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date cannot be much later than the eighth or ninth century, and it is therefore to be inferred with as much certainty as any thing short of positive testimony can afford, that the worship of SIVA, under this type, prevailed throughout India at least as early as the fifth or sixth century of the Christian era. Considered as one great branch of the universal public worship, its prevalence, no doubt, dates much earlier; but the particular modifications under which the several types received their local designations, and became entitled to special reverence, are not in every case of remote antiquity.
One of the forms in which the Linga worship appears is that of the Lingayats, Lingavants, or Jangamas, the essential characteristic of which is wearing the emblem on some part of the dress or person. The type is of a small size, made of copper or silver, and is commonly worn suspended in a case round the neck, or sometimes tied in the turban. In common with the Saivas generally the Jangamas smear their foreheads with Vibhuti or ashes, and wear necklaces, and carry rosaries, made of the Rudraksha seed. The
RELIGIOUS SECTS
[9. Visvesvara, at Benares.]
10. Tryambaka, on the banks of the Gomati; whether the temple still exists I have no knowledge.
11. Gautamesa is another of the twelve, whose original site and present fate are uncertain.
12. Kedaresa, or Kedaranáth, in the Himalaya, has been repeatedly visited by late travellers. The deity is represented by a shapeless mass of rock.
