A seven-sided one of these objects carved from dark brown stone features a battle axe resting on the shoulder of a hunter in relief who holds a ram and a pot of water. Common modifications include adding 1,001 or 108 miniature copies to these objects’s surface, or adding a metal covering with one or more human faces. In a common scene, a boar and goose appear at the top and bottom of these objects as someone emerges from within it. Two guardians flank each entrance to the square cella that houses one of these objects, the focal point of the (*) Great Cave of Elephanta. The name of these objects refers to a “sign,” explaining their function as aniconic symbols of the formless Ultimate Reality. These objects are usually displayed atop a lipped pitha, or disk, that symbolizes Parashakti. For 10 points, what abstract objects, often paired with yonis, represent Shiva? ■END■
ANSWER: Shiva lingams [or Shiva lingas; or Shivlings; accept any of the Gudimallam Lingam or sahasra lingams or ashtottara-sata lingams or mukhalingams or Lingodbhavamurti; prompt on any reference to a phallic symbol by asking “What is the common name for those symbolic objects?”]
<Fine Arts - Visual Fine Arts>
= Average correct buzz position