Indian Iron Tantric Lingam

A glossy brown bullseye sits on a cream face, slightly lopsided.

This tantric lingam is from Narmada River, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is quartz crystal & iron. Dams planned along the Narmada since the 1940s have steadily removed the dry season that harvesting depends on, so gathering genuine lingams from the riverbed has become close to impossible. Elongated oval on a black base. A large copper-brown and burgundy oval fills the upper face, ringed by cream, with swirling red ribbons gathering at the bottom. The surface is very smooth with a bright highlight. It is 14 inches high and 7.25 in diameter.

A portrait nobody sat for, and yet the likeness is uncanny.