Indian traditions, Nivedita and Coomaraswamy
Lingam
In a dispute involving Brahma and Vishnu, the lingam appears as a vast pillar. Brahma rises as a swan and Vishnu descends as a boar, but neither discovers its limit before Shiva reveals himself. In the Tillai narrative the devotee is directed to a grove containing a lingam tended by Tiger-foot. The collection thus places the emblem both in a cosmic revelation and at the centre of a particular sacred landscape.
Also known as Liṅga · Linga
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalIn a dispute involving Brahma and Vishnu, the lingam appears as a vast pillar. Brahma rises as a swan and Vishnu descends as a boar, but neither discovers its limit before Shiva reveals himself.
Further detail
TraditionalIn the Tillai narrative the devotee is directed to a grove containing a lingam tended by Tiger-foot. The collection thus places the emblem both in a cosmic revelation and at the centre of a particular sacred landscape.
Context & interpretation
The entry follows two lingam narratives in the collection, not every iconographic, ritual or theological interpretation of the emblem. The endless pillar is a traditional story; the passages do not offer a physical measurement or a complete archaeological history.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
found no base at all of the lingamOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Nivedita and Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 349
Exact passage checked against the active edition text and original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0349
- Original scan leaf
- 349
- Recorded leaf number
- 349
- Current Reader position
- 340
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
a grove, where is a lingamOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Nivedita and Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 378
Exact passage checked against the active edition text and original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0378
- Original scan leaf
- 378
- Recorded leaf number
- 378
- Current Reader position
- 369
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Chidambaram
The sacred city associated in the collection with Shiva’s dance and the Golden Court.
Shared source pageMaya
The principle of appearance and material manifestation in the collection’s Shaiva explanation.
Shared source pageShiva
The ascetic and dancer whose action embraces the creation and release of worlds.