Md. Toslim Bhuiyan Prantik at 07:11, 31 October 2025

2025-10-31T07:11:05Z

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{{Short description|Ancient Shiva linga in Gudimallam Andhra Pradesh}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
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| name = Gudimallam Lingam
| image = Gudimallam Lingam in-situ photograph.jpg
| image_caption = The Gudimallam Lingam in-situ
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The '''Gudimallam Lingam''' is an ancient [[linga]] in the Parashurameshwara Swami Temple of [[Gudimallam]], a small village near [[Tirupati]] city in the [[Yerpedu]] [[Tehsil|mandal]] of the [[Tirupati district]] of [[Andhra Pradesh]], India.<ref>{{cite web |title=Archaeological Survey of India - Alphabetical List of Monuments in Andhra Pradesh |website=Government of India
|url=https://asi.nic.in/alphabetical-list-of-monuments-andhra-pradesh/ }}</ref> It is situated about {{convert|24|km}} south-east of [[Tirupati]] city.<ref name="Rao, 65">Rao, 65</ref>

Though Gudimallam is a small village, it is well known because it has a very early [[linga]] that is unmistakably [[phallus|phallic]] in shape, with a full-length standing [[relief]] figure of [[Shiva]] carved on the front. This is in the [[garbhagriha]] of the Parasurameswara Temple, [[Hindu temple]] dedicated to Shiva.<ref name=wendy/> This is perhaps the second earliest linga associated with Shiva discovered so far,<ref>Rao, 63-64. Much older phalluses in clay etc are known (See Ellgood, 46).</ref> and it has been dated to the 2nd/1st century BC,<ref>Harle, 271; Blurton, 78; Elgood, 47 says from end BC to 1st AD</ref> or the 3rd century BC,<ref name=wendy>{{cite book|last=Doniger|first=Wendy|title=The Hindus: An Alternative History|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=9780199593347|page=22,23|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nNsXZkdHvXUC}}</ref> or much later, to the 2nd century AD,<ref name="PS">{{cite book |last1=Pieris |first1=Sita |last2=Raven |first2=Ellen |title=ABIA: South and Southeast Asian Art and Archaeology Index: Volume Three – South Asia |date=2010 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-19148-8 |page=264 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fCL8pjd0JVMC&pg=PA264 |language=en}}</ref> 3-4th century AD,<ref name="PS"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Arundhati |first1=P. |title=Annapurna : A Bunch Of Flowers Of Indian Culture |date=2002 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=978-81-7022-897-4 |page=43|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cfK2LoH_j54C&pg=PA43 |language=en|quote= Thus the linga certainly belongs to 2nd to 3rd century B.C. or to early Satavahanas, because, the physiogomy of the figure on the linga is closer to Bharhut, Karle and Nanaghat figures.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Academy |first1=M. A. P. |title=How old is the Gudimallam stone Lingam? Historians debate age of ancient Shiva linga |url=https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/how-old-is-the-gudilmallam-stone-lingam-historians-debate-age-of-ancient-shiva-linga/1506602/ |work=ThePrint |date=9 April 2023}}</ref>

According to Harle, this is "the only sculpture of any importance" to survive from ancient [[South India]] before sculpture made under the [[Pallava dynasty]] from the 7th century AD onwards, and "its mysteriousness lies in the total absence so far of any object in an even remotely similar manner within many hundreds of miles, and indeed anywhere in South India".<ref>Harle, 271</ref> If assigned an early date, the figure on the linga is "one of the earliest surviving and unequivocal images of the god Shiva".<ref>Blurton, 82</ref>

The temple is later than the linga; again, estimates of its age vary considerably, but the existing building is usually dated to "the later [[Chola dynasty|Chola]] and [[Vijayanagara]] periods", so possibly a thousand years later than the sculpture; it seems to have replaced much earlier structures. The linga was possibly originally sited in the open air, with the rectangular stone surround that still remains,<ref>Blurton, 78-81 (78 quoted)</ref> or inside a wooden structure. The temple remains in worship, but has been protected by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] (ASI) since 1954.

==Description==
[[File:Gudimallam stone plan.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Gudimallam lingam (as it appeared before the floor was lowered): front, rear & side elevations, with sectional plan.]]
[[File:Gudimallam statue details.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Gudimallam statue details]]
The linga first came to academic attention, by his own account, after being surveyed by the archaeologist [[T. A. Gopinatha Rao]] (then working for the local [[princely state]], later with the ASI), "some years" before he published it in 1911.<ref>First published in April 1911 with a paper by Rao, in ''Indian Antiquary'', volume XL, pages 104–105 (edited by Richard Temple, Cambridge, British India Press), then in his 1916 book, Rao, 65</ref> The linga is carved out of a hard dark brown local stone. It is over 5 ft high and slightly above a foot in diameter on the main shaft. Rao gives the height as 5 foot exactly, but did not see the full length, as the bottom of the linga was then buried in the floor. The [[glans penis]] is clearly differentiated from the shaft by being wider, with a deep slanting groove cut about a foot from the top of the Linga.<ref name="Rao, 65-67">Rao, 65-67</ref> Unusually, the [[garbhagriha]] is [[apse|apsidal]] or semi-circular, curving behind the linga, which is called Gaja Prushta vasthu or resembling the rear portion of an elephant.

An image of Shiva in ''sthanaka'' posture is carved in high relief. On the front portion of the linga the god is standing on the shoulders of a figure of ''[[Apasmara]]'', a dwarf who represents spiritual ignorance.<ref name="Rao, 65-67"/> The figure of Shiva resembles a vigorous hunter; He holds a ram or antelope in his right hand and a small water pot in his left hand.<ref>Rao, 66 calls it a ram, Blurton, 78 also suggests an antelope. Other sources mention a goat.</ref> There is a battle axe (''parasu'') resting on his left shoulder.  He wears many heavy earrings, an elaborate flat necklace, and a girdle with a dangling central portion. His arms are adorned with five bracelets, with different designs in relief, on each wrist, and a high [[arm ring]] on each side. He wears a [[dhoti]] of very thin material, fastened at his waist with a ''vastra-mekhala''.<ref name="Rao, 67">Rao, 67</ref> This extends round the whole shaft of the linga.<ref name=wendy/> He has no ''[[yagnopavita]]'' or sacred thread. Emerging from a complicated turban-like head-covering, his hair is long and plaited (not matted).<ref>Rao, 66-67</ref>

His features are described by Rao as [[Mongoloid]],<ref name="Rao, 66">Rao, 66</ref> and Blurton describes the figure as not having "the features associated with gods of orthodox Hinduism" but "squat and broadly-built, and with the thick curly hair and the pronounced lips still seen amongst tribal populations in Central India", suggesting the non-Vedic aspects being absorbed into the emerging figure of Shiva.<ref>Blurton, 81; Elgood, 47 "with full lips and thick, curly hair".</ref>
[[File:Gudimallam linga, a 19th-century replica from the temple.jpg|thumb|Views from different angles of a replica of relatively recent date]]

Rao's account emphasizes that the linga here is unmistakably a representation of an erect human penis, as therefore are other Shiva lingas,<ref name=":0">Rao, 68-69</ref> this point having apparently been disputed, or overgeneralized,<ref>Elgood, 46</ref> by some previously. He describes it as "shaped exactly like the original model, in a state of erection",<ref>Rao, 68</ref> though one of his illustrations shows the "plan" section of the shaft, with seven straight-line faces, and gives their unequal lengths. The sharpest angle made by these faces would run through the centre of the Shiva figure, and the front face of the linga is made of the two longest faces (at 6 inches). Two side faces of 4 inches are at right angles to the figure, and the rear of the shaft has one central longer face at right angles to the sides, and two shorter ones joining the back and sides.<ref>Rao, "Plate II (to face page 66)"</ref>

Early lingam often have shafts with several straight sides, but more often eight rather than the seven here. Their structure signifies the earth in the square base, the air in the shaft section, and the sky in the rounded top. The same symbolism appears in Buddhist [[stupa]]s.<ref>Pal, 137</ref>
[[File:Parasurameswara temple plan, Gudimallam Andhra Pradesh India.jpg|thumb|Plan and elevation of the temple]]

==Setting==
Though the linga has remained in worship in the temple built around it, its relationship to the sanctuary and setting has been altered since Rao's time. The photograph in Rao's 1916 book,<ref>Rao, Plate II, after p. 66</ref> like the one at the top of the article, shows the linga set into the floor, which comes at about the level of the dwarf's midriff. More recent photos and videos, presumably taken after an ASI exploration in 1973–74,<ref>[http://asi.nic.in/since-independence-andhra-pradesh/ ASI] "Since Independence – Andhra Pradesh"</ref> show the lingam in a square stone enclosure on the floor, with the whole length of the dwarf (who is kneeling) visible, as well as a circular pediment.<ref>Harle, 271 and Arundhati, 41, for examples</ref>

The stone slabs making the enclosure are plain on the outside, but carved on the inside as stone railings (with three horizontal rails) in a pattern comparable to those of ancient Buddhist [[stupa]]s such as [[Sanchi]] (but much smaller).<ref>Blurton, 81</ref> Rao was unaware of this structure, then below the floor, saying "the pedestal is cut out in the form of a quadrangular ridge on the ground",<ref name="Rao, 66"/> this ridge in fact being the top of the uppermost rail of the railings. Whether the rest of the floor was lowered or the linga and railings raised is unclear; the sanctuary floor is now a few steps below the main floor level of the temple, an unusual feature which Rao's plan of the temple from 1911 shows, but does not give measurements for. The linga also has a modern golden metal frame, topped by a [[Nāga|naga head]], behind it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxlh-CMNy9c Hidden Temples.com], "Gudimallam Temple Abhishekam", showing the linga in worship.</ref>
[[File:Gudimallam Temple.jpg|thumb|Gudimallam Temple]]

Sources disagree about the expression and connotations of the "dwarf" below Shiva. To Rao he is "jolly and happy, as is evidenced by the broad grin on his face".<ref name="Rao, 67"/> He has "pointed animal ears".<ref name="Rao, 67"/> For Elgood, he is a "[[yaksha]] with fish-shaped feet and conch-shaped ears", so a spirit connected with water, matching the water pot held by Shiva (Rao would never have seen these feet).<ref>Elgood, 47</ref> Shiva conventionally stands on such a figure in much later depictions of him as [[Nataraja]] ("Lord of the Dance"), where the figure is usually said to represent "ignorance",<ref>Elgood, 49; [http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/24548 Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), Chola period, c. 10th/11th century] [[The Art Institute of Chicago]], United States</ref> but in the earliest Indian stone [[monumental sculpture]], figures often stand on dwarfish figures, as with (for example) the [[Bhutesvara Yakshis]] (Buddhist, 2nd century AD), where these figures also seem rather cheerful.

Karthikeya Sharma, who conducted the ASI excavations, states that the Gudimallam Linga combines several later aspects of Siva; for example, the God's eyes focusing on the tip of his nose indicates the [[Virūpākṣa|Virupaksha]] (kingly) and [[Dakshinamurti|Yoga-Dakshina-murthi]] (supreme guru) aspects of later years. The holding of a ram in his right hand indicates the [[Bhikshatana|Bhikshatana-murthi]] aspect of Siva as supreme mendicant or beggar.

==Context==
Rao's account emphasizes that the linga here is unmistakably a representation of an erect human penis;<ref name=":0" /> he describes it as "shaped exactly like the original model, in a state of erection". However, [[Stella Kramrisch]] cautions against interpreting the Gudimallam lingam as a motif of fertility or sexuality; the ithyphallic representation connotes the very opposite in this context — ''Urdhva Retas'' i.e. the ascent of vital energy (controlled by semen) rather than release.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=218}}{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=26}} The physical passions are renounced into mental faculties, as one journeys to [[Ānanda (Hindu philosophy)|ananda]], [[moksha]], and [[Samadhi|samādhi]], through the path of [[Brahmacarya]].{{sfn|Kramrisch|1994|p=238}}

==History of the temple and site==
[[File:Parasurameswara Swamy Shiva temple Gudimallam, ancient Shiva Linga, Yarpedu, Chittoor Andhra Pradesh - 4.jpg|thumb|The main shrine is apsidal, with the outer wall inscribed in different scripts. These inscriptions describe donations to the temple over the centuries. The temple shows evidence of various reconstructions and expansions.]]
The name of the temple is mentioned as Parasurameswara Temple in the inscriptions. These inscriptions do not refer to the original builders of the temple. But they register the gifts made to the temple like land, money and cows for the conduct of daily worship in the temple. [[Black and red ware culture|Black and Redware]] sherds of the 2nd or 3rd century AD have been brought to light during the course of excavations conducted in 1973. Potsherds of the Andhra [[Satavahana]] period (Circa 1st century AD to 2nd century AD) and large sized bricks measuring 42x21x6 inches of the same period have also been found. Hence some historians assign the temple to the [[Satavahana]] period.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The sanctum of the Parasurameswara Swamy temple has a square plan embedded in an apsidal structure. According to Himanshu Ray, this apsidal design attests to a more ancient temple architecture made of perishable materials. The later restorations rebuilt on the earlier design.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Himanshu Prabha Ray |date=2004 |title=The Apsidal Shrine in Early Hinduism: Origins, Cultic Affiliation, Patronage |journal=World Archaeology |volume=36 |issue=3 - The Archaeology of Hinduism September 2004 |jstor=4128336 |pages=343–59 |doi=10.1080/0043824042000282786 |s2cid=161072766 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/4128336 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Historians disagree about the political history and the name of this place. There are several inscriptions which date to the [[Pallava]], Yadava Devarayalu, Ganga Pallava, [[Bana kingdom|Bana]] and [[Chola]] periods on the walls of the shrine and on stone slabs in the temple courtyard. The earliest inscription belongs to the reign of Nandivarma Pallava (802 AD). All the inscriptions mention the keen interest taken by the donors and their gifts to the Temple. However, none of the inscriptions give the village name as Gudimallam.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==Comparisons for the lingam==
[[File:Worship of Shiva Linga by Gandharvas - Shunga Period - Bhuteshwar - ACCN 3625 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6098.JPG|thumb|Relief from [[Bhutesvara Yakshis|Bhuteshwar]] in the [[Mathura Museum]], showing worship of a phallic limgam, set in an enclosure with railings. [[Shunga period]]]]
Some of the copper coins obtained at Ujjain and belonging to the 3rd century BC contain figures which resemble the Linga of Gudimallam.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} A 1st century sculpture in the [[Mathura Museum]] also contains a figure resembling the Gudimallam Shiva. J.N. Benerjee in his work ''Religion in art and archaeology'' observes: <blockquote>The Lingam in Arghya motif was comparatively late phase. In the course of its conventionalisation and development, the Arghya was supposed to symbolise the female part and it was described, in many late texts of a tantric character. But originally in comparatively early times, the emblems of the male and the female deities were worshiped separately, as the earliest specimens of the phallus and [[Ringstone|ring stone]] testify. The Gudimallam Shiva Linga or for that matter the Shivalingas of the Pre-Gupta and the early Gupta periods did not show any real base in the shape of the latter characterization of the arghya or pita. Even in latter representations of the emblem, the projecting section of the Pita really served the very useful purpose of draining off the water profusely poured on the top of the Shiva Linga to some distance from its base. This statement needs revision, for it is evident from the recent excavations conducted by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]], South eastern Circle of [[Hyderabad]], clearly revealed that Gudimallam Linga was originally provided with a pedestal.</blockquote>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Parasurameswara Swamy Shiva temple Gudimallam, ancient Shiva Linga, Yarpedu, Chittoor Andhra Pradesh - 2.jpg|Sign at the temple
File:Parasurameswara Swamy Shiva temple Gudimallam, ancient Shiva Linga, Yarpedu, Chittoor Andhra Pradesh - 5.jpg|Outside of the apsidal sanctuary
File:Parasurameswara Swamy Shiva temple Gudimallam, ancient Shiva Linga, Yarpedu, Chittoor Andhra Pradesh - 6.jpg|[[Vishnu]]
File:Parasurameswara Swamy Shiva temple Gudimallam, ancient Shiva Linga, Yarpedu, Chittoor Andhra Pradesh - 3.jpg|[[Kartikeya]]
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|group=note}}
*Blurton, T. Richard, ''Hindu Art'', 1994, British Museum Press, {{ISBN|0 7141 1442 1}}
*Elgood, Heather, ''Hinduism and the Religious Arts'', 2000, Bloomsbury Publishing, {{ISBN|0826498655}}, 9780826498656, [https://books.google.com/books?id=nNsXZkdHvXUC google books]
* Harle, J. C., ''The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent'', 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press. ([[Pelican History of Art]]), {{ISBN|0300062176}}
*[[T. A. Gopinatha Rao|Rao, T. A. Gopinatha]], ''Elements Of Hindu Iconography'', Vol II Part 1, 1914, Law Printing House, Madras ([[Chennai]]), [https://archive.org/details/ElementsOfHinduIconographyVolIIPart1/page/n95 Internet Archive (fully online)], p. 65 on
*{{cite book |last=Kramrisch |first=Stella |title=The Presence of Śiva |year=1994 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |isbn=978-0691019307 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/presenceofsivamy00skra}}
*[[Pratapaditya Pal|Pal, Pratapaditya]], ''Light of Asia : Buddha Sakyamuni in Asian art'', 1984, [[LACMA]], ISBN 087587116X, [https://archive.org/details/lightofasiabuddh0000unse/page/6/mode/2up Internet archive]
* {{cite book|first=Sharada|last=Srinivasan|title=World Archaeology|chapter=Shiva as 'cosmic dancer': On Pallava origins for the Nataraja bronze|doi=10.1080/1468936042000282726821|volume=36|year=2004|issue=3|pages=432–450|publisher=The Journal of Modern Craft|s2cid=26503807|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/1468936042000282726821}}

==Further reading==
*Sarma, Inguva Karthikeya, ''Paraśurāmēśvara Temple at Gudimallam: A probe into its origins'', 1994, Gattsons, {{ISBN|9788171920150}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Parasurameswara Temple, Gudimallam}}
* [http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146413274 Megalithic Portal]
*[https://www.inrootz.in/historic-places/religious-spiritual-temples/pl105/Parasurameswara-Swamy-temple-Gudimalam-Chittoor inrootz.in] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625103618/https://www.inrootz.in/historic-places/religious-spiritual-temples/pl105/Parasurameswara-Swamy-temple-Gudimalam-Chittoor |date=25 June 2018 }}
*[http://www.gudimallamtemple.com/ Gudimallam Temple Website]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Archaeological sites in Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:Tirupati]]
[[Category:Tirupati district]]
[[Category:Indian sculpture]]
[[Category:Phallic symbols]]
[[Category:Shiva in art]]

Gudimallam Lingam - Revision history

Md. Toslim Bhuiyan Prantik at 07:11, 31 October 2025