Known among locals as Chùa Ông (Grandfather Pagoda) and looked after by an Indian man named Ramassamy, it was established in the 19th century for Lord Subramaniam, also known as Karthikeya, the son of Shiva.
Some of the other deities in the temple are the elephant-headed Lord Ganesha, another son of Shiva; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer, himself in the form of the Linga. Vishnu and Shiva are part of Hinduism’s major trinity of gods which is completed by Brahma, the creator.
The Linga – which is always accompanied by a feminine base Yoni representing the vagina – is a depiction of the phallus.
Those dating from the first century BCE to the third century CE are highly phallic in shape before they progressively become more abstract.
The phallus explained
It is the presence of the Linga that attracts much interest among visitors to the temple.
They routinely wonder why the symbol is placed in a sacred temple dedicated to ancient gods what its significance is.
Professor Le Xuan Khoa, who is a well-known researcher of Indian culture and used to work before 1975 at what is now HCMC’s University of Social Sciences and Humanity, explains the Linga is rooted in Indian philosophy.
Shiva is the god of destruction and it is from destruction that new lives emerge, he says. Thus, in terms of creation, Shiva also disseminates the seeds of lives and benediction.
It is for the latter reason that he swallowed deadly venom spewed by a celestial snake called Vasuki to protect the universe.
Le Xuan Khoa also quotes ancient Indian books which say that the light of pleasure and love sparked off by a copulating Shiva and his consort Shakti created the universe.
Shiva then split himself into two parts, one feminine and the other masculine. He is, thus, symbolized as half man and half woman.
God Shiva is always in a celestial dance of procreation and destruction of the worlds. He is not only the embodiment of Kama – the god of sexual lust, desire, or pleasure, the force that is the basis for the evolution of diverse life forms and humans on earth – but also the destroyer of Kama whom he later restored to life at the request of Kama’s wife Rati, who represents sexual intercourse or coitus.
Without sexual desire (Kama), there is no sexual intercourse (Rati) or procreation.
Khoa says Shiva’s mythology is a rich source of Indian thinking about sexuality, social relations, rituals, the cosmic process, and metaphysics.
The Male-Female union is symbolized by the Shiva Linga or Yoni-Linga.
It has a parallel in the Yin-Yang, or Male-Female, in Chinese philosophy. Metaphysically, it is also the most scientific philosophy that explains the fundamentals of existence through Positive and Negative forces.
The Linga, fountain of life, is shown in its erect form, and is usually placed in the Yoni, the source of all that exists.
Originally the cylindrical shape represented the formlessness of creation before gradually becoming associated with Shiva until the Linga began to be worshipped as the god himself.
In Shiva temples it is usually the Linga that is the main deity unlike other Hindu gods who are all represented by idols.
Written by Giao Huong – Translated by Minh Phat
