N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 1

Goddess Worship in Hinduism

--Srinivasan Nenmeli-K

Goddess worship has been practised from earlier civilizations --- in the

Mahenjadao-Harappa civilizations.But Why Worship a female God or Goddess?

One can counter this question easily: Why Not?!

If you can worship a male God, you can worship a female goddess as

well...or may be, even a God beyond gender,as Hindu philosophers told :

"Worship 'IT'....."

In the ultimate analysis, the form of worship you choose is your

choice;but we are conditioned by our cultural,religious and historical

conundrums..Let us explore this in this opening section before we

plunge into forms and methods of Goddess worship in the Hindu traditon...

Worship of a female goddess appeals to many or 'should'--- because

almost all of us [except a few psychotics or those born in test tubes]

owe so much to our mothers and hold our mother [physical,that is] in high

esteem and affection.The mother carried us in her womb for nearly nine

months,fed us through her blood and supported us in the amniotic fluid-

the sac of nourishing liquid---sheilded from noise,jolt and dust of this

world till our organs could grow to some size. After we made our tortuous

exit from the womb,crying at the unfamiliar (perhaps shattering) world

outside,opened our eyes to the world, she nursed with milk and later with

soft food.Then she supported us thorough babyhood ,preschool,elementary

school-------.It is this intimate,affectionate bond that develops that

makes us think of mother with sweetness and indebtedness which can be

transferred to the worship of a female God-- the Supreme,Cosmic,Eternal,

Divine Mother.

In contrast, father is often harsh,strict dispenser of

rules,disciplinarian and a stern teacher.It is difficult to love your

father compared to your mother at least in early months.True, your father

provides you with many things, buys toys and dolls ,and takes you out to

the park or ball game, protects you in many ways---all these come a

little later in almost all families..

Goddesses and Male God in the Western traditions

Now to cultural influences , societal pressures and historical

incidents/accidents.

WE are culturally influenced by the Father figure who provides food after

hunting or serving in a society and bringing home a hunted deer or hard

cash; He protects you and your mother from wild predators--wolves and

lions ---or in the modern context, against our harmful neighbourhood

thugs or social parasites and crooks or terrorists at large....All these

add up to our awe and respect for our fathers.! This has been raised to a

supernatural level by formal religion --with rituals and canons-- that we

tend to worship "our Father in Heaven", "Our Supreme Being -Paramatman" :

as a perfect male--{Purushottaman} ;If he is harsh and a strict

displinarian and a judge at the end of our lives, it is for removing our
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 3
sins and purifying our souls .He is the provider (giving the daily

bread) and he is entitled to administer justice! Such a cultural setting,

in almost all formal religions, has given the male God a prominent place

in our modes of worship.

There are other negative religious/cultural connotations too--

degrading the female persona....Females are tricky and vile, and tempt

you into eating the forbidden fruit, making you do things which are

wicked,leading to depravation and ultimate ruin;keep women at bay;make

your decisions yourself...Again women are filthy,dirty [for instance the

monthly menstrual flow is putrid];keep away from them..These connotations

led to such abhorrence of women that they were 'discounted' --a mild

term-- 'down -graded'. So they can be bought and sold as slaves,chattels,

used in brothels, kept in harems and staged in titillating adult shows;

and dispensed with at stakes--they could be witches too.[Women were not

given property rights and could not vote till recent times in most

democracies.]In such a cultural setting,you cannot conceptualize a female

God!

There were societies at the other end of the spectrum of social

consciousness. Women owned property [lands and cattle] and passed them on

to their daughters.The matriarchical society was most dominant and [still

prevails illegally] in Kerala state and is very strong in the north-east

state of Assam in India and among certain hill tribes in India.{As my

friend,a male college professor from Bengal used to say: " Go to

Assam;the girls are lovely and very sportive; marry one,get some teak

wood estate from her family,fish in the beautiful lakes and get
children--so easy!"}.The women always had the upper hand in

daily,village affairs . No wonder, worship of Mother Goddess is most

widely practised even today in these states and in the neighbouring

states too in India.{Ref: Bansi Pandit,A L Bhasham}

Many scholars contend that the early church fathers ,in Judeo-Christian

traditions, suppressed the worship of female gods derived from Greek-

Roman pantheon of gods---the pagan gods and goddesses--...It became

always the male God --the Father in Heaven! .[Ref: Merlin Stone,..]

Add to this the repeated statements that women are filthy, tricky,

untrustworthy and so on --- that the sublime aspects --the supernal

attitude for Goddess Worship --was lost almost completely in the western

traditions.

[There were some flickers/remnants of Goddess Worship in Celtic ,Druid

and other cultures.The witchcraft practitioners and the Wicca traditons

retained them in wraps--as they could not practise openly their forms of

worship. [ref: A brief history of Secret Societies..David Barrett

(Carroll and Graf, NY)]]

The Roman Catholic Church,while saying 'no' to female priests, has

venerated Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus , and women saints down the

ages---they invoke these saints to intercede with God on behalf of their

church members..

In modern times, mainly in the latter half of 20th Century, things took

a turn--that is after WWII, when women began to work in factories and in

office firms. Women openly fought for their rights! Laws had to be

changed;women struggled to get votes in public elections.[At this time of

N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 5
writing,a few days ago, the US President Barack Obama signed the bill

ensuring 'equal pay for for equal work' including women: ---that is-- in

Feb 2009!.]

Meanwhile , women activists, labelled 'feminists', like Gloria Steinem

and Betty Friedan raised their battle cries and flags [with amusing

rebelious actions like bra burning] and won a respectable place for women

in societies.

At about this time, many female ministers were installed in Churches.

Goddess worship took an upswing....Several women ministries became

popular and influential both within and without the main stream

churches;The New Age groups spawned hundreds of books [ written by:

Louise Hay,Carollyn Myss, Catherine Ponder,Marrianne Williamson,Joyce

Myer,Rasa van werden,Joan Borysenko...the list is long...] extolling the

'feminine mystique ', 'the divine feminine'of women's body and mind and

leading to gradual ,reluctant acceptance of female God in parts of

western society.

The Buddhist influence with their stream of Dharma teachers in the West

-- is also considerable in highlighting the female God worship as

Compassionate Mother and protector destroying evil persons and spirits.

.Incidentally this form of Buddhism, like Buddhism itself, is derived

largely from India and modified from Hinduism down the ages from 6th

century BC to nearly 10 th century AD {CE} when Buddhism largely

disappeared from India,the land of its birth.During this long period,

Buddhism had spread to China,South Asia,Japan and Tibet, with Indian

monks preaching in all these places..The forms of worship of female

goddesses in Mahayana Buddhism and the worship of Kuan Yin in China and
elsewhere are largely resemblances of Hindu Goddess worship.The influence

of Buddhism, in the form of worship and rituals ,besides meditational

aspects, towards Goddess worship is yet to be studied in depth in the

west.

Goddess Worship In India

As a Hindu, born and brought up in India, the worship of Mother

Goddess comes to me in a natural way..The worship of your physical mother

comes first.The most common chant among Hindus is:

"Bow to the deity in your mother;

Bow to the deity in your father;

Bow to the deity in your teacher;

Bow to the deity in the guest; (" at your doorstep,seeking alms or

rest}"

{ "Mathru devo bhava;Pithru devo bhava;Acharya devo bhava; Adhiti devo

bhava."}

There is a subtle logic and meaning in this chant: Your mother points

to your father .(Who else can?!) Your father takes you to the teacher

[guru or acharya ]-- in modern context ,puts you to school) and the

teacher shows you to respect the stranger and the destitute-- that is,

the world at large..}

The most important feature of Goddess Worship in the Hindu tradition is

the unbroken continuation of this worship right from Vedic times.In fact

this article outlines this tradition as it was practised and as it is

practised today in India .First let us consider the temples for

Goddesses,most of them more than thousand years old in India.

Temples for Goddesses

N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 7
Hundreds of temples have been built with altars for Goddesses where the

devotees worship daily. We shall metion the most popular ones. The three

great temples at Benaras (Varanasi,UP), Kanchipuram(Tamil Nadu) and

Madurai(Tamil Nadu) devoted to the Mother Goddesses, named

Visalakshi,Kamakshi and Meenakshi respectively , attract millions of

pilgrims every year.There are songs and hymns in their praise sung by

many poet-saints.

Several great temples consecrated by Acharyas abound --the Mookambika

temple in Kerala and the Kamakhya temple in Assam ---both venerated by

Adi Shankara [788-820 AD] are major pilgrim centres for all Hindus from

all parts of India. The Sharada temple in Shringeri ,one of the Shankara

seat of learning [Shanakara Mutt],is popular.The Vaishnavo Devi temple in

the snow-clad foothills of the Himalayas, open only in certain months,is

a place of pligrimage for millions every year..

What is more,the goddess worship is carried on at most homes, with small

niche-altars or family shrines every day.

The gorgeous festival of nine nights [nava-rathri]devoted to

Durga,Saraswathi and Lakshmi , the goddesses of protection,knowledge and

prosperity , is celebrated in many parts of India with pomp and

pageantry.This series of nine nights of worship is concluded with Durga

Pooja in Bengal and Vijayadasami [tenth day of Victory] with feasting.

With the various viscissitudes in the long ,tortuous history of

India,with mongols and turks invading from central asia, desecrating many

temples in their wake,with the intrusion of the western powers colonising

India {the Portuguese,the Dutch, the French and the British},with all

these disturbances in the society, the tradition of goddess worship has

gone on with exactly the same routine,the same rituals and the same

liturgy for almost 3000 .The Hindus still chant the same Gayatri

mantra,the recite the same Devi Mahatmayam and offer the same Sri Chakra

pooja for all these years.

Modes of worship
WE shall describe in the subsequent sections the different forms of

Goddess or Devi worship {called Upasana} by the Hindus,their basis ,the

philosophical underpinning and the emotional attunement that goes with

them ..To make the reading less heavy with philosophy, the Vedantic

concepts are briefly touched upon.Our focus will be more on the forms and

devotional practice of worship.For philosophical background ,the

following references may be consulted: [Sw. Prabhavananda, Sw.Sivananda }

A Bit of History

The Upasana or worship through hymns and rituals,especially sacrifices ,

were the most powerful means in the Vedic times.The female deites were

invoked and propitiated with offerings [usually with ghee or clarified

butter, sometimes with animals] at fire altars.The forms were

representations for female deities in rivers and in the dawn [ushas]and

the dusk [sandhya].The Saraswathi river, now gone underground or dried up

,was a favorite Goddess in the Vedic literature.

Linguists and indologists like Max Mueller, Paul Deussen and others

have studied in depth the forms of the Upasanas. [ref: Prabhavananda,Max

Mueller, S. Radhakrishnan, Sri Aurobindo].The rivers were taken as female

deites;even mantras chanted were of feminine gender and were sacred.The

concept of sacredness of female form can be seen in almost every piece of

N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 9
poem of that period.The female deity was often pictured as virgin bride

decked for wedding.!

Next we consider the Epic and the Puranic period when mythological

legends were developed and written down---roughly between 3rd century BC

and 11th century AD [CE].Several legends relating to the goddessses can

be found in the Puranas,the main ones being Vishnu Purana and Shiva

Purana and Skanda Purana and the lengthy, Srimad Bhagavatam..

The famous story of the battle between the Devas or heavenly beings,

presided by Indra and the Asuras or demons ,when they churned the milk

ocean for getting nectar {Amrit} is fascinating.They used a mountain as

the churning rod, pivoted on a turtle ,with a serpent as the rope wound

around the slope of the mountain.When the churning started, poisonous

vapours emanated and poisons spurted out.Then the devas died one by

one.Dhanvantari came up with the medicine...Finally Goddess Lakshmi, in

the form of Mohini , emerged from the ocean with a golden pot of nectar

or Amrit and she is called Amrita-varshini.Thus the role of Goddesses is

told in an engaging manner.

In the main ,three major goddesses became important, as consorts of

the Gods of (Hindu) Trinity--Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva --the creater, the

protector and the destroyer. The consort of Brahma is Saraswathi,the

Goddess of learning and wisdom;the consort of Vishnu is Lakshmi or Sri

,the Goddess of prosperity and bliss; the consort of Shiva is

Parvathi,Goddess of asceticism and spirituality, like Shiva himself.The

stories of the marriage of these Goddesses to their husbands are told

with moral overtones.. Parvathi,for instance, did penance to seek the

hand of Shiva,the ascetic yogi in the Himalayas.Her father was

infuriated. Lord Vishnu had to intercede and offer Parvathi,his sister,

in a marriage ceremony to Lord Shiva...While the trinity are considered

as three aspects of the Supreme Being,they had their individual

personalities too. What is more surprising is this fact..the worship of

Brahma almost disappeared from India;there are perhaps only a few temples

dedicated to Brahma ,but his consort Saraswathi is worshipped everywhere

in numerous temples and homes.

These puranic stories ,told and retold many times in various

languages of India, form the theme for discussion and worship of the

various goddesses.The standard works of Joseph Campbell contain many of

these stories in a condensed from for English readers.{ref: Mythology by

Joseph Campbell---- ]These stories were also recited in the form of

verses and poems by puranic story tellers attached to Mutts or itenerant

preachers who move from village to village or town to town.[The tradition

of 'Katha Kalaksheba' with music played on a few instruments

[drum,ektara(single-stringed instrument),cymbols] and some gestures by

the story teller in cool evenings in the village commons used to attract

the rustic crowds.This tradition of kalakshebam has almost disappeared.]

The worship of Shakti or Kali as such appeared a little later. Shakti is

the power behind the creation and the operation of the Universe.In some

sense,She is an independent executor of heavenly dispensation.In some

traditions,Shiva is the supreme ;Shiva is the policy maker,while Shakti

or Parvathy in this role is the executor...like the legislative branch

and the executive branch in most democratic governments.Then there were

other synthetic approaches, in which Shiva has two parts split in the
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 11
middle of his person.He is half female,half male.;the executive part of

Shakti is part and parcel of his body...this is the iconographic image of

'Ardha-nari-eswara' of Siva. [half-female deity].

The power of the great Shakti or Power and Kali is again spoken in

terms of three forms of power: power of intention or desire or will

power:[iccha shakti], power of action [kriya shakti] and power of

knowledge [Jnana] . This division is important,for any great event to

take place [whether building a city ] or destroying or burning a city to

ashes, Shakti has to take three steps: the will to do that; the means of

doing and the action as such.

The Goddess Kali ,of course, the compassionate Mother,protects the devout

and the weak, but destroys the wicked either singly or in groups.She can

destroy a whole city of wrong-doers.This apsect of female deity is

gruesome in icons, with tongue lashing out,with blood on her person,with

a garland of skulls and trishul [ three -pronged spear in hand]..Such

deities are worshipped because the devout becomes bold to face the rogues

in the society,invoking the Goddess, and then undertake the righteous

acts....the worshippers of Shakti form the sect of Saktas,but worship of

Mother Kali is not limited to that sect alone.[This has taken very

vicious turns sometimes---even those who wish to commit political

assasinations in India, worship Kali before embarking on their mission.N

V .Godse ,who shot Mahatma Gandhi during a prayer meeting in

Delhi,worshipped Mother Kali before making his trip from Pune to

Delhi.!][Ref: Gandhi, by Wolpert.]

The image of Kali at Dakshineshwar near Kolkotha and a form of chakra

But there is the benign aspect of Kali ,the Mother, who could respond to

the cries of the devout and transform an ordinary, humble devotee into a

saint.Such is the life of Sri Ramakrishna, in whose name the monastic

order [Sri Ramakrishna Mission] and Vedanta societies were founded in the

late 19th century by his chief disciple -- Swami Vivekananda.Sri

N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 13
Ramakrishna was in 'speaking terms' in trance-like state with Mother

Kali.He was the priest of a small temple of Kali in Dakshineswar,near

Kolkotha[Calcutta] , built by a rich widow, Rani Rasmani, who was herself

a woman of lowly caste.Ramakrishna, a pious brahmin ,though reluctantly

at first,ended up as the official priest of this temple.His biography is

so well-known that I need not repeat here.[ref: given below].It was

Roamain Rolland's book that popularised the name of Sri Ramakrishna in

the west.

In a sense ,this article originated in ain the thought that the worship

of Hindu Goddesses must be told because such a worship can produce

saints of the order of Sri Ramakrishna in recent times ---a life that was

minutely recorded by his well-educated young disciples of Calcutta

.[Calcutta or Kolkotha was no mean medieval town ,but the foremost city

and capital of British India at that time.]

One of the benign aspect is the Goddess as Annapurni,provider of food

for her devotees--the aspect worshipped in the Benaras temple.She gave

food to the children of Harischandra who had sold his wife and property

to keep his promise---a test by Shiva.When the children cried for

food,Harischandra prayed to the Divine Mother Annapurni who fed them.

The Goddesses of the Epic and Puranic period

The two epics [itihasas] of the Hindus are the Ramayana and the

Mahabharata.

The Ramayana or the story of Lord Rama is the earlier one.The Hero, Rama

was a prince of Ayodhya, left the right to rule his kingdom to fulfill a
promise made by his father King Dasaratha to his step mother Kaikeyi

[Caucasian or a Russian princess] and left for forest with his wife Sita

and his younger brother Lakshman for fourteen years.Rama represents

righteousness and great endurance.

The story of Rama is told in almost all Indian languages and local

dialects.Sita is the embodiment of virtue or chastity and fortitude.She

is worshipped as the Divine Mother.She was found in the garden by King

Janaka and brought up by him.She has been the ideal for all Hindu women

down the ages.Thousands of temples were built for Rama and Sita

throughout India and in south east asian countries too, that can be found

even today.Sita is pictured as Earth -Goddess [Bhu-mata or Bhumi

Devi].Since Rama is considered as one of the ten incarnations [ 'dasa

avatars' ]of Lord Vishnu, Sita is the incarnation of Sri or Lakshmi,the

consort of Vishnu.The story of her wedding to Lord Rama {'Sita Kalyanam'}

is a story of perennial interest to Hindu devotees.

Now to the Mahabharata.This is a long story of certain heroes and the

family fueds of two families of cousins ,the Pandavas [the five

brothers]and the Kauravas, over the kingdom of Hastinapur,near the modern

capital,Delhi.Pandavas and Kauravas fought an epic battle in

Kurukshetra,near New Delhi..The wicked Kauravas were destroyed,along with

their gurus or preceptors and advisors.The stories in this epic are

fascinating,much like a modern novel,with intrigue and deceit.Since this

story took place in essential parts as given by the writers [Vyasa or

others in later times], we may learn much about that period in Indian

history.Most of the characters were not noble or righteous.But the

epic,as all epics, brings out several moral and ethical lessons for us
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 15
through great heroes. .Gambling is denounced as the worst vice which

lead to the down fall of Pandavas and Kauravas..

Mahabharata chronicles the lives of several noble heros and

heroines.Draupati or Panchali [wife of the five brothers,Pandavas]was a

great heroine..But many of these heroes and heroines are not worshipped

as gods and goddesses.{Draupati is still worshipped by some hill tribes.

Polyandry was practised in India and might be common among certain hill

tribes even today.}

The greatest hero of this epic is Lord Krishna.['Krishna' means

'alluring'.] Krishna serves as the counsellor for the Pandavas and

supports them with his divine powers.[The historical period of

Mahabharata is roughly about 3000 BCE ,according to archaelogical

finds,conducted in Dwaraka where Krishna ruled ,near the Kutch region in

the state of Gujarat...]

Lord Krishna's mischievous pranks while he was a mere boy in Vridhavan

[near Mathura,about 100 kms from Delhi] in Brij country is well known.He

attracted lot of young damsels,cow-herdesses or milk-maids, 'Gopis' of

his town.[Krishna was only nine years old at that time and therefore

these innocent pranks should not be misconstrued for carnal pleasures,as

often done by ill-informed western and Indian writers, not familiar with

this lore.].

The dark complexioned Krishna exhibited many divine,supernatural powers

at a tender age,killing demonic persons and protecting the pastoral

community of Brij. The love of the Gopis for Krishna stemmed from their

adoration of his divine qualities.Many became his devotees -- as 'lovers'

in the devotional sense.Among them Radha was the most prominent.Radha

came to be deified in later ages. She is worshipped as a goddess in many

temples ,along with Krishna.Radha-Krishna is a familiar male name among

Hindus;Radharani occupies a special place for veneration. [The

Mahabharata contains the story of Krishna's wedding to two wives--Rukmini

and Satyabhama; but strange as it may appear,these two heroines are not

venerated as much as Radha,the eternal lady-love of

Krishna.]{Incidentally, the Mahabharata includes the long dialogue

between Lord Krishna and Arjuna before the battle of Mahabharata begins--

the "Song Celestial" or the Bhagavad Gita.The Gita contains much

philosophical and esoteric teachings of the Hindus--culled from the

Upanishads,but goes beyond the Upanishads too.. (See ref given below)

The story of Krishna is fully told in enormous detail in the longest

purana,Srimad Bhagavatam.This is the sacred puran or mythological legend

for all Vishnu worshippers or Vaishnavites.

It can be noted that we derive two great goddesses from the epics---Sita

(a representation of Lakshmi and Bhu devi of Lord Vishnu] and Radha.Both

of them are worshipped in many temples today,along with their

husbands.While Sita is the ideal of virtue and chastity and endurance,

Radha is the fun-loving innocent woman ,who had rejected carnal love and

mundane life,to sport with the Divine.

Formal Worship Of Devi {Devi Upasana}

Formal worship of devi or Goddess,whether Parvati or Durga or Kali or

Lakshmi , in many forms, at home or in temples, follows certain

procedures .The worship is mostly on fridays and on full-moon days, in

the evening.Devi Upasana can be an elaborate ritual.

N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 17
The devotee [mostly women in India]takes bath,wears fresh,clean clothes

and wears caste marks and starts the worship.She prepares the altar with

oil lamps ,incense sticks,flowers, turmeric powder and red ochre or kum-

kum or saffron colored powder...then she offers water,fruits and food

items...There is an elaborate procedure for offering 16 items [shodasa ]

ending with betel leaves or pan as we do for guests at home.

Chanting of mantras. There are specific mantras for each goddess.But

many prefer to chant Gayatri mantra ,which is usually dedicated to the

Sun Lord but can be ascribed to any "Effulgent Being" or self-luminous

Goddess.

The liturgy for Devi Upasana includes two important scriptures:

Devi Mahatmyam --also called Chandi-- a long poem [700 verses]

extolling the exploits of Devi who destroys many demonic persons or

asuras and establishes her rule,to protect the devotees and shower

prosperity and grace upon them.This is chanted in a musical tone,with

proper intonation.. Some may offer oblations to a fire altar ,called

Chandi Homa.Devi Bhagavatam is another scripture widely recited along

with Devi Mahatmyam.

{ Devi Mahatmyam or glory of Devi or goddess was perhaps written in 5th

century,as part of the Markandeya Purana.--attributed to Sage Markandeya

Rishi.It desribes the exploits against demonic forces and the most

important event is the slaying of Mahishasura--the mighty Buffalo

demon.There are three chapters with three major episodes.It is defintely

a later scripture compared to Mahabharata and the Krishna lore.

Some scholars are of the opinion that it is the result of synthesis of

female Goddess worship over several thousand years,independent of male

God or worship of the trinity-Brahma,Vishnu and Shiva....Some would

interpret this form as the influence of Buddhist tantric practices.These

are academic exercises to bring in some historical perspective to these

forms of worship.For a devout person, however,worship of Mother Goddess

is significant ,regardless of historical predicaments.]

Lalita Sahasranama--'the thousand names of Goddess Lalita', the benign

form of Devi,somewhat similar to Goddess Lakshmi...which is chanted as a

stuti or praise of the godesses.[Sahasra means a thousand; it can mean

in many texts "infinite 'too.] Many women chant this Sahasranama on

Fridays or other days without performing elaborate pooja---just take

bath,wear fresh clothes and light a lamp,offer flowers and begin

chanting.

This poetic chant parallels Vishnu Saharanama ['the thousand names of

Vishnu'].Both are ancient scriptures whose authors are not known---may be

attributed to Vyasa again.!.Adi Shanakara, the great Acharya (788-820 AD

or CE) preceptor and philosopher, wrote commentaries on both these 1000-

names texts.]

The formal worship would end with the Arati or waving of light with

camphor.The devotees gathered are offered a prasad,a sacrament-- sacred

gift from goddess---some food item like sugar candy, fruit or sweet

pudding.]

Village goddesses and goddesses to ward off diseases.

Since ancient times small temples were dedicated to village

goddesses..these goddesses protected the village from vandals;they were

propiated to ward off plagues and pestilence,to heal many diseases

,including small pox and eye diseases.The devotees took vows of fasting
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 19
and paid their vows in terms of metallic pieces resembling the body parts

of the Devi {goddesses}, in copper,silver or gold ,parts healed by her

and left the pieces in the local temple.Animal sacrifices to these

deities were common and continues in Kamakhya temple too [near Guwahati

,in Assam]and in several village temples.. Such practices continue in

India even today, though officially banned in many states..[Some priests

would write a mantra or symbol in a piece of copper sheet and make a

talisman which can be worn around the neck.]

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Sri Chakra Worship

This form of worship uses a yantra,('yantra' means an instrument) which

is a copper plate in the form of a square.{I find plastic ones too in the

shops--avoid them}.The geometric figure inscribed on the plate is a

diagram with several triangles and squares.At the outer corners ,a petal

may be drawn.A syllable of a mantra is written in each ,taking

clockwise,the whole mantra.Was this devised to remember the mantra for

easy chanting and for counting the number of times it is chanted.?

In the centre, a conical or pyramid like object is kept--this is called

'Meru' or mountain.Meru represents the abode of Lord Shiva,located in the

Himalayas,the Golden Meru mountain in the Mythical Kailash.{Does this

represent Mount Kailash near Leh symbolically?].The meru may be made of

copper,silver or gold.

The devotees sit around the plate kept on the floor or a small table and

offer kum-kum for chanting of each mantra once.This goes on.In simpler

cases, a small mound of turmeric is made--- instead of Meru, in many

homes.

There are other connotations with this Sri Chakra upasana.The yantra may

have concentric circles and squares.These are called enclosures;usually

'nava-avarana' or nine enclosures [nine corridors or inscribed

squares]are depicted.[ The yantra also resembles a fort with nine

parikramas or corridors surrounding the central courtyard and the

sanctum-sanctorum or inner temple.] These enclosures are like nine-doors

through which our mind passes---nine mental states or levels of

consciousness.

The esoteric meaning of these cannot be dealt here in this general

article. Great composers,like Muthuswami Dikshitar [One of the Musical

Trinity in -Carnatic (Southern classical)music]composed hymns which

could take you through these states...The Yantra or Chakra can have many

other features---too numerous to mention here...Again there are nearly 40

types of yantra figures available in religious articles store in

India,for different purposes.

Sri Chakra in temples

Great saints installed Sri Chakra in Goddess temples in another way.The

chakra is engraved permanently on a stone cemented on the floor in a

special hall or sabha in front of Devi's idol or image.Upasana is done

N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 21
there.Such a temple is often called "Sakti peetam ' or seat of Sakti, a

pilgrimage centre.Shringeri Sharada peetam,the seat of Sankara matam or

Mutt ,one of the four-- supposedly installed by Adi Shankara [in

Karnataka, about 200 miles from Bangalore towards the west coast near

Mangalore]is one such peetam.You can see the Sri Chakra stone engraved

there..(In these commercial days, many self-styled yogis and gurus have

'created ' shakti peetams to their liking and for getting popularity---a

travesty of true traditions.!)

Incidentally, it can be mentioned that Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi built a

temple for his mother {Mathrubhuteswara] in his asramam in Thirvannamalai

where formal worship and upasana are done as Sri Vidya upasana.

Kundalini yoga This can be practised separately or as a conjoint practice

of Sri Chakra Upasana. In this , the Shakti or superior energy, lying

dormant in muladhara chakra [at the bottom of the spine]is made to rise

through the spinal column {sushumna nadi or canal} like a silvery

stream,activating the various chakras or energy nodes in its wake:

[svadhisthana (genital)--> manipura (naval)-->anahata(heart)--> visuddhi

(throat)-->ajna (between eye brows or the third eye--> finally ending in

the 'thousand petalled' Sahasrara chakra at the crown of the head.).This

rise of Kundalini is pictured as the goddess making her journey towards

Her Lord Siva and merge with him in the crown chakra.

Much confusion and misrepresentation exist in the literature about

Kundalini yoga---in theory and in practice.John Woodroffe {Arthur Avalon}

did much early work and wrote extensively,drawing from later-day buddhist

texts.[See the ref below].In the present literature ,much is written

without proper perspective or understanding..[This is a field for modern

day half-baked yogis to fool the gullible, especially in the West..I

shall not go deeper into this topic as it forms a separate study.]

Suffice to say that Sri Chakra upasana is a valid means of raising the

Kundalini shakti. The Shaktipat is derived from such practices, much

distorted by various groups in India,claiming special lineage and powers

to initiate the gullible.!.

Rites of Passage: Till recently,one would not begin Sri Chakra Upasana

without formal initiation or rite of passage.[Things have changed.One

arrives in a car,goes straight to a hall,sit around the Chakra and start

chanting.!Every ritual is modifed to suit for one's convenience and for

extracting money that is...!] A guru would formally initiate you with

the bija mantra [root or seed mantra] after 40 days of strict

observances--restricted food [avoidng salt and spices,etc which increase

the passions] and fasting on certain days,one meal a day,chanting certain

number of times some specified mantra or Gayatri, bath atleast twice a

day, days of non-speaking or mouna, strict celebacy and so on.After such

a rigorous regimen for forty days,the guru will let you join in this

Upasana.I have not done that,but I have seen some persons go through such

rigor in India in my school days--more than 50 years ago...Nowadays even

acharyas of mathas or mutts do not observe these with any rigor,giving

lot of excuses.!.].[Some of the earlier Sankarachariars, especially in

Shringeri peetam, did follow such Sri Chakra upasana.]

These rites of passage are important so that one's mind is purified to a

large extent.Then the Upasana would have a great merit.If a person goes

through these rites of passage,there will be a calmness and effulgence in

the face [tejas] which will be noticed and unmistakebale to you.!I have

been blessed/previleged to see a few faces like that!]

N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 23
To make the young worshipper or Upasaka serious,it is often told that

Easwari or Devi would punish you if you transgress these injunctions of

the guru...By and large ,such practices have largely disapppeared even in

India.Sri Chakra Upasana has become a show or ordinary ritual,with

persons talking and chit-chatting in between...No doubt ,these Upasanas

rarely bear fruit.

Tantric Worship
Tantric forms of worship are alternative to Vedantic or Mantra-based

worship and meditations..Thus we talk of 'mantra-tantra'

procedures.Tantra is based on more physical (tan) means of

worship.Goddess worship with Kali as the Goddess of Death and as a

Warrior-princess in a battlefield--is the main plank in Tantric worship.

A tantra adept or tantrik holds two views:1 Life and death are two sides

of the same coin.Therefore one should learn to meditate in burial

grounds,with ash covering the body,wearing skull garlands and using a

skull as eating bowl and sprinkle blood instead of holy water and

dancing naked..Such practices remove the fear of death. 2. The mental

barrier should be broken between the sacred and the profane, since both

are mental constructs and hence severe limitations.A tantrik feels at

home in filth and putrid material,say blood and menstrual flow of women,

as among the pooja articles.For a tantrik,there is a thin line dividing

the macabre and soothing,the fearsome and pacific events.

There are mainly two traditions : kaula or kula [clannish] which is a

family tradition and less bizarre.This form is more like Sri Chakra
worship ,with Kali image being propitiated.The other is Vamachara,( a

,left handed,southern school) much esoteric, using human body for

worship,including a woman or virgin girl, who is worshipped as a

representation of Kali ...Sacrifices were encouraged by some groups.

Some divide Tantra into three traditions: samayachara,Dakshinachara and

Vamachara.There are various permutations of these three in practice.![The

weird and bizarre methods using meat ,fish, wine and sexual perversions

developed in the later part of Buddhism in India,about 7th to 10th

century AD or CE. in secret covens,much like black magic.This led to

revulsion and suppression of Tantric methods in traditional

societies.Such practices are rarely practised in India ; some hill tribes

may still practise them with their own rituals.]

Many scholars claim that Adi Sankara [788-820 AD] was largely

responsible for ending such practices---giving prominence to worship of

Hindu gods [six of them --Sankara is called 'Shanmatha sthapaka']with

chants of mantras and hymns--that is in the Vedantic way. He also

encouraged Sri Chakra worship or Upasana..Thus the Tantric methods were

despised, went underground, and later by about 10th century, had largely

disppeared from Hindu communities.{They were picked up by the Mahayana

buddhists in several modified forms,like Vajrayana and became popular in

Tibet and elsewhere.]It should be noted that at about the same time,the

devotional path and Bhakti cults became dominant throughout India,with

itenerant saints and ballad singers (like trobodours) singing hymns in

local languages and dialects,emphasizing the practice of temple worship

for Siva and Vishnu and their consorts..The popular ethos of Bhakti cults

swept the land.The tantrik and even the Sri Vidya/Sri Chakra worship took

a back seat.
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 25

Worship of Goddess Lakshmi

Worship of Goddess Lakshmi ['SRI'] for wisdom and prosperity [in the

mundane as well as divine sense] was also extensively developed

especially in the South,when the Devotional movement or Bhakti cults

became important.The seeds were sown by the mystic hymnologists,the 12

Alwars[roughly between 5th and 9th century,the exact times have been

difficult to establish].Lakshmi was always worshipped as a divine consort

of Lord Vishnu,the protector of the Universe.Though she is often pictured

as a lovely maiden standing on a large lotus flower,she is always seated

in the heart of Lord Vishnu,richly decorated with jewels..In fact ,she is

the jewel in the bosom of Lord Vishnu...The Alwars who wrote their hymns

in Tamil language [except one Alwar,Kulasekahara,the others did not know

Sanskrit anyway]always praised Lakshmi for her beauty and calmness,her

grace in bestowing prosperity on the devotees.For them ,Lakshmi is the

intercessor on their behalf to Lord Vishnu to bestow boons and to ward

off problems.This theme of Lakshmi is to be found in almost all poems of

Bhakti cults and the liturgy used in temples, throughout India.

The major thrust ,however, for worship of Lakshmi ,also as her

incarnation as Sita,the consort of Lord Rama ,referred to earlier,came

with the work of Vaishnava saints/philosophers,starting with

Yamunachari,Sadakopan and the great grandson of Yamuna,the illustrious

Sri Ramanuja [1017-1137AD] in the Tamil country..While Yamuna gave the

philosophical framework for the Vaishanava mode of worship, Sadakopan

collected and edited the 4000 verses of the Alwars,which were scattered

in temple towns of Tamil Nadu.Soon the 4000 verses became the sacred

canons of Vaishnavas,written fully in Tamil,as alternative text to the

vedas in Sanskrit.In fact the 'Divya Prabandham' Divine Poems.,the

compilation of 4000 verses,is reckoned as 'the Tamil Veda'.

Sri Ramanuja who had a long ministry for nearly 100 years,lived for

the most part in the temple town of Sri Rangam,the seat of Vaishnava

tradition.

[Sri Rangam is situated at a distance of 4 miles from the

industrial/religious city of Trichy in Tamil Nadu.This town has the

largest active temple complex in the whole world,about 150 acres area

with seven concentric corridors.Worship goes on in the Sri Ranganatha

N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 27
temple.The Angwar Wat complex in Cambodia is larger in area but it is

only a passive site without any worship now..a place of archeological

interest.The UN heritage classification has stated that Sri Rangam

temple is the largest temple complex in the world.](This temple complex

was plundered and partially destroyed by the Muslim commander Malik Kafur

of Allauddin Khilji,the Delhi Sultan in the year 1327AD. He bolted away

with much jewelry,as he did from other famous temples in South India.The

temple was renovated later by Vijayanagara Kings.)

The Vaishanva tradition ,it must be added ,is much older than the time of

Yamuna,but it is this lineage of three acharyas who developed the

tradition on firm footing and spread it across the nation.

Sri Ramanuja travelled across the nation of India,went to Kashmir Vishnu

monasteries and studied their texts too. His greatest contribution is the

writing of "Sri Bhashyam" , a commentary on Brhama Sutras, with a

philosophical interpretation of Vishnu worship with importance to 'Sri'

,hence the name "Sri Bhashyam'. Bhrama Sutras, in turn, interpret the

Vedas and the Upanishad statements for a particular philosophic content.

After this,Goddess Worship in the form of Lakshmi was firmly established

in all Vishnu temples.

The importance of Sri Ramanuja's work lies in other great achievements of

this pontiff..He was a great organiser.He established formal temple

worship in all Vishnu temples,totalling 108 divya desams,sacred places,

throughout the country.He formalised the temple rituals and annual

festivals to be conducted.What is more, he positioned a resident monk

,called a 'Jeeyar',trained in the tradition to oversee the conduct of

temple routines. This tradition is continued even today.Sri Ramanuja

travelled widely in India and spread the Vaishnava cults and temples in

Gujarat,UP and in Karnataka,near Mysore where he was exiled for nearly 12

years.He was also a social reformer,giving greater rights to

untouchables.With his enormous contributions to the cause of Vishnu

worship,the worship of the Goddess Lakshmi had become most widely

prevalent to this day.In every Vishnu temple ,you will find a separate

altar for Lakshmi Devi which should be worshipped first before offering

worship for the Vishnu.

The worship of Bhudevi [the earth goddess,often taken as Goddess Sita]

and the Nila devi as devi of cowherdess, Radha ,is also part of the most

Vishnu temples.The images of the two goddesses are usually kept in the

same altar with Lord Vishnu.The worship of Andal or Godha who was a woman

saint , but later merged with the Lord,[one of the twelve Alwars]came

about in 8th century.Like Meerabai,the Rajasthani princess of Mewar,Andal

was devoted to the Lord and wanted to marry only Lord Ranganatha.Her

father, Peria Alwar,another Alwar,with divine inspiration in a dream,

took the young girl to the Sri Rangam temple where she merged with the

Lord,that is ,disappeared as a blaze of light.!There are temples or

altars for Andal who is also considered as an incarnation of Lakshmi.

Following Sri Ramanuja,other great Acharyas emerged a few centuries

later...Vallabha[1479-1531AD] and Nimbarka [13th century] interpreted the

Bhakti modes with different points of emphasis.Vallabha emphasized love

for Krishna and Radha in very intimate terms of conjugal love.There are

numerous sects in UP,Gujarat and elsewhere where worship of Radha takes

even precedence over that of Krishna.

Then came Chaitanya Mahaprabhu of Bengal[1486-1534] who later became the

pontiff for the Puri temple in Orissa.His devotional fervour, again based
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 29
on Krishna worship,strengthened worship of Radha as well.The present day

Hare Krishna [ISKCON] group,followers of Prabhupada,derive their lineage

from Sri Chaitanya and the Goswamisof Vrindhavan,near Delhi.They are

devoted toworship of Radharani, as the goddess of choice.

Contact me: You can contact me at: nksrinivasan@hotmail com

Also visit my website: www.freewebs.com/nksrinivasan for more

informationa on the web-page on "Goddess Worship"

Selected References
1 Swami Prabhavananda --- Spritual Heritage of India [General survey]

2 Swami Nikhilananda -- Life of Sri Ramakrishna

3 Romain Rolland --Life of Ramakrishna

4 A L Basham --The wonder that was India..[general historical

perspective]

5 N K Srinivasan --The Essence of Bhagavad Gita --Pustak Mahal,New

Delhi[brief introduction]

6 N K Srinivasan --Fruitful Meditation--Pustak Mahal ,New Delhi [chapter

on Chakras]

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7 David Kinsley -- The Hindu Goddesses--UC-Berkeley Press

8 Swami Sivananda --Devi Mahatmyam-- Divine Life Society -Rishikesh

9 Sister Nivedita (Margaret Noble) Kali-the Mother --RK Mission,Chennai

10 Thomas Coburn--Encountering the Goddess-translations of Devi

Mahatmyam --State Univ of New York-Albany

11 Sarah Caldwell--Oh,Terryfying Mother --Oxford Univ Press-New Delhi

12 John Woodroffe--[Arthur Avalon] -Introduction to Tantra.;also sakti

and shakta -- Ganesh pub,Chennai

13 John Hawley et al --Devi-Goddesses of India --UC Berkeley Press [a

collection of essays for western readers/academics]

14 Elizabeth Harding--Kali --Motilal Banarasidass, India (also Nicolas-

Hays Pub)

15 Lex Hixon - Coming Home-the experience of enlightenment--Larson

Publications

16 Lex Hixon --Visions of the Goddess and Tantric hymns---Quest Books

17 Lex Hixon- Great Swan--Meetings with Ramakrishna---Larson Publications

18 Rachel Fell McDermott--Singing to the Goddess--Poems to Kali and Uma

from Bengal--Oxford U P.

19 Loriliali Biernacki---Renowned Goddess of Desire--Oxforrd U P. (2007)

-------Sarva Jana Sukhino Bhavantu!

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[Revised : 12th Feb 2009]