From Gaia and Ashtart to Isis, Venus and Juno, female divinities have occupied a vital role in ancient cultures. Hinduism though, is the only surviving religion where worship of the feminine principle continues in an unbroken tradition. The ancients named this principle “Shakti” which varyingly means power, divine energy and life force.
Folk vs. classic traditions
While Devi is the generic name for the sacred feminine, there are distinct traditions that determine how she is perceived and worshiped in her myriad manifestations.
In the original folk tradition (still widely followed in southern India), every village has its own Goddess, usually a virgin. These deities are not celestials; rather, many were wronged or desecrated women, their fury transforming them into powerful goddesses who must be constantly worshiped and placated. They preside over disease, fertility, childbirth and death. Villagers stricken with pox-like ailments, for instance, pray to Mariamman or Sitala Devi for deliverance. Another aspect of this feral goddess is Kali, who avenges injustice or tyranny and protects the innocent.
Festivals to honor them incorporated animal sacrifice (now banned by law). Their iconography ranges from vermilion-smeared stones, trees, spears and bronze statues to red clad, magnificently wild-eyed women, armed with a plethora of deadly weapons.
In the classical tradition, derived from ancient religious texts and mythology, Devi is a far more docile, domesticated figure. Lotus-eyed, desirable, gracious and compassionate, she appears in multiple forms both as consort to the gods or as an individual icon.
Parvati is Shiva the Destroyer’s wife, the mother goddess of creation, fertility and marriage. While Shiva is matter itself – the stuff of the Universe – Parvati as Shakti is the dynamic life force. The propitiation of this force is the basis of all Hindu religious practice. Together, Shiva and Parvati symbolize the union of the male and female principles, resulting in Creation and the endless cycle of birth, decay and death.
Lakshmi is wife to Vishnu the Preserver, the radiant goddess of wealth who visits Earth during the festival of Diwali. Saraswati is unique among goddesses across religions in representing the link between intellect and the sacred feminine. Seated on a swan in resplendent white, she presides over literature, the arts and all learning, the patroness of all students. In Vedic hymns, she appears as Vak, or speech, the force that produced the ancient mantras.
The benign countenances and sensuous forms of these goddesses are derived from fertility spirits called yakshis, whose sculpted forms decorate Buddhist and Jain gateways from the 5th century. In this tradition, even Durga, goddess of war, is a strikingly beautiful female figure.
Navratri, a nine-day celebration is dedicated to Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga, a thanksgiving festival and a time to experience the Goddess in all her glory.
The Goddess in popular culture
More forms of the Goddess are revered in mythology and celebrated in music and dance. Usha, Prithvi and Aditi are associated with the earth in Vedic literature, but are no longer worshiped. Radha, beloved of Lord Krishna is deeply venerated in northern India. Sita, Lord Rama’s wife in the Ramayana is upheld in popular culture as an ideal of womanhood.
In popular stories recounted over generations, these goddesses are virtually a part of Hindu families. By turns passionate, wise, devious, warm and jealous, they too need the love of their devotees! The Goddess continues to evolve, even in our mundane times! In 1975, a simplistic, folk-tale based Hindi film, Jai Santoshi Ma became a runaway hit. Its protagonist, Santoshi Ma (Goddess of Contentment), a little known deity until then, “crossed over” into mainstream religious practice and began to be worshiped widely by north Indian women as an abiding symbol of family values, peace and happiness.
