Yoni

Yoni and lingam icons are found in both round and square base forms. Yoni is a symbol for the divine feminine procreative energy.^[1][2]

Yoni (Sanskrit: योनि, IAST: yoni), sometimes called pindika, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu goddess Shakti.^[3][4] It is usually shown with linga – its masculine counterpart.^[3][5] Together, they symbolize the merging of microcosmos and macrocosmos,^[5] the divine eternal process of creation and regeneration, and the union of the feminine and the masculine that recreates all of existence.^[4][2] The yoni is conceptualized as nature's gateway of all births, particularly in the esoteric Kaula and Tantra practices, as well as the Shaktism and Shaivism traditions of Hinduism.^[6]

Yoni is a Sanskrit word that has been interpreted to literally mean the "womb",^[2][7] the "source",^[8] and the female organs of generation.^[9][10] It also connotes the female sexual organs such as "vagina",^[4] "vulva",^[11][12] and "uterus",^[13][14] or alternatively to "origin, abode, or source" of anything in other contexts.^[1][4] For example, the Vedanta text Brahma Sutras metaphorically refers to the metaphysical concept Brahman as the "yoni of the universe".^[15] The yoni with linga iconography is found in Shiva temples and archaeological sites of the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia,^[16][17][18] as well in sculptures such as the Lajja Gauri.^[19]