Shiva to Shankara: Decoding the Phallic Symbol by Devdutt Pattanaik

Category: Mythology
Publisher
(English): HarperCollins Publishers India
Publisher
(Hindi): Rajpal and Sons
Publisher
(Malayalam): DC Books (forthcoming)
Rights:
Translation rights available for Indian and International languages (excluding Hindi, Malayalam)

We live in times where people have extreme views. On the one hand, there are scholars who describe Shiva’s linga literally as a phallus and see all metaphoric meaning as embarrassed apology of the uneducated. On the other hand, we have puritanical Hindus who want to strip the Shiva linga of all sexual meaning and sanitize Shiva’s lore. In both cases, a symbol is being reduced to a sign. In Shiva to Shankara, Devdutt Pattanaik, India’s leading mythologist, seeks to bridge the gap.

As he explores the layers of meanings embedded in Shiva’s linga, we discover why and how the Goddess transforms Shiva, the hermit, into Shankara, the householder.

The author: Devdutt Pattanaik