Śiva worshiped

Linga-Yoni at the Cat Tien sanctuary, Lam Dong province, Vietnam

Sivalingam at the Sri Meenakshi temple in Madurai

The Sanskrit term लिङ्गं liṅgaṃ, transliterated as linga, has diverse meaning ranging from gender and sex to philosophic and religions to uses in common language, such as a mark, sign or characteristic. Vaman Shivram Apte's Sanskrit ^[7] dictionary provides many definitions:

• A mark, sign, token, an emblem, a badge, symbol, distinguishing mark, characteristic;
• A false or unreal mark, a guise, disguise, a deceptive badge;
• A symptom, mark of disease
• A means of proof, a proof, evidence
• In logic, the hetu or middle term in a syllogism
• The sign of gender or sex
• Sex
• The male organ of reproduction
• In grammar, gender
• The genital organ of Śiva worshiped in the form of a Phallus
• The image of a god, an idol
• One of the relations or indications which serve to fix the meaning of a word in any particular passage
• In Vedānta philosophy, the subtle frame or body, the indestructible original of the gross or visible body
• A spot or stain
• The nominal base, the crude form of a noun
• In Sāk philosophy, Pradhāna or Prakriti
• The effect or product of evolution from a primary cause and also as the producer
• Inference, conclusion