Lakulisha at Sangameshvara Temple at Mahakuta, Karnataka (Chalukya, 7th century CE). His 5th–10th century ithyphallic statues[note 1] are also found in seated yogi position in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere.[1]
Lakulisha (Sanskrit: लकुलीश IAST: Lakulīśa) (Etymology: लगुड (staff) or लकुट (mace) + ईश (lord) = meaning, the lord with a staff or mace or club or stick) was a prominent Shaivite revivalist, reformist and preceptor of the doctrine of the Pashupatas, one of the oldest sects of Shaivism.
According to some scholars, Lakulisha was the founder of the Pashupata sect. Others argue that the Pashupata doctrine was already in existence before Lakulisha, and he was only its first formal preceptor.
According to a tradition stated in the Linga Purana, Lakulisha is considered as the 28th and the last avatar of Shiva and the propounder of the Yoga system. In this tradition, Lakulisha had four disciples: Kaurushya, Garga, Mitra and Kushika. According to another tradition mentioned in the Avanti Khanda of the Skanda Purana, Lakulisha and his four disciples installed a linga at Mahakalavana, which was then known as Kayavarohaneshvara.[2] The Kurma Purana (Chapter 53), the Vayu Purana (Chapter 23), and the Linga Purana (Chapter 24) predicted that Shiva (Maheshvara) would appear in the form of a wandering monk called 'Lakulin' or 'Nakulisha', and that he would have four disciples named Kushika, Garga, Mitra, and Kanrushya, who would re-establish the cult of Pashupati and would therefore be called Pashupata(s). Lakulisha was the fruition of these divine predictions. According to Vayu Purana V. 1.23.202-214, Lakulisha was a contemporary of Vyasa and Krishna, and was the 28th incarnation of Rudra (Shiva).
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^Cynthia Packert Atherton (1997). The Sculpture of Early Medieval Rajasthan. BRILL. pp. 92–97, 102–103. ISBN 90-04-10789-4. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
^Joshi, N.P. (1981). Regional Trends in some of the Mediaeval Brahmanical Sculptures of Malwa in M.D. Khare (ed.) Malwa through the Ages, Bhopal: Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, Govt. of M.P., p.112
Lakulisha (Sanskrit: लकुलीश IAST: Lakulīśa) (Etymology: लगुड (staff) or लकुट (mace) + ईश (lord) = meaning, the lord with a staff or mace or club or stick)...
of 30 km from Vadodara. Kayavarohan is considered as the birthplace of Lakulisha, the second century C.E. Shaivite revivalist, reformer and propounder...
Parvati) on its north, Harihara (half Shiva, half Vishnu) to its west and Lakulisha to the south. Mounted on a lintel at the sanctum entrance is Shiva and...
deities. These include gods such as Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Kubera, Lakulisha, Bhairava, Surya, Indra and Hayagriva and goddesses like Lakshmi, Parvati...
representation of an anatomically accurate phallus, with a figure of Lakulisha, the ascetic manifestation of Shiva, carved on the front, holding an antelope...
Ravana as his disciple, Shiva and Parvati playing dice, Nataraja and Lakulisha Shiva. The cave also includes sculptures and pillars of Mahayana Buddhist...
mention several Shaiva sects, particularly the four groups: Pashupata, Lakulisha, tantric Shaiva and Kapalika. The description is conflicting, with some...
that it was positioned to the east of Siddheshvara Temple. The image of Lakulisha, the founder of the Pashupatha sect of Shaivisim, in a seated posture...
Pashupata Shaivism" and a floruit for the antiquity of its practices. The Lakulisha Mathura inscription is one of the earliest epigraphical evidence of a...
at Sangameshwara then a Shaivite school of learning, probably of the Lakulisha-Pashupata tradition. Basava married Gangambike, a cousin from his mother's...
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