Narmada lingams

[Guest guest]

I agree. I have a Narmada lingam on my altar, and frequently wave lights

and incense around it, or pour holy water over it. The Narmada lingams

are self-consecrating -- they don't require <prana pratishta> to be made

suitable residences for Deity. I'm uncertain how to properly "breathe

life into" a bronze statue, so when I make offerings to members of

Shiva's family, I make them to the Narmada lingam.

 

Of course, this does not mean that my altar is berift of statues of

Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha, Skanda, Sarasvati, Durga, Kali, Nandi,

Ardhanarishvara, or other denizens of Mount Kailash.

 

The French scholar Chantal Boulanger gave a talk in Noo Yawk some years

ago. She said that while a guest of a Tamil family, she was given a

beautiful Nataraj Shiva statue as a gift. "But," said her hosts,"you of

course must buy him a Parvati so he won't be lonely."

 

Boulanger replied, "And Parvati will want her baby, Ganesha. And Ganesha

will want his friend, Lakshmi. I see this is a plot to fill my house

with deity statues."

 

-- Well, that's how it works in MY house!

 

-- Len/ Kalipadma

 

 

On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 09:30:07 -0800 (PST) Lili Masamura

<sephirah5 writes:

>

> The very best form of Lord Shiva to have is a Narmada

> Shivalingam. These are oval stones, gray splotched

> with red, that are collected at one particular bend of

> the holy Narmada River. They come in various sizes,

> from over 3 foot tall leviathan boulders to little

> tiny oval pebbles. A little one should run you

> anywhere from a dollar to ten dollars, and you can

> carry it with you everywhere! It represents Shiva in

> His abstract yet manifest aspect, united with Shakti

> (represented by the red splotches). I love them so

> much that whenever I see them for sale anywhere I want

> to buy them ALL! At present I have about 18 of them,

> from a 9 1/2" rock to the little pebble-size. That way

> you have an all-purpose aspect of Him, that is also

> suitable for puja. You can perform the Panchamrit

> ritual on it. Also by this means you are not fixated

> on any one aspect, but can enjoy your darshan in

> whatever aspect it pleases Him to show up in! I have

> had the privilege of darshan of the Nataraj, Bhairava,

> Ardhanarishvara,and Maha-Mrityunjaya, just to name a

> few.

> Lilith M.

>

 

 

______________

Juno Platinum $9.95. Juno SpeedBand $14.95.

Sign up for Juno Today at http://www.juno.com!

Look for special offers at Best Buy stores.