Note 353 — Chapter XXXIX
Reading edition
See B.E.F.E.O. 1904, pp. 912 ff. and esp. p. 970. I have seen a kosha which is still in use in the neighbourhood of Badami. It is kept in a village called Nandikeśvara, but on certain festivals it is put on a linga at the temple of Mahakut. It is about 2 feet high and 10 inches broad; a silver case with a rounded and ornamented top. On one side is a single face in bold embossed work and bearing fine moustaches exactly as in the mukhalingas of Champa. In the tank of the temple of Mahakut is a half submerged shrine, from which rises a stone linga on which are carved four faces bearing moustaches. There is said to be a gold kosha set with jewels at Śringeri. See J. Mythic. Society (Bangalore), vol. VIII. p. 27. According to Gopinatha Rao, Indian Iconography, vol. II. p. 63, the oldest known lingas have figures carved on them.