Indian Iron Tantric Lingam

A tall egg wearing a rust-red map of rivers across a pale grey belly.

This tantric lingam is from Narmada River, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is quartz crystal & iron. The word Tantric is Sanskrit for to expand, and Tantra is described as a form of religious practice combining ritual, art, science and philosophy, overlaid on Hinduism and Buddhism. Smooth, upright oval with a glossy skin of pale grey and amber. Deep red bands wind around the middle in loops and angles, with a dark cap near the top. A faint scatter of fine scratches shows in the light. It is 13.25 inches high and 7 in diameter.

Geography, but only the parts the sculptor felt like keeping.