Lingam and yoni with pedestal

Xilografia - Cortesã lendo uma carta à luz da lanterna

Stone Khmer Angkor period 10th–13th c. Inv. CA-CFC.424

The Shiva-linga

The Shiva-linga, a symbol of the god Shiva, rising out of a yoni which symbolises female generative power, was carved and housed in every Cambodian state temple. Priests would ritually lustrate the linga to generate a stream of holy water that was captured after running through the conduit of the yoni. The whole symbolises the male and female forces of Shiva.