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In Hindu iconography, Mukhalinga or Mukhalingam (literally "linga with a face", mukhaliṅga) is a linga with one or more human faces. The linga is an aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva. Mukhalingas may be of stone or can be made of a metal sheath, which covers the normal linga.
The mukhalinga generally has one, four or five faces. Mukhalingas having four faces are also regarded to have an invisible fifth face at the top of the linga. The four- and five-faced mukhalingas represent the five aspects of Shiva, which also relate to the classical elements and the cardinal directions.
The omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient God Siva for facilitating the individual souls to worship him has manifested himself into different forms.Among them the formless form of Sivalinga is classified as "Nishkala". And the Shivalingas with the head of Shiva on their face are called as Mukhalinga and are classified as "Sakala nishkala" form.
The iconography and making of the mukhalinga is prescribed in the Agamas and the Tantras. These sculptured lingas fall under the classification of manusha-linga ("man-made lingas"), the other category being Swayambhu or naturally occurring lingas. A manusha-linga has three parts: the Brahma-bhaga, the lowest part of the linga which is a square platform; Vishnu-bhaga - the middle section of the linga with a pedestal or pitha and Rudra-bhaga, the topmost part of the central shaft with a rounded tip. Mukhalinga should be sarvasama ("all-equal"), where the three parts are equal. On the topmost rudra-bhaga or puja-bhaga, one face and a maximum of five faces may be carved. If the sanctum (garbhagriha) has only one door, then the linga should have only one face on the front (the east), facing the door. In case of two doors, it should have two faces - front and back - facing the doors in the east and the west. In case of three doors, the linga should have three faces, except in the west. When the shrine has four doors, the linga may have four or five faces. The four faces should face the doors in the four cardinal directions; in addition if a fifth face exists, it should be carved on the top and face the front, the east. When mukhalinga is four-faced, instead of only faces, the busts of the deities are carved on the four side; each having two arms.
The stone mukhalingas may be depicted comprising just of the central shaft, but may be part of the full assemble, where the shaft is embedded in the pitha pedestal, denoting the yoni, the female se*ual organ.
The five-faced mukhalinga is called pancha-mukhalinga. The five faces relate Shiva to the classical elements, the directions, the five senses and five parts of the body. These represent Shiva's five aspects: Sadyojata, Vamadeva, Aghora, Tatpurusha and Ishana. A four-faced linga is said also to represent the five aspects of Shiva, the fifth aspect is center, the shaft itself or is assumed to be emerging from the top of the shaft and denotes the formless Absolute. Thus, a four-faced mukhalinga can be also called a pancha-mukhalinga ("linga with five faces" of Shiva). These four-faced lingas are the most commonly found mukhalingas.
The 13th Century A.D. pancha mukha sivalinga is in Kalahasti, Andhra Pradesh.The fifth face would not be shown to highlight the Nishkala character of Sivalinga.
The top face is known as Ishana or Sadashiva, who is rarely depicted and governs zenith and the sky (Akasha). The east face is Sadyojata or Mahadeva, the regent of the earth (Prithvi). The west face is Tatpurusha or Nandi (Shiva's bull mount) or Nandivaktra (the face of Nandi), denoting the wind, Vayu. While Vamadeva or Uma (Parvati, Shiva's consort) or Umavaktra (the face of Parvati) or Tamreshvara (water, Ap) faces north, Aghora or Bhairava looks south (fire, Agni). In some texts, the east face is called Tatpurusha and the western one Sadyojata. The icon of the five aspects represents the entire universe.
Mukhalingas are found throughout India and Nepal. They also appear in the former Champa kingdom, presently in Vietnam as well as Cambodia and Borneo in the south east Asia and Afghanistan to the west of India. One of earliest specimen of a mukhalinga is a five-faced one in Bhita, which is dated to second century BCE.
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