SHAKTHI - THE MOTHER GODDESS

November 12, 2003

Goddess Shakthi

All about Shakthi

She is the Shakti or energy of the Universe, the power of the cosmic world, which envelops the three lokas (worlds). The powerful god Shiva sings her praises and she pervades the thoughts of Brahma and Vishnu. She is said to be the creative aspect of Divinity, the power through which creation commences. She is the active female principle Prakriti, in union with the soul of the Universe, Purusa, manifested as one of the forms of the consort of Shiva - Parvati, Sati, Uma, Kali, Durga, Chandi, Gauri, Annapoorna.Even Shiva, the ever-protective spouse, was breathless with fear when Sati revealed her several forms. She wished to return to her father's house, but Shiva, fearing for her, forbade her to go. Sati declared that she was the Mother of Creation and even Shiva had no right over her, and to Shiva's bewilderment he saw her first as Kanya, the gentle one;

Shitala, the goddess of disease; Gauri, the earth mother; the fearsome Kali and Durga, the killer of demons, and he realized her strength and bowed to her wishes. Shiva himself proclaims that without Shakti he is unable to create or destroy and that he is himself inert like a corpse. Shakti is the all-powerful concept of the Mother Goddess, Devi, and her worship forms a very important part of Indian history and civilization.All ancient civilizations had the mother goddess as an all-powerful concept. In India the worship of the Mother Goddess is seen first in the 5th - 6th century BC in images recovered from Mehrangarh, now in Baluchistan, even prior to the Indus Valley Civilisation. These figures were hand-modeled, mostly in clay and were obviously installed in all households to ward off evil and ill health. The life-giving mother image has always been associated with good luck and prosperity, and since survival depended on the bounties of Nature and the elements, the Earth

was conceived as the Mother - Dharti Mata (Mother Earth).The earth became her body and the mountains, rivers and valleys represented her physical features. Vegetation was her adornment and when angry with her children, the Mother with held her bounty by drying up rivers and causing famine in the land. To circumvent her fickle nature, she had to be humored and propitiated and thus all her aspects were to be worshipped.Within the vast bosom of Dharti Mata were created her other incarnations the river goddesses Ganga, Jamuna, Saraswati, all receiving their energy from the Supreme Goddess Mahadevi, who encompasses all the regional devis, including the ones in the broader Hindu pantheon. Thus Parvati was the child of the Mountains, Sita the child of the Earth and Lakshmi the daughter of the Ocean.Fertility and life were associated with the Mother, so all forces of creation and the agricultural deities had naturally to be accepted as female. Since grain gathering,

an important activity of the primarily agricultural Dravidians, was essentially a female domain, the female deities flourished. And the Mother was especially benevolent towards women, listening to their prayers and entreaties for the welfare of their husbands and children. The concept of the Divine Spirit as Mother was basic and could be comprehended by the simplest of minds. Human beings could please her with simple offerings and prayers. She could be invoked for specific afflictions such as disease or barrenness. One fasts on specific days for the longevity and good health of one's spouse.The coming of the Aryans, with their emphasis of vigour and masculinity, brought with it the Brahminical religion. Indra, Agni, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, were the gods who guided the destinies of the world. They were the archetypal Aryans, the role models for the conquering race. And yet, try as they might, the preachers of the new religion could not relegate the primordial beliefs in the

Mother Goddess to the background. Not wishing to forego their influence on a large part of the population, they decided that wisdom lay in inculcating the Devi cult into the folds of the Brahminical beliefs. They saw the advantage of a 'marriage' between the gods and the ever-powerful Devi, thus effectively subjugating the female to the male principle.

Shakthi Temples

• Chamundeeshwari Temple, Mysore

• Karumari Amman Temple, Tiruverkadu

• Kamakshi Amman Temple, Mangadu

• MaariAmman Temple, Samayapuram

• Kali Ghat Temple, Calcutta

• Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple, Kanchipuram

• Kalikambal Temple, Chennai

• Meenakshi Sundareshwarar Temple, Madurai

• Kanaka Durga, Vijayawada

• Ambaji, Ambaji

• Mookambika, Kollur

• Attukal Bhagavathyamman, Tiruvananthapuram

• Punnainallur, Tanjore

• Kolavizhi Amman,Mylapore

• Periyapalaith Amman , Adyar

• Rajarajeshwari, Nanganallur

• Abirami , Thirukadaiyur

• Bhagavathi , Kanyakumari

• Seliamman Thirukovil, Vellore

• Durga Malleshwaraswamy, Vijayawada

• Mahishasoora Mardhini, Maddur

• Koni Amman Temple, Coimbatore

• Kannika Parameshwari, Akkipet

• Mariamman Temple, Irukkangudi

• Natchiar Thirukoil, Srivilliputtur

• Sharadambhal, Coimbatore

• Dhandumaariamman Temple, Coimbatore

• Thillai Amman, Chidambaram

• Vadiudai Amman, Tiruvatriyur

• Vekkali Amman, Worriyur

• Basar Saraswathi Temple , Nizamabad

• Sri Raja Rajeshwari , Nellore

• Sri Changalamma Parameswari , Sulurpet

• Mondekkattu Amman Kovil, Mandekkattu

• Muppandal Esakki Amman Kovil, Aralvoymozhi

• Arulmegu Kamatchi Amman Kovil, Vadasery

• Vadai Malachi Amman, Vadasery

Durga, Parvathi & Shakti:

The Indian system of beliefs refers to the female aspect of divinity as Shakti or the manifestation of energy. Parvati, the consort of Shiva or Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu are enshrined in temples and all over India. Some of these shrines are referred to as Shakti Peethams, (or the sites where the parts of Sati's body fell as in the legend of Daksha's yagna). Others are ancient shrines closely tied to local legends and beliefs.

Shakti, the mother Goddess, also known as Ambaa (mother), or Devi (Goddess) is considered to be the personification of Cosmic Energy in its dynamic form. It is believed that Shakti is the power and energy with which the Universe is created, preserved, destroyed and recreated (by the trinity of Hinduism Bhrahma, Vishnu and Shiva).

Shakti is worshipped in several forms. As Rajarajeswari or Kamakshi, she is the Universal mother. As Uma or Parvati, she is the gentle consort of Shiva. As Meenakshi - she is the queen of Shiva. As Durga, she rides the tiger, and bears weaponry. In the angry and terrifying form of Kaali, she destroys and devours all forms of evil. As Kaali, she is also the personification of time, her dark form being symbolic of future which is beyond our knowledge. Shakti is the mother of Skanda and Ganesha.

Shakthi Peethams are centers of Shakti worship, representing sites related to the legend of Daksha Yagna, Shiva and Sati his consort. Belief has it that Shiva performed the rudra tandava dance, carrying the dead body of his consort Sati. The Universe unable to bear the fury of the dance requested Vishnu to intervene, and Vishnu used is chakra to tear the body into several pieces, and bring down the fury of Shiva's tandavam. The severed pieces of Sati's body are believed to have landed in several spots across the region, and these are referred to as Shakti Peethams.

Belief in Shakti or the feminine aspect of Divinity is an integral (and popular) element of the religious fabric of the entire subcontinent. Female guardian deities are revered in all parts of India. The Shakta Agama deals with the worship protocol adhered to in Devi temples. There is a shrine to Shakti, or the consort of Shiva in virtually all Saivite temples throughout the subcontinent.

Tantric practices involving chants, gestures and yantras (geometric shapes) also govern the worship of Shakti. Local forms of Shakti, not conforming to Agamic or Tantric rules are also widely prevalent throughout the region.

Goddess Durga [ Goddess of Shakti ] :

The deity has eight arms, and holds on the left trident, sword, snake and bell, and on the right, drum, shield, cup and water pot; she is seated in sukhasana posture on a double lotus throne and wears a garland of skulls. The torana at the back is similar to those shown on plates 10 and 33 with the addition of the conch shell (right) and wheel (left) symbols usually associated with Vishnu and often held by Durga.Just visible below her left knee, next to the lotus throne is the figure of a lion, (sometimes the mount of Durga).

Durga is a female deity whose relation with her closest male deity (Shiva) is sufficiently remote for her to be worshipped in her own right. It is likely that, not long after female deities appeared as shaktis of male deities, goddesses were elevated to the status of independent deities. It is not known which of them, in the earlier stages of this development, first achieved the further distinction of having a temple in which they were the main icon that would give undoubted evidence of final emancipation.

This may have taken place about the 7th or 8th century A.D. as the shakti of the Impersonal Absolute is referred to as Durga in the Narayana Upanishad and as being susceptible to worship for the acquisition of material gain in this world and spiritual advancement in the next.

Yet, in whatever form, Devi's magic still remains. As the Great Triple Goddess she is today widely worshipped throughout India.

To her followers, she is both the Energy which is life itself and the Source to whose depths all living things return.

At the time of Kali Yurga, or cosmic dissolution, her devotees believe the physically manifested universe will once again withdraw itself into the formless depths of the Goddess until a new gestation period commences and the cyclic rhythm of creation is once again set into motion.

"Who dares misery, loveAnd hug the form of death,Dance in destruction's danceTo him the Mother comes."-Vivekananda.