Mythology, and Pilgrimage¹

Abstract

The liðga is well-known as the dominant emblem of the Hindu god OEiva. This article seeks to provide an accessible survey of the mythology and iconography of the liðga, and the scholarly discussion about them. It considers some of the ancient objects that scholars have identified as liðgas, reflecting on the methodological challenges involved in their interpretation. It also considers major narrative, theological, and pilgrimage traditions surrounding liðgas, as preserved in the PurA{as, and some of the prescriptions for their construction and installation, as outlined in ·gamas and reflected in current practice. The author suggests, moreover, that liðga worship may have played an important role in the trans-regional spread and consolidation of OEaivism as we know it.Today, the Hindu god OEiva is worshipped throughout India, and devotees perform rituals to a liðga, a cylindrical object typically made of stone, clay, wood, or metal. The liðga is now the dominant emblem of the deity, and liðga worship is important for OEaivite piety and ritual practice across the diverse regional cultures of India; thousands upon thousands of OEaivite temples across the subcontinent hold a liðga in their central-most sanctum. Ancient and medieval evidence for liðgas, however, suggests a long and varied history, in art and literature alike. It took centuries for the present form of the liðga to evolve, and it also took centuries before liðga worship took hold as the single most dominant form of devotion to OEiva. Nevertheless, the liðga has been a constant source of inspiration in myths and liturgies celebrating the god. Arguably, in fact, the history of OEaivism -its mythology, ritual, and theology -is inseparable from the history of the liðga.This article will survey some of the major literary, theological, and iconographic traditions surrounding liðgas, with a focus on its place in the history and practice of OEaivism. What is our earliest evidence for liðgas, and when did this form come to be associated with OEiva? What is the place of liðga worship in OEaivite myth and ritual, past and present? What role did it play in the development and spread of OEaivism? In the process of exploring such questions, I hope also to provide an introductory guide