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This document explores the mother goddess tradition in India through an analysis of goddess iconography. It discusses the wide variety of mother goddesses portrayed in different ways, from vivid detail to abstract symbols. Though diverse, the author argues there is a basic unity in the themes of power, autonomy and primacy conveyed by the mother goddess tradition. The essay examines paleolithic "Venus" figurines and their link to veneration of female birth-giving powers, tracing continuity in the mother goddess tradition in India over 5000 years.
This document explores the mother goddess tradition in India through an analysis of goddess iconography. It discusses the wide variety of mother goddesses portrayed in different ways, from vivid detail to abstract symbols. Though diverse, the author argues there is a basic unity in the themes of power, autonomy and primacy conveyed by the mother goddess tradition. The essay examines paleolithic "Venus" figurines and their link to veneration of female birth-giving powers, tracing continuity in the mother goddess tradition in India over 5000 years.
This document explores the mother goddess tradition in India through an analysis of goddess iconography. It discusses the wide variety of mother goddesses portrayed in different ways, from vivid detail to abstract symbols. Though diverse, the author argues there is a basic unity in the themes of power, autonomy and primacy conveyed by the mother goddess tradition. The essay examines paleolithic "Venus" figurines and their link to veneration of female birth-giving powers, tracing continuity in the mother goddess tradition in India over 5000 years.
Kamala Ganesh The mother goddess can be interpreted as expressing ideas of power, autonomy and primacy in the widest sense of the terms. She conveys not so much the idea of physical motherhood but a world view in which the creative power of feminity is central; the goddess mediates between life and death and contains in herself the possibility of regeneration. Is there a basic unity of theme and continuity of ideas to be seen in the variety of goddesses which abound in India? This article explores the mother goddess tradition. I desses, at other times they are muffled, at geographic dispersion, they convey a sense yet other times, there is a complete inversion. of unity in artistic intent and by extension, GODDESSES abound in India. Varied, But, as I see it, she is always a reference in belief and worship systems. Typically diverse, they sometimes contradict each point. small (less than a foot high), made of stone, other. There are those who are consorts, A word about the scope of this rather ex- bone or mammoth's ivory, the recurring those who have consorts, and there is the one ploratory essay. For me, the exercise is to motif is that of a nude female, with vastly who is alone. She is bedecked with jewellery, understand how Ias an anthropologist exaggerated breasts, hips, belly and thighs. or with a garland of skulls; at other times familiar with feminist and iconographic The head, arms and legs are highly abbrevia- she is the nude goddess. Many-armed, scholarship, and as a woman and mother in ted; usually there are no toes, feet, hands or wielding weapons, she sometimes disarms Indiaperceive the signals coming from the fingers, the legs and the arms ending abrupt- you with just a lotus in hand, and the goddess. It is admittedly tricky to handle ly like stumps. The facial features are blur- abhaya and varada hastas to dispel fear and material spanning across disciplines and red or missing, the head is just a featureless grant boons. Then there are those other god- time periods, straddling across different knob or conical appendage. Some of the desses, with no arms, or arms that end in media of expression. One does not try to do ivory carvings are meant to be worn as stumps. Repulsive or angry or gracious, or justice to its sheer volume and richness. One amulets [Absolon 1949:207]. Some of the yet again those expressionless images of the cannot even be fair in terms of looking for figures show traces of red ochre colouring, great mother, with no facial features, representative material. The effort is not to a surrogate of blood, implying votive or sometimes not even a head. Riding ferocious dwell on the incredible variety, but to ritual function. Trre 'venuses' are widely animals, lion, tiger and leopard, or seated synthesise and extrapolate, without giving recognised as significant markers of human in tranquil equipoise on the lotus. Portrayed cavalier treatment to established facts, and aesthetic activity, but the nature of their in vivid anthropomorphic detail or expressed hopefully without violating the spirit of the significance is rather vaguely explored by the symbolically: a pot with eyes scratched on material. majority of the writing, academic and it, a cowrie shell, or a piece of stone smeared popular. Though they have been frequently This essay draws primarily on icono- seen as reflecting a fertility cult, this with vermilion. Sometimes abstracted into graphy, occasionally using textual, ritual or possibility has been typically and specula- a flash of energy, colour, sound, geometry. cultic material to make a point. Visual tradi- tively sandwiched between several other Who can say which of these represents the tions of the goddess are very strong in India, 'true1 goddess tradition? Which is the questions: are they 'anatomical peculiarities they stretch back in time to pre-textual levels. of some ethnic types'? Do they represent the 'essence* and which 'derived'? How does one They are a vibrant presence in current 'sexual taste of paleolithic man'? [Agrawala invest chronology, historicity, linearity: worship as well. The icon tells a story which 1984:6]. Are they "stone age man's pin up, qualities that the goddess cuts through in her is sometimes at variance with the textual his bloated idea of female beauty"? Or is many-layered presence in ritual, cult, icon, gloss, and it is likely to be more 'original'. the steatopygy "an adipose adaptation to art, text and philosophy? There is a prolific literature on mother- winter"? [Reader's Digest 1984:11-13] Do they I think it is possible to see a basic unity goddess. But in the context of the current represent "idols, fetishes, cult figures, of theme and continuity of ideas in what for feminist-secularist critique of religious divinities or real women with sexual convenience I will call the 'mother-goddess symbols and imagery, and a simultaneous emphasis?" [Absolon 1949:204]. tradition'.1 Mother-goddess can be inter- feminist 'rediscovery' of the goddess, the preted as expressing ideas of power, theme is of continuing relevance. The first Venus' discoveries in the late 19th autonomy and primacy in the widest sense century created a lot of puzzled excitement, of the term. She conveys not so much the II but the 'fertility cult' argument was used in idea of physical motherhood but a world- a way that implied a kind of fetishistic, view in which the creative power of femini- The Indian mother-goddess is more than peripheral oddity. Campbell [1959:V.1:139] nity is central; the goddess mediates between 5,000 years old and there is a continuous sharply chastises anthropologists who pre- life and death and contains in herself the tradition of imaging and worship of goddess tend they cannot imagine what functions possibility of regeneration. The 'mother' as mother, though there are many diversities these numerous figurines performed. The aspect of the goddess is open to interpreta- in form and material. The first iconic finds remarkable feature of this whole group of tion, and indeed has been developed in dif- are from the Kulli and Zhob valley excava- figures is the extreme stylisation, expres- ferent ways at different points in time for tions in Baluchistan.2 In terms of content, sionist if you will, where the contrast various purposes. The modern iconography they show linkages with mother-goddess between what is emphasised and what is of India as mother-goddess, is a particularly figures from other regions and periods, and minimised or dispensed with altogether interesting example of the 'use' of the can be seen in the background of the suggests the underlying motive: veneration goddess for the end-goal of nationalism. paleolithic and neolithic discoveries in. of the birth-giving powers of femaleness. Europe, West Asia and Anatolia. Paleolithic excavations have yielded no male In this essay I am not concerned with establishing whether different goddess types The paleolithic 'venuses' as they are called human figures. In cave paintings of the same are derivable from the mother-goddess, or (the implicit valuation extends beyond period.the stylised Venus' motif dominates whether they are equally and independently terminology) have been excavated from the composition. Male figures are quite significant, though the question is of in- across a wide stretch of territory in Europe, common, but they are realistically painted, terest. The ideas conveyed by the mother- in sites including Spain, France, Austria, the usually at the back or the periphery of the goddess are sometimes found in other god- Balkans and Siberia. 3 Despite the composition: a pointer to the centrality of 11 the female principle in votive and ritual circumspect writing refers to her as and from the earth the quarters of the sky activity. kamalamukhi. The 'displayed goddess' were born. The basic 'venus' type with elaboration motif is found in many cultures, for instance From Aditi, Daksha was born, and variation recurs in the settled agri- the 'Bobo' figures of Egypt. 8 and from Daksha, Aditi was born. cultural societies of Anatolia and west Lajjagauri, the headless one, is body in- [R V 10.72 tr by O'Flaherty 1981:37] Asia. 4 In particular, the goddess and the carnate, the personified yoni. The artistic To find a word-picture in Rg veda bull is a striking motif in the sites of Catat device is to remove the identity-giving part, recreated in an icon after fifteen centuries12 Huyak and Hacilar: the pregnant goddess, the face, and portray the female principle of and worshipped currently is to realise with squatting as though in child birth; the creation literally. There are, of course, a shock the tenacity of the goddess. Aditi goddess giving birth to a bull's head, to a various interpretations of the symbolism of does not fit into the pantheon of vedic god- ram's head; cow-headed goddess with bull- the lotus as head, 9 but as I see it, the basic desses. She is in fact an ill-defined figure headed child in arms; the goddess riding on idea expressed is strikingly similar to that 'virtually featureless physically' [Kinsley a lion or on the back of a bull, or sitting of the 'venuses'. In contrast to various forms 1987:8-9] she is not portrayed as a spouse. between the horns of a bull. Scenes of life of devi or goddess, which are iconically more Her salient characteristic is her motherhood. in one wall contrast with scenes of death in detailed and specific, and in which diverse 'Mighty mother', 'protectress', 'all men are the other. Rows of breasts are shown on the trends coalesce, Lajjagauri expresses an her children', 'she is the mother of gods and wall, along with heads of bulls. In some elemental idea. kings and mother of the world', 'she is all cases, the breasts incorporate the lower jaws What happened to Lajjagauri in the vast what there is, father, mother, child and of wild-boar, the skulls of fox, weasel or time-space between Harappa and Deccan? begetting'.13 It is significant that though vultureall symbols of death. This early There is a fairly active mother-goddess tradi- textually and iconically, she is portrayed as expression of the dual orientation of the tion in iconography starting with the ter- a birth-giver, her motherhood is an encom- goddess towards life and death, and the racotta busts from Kulli and Zhob, where no passing one of cosmic dimensions.She is 'un- presence of the bull motif have links with male figures have been found. The female bound', not tied to specifics, to a particular the iconography of the Indian goddess. figures, nude, jewelled, with hooded face, husband, family or lineage. Aditi and Laj- circular eyeholes, beaked nose, slit mouth, jagauri even as birth-givers, have been LAJJAGAURI have a somewhat anonymous look and are abstracted and universalised in a way that interpreted by many as intentionally inspir- would have been impossible under the In the profusion of iconic representations assumptions of patrilineal systems. ing terror and awe. Hundreds of female of the goddess in India, I would see the figures (far outnumbering male figures) have 'Lajjagauri' genre as best expressing what been found in Harappan sites, especially in DEFINING AUTONOMY: G O D D E S S AS I think is a core idea in the paleolithic and the granary area. They are nude, wearing CONSORT neolithic icons. This group of sculptures ex- elaborate jewellery and distinct head-dress. cavated from across different sites in the In popular Indian perceptions of divinity, There is some indication of votive function. Deccan region, date variously between first the dominant image is of a male god, In all three, Kulli, Zhob and Indus Valley, and eighth centuries AD. 5 Typically, the accompanied by his consort, who is his nudity is not accentuated. The form shows sculpture is of a nude woman squatting with benevolent shakti, the actualiser of his latent some independence from the west Asian legs spread out and bent at the knees in a power, the embodiment of his grace. Kali forms, though in intent it could be very close birth-giving position. Usually, the head is and Durga are, of course, a ubiquitous [Gajjar 1971:13].l0 replaced by a lotus. In some cases,as in the presence, but the safe domestic mode is figure from Ter.there is no head. The body The headless female figures with stumpy represented by Lakshmi, quintessential ends abruptly and intentionally at the neck limbs from post-Harappan chalcolithic spouse, symbol of auspiciousness and [Sankalia 1960:113]. In another case, the head settlements, for instance from Inamgaon prosperity. is replaced by a stupa [Sankalia:120]. The (where the figure is associated with a bull), It is tempting to connect the spheres of hands may be holding lotuses, or folded Nevasa, Bilwali are interpreted to belong to worship with cultural norms concerning across the breasts. The structure of the the mother-goddess tradition. The nude, women. There is an active genre of Writing Alampur sculpture indicates that it was an steatopygous female or the 'opulent goddess' on the divide between the powerful, 'un- actual altar under worship, according to as she is often referred to in the literature, husbanded' goddesses (like Kali) whose Kramrisch [1956: 259] who also notes that the is not uncommon in pre-Mauryan finds, for power is seen as dangerous and destructive, tension in the muscles in the lower part of instance, the gold plaques from Lauriya and goddesses who are appropriately mar- the body indicate the dynamic process of Nandangarh and Piprahwa, and the finds ried (like Lakshmi) whose power is positive giving birth. Some of the sculptures are from Kausambi, and the numerous ring- and benevolent, and how this is echoed in under worship, usually by women for pro- stones of the Maurya and Sunga period in social arrangements and evaluations, par- geny [Sankalia 1960:120]. Aiyar [1989: 415] sites from north western to eastern India." ticularly in the obsessive cultural theme o f notes that they are common in arid regions However, the precise iconic details of control and management of female sexuality where their function seems to be to bring Lajjagauri would seem to have no pre- [see for instance, Babb (1975), Beck (1969), rain. In one example from Nagarjunakon- cedents, but for an example from an un- Das (1976), Hart (1973), Kondos (1986), da, the area below the navel is filled with the expected quarter. Papanek (1973), Tapper (1979) and Wadley drawing of a highly decorated purnaghata (1975)]. I shall come back to this shortly, but The hymns of the Rg veda are, in the (overflowing pot), which, symbolises abun- a specific aspect of this idea is the concept main, addressed to male nature gods. God- dance and fertility [Bhattacharya of 'auspiciousness', Which in current desses are few and in the vedic scheme of 19T7:'r38^H?]. In a fourth century terracotta understanding is almost exclusively tied up things, definitely secondary. Tucked away plaque from Keesaragatta, the lotus-faced to the state of being married. Virtually every amidst the bland beauty of vedic nature god- woman holds Siva as a lingam in her right language has a specific word to denote a desses is the elemental figure of Aditi, literal- hand and Vishnu as Narasimha in her woman whose husband is alive (for instance ly 'the unbound one'. Aditi is the subject of left.The image unmistakably conveys a sense suhagan, suvasini, sumangali in Hindi, an anthropomorphic creation myth: of primacy of the goddess. 6 Recent finds of Marat hi and Tamil respectively). She is the Lajjagauri plaques of fourth-fifth century In the first age of the gods, existence was born from non-existence. embodiment of auspiciousness.. She has a AD from Nagpur region show close associa- special ritual status. By extension, even the tion with a bull and a lion. 7 j After this the quarters of the sky were born from her who crouched with legs spread. insignia of marriage that she wears are con- She is catechrestically called Lajjagauri by The earth was born from her. sidered to have sacred power. A widow has the local population (lajja: 'shame'); more who crouched with legs spread, a diametrically opposite position in the
Economic and Political Weekly October 20-27, 1990 WS-59
realm of the auspicious, as are all things Finally, there are the truly 'single' god- the former, but the icon invariably captures associated with her. As we shall see, early desses, whose iconography the male is not the moment of confrontation, not the iconography has a different message. part of. This is the goddess who neither con- denouement. The popular Bengali legend The other temptation is to see in the fronts nor subserves, she exists in herself, by about how Kali became embarrassed when spouselessness of a goddess like Kali or herself. By her very presence and feminini- she realised she had trampled on her hus- Durga, the source of her power, a blue-print ty, she symbolises abundance, fertility and band (and hence the out-hanging tongue) for autonomy, counterposed against the auspiciousness. She contradicts the idea of would be a cute example of trying to make domesticated Lakshmi, consort par excel- auspiciousness being tied to marriage, as she a consort out of Kali, were it not so absurd! lence. The iconographic scenario is does the idea. of spouselessness being The ashtamatrikas are nominally the female somewhat more complicated and the signals associated with danger and anger. Chrono- versions of eight gods, but they usually occur are mixed. It is not a simple case of logically, this goddess appears earlier than as an independent set. The Sthalapurana spousehood conveying dependence and the consorts and spouses. She is a descen- (temple legend) of the village goddess often spouselessness, autonomy. The goddess is dant in the mother-goddess tradition. In the concludes by making her into an aspect of portrayed either by herself or with a male latter, 'auspiciousness' is implicit; in the Parvati, spouse of Siva, but the icon says partner. If the latter, there are various former, it is elaborated and explicit, a'fre- otherwise. She is given pride of place in the possibilities. She could be the subservient or quent motif in temple and domestic icon. shrine, accompanied by male attendants or the dominating partner, or a balance could Thus we have srilakshmi and gajalakshmi, servants. It is as though having paid token be attempted. auspicious ones, whose images are put on tribute to the married state, she is free to pur- A vivid example of Lakshmi as clearly doorways and thresholds for magical pro- sue her activities independently. 'True' con- secondary consort, is the icon in which she tection. River goddesses, always single, are sorts are very few, and even they express sits by the side of Vishnu, who is recumbent again threshold deities. Decorating arches autonomous personality in various degrees. on the serpent adisesha on the ocean of and pillars is salabhanjika, who makes The power associated with the goddessof milk. Lakshmi pressing his feet, Lakshmi vegetation bloom into life by a touch of fertility, creativity, nurturance, protection offering him betel leaves: this replay of hand or foot,14 and close in spirit is the does not stem from her consorthood which idealised domestic relations is more common yakshi of free and vegetative quality, with seems to be a later development. It is rele- in kitsch iconography. Usually, the consort- her body twined around tree and creeper. vant to remember here that the concept of hood of the goddess is shown by her small And there is the archetypal sakambhari, the the goddess as virgin-mother is deep-rooted size in relation to the god, as in the case of herb-nourishing one, from whose body across cultures.lt contains a suggestion of Lakshmi sitting on the lap of Narasimha or plants grow. parthenogenesisself-created, self- Parvati as Sivakami watching from the wings supportingand is linked with the magico- The development of srilakshmi is a strik- while the dancing Nataraja dominates the religious domain of fertility and agriculture. ing illustration of the shift from indepen- composition. Sastri il916:187-89] makes the It forms the kernel of the autonomy of the dent, auspicious goddess to spouse. She is point that the goddess as consort is shown goddess. a pre-Buddhist icon, and the earliest images with two arms, the single goddess with four do not show her with a male partner. The or more. The goddess may well have an in- Kushana srilakshmi stands amidst lotuses Two FACES OF GODDESS dependent shrine within the temple as is issuing from a purnaghata, pressing her usual in Tamil Nadu. The philosophical and breasts to assure plenty and prosperity Much of the current literature on the god- textual traditions of pancaratra and saiva [Sivaramamurthi 1961:39]. Medallions from dess is dominated by the theme of the benign siddhanta schools place Lakshmi and Bharhut have the motifs of both srilakshmi versus destructive goddess or the 'good' and Parvati respectively in a position closely and the closely allied gajalakshmi, seated on the 'bad' aspects of the goddess. It is vir- approximating independent status, though a full-blown lotus, surrounded by lotus tually impossible to read a paper on the sub- nominally they are the shaktis of male gods. flowers, leaves and stems issuing from a ject which does not have a reference to the mangalaghata, elephants pouring water on 'ambivalence' of the goddess. It is treated as The popular Radha-Krishna couple is her head [Ray 1975:111, Kramrisch axiomatic. Some of the approaches ground- typically shown in a totally non-hierarchical 1956:252-3]. In Srisukta, she is described as ed in psychological analysis develop the idea relationship. Roles are reversed and re- lotus-faced ( padmanana), lotus thighed of a radical split in the mother image into reversed in delightful abandon and (padma uru), with lotus hands the 'good sheltering' versus 'monstrous ter- celebrated in icon, poetry and song. But (padmahasta), evoking memories of rifying'. The great mother archetype is seen then, Radha is not a spouse. The whole rela- 15 Lajjagauri. The early sri has a strong to reflect early childhood feelings about the tionship is, as Marglin puts it, outside the association with vegetation, growth and primacy of mother or mother-figure. While realm of instrumentalityof marriage and fecundity; a teeming vitality marks her Freudians see the goddess imagery as rooted birthand exists in itself, for itself [1986: presence. In later icons, she is linked to a in the experience of the personal mother, 305-6]. The ardhanarisvara icon captures a number of godsSoma, Dharma, Indra and Jungians see its base in the collective un- concept of gender as a holistic unity. There Kubera, and texts refer to her unsteady, conscious [Wulff 1986: 283-97, Preston 1983: is no hard dividing line between male and fickle nature. By about 400 AD, she settles 328-41]. The intense feelings of Ramakrishna female, there is an implied interchangeability down as the steadfast and benign consort of Paramahansa towards Kali as mother, and the and flow. Though Kali is often an indepen- Vishnu, involved in the moral order, in emotionally charged poetry of Ramprasad dent goddess, she is equally often portrayed righteous behaviour, in correct social obser- do in fact articulate the good mother/bad with a spouse. Here the conventional rela- vance [Kinsley 1987:19-26]. Colloquial mother theme. But to accept a clear relation- tions are completely reversed. In the ultimate phrases about the 'Lakshmi of the home', ship, one needs to understand why the icon, Kali dances with abandon, her foot popular in many Indian languages, refer to mother-goddess is absent or eclipsed in some trampling on a prostrate, corpse-like Siva, the quality of auspiciousness of women who cultures.16 who is not so much husband as polar op- posite. Durga is perhaps the only important play the proper wifely role. The ambivalence of the goddess has been goddess who is portrayed alone. Though The issue of spousehood is a complex one. linked by many writers to the cultural evalua- created from the combined energies of the The very goddess who is the domesticated tion of female sexuality as dangerous and gods, she wields weapons and battles alohe spouse is demonstrably independent in disruptive if not harnessed appropriately. with no male support, and slays the buffalo earlier forms. The cohsorthood of the same The two faces of the goddess are both faces demon Mahisha. However, even here, there goddess is often differently expressed in of power, but as properly married spouse, is a strong underlying suggestion of a1 text/legend and icon. For example, in the she is the embodiment of grace and bene- sexual/mariul relationship between Durga myth, the confrontation between Kali and volence; as the independent goddess, she and Mahisha, as we shall discuss a little later. Siva is resolved by the ultimate taming of threatens to destroy the very basis of the
WS-60 Economic and Political Weekly October 20-27, 1990
social order. The concern with the control drunk by the severed head of Kali herself. plant, animal and human fertility, has to be of female sexuality manifests itself in many As Kinsley puts it, this is a way of showing a fighter. institutions, norms and customs that are that life, sex and death are part of an interi The ideology of motherhood as developed current in India. dependent and unified system. The goddess, in patrilineal systems subsumes the category The point to note here is that the stress who represents the vital forces of the of woman in that of mother, and sublimates on female sexuality and reproduction are cosmos, needs nourishmentlife feeds on the erotic. The goddess on the other hand, part of the requirements of patrilineal life, and death is a necessity for life is imbued with a conscious femininity with systems, and the particular way in which [1987:162-63]. The other dramatic icon is the implied or explicit eroticism. Durga as war- they are expressed in the Indian context have famous sakambhari seal from Harappa, in rior is portrayed as the pinnacle of feminine to do with the ideology and language of which a woman (goddess) is shown upside beauty as is evident from the icon, but even caste. The 'ambivalence' described in the down, with a plant issuing out of her womb the Sanskrit text Devi mahatmya is eloquent current writing seems to be between the [Marshall 1931:V.1:52]. The precise form is about the goddess' beauty that lures 'spousified' goddess under developing never captured again visually, but a word- Mahisha, and the texts of candisataka and patriarchy, and the earlier, fiery, independent picture in Markandeyapurana (ch 11 verse saundaryalahari are explicit in their descrip- goddess. But the goddess expresses a duality 48-49 tr by Pargiter 1904) repeats the image. tion of the physical beauty of the (a term perhaps more appropriate than goddess.20 ambivalence) in her earliest iconic forms, Next O ye Gods, 1 shall support the whole In contrast, in the older stream of mother from a phase in which caste and gender world goddess, the sexual and reproductive aspects hierarchies would be at best amorphous. with the life sustaining vegetables are so starkly explicit as to go beyond That this duality has been superimposed which shall grow out of my own body during a period of heavy rain. eroticism. By completely depersonalising the with the ambivalence of controlled versus context, the icon moves from details into uncontrolled sexuality is evident, but the 1 shall gain fame on earth then as sakambhari abstraction, and transforms the specific to meaning of the goddess could be read in a the universal. Both in the erotic and univer- broader frame. The goddess mediates between the ultimate sal forms, mother-goddess iconography is at What then is the duality that the goddess duality of life and death: death in which is variance with the ideology of motherhood mediates? The cycle of festivals of the implicit regeneration and transformation. It as applied to real-life mothers. She is mother, goddess is closely tied up to the agricultural is a world-view in which life feeds on blood; but not spouse. She is mother but not often cycle, and to seasons of sowing, germination forms of life-plant, animal and h u m a n - portrayed with .children. All over southern and harvest. The female power to create life are interconnected. Fundamental perceptions India, the village-goddess-valorised as an and the soil's power to produce crop are seen of reality have been chosen to be represented aspect of Durga-Parvatihas the suffix as interlinked. But the goddess has strong through the female body, which is seen as amma (mother) but rarely is she shown as funerary associations as well, starting from a source of magical power. a physical mother. Blessing women with off- the 'venuses'17 to the concept of smasana Starting with the two faces of life and spring is one of her functions, but by no kali, who haunts cremation grounds, wears death, the iconic journey proceeds, bridging means the only or main one. The most im- cut arms as girdles, children's corpses as dualities at multiple levels. For instance, the portant concern of the village goddess is ear-rings, uses oozings from corpses as goddess of war reveals in herself a vegeta- protectionof hearth, field, soil, crop, cosmetics, and skulls as drinking vessels. The tional substratum underscoring the martial boundary, foetusfrom disease, pestilence, association with death runs parallel to the character of fertility. As the popular and flood, drought and famine. theme of slaying and sacrifice, but seems to ubiquitous Durga, she is the presiding deity have an independent aspect as well. Then, for several martial/royal castes like Rajputs, HI of course, there is the very strong connection Marathas, Mysore kings, etc. The annual with blood sacrifice, literal, ritual and worship of weaponry and of Durga as What Does She Stand For? metaphorical. Beginning from Frazer, much warrior to ensure success in war is a major Few of those interested in the goddess- has been written on the subject, but the point event in these communities. The martial writers, scholars, devotees feminists or to stress here is that blood sacrifice and overlay notwithstanding, Durga has a various combinations of thesehave been fertilityvegetational and humanare not distinct vegetational substratum, as when she able to resist the temptation of seeing in her two separate aspects. In Tamil Nadu, the says that in an earlier incarnation, she was attributes, an implied cultural evaluation of kodai (annual festival) of the amman sakambhari (quoted above). While the women, and of developing this into proposi- (goddess) temple of the village has as its legend and icon are about the warrior god- tions on the type of society 'goddess culture* central event, the sacrifice of the goat (which dess, the ritualsfor example ghatasthapana represents or is a survival from. It \% perti- has replaced the buffalo). Simultaneously and navapatrikashow her as a vegetation nent to distinguish between different genres the festival has strong vegetation/sprouting goddess.19 Even the popular mahisha- of scholarship on the goddess. In India, it rituals. The connection is highlighted in the suramardini icon has evolved over has generally been the province of historians ritual soaking and sprouting of different time from the Kushana period when the and has formed part of the ongoing discus- types of grains in the sacrificial victim's battle aspect is somewhat subdued, to the sions on the theme of Aryan versus pre- blood, in order to be able to predict the later Ellora and Mahabalipuram versions Aryan, and includes a spectrum of ap- season's successful harvest [Whitehead which elaborate and develop the goddess as proaches that attempt broad synthesis of the 1976:64-65]. The other side of fertility is the warrior [Agrawala 1958 and Viennot 1956]. subcontinent's early history (for example, the association of some festivals of the goddess A striking group of icons is that of the god- work of Basham and Kosambi). The con- with suspension of "normative sexual dess who wears five miniature weapons or frontation and eventual assimilation of the behaviour.18 Dramatically capturing some ayudhas in her headdress. There is no other autochthonous with the incoming has been of these linkages is the icon of chinnamasta sign of the martial. The cult of pancacudaas pitched at several levels: belief systems with in which Kali stands in a cremation ground she is called, is widely prevalent from Bengal the earth goddess at the core versus vedic on the copulating bodies of Kama, the god to Rupar (2nd-lst centuries BC), and Desai male-centred worship of sky gods based on of love and his wife Rati. She has severed [1977:155] suggests that she was a fertility contrasting systems of primitive agriculture her head with a sword which she has in one goddess whose symbolic marriage was versus nomadic pastoralism. The key ele- hand. In the other hand is a platter which celebrated for the general welfare of the ment in the Indian context has been the con- holds her severed head. community and for agricultural produc- tinuity of the goddess tradition at multiple tivity. The martial could be interpreted as levels. Though temporarily eclipsed in vedic Blood spurts out from her neck in three a metaphor to underscore the protective material, the goddess resurfaces in the jets, two of them are drunk by two female function of the goddess, who as bestower of puranas and at various points thereafter attendants on either side, and the third is
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becomes a symbol for the coalescing of inquiry: what is the principle of gender ging questions and created a profound counter traditions. It is possible to see the structuring in pre-patriarchal cultures, how dissatisfaction, a spiritual vacuum [see for developments in iconography as a dynamic is it articulated in terms of the overall example, Christ 1979]. Efforts at looking in- process of the interaction between the stratification? What is the relationship to the roots of biblical tradition [for example substratum of goddess-centred worship, and between female autonomy and the auto- Patai 1967], at Mariology, at pre-Christian* mainstream worship which inverts, nuetra- nomy of the individual? Can we project con- fertility and earth goddesses beneath the lises but ultimately accommodates the temporary definitions of words like 'auto- overlay of Roman Catholicism which former.21 The goddess has philosophical nomy' 'power' 'equality' on to a different reinterprets them as madonnas [Moss and roots in the mainstream as well, for samkhya time-scale, without thinking about issues of Cappannari 1983], efforts at reinterpreting after all recognises the categories of purusha meaning and value? the figures and concepts of the Bible to in- and prakriti. The latter which activates the The point does not need labouring that clude androgyny [for example, Gelpi 1984] inert purusha, is primary so far as world- mother-goddess does not correlate with high are responses to a consciousness of this process is concerned. This idea is developed secular status for women in India. In fact, vacuum. Gross argues that imagery, meta- and elaborated in tantra, The classical it is possible to argue for an inverse relation- phor and personal gods are inevitable and mainstream text of Devimahatmya, which ship. Campbell provocatively suggests that intrinsically satisfying. The need is to move sees the ultimate reality as feminine is based mother-goddess worship is prominent in from 'God, the father' not to impersonal, on this germinal concept from samkhya. cultures that polarise male and female roles, abstract godhead but to an open espousal In another genre-anthropological writing that it has an inverse relation to secular of the cause of 'God, the mother'. This may of the last century and early part of this status. She suggests that mother-goddess serve as a corrective to current sexism in centurythe theme of the goddess became may be a compensation for the subordinate theology and ritual [1978: 276]. What more . part of the arguments marshalled in the status of women [Campbell, 1983:5-24]. A alluring model than Indian goddesses? debates around the idea of the 'matriar- related example is that of Theravada Within the western feminist movement, chate". Pitched on a grand scale, within the Buddhism in Burma and Thailand which too, there are trends indicating a shift in general framework of evolutionism, the has rejected the goddess at the formal level. emphasis. Having travelled on a long general thrust of the argument for a univer- The women in these countries have a high journey of becoming aware of and trying to sal stage of matriarchy preceding and later secular status, which has its roots in the change external structures of oppression, overtaken by patriarchy was based on the bilateral kinship systems of Southeast Asia some individuals and groups are now turn- rich goddess-centred mythology of non- [Ferguson 1983 283-304]. ing to look inwards for sources of em- semitic cultures as well as the ethnographic The actual situation of women at a given powerment, for the 'goddess within*. The material on communities with simple point in time reflects a complex mix of rediscovery/reimaging/reclaiming of the economies.22 ideological and material factors. While the goddess in her 'second coming' is a theme '; The subject at one stage, generated con- goddess cannot guarantee status in real life, that has appeal to other groups working on siderable academic discussion. But due to "talk about god, goddess, gods and god- alternativesfor example those in the the serious gaps, the universal scale and the desses is talk about the (male and female) ecology movement. Within mainstream embarrassing colonial baggage that came self in relation to the environment" [Yocum academicsart history, archaeology, With it, it was not taken up by subsequent 1986:281]. The attributes of the goddess give philosophy, comparative religionrecent anthropological scholarship . By default, it us an indication of what is defined in that writing on the goddess is informed by the was assumed that some form of patriarchy culture as feminine. Gross says "the goddess large and lively feminist scholarship in must have been universal,23 but this also does impart a certain sense of dignity, self- general; it asks a somewhat different set of was a recogrtisably problematic assumption. worth, personal assertiveness and simple questions [see for example, Kinsley 1987, The theme has therefore had an irresistible visibility" [1978:274]. I would qualify that, Wulff and Hawley 1982, and Gimbutas fascination, with predictable revival- or rather extend it by saying the goddess is 1982]. The contrast between the "exuberant debunking cycles. an untapped potential of possibilities. Tb say polytheistic iconoclatry" of Indian god- if Feminist writing has raised the issue again, that goddesses in India are powerful is desses and the "single, transcendental and archaeologists and anthropologists have besides the point. They are certainly visible masculine divinity" of the Christian West been stung into trying afresh for solutions.24 and worshipped, but the way in which power [Nicholas 1983] has been so sharp that the Eeacock's would be one example of recent is articulated by different goddesses, suggests 'rediscovery' of the Indian goddess by North wtork which queries the notion of the univer- that the combination of autonomy and America has been one of uncritical en- sality of gender hierarchy. Based on power is socially less acceptable than power thusiasm. Within Indian feminist discourse, ethnographic work among hunter-gatherers, acquired through playing a familial role. response to the goddess has been much more she suggests that principles of gender struc- Stretching the point a little further, the slow, cautious, and at times tinged with turing other than hierarchy are real pos- nuances in the goddess may give a clue as suspicion. The specificities of the Indian sibilities in pre-class societies and that to see to how individual women, provided they are situation that feminists are trying to tackle incipient hierarchy everywhere is to project materially situated, could and do exert are so intimately tied up with oppressive and oar own ethnocentricity on to all societies 'power' in real life, or convert it to socially restrictive traditions affecting women, that 25 acceptable forms. symbols and imagery with a religious association are by definition suspect. Violent yiEisler (1987) writing in a different genre The subtext in any contemporary essay on and vicious cleavages along religious lines, asfts much the same questions. Looking at the goddess could well read 'but why such and appropriation of traditional symbols by ideology of gender relations as is manifested interest now, when she has always been fundamentalist groups is part of the contem- (oil such as is manifested) through icons and there". And in the manner of the hymn which porary political reality, and the goddess is artefacts of early cultures, she makes the ends with the fruit of listening, phalasruti, caught in the crossfire. But there is a general piirint that in societies where the images of one could ask, what will be its outcome? movement towards a more introspective dMnity are female, social structure must There is currently a definite revival of in- phase, within feminist scholarship and sorely be different from societies where terest in the goddess; the impetus is broadly activism. It is inevitable that in discussions worship is of the divine father who wields from the growth of feminist consciousness on culture as power versus culture as oppres- thalthunderbolt and sword. In such societies, in the west, specifically, North America, sion, the goddess will resurface. The ques- gemler relations would be based on prin- though arguably, this too is set within the tion is, what are we to make of her? ciples other than that which we are used to, framework of Orientalism. ir*hich 'linking' rather than 'ranking* is the . For women within the church, and for Is it possible to transplant the goddess operative principle. Though freely Utopian' students of theology and religion in general, from her native environment and 'use' her aint'tmillenarian in tone, the point being the understressed femininity of the divine in as 'resource' for filling the vacuum in a com- made opens up a constructive- line of Judaeo-Christian religions has raised nag- pletely different setting, as a certain genre
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of western feminist writing seems to imply. India, regardless of their age, marital status (1960:113) reads Aditi's position as 'squat- Johnson's (1989) caution that mother or maternity. ting with knees raised and turned outward'. goddess monotheism "may leave out 2 Sankalia (1978:8) reports on a small figure The dictionary meaning (Monier-Williams spinsters and lesbians and equate birth with from Belan Valley. Mirzapur district, UP 1899) of the term is "one whose legs are ex- creativity" is a case in point. One cannot dated to the upper Paleolithic. He calls it tended in parturition" and uttana is listed 'use' the goddess for finding solutions to 'India's earliest dated work 'of human as 'stretched out, spread out..:, etc. There contemporary problems any more than one origin'. Though originally regarded as a seems to be a strong case for identifying can apply a modernist yardstick of gender bone harpoon, he identifies it as a female Aditi with Lajjagauri. equality or hierarchy to measure all cultures figure, with a featureless triangular face and 13 Th.e epithets are from Atharva veda and at all times. Perhaps the goddess can only stick-like trunk with a pointed portion for other vedic and post-vedic sources. See remain a source of inspiration, a vision.26 the legs. The figure, with pendant breasts. Agrawala (1984: 79). and broad loins shows 'a remarkable 14 Salabhanjika and Asokabhanjika festivals, But what of India, where the goddess affinity' to the European 'ven uses'. Since tradition has live roots? Even within an involving ritual rejuvenation of trees by a this is a solitary find, the Zhob and Kulli girl wearing sala/asoka leaves on the ears, overall climate of extreme commodification figures can be taken as a point of depar- are known in classical literature. of the female image, and even in the most ture for the present. 15 Srisukta, considered to be a 4th century BC intense form of kitsch, goddess iconography 3 For an overview, see Graziosi (1960), appendage to Rg veda, is a hymn in praise has resisted being objectified and completely Gimbutas (1982) and Leroi-Gourhan (1968). of goddess sri. recast in terms of the male gaze. It is part 4 There is an extensive literature on the 16 The nature of primary group interaction in of the world of meaning for many. It is a subject. For a sample, see Campbell (1959), the paleolithic and neolithic is obviously a potential source of empowerment. The James (1959) and Mellaart (1967). conjectural matter. But it is fair to presume challenge is how to creatively link it With the 5 Some of the sites are Alampur, Mahakut, that the intensive and exlusive character of lives of ordinary women, without getting Ter, Bhita, Jhusi, Kausambi, Vadgaon, interaction with mother in early childhood identified with sectarian and divisive Nevasa, Nagarjunakonda, Kunidene ' which is implicit in the 'Great Mother' interests. (Guntur), Bhavanasi, Sangameshwaram, archetype is not typical of most cultures The goddess is a powerful symbol of Yellala, Praia kota and Kondapuram. See across space and time. Aiyar (1989: 415), Desai (1975: 12-13, also 17 Some examples: in the Lez-Eiyzies burial, linkages. She bridges realms and levels, 1989), and Sankalia (1960:113-120), for hierarchies and schisms: between the the corpses are surrounded with carefully detailed description. arranged cowrie shells, some of which are autochthonous and alien, conquerors and 6 My identification is based on an unpub- coated with red ochre (Eisler 1987); at conquered, between brahminised and lower lished photograph from the director of ranking castes and between caste and tribe, Dneiper, USSR, 'a number of mammoth archaeology and museums, Hyderabad, skulls were found arranged in a circle, and between mainstream and protestant who in a personal communication says that in the centre were a number of tusks, some philosophy, between sophisticated theology the piece was excavated from Medchal plaques of mammoth ivory scratched with and living cults, between reified ritual and Taluk, Ranga Reddy district from the geometric patterns, and a 'venus' (Camp- the immediacy of local practice: hook- Vishnukundin level, along with a large bell 1959:V1:327); in Quetta valley, the god- swinging, fire-walking, blood, meat and number of coins and a complex of struc- dess and bull pair were found on a mud liquor, between classical Sanskrit text and tures of the same period. See also report in brick platform which had in its founda- oral tradition, between materials: metal, The Hindu, 24-12-89. tions, a disarticulated human skull (Ibid: stone and clay. Inverted, neutralised, 7 Personal communication from Devangana V2:149). absorbed, mainstreamed, she still exists as Desai. a disturbing presence; by daring to exist, she 18 An interesting example is the Bhagavati 8 In southeast Asia, it is a common motif on amman temple in Kerala, where on a given begs to differ. the facade of houses and on dolmen graves day men and women devotees are suppos- (Sankalfa i960: 113,121).It is also found in ed to hurl sexual abuses at each other. Notes Babylonia, New Zealand, pre-Columbian 19 Navapatrika: Worship of a bundle of nine South America and Ireland (Donaldson different plants.Ghatasthapana: Ritual in [Acknowledgements to Chandralekha whose 1975:87). which leaves of different plants brought in work opened up the conceptual possibilities of 9 The multiple meanings of the lotus as head contact with a ghata or pot of water. the theme, to C S Lakshmi, Prabha Krishnan, are explored at some length by Kramrisch 20 The former is by Bana (7th century AD) Devangana Desai and Sujata Patel for helpful (1956) but the fact that some figures have and the latter attributed to Sankara (8th comments on earlier drafts, to Heras Institute neither head nor a lotus as substitute sug- century AD). of Ancient Indian Culture for generous access gests that the symbolism of the lotus may 21 In general art historians have been uneasy to library, to Asiatic Society of Bombay for not be critical to the message of the icon. about tackling this theme head on. research facilities, to Indira Aiyar for sparing Dhavalikar (1987:281-93) links Lajjagauri Sometimes, the mother goddess is com- her unpublished manuscript, to Arvind Gupta with the well- known Harappan seal of pletely underplayed, with the emphasis for tracking and sending a rather inaccessible sakambhari. Though the icons do not seem being laid on the less disturbing devi paper and to Maithreyi Krishna Raj for the to be directly linked, the plant issuing from iconography. Sometimes, the whole em- insight and support.] the womb of the female figure could be phasis is on 'the beauty of the female form'. interpreted as completing what Lajjagauri Sometimes descriptions of mother-goddess 1 Though I have used the word 'mother- is only implying. Kinsley (1987:176-77) figures are dismissive or bland or project goddess' in some contexts, for convenience, refutes attempts to connect Lajjagauri to her as a fetishistic oddity. I am sensitive to the fact that it is a term chinnamasta, an aspect of Kali in which she created by early archaeology, and evokes a severs her own head.His point is that in the 22 For an comprehensive overview, see Fleuhr- certain pattern of responses. In local usage, former, the emphasis is quite different, and Lobban (1979) and responses to her paper. the goddess is not usually referred to by this the headlessness lacks the force of the latter. 23 Such a position had considerable influence compound term. She could be referred to on feminist scholarship in the seventies. See as devi or its equivalent, and addressed as 10 For a general idea of the excavations of that for example Rosaldo (1974). devi or as ma or the equivalents. More period, see Fairservis (1956) and Sankalia 24 See Webster's (1975) review of the work of usually, the suffix 'mother' is added after (1962). Leacock, Gough, de Beauvoir, Firestone the personal name of the goddess. Thus, we 11 For a brief overview, see Desai (1983). and Gould Davis. have Sita maiya, Durga mata or Mariamma. 12 Kramrisch (J956:268) like O'Flaher- 25 Another version of the same idea, but more But there is no implication for physical ty translates the word uttanapadzs the rigidly expressed, is reflected in the domi- motherhood. Such a suffix is added behind birth-giving position ("the world was born nant current of Soviet scholarship. The personal names of women in southern of her with the legs spread open"). Sankalia premise of equality of men and women in
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the early evolutionary stages of primitive Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Leroi-Gourhan, A (1968) The Art of Prehistoric society is so universally accepted in USSR Research. Man in Western Europe, London. that it has long since been introduced in text Dhavalikar, M K (1987) 'Sakambhari, the Marglin, Frederique Apffel (1982) 'Types of books (Semenov 1979). The tone of finality Headless Goddess', Annals of the Bhandar- Sexual Union and Their Implicit Meanings' about societies of which we have fragile and kar Oriental Institute, LXVIH 281-293. in Hawley and Wulff (ed), 298-313. fragmentary knowledge is worrying as is the Donaldson, Thomas (1975) 'Propitious- Marshall, Sir John (ed), (1931) Mohenjo Daro projection of the concept and term of Apotropaic Eroticism in the Art of Orissa' and the Indus Civilisation, 3 Vols, London: 'equality' into what would be completely AA XXXVII: 75-100. Arthur Probesthian. different cultures. The 'primitive commune" Eisler, Riane (1987) The Chalice and the Blade: Mellaart, J (1967) Catal Huyuk: A Neolithic idea has the same Utopian connotations that Our History, Our Future, San Francisco: Town in Anatolia, London. the matriarchate has. Harper and Row. Moss, Leonard W and Stephen C Cappannari 26 Webster (1975: 156) puts it in perspective Fairservis, W A (1956) Excavations in the 'In Quest of the Black Virgin: She is Black when she says that "I would not encourage Quetta Valley, West Pakistan (1983). because She is Black' in Preston (ed). women to confuse myth with history or Ferguson John P 'The Great Goddess Today vision for science", and that the vision of in Burma and Thailand' in Preston (ed), Nicholas", Ralph W 'The Village Mother in matriarchy can be used for furthering the 283-303. Bengal' in Preston (ed) 192-209. creation of feminist theory and action. O'Flaherty, Wendy (tr) (1981) The Rig Veda: An Fleuhr-Lobban, Carol (1979) 'A Marxist Re- Anthology, UK: Penguin. 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