Commissioner Archaeology Anupam Rajan inaugurated Shivalingam photography exhibition at the State Museum, Shyamla Hills, Bhopal. This eight-day exhibition will continue up to January 16 and will be open for the general public from 10.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.
Shivaling is symbolic Shiva, which reflects his quiescent knowledge and radiance. Shiv means ‘kalyankari’, linga means creation. linga is worshipped in the form of the creator and productive power. linga refers to ‘laya’ (pralaya) in Skanda Purana. At the time of Pralay everything turns into ash in fire and settles on the Shivalinga. linga is one of the ancient religious symbols in human civilization.
The Shivalinga’s importance lies in its creation and the rare spot of its installation. Many forms of the shivalingas have been created in various kalkramas. In the natural form, unique and remarkable shivalingas are formed with the flow of rivers. From Sindhu valley civilization to history, the ordinary shivalinga, Ekmukhi shivalinga, Chaturmukhi shivalinga, Panchmukhi shivalinga and Ashtamukhi shivalinga etc have been created.
The linga shapes have statues of either Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, Surya or of Parvati, Ganesha or Nandi. The exhibition at the State Museum, displayed at the exhibition room about 70 photographs of shivalinga, mukhlingas and lingodwava statues.It may be noted here that one can see 4-5th century Shiva’s Jatadhari statue of San Francisco museum, Ek Mukhalinga of Udaigiri in Vidisha, Ekmukhi Shivalinga statue of 5th-6th century of Madhya Pradesh that have been obtained from Khoha, Bhoomra, Nachna etc. Similarly the wonderful mukhalingi statues of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh are also an attraction of the exhibition.