Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-06 16:03:27|Editor: xuxin

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HANOI, May 6 (Xinhua) -- In Vietnam's central Quang Ngai province, archeologists have just found a set of stone lingam and yoni, the biggest-ever in ancient Champa culture.

The lingam's diameter is 40cm and its height is 43 cm, and the yoni is 168 cm long and 124.4 cm wide, and they are found almost intact in an ancient tower called But (Pen) Mountain in the province's Quang Ngai city, the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on Saturday.

The lingam-yoni set is deserved to be recognized as a national treasure, said Vu Quoc Hien, former vice director of the Vietnam National History Museum, who chaired the archeological excavation at the But Mountain tower site.

The lingam (or linga in Hindi) is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu deity, Shiva, mostly used for worship in temples or smaller shrines. The lingam is often represented alongside the yoni (Sanskrit word, literally "origin" or "source" or "womb"), a symbol of the goddess of Shakti. The union of linga and yoni represents the indivisible two-in-oneness of male and female, the passive space and active time from which all life originates.

A notable Champa legacy is the red-brick temples, or Cham towers, the oldest found dating to the seventh and eighth centuries. The sanctuary of My Son in Quang Nam is preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage site.