Pashupatinath Temple - Lingam

Worship at the Pashupatinath Temple centers on the hallowed lingam, a huge phallus of black stone a meter high. The lingam has five faces, four orientated towards the points of the compass and the fifth up-turned towards heaven.

This latter most potent of faces absorbs heat from the sun; people say it can make water boil. Only the Pashupatinath Temple's priests are permitted to touch the lingam. They will take any offerings and place them around the lingam, adding their blessing. The red-robed priests from Karnataka State in southern India, specially chosen for their learning and experience, wear rosaries of rudraksha seeds. The lingam is anointed every day with a mixture of yoghurt, ghee, honey, sugar and milk, then bathed with water from sacred rivers and springs. Having wrapped the lingam in brocade and decorated it with tika, the priests paint a shri yantra on the up-turned face using a sandalwood paste, their handiwork being displayed in a mirror. In the afternoon various foods are set before the lingam.