NEPAL, 11TH CENTURY

This example is of unusually large size and boldly modeled. The tops of lingas are anointed during worship, the liquid flowing down to the base and draining off to the side. With the finely modeled lotus relief, the linga would therefore appear to be emerging from a lotus in a watery setting, befitting the symbolism of spiritual transcendence. Stylistically it relates to a smaller five faced linga, dated 1045, from the collection of Samuel Eilenberg, in M. Lerner and S. Kossak, The Lotus Transcendent, 1991, cat. no. 112.