Lakulisha

(2nd c.?) Legendary founder of the
Pashupata religious community, a
group of renunciant ascetics whose
patron deity was the god Shiva.
Lakulisha appears to have been an
important influence in the development
of other Shaivite ascetics, such as the
Kapalikas and the Kalamukhas. He has
been identified as an incarnation of
Shiva. Many statues have been identified as Lakulisha’s image; he is portrayed
as a naked yogi with a staff in one hand
and a citron in the other, with penis
erect, either standing or sitting in the
lotus posture (padmasana). For further
information see David Lorenzen, The
Kapalikas and the Kalamukhas, 1972.