Shiva Revealed in the Linga (Lingodbhavamurti)

The myth depicted here recounts the origin of the linga, the phallic sign of Shiva, as told in the Lingodbhavamurti. To settle a dispute between Brahma and Vishnu in which each claimed to be the creator of the universe, Shiva sent a great flaming pillar that seemed to have no limit at its summit or base. Brahma assumed the form of a goose and flew in search of the pillar’s peak, while Vishnu assumed his boar avatar form, Varaha, and dug deep into the earth. Neither discovered the limits of the pillar. Shiva then revealed himself within the shaft amid flames, and both Brahma and Vishnu submitted to his supreme authority. This myth appears in both Puranic and Agama sources, including the Sivapurana and the Skandapurana. A representation of this form of Shiva is traditionally located on the outer western wall of a temple’s sanctum, directly behind the linga sanctum.