The worship of the lingam originated from the famous hymn in the "Atharva-Veda Samhitâ" sung in praise of the "Yupa-Stambha", the sacrificial post. In that hymn, a description is found of the beginningless and endless "Stambha" or "Skambha", and it is shown that the said "Skambha" is put in place of the eternal Brahman. Just as the Yajna (sacrificial) fire, its smoke, ashes, and flames, the "Soma" plant, and the ox that used to carry on its back the wood for the Vedic sacrifice gave place to the conceptions of the brightness of Shiva's body, his tawny matted hair, his blue throat, and the riding on the bull of the Shiva, the "Yupa-Skambha" gave place in time to the "Shiva-Linga". In the text "Linga Purana", the same hymn is expanded in the shape of stories, meant to establish the glory of the great Stambha and the superiority of Shiva as Mahadeva.