Ling Puja ('Penis Worship')

Canadian Radio Host Amar Singh Padda claims "ਸਿਰਫ਼ ਜੱਟ ਹੀ ਲਿੰਗ ਦੀ ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰਵਾ ਸਕਦਾ!"

Amar Singh Padda, a Punjabi language radio host based in Canada, had the following to say in an exchange with a call in guest:

ਹੁਣ, ਜੋ ਸ਼ਿਵ ਸੀ, ਉਹ ਜੱਟ ਸੀ, ਸਾਡੇ ਵਿੱਚੋਂ ਇੱਕ ਸੀ

Now, Shiva, he was a Jatt, he was from our clan

ਹੁਣ, ਤੁਸੀਂ ਮੈਨੂੰ ਦੱਸੋ, ਦੁਨੀਆਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਕੌਣ ਲਿੰਗ ਦੀ ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰਵਾ ਸਕਦਾ ਹੈ ?

Now you tell me, who in the world would be able to propagate the worship of the ‘Ling’

ਸਿਰਫ਼ ਜੱਟ ਕਰਵਾ ਸਕਦਾ ਹੈ !

Only a Jatt could do this!

ਕੀ ਤੂੰ ਕਰਵਾ ਸਕਦਾ? ਤੂੰ ਕਦੇ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਰਵਾ ਸਕਦਾ ! ਤੂੰ ਮਿਰਾਸੀ ਹੈਂ !

What? Do you think you could? You would never be able to do it! You are a Mirasi!

This snippet provides some insights into the Punjabi Jatt community and the cultural norms that they have bought with them over several generations of migration into Canada.

For those unfamiliar with some of the terms in Padda’s boast, here is a quick overview:

Jatt, also spelt Jat or Jaat, refers to a pastoral people from the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many of whom migrated into the Punjab region in late medieval times.

Many Jatts begun to migrate to Canada during the 1900s and bought with them their cultural practices and norms, which have sustained over generations as their population grew in numbers. Jatt culture is often mistakenly assumed to be synonymous with Punjabi culture, largely in part owing to the rise of Jatts in the music and film industry with songs and movies propagating Jatt culture en masse.

Shiva is known as The Destroyer within the Hindu trinity which also includes Brahma and Vishnu, the Creator and Preserver deities, respectively. Historians and scholars believe Shiva to have pre-Vedic roots and note Shiva is a pan-Hindu deity, revered widely by Hindus in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. This is not intended to be a comprehensive history lesson, but suffice to say, Padda’s claim that Shiva is a Jatt is demonstrably mistaken and false.

Ling, or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of Shiva, an emblem of generative and destructive power. Superficially, it is rooted in representations of the male sexual organ, which is the manner in which Padda uses it in his boast.

Puja is the act of worship, particularly within a South East Asian context. What is relevant here, as the photo above illustrates is that the ling is usually represented within a disc-shaped platform, the Yoni, its feminine counterpart.

During the act of puja, liquid offerings to the Lingam drain away for collection in the Yoni, that is to say, puja is performed not only of the lingam but also of the Yoni.

Mirasis are a community of bards found in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, recounting folklore and renowned for their musical talents. As Padda’s comments allude, in the social hierarchy of North India, they can be viewed by some like Padda, to be members of a lower social order.

Alas, for all of Padda’s boastful Jatt supremacy and taunting of his Mirasi guest, as the saying goes, ‘never let the facts get in the way of a good story’.

Now with that out of the way, as Padda seems to believe "ਸਿਰਫ਼ ਜੱਟ ਹੀ ਲਿੰਗ ਦੀ ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰਵਾ ਸਕਦਾ", one wonders if his next bold claim will be “ਸਿਰਫ਼ ਜੱਟੀ ਹੀ ਯੋਨੀ ਦੀ ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰਵਾ ਸਕਦੀ ਹੈ”…