Shiva Linga

Shiva Linga

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Shiva can be worshipped in innumerable forms, both natural and man-made. These forms can range from small river-washed stones (banalinga) to mountaintops that are deemed to display a linga-like profile (lingaparvata). In Southeast Asia, a distinctive conical linga with square shaft, unlike any Indian forms, appears from about the sixth century onward. The greatest concentration of examples of this type is found in peninsular Thailand, though their distribution is far wider, extending east to Borneo and Bali. cat. no. 81

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.