Devi: The Goddess

With Shiva and Vishnu, the Goddess is other primary deity in terms of receiving worship.  The Divine Feminine appears in many different manifestations--sometimes as a spouse goddess who is auspicious but subordinate to her husband (thus reflecting on the divine plane the hierarchy that is prescribed as ideal on the human plane), and sometimes independent and powerful.  Here she appears as Parvati in Shiva's embrace.  

Here she appears as Lakshmi, the personification of wealth, prosperity, and good fortune, in close embrace with her husband Vishnu (the king of he universe, wearing the high crown on his head).  Although these divine couples may sometimes spar and quarrel with each other, in the end they are seen not only as loving, but as inseparable (one well-known saying is "Where there is Lakshmi,there also is Narayana.").

The image was sculpted in Khajuraho during the Chandella Dynasty (11th century).  It is now in India's National Museum.  

Whereas spouse goddesses receive worship as members of the divine couple, independent goddesses are worshipped as as manifestations of the Supreme Being.  Here the Goddess is portrayed as a warrior queen, riding a tiger and with Hanuman and Bhairava as her attendants).  The foundational Goddess text, the Devi-mahatmya, describes the Goddess as being created from the combined energy of all the god; as a sign of this she holds all of their weapons (trident, bow, mace, and discus).  The little temple with three lights at top right identifies her Vaishno Devi, temple in Jammu where three natural rock formations are identified as naturally occurring  forms of Lakshmi, Kali, and Saraswati.  The caption say simply "Victory to the Mother!"

The birth of Kali, from the  Devi-Mahatmya.  In the story the Goddess (far left) was about to do battle with a demon army (right), and Kali emerged from the Goddess's forehead as tne personification of her anger.  Kali then destroyed the demon army by stuffing them into her mouth and eating them whole.  This image of Kali--wild hair, black color, and nearly naked (taboo for women) is meant to be a horrific transgressive figure, unlike later versions where she appears in younger form.  Punjab Hills painting, circa 1800; taken from Philip Rawson's The Art of Tantra. 

Here Kali still shows horrific aspects--the necklace of severed heads, and the dismembered figure at far right--but also the boon-granting hand gesture at lower left.  Here she is shown astride Shiva, giving him life and energy (seen through his arousal).  This reflects the notion that the Goddess's energy is essential to all life, and that without her nothing would come into being.  Folk painting, 19th c. Orissa, from Philip Rawson's The Art of Tantra. 

Kali in Indian poster art.  This portrays her in a young and beautiful form, despite  her standard horrific aspects.  This image too shows her treading on Shiva's chest.  According to the story Shiva lay supine on the battlefield as the only way to calm Kali's battle fury--after she stepped on his chest, she got embarrassed and became calm.   

Here the Goddess appears in a small roadside shrine in Hardwar, along with Hanuman (orange and silver), Shiva (black linga and trident) and Ganesh (dark red).  Such "clusterings" are fairly common in small temples, although one deity (in this case, Shiva) is primary.  Note that the "temple" is raised above ground level, creating a difference between ordinary and "sacred" spaced even in a very small area.  This also creates a zone of purity--shoes would be left on the ground.  Photo summer 2002.