Shiva linga

The aniconic pillar in which Shiva is worshipped in almost every temple, read by the tradition as the formless taking a minimal form; the Vidyeshvara Samhita of the Shiva Purana stresses its worship. Jyotirlingas are the twelve where his light is said to have settled; mukhalingas carry faces; Lingayats wear a personal ishtalinga on the body; Chidambaram's is the invisible akasha linga; Srikalahasti's is the air linga.