Cast in copper-anodized brass, this contemporary artifact, with rare antique appearance, which it acquires from the copper’s subdued lustre and mystic Tantrika look, represents Lord Shiva as ‘Ling’ – his aniconic form. Shiva’s both forms, the aniconic ‘ling’ and his iconic image, one symbolising his unmanifest form, and other, anthropomorphic, have been in prevalence since Indus days.There figure among the excavated material from various Indus sites terracotta icons of votive ‘ling’ and ‘yoni’ as well as terracotta seals with a ‘Yogi’ figure with soiled coiffure engaged in penance cast on them. Such figures, with a number of animals, especially a bull, around, are almost unanimously identified as Pashupati, patron of animals – Shiva’s other most prominent name. Shiva’s personalised form portrays an act or an aspect of his being, as Mahayogi form in Indus seals, but ‘ling’ is symbolic of his formless timeless existence out of which all forms evolve, and hence, ‘ling’ is essentially Shiva’s votive form.