There are many aspects of Shiva worship but worshipping the linga is more potent and sacred than any projected anthromorphic image. There are many tales explaining why Shiva is worshipped as a linga. According to a version in the Padma Purana, sage Bhrigu came to Mount Kailash and Found Shiva and Parvati so lost in love that they refused to acknowledge his presence. In his fury, Bhrigu cursed Shiva that he would be worshipped as a linga trapped by a yoni.
Here, the linga, black in colour, has the traditional ascetic mark of Shiva - three horizontal lines with the third eye in the middle. Coiling around are serpents, with their hoods forming a parasol above the linga. The serpents represent the coiled energy of Kundalini.
The artist paints the linga in black, hence, absorbing all other colours. The colour of the serpents is an attractive yellow which is a colour of bhakti or devotion, and the red which is also profusely used is colour of energy.
This description by Renu Rana.
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