The book Matrika is a journey for wanderers through the paths of artistry, imagination, intuition, religious belief, and scholasticism of the Indian mind. This book focuses on the imagery related to the cult of fertility, and on the Goddesses honoured as the Mother. This book is equally informative for the teachers, researchers, students, and connoisseurs of religious and art history.
Veneration of the Mother, the Sakti who creates, nurtures the good and destroys the evil. From time immemorial humankind has worshipped the Mother. The Matrka is the energy who gives birth and leads us towards progeny. She overwhelms us with her power of affection and with the eternal bliss of good fortune.
The cult of the Mother Goddess began in the very early period in the Indian scenario. The archaeological remains found in the Indus Valley Civilization show the prevalence of fertility cults, and numerous depictions of female figures on seals and figurines have been found here. Marshall remarks, "She is the Mother or Great Mother and prototype of the power (prakti) which developed into that of Sakti." (Mahenjodaro and the Indus Civilization, Vol.1, p.63) Mackay has opined that Mother Goddesses were kept in every house in the ancient Indus cities, probably in a recess or on a bracket on the wall. (Early Indus Civilizations, p.54). The ringstones and phallic symbols discovered in Indus sites indicate that the power of fertility was also worshipped in aniconic forms. The tradition of veneration goes on.
In Vedic literature, names and descriptions of a few Goddesses can be found, but these are more or less abstract characters. The concept of a beautiful Goddess of abundance and fortune and of Mother Nature was present in the mind of the Aryans. In the Rig Veda, she is Purandhi, the Goddess of abundance and fortune; she is Dhisana, Heaven, Air, and Earth; she is Vak, the Goddess of Utterance, or the river Goddess Sarasvati on whose bank the art of Speech or hymnist culture of the Rig Veda originated. In the Rig Veda and Atharva Veda, she is Aditi, the divine mother of the universal nature. In the Rig Veda, she is the Usas, the Goddess of Dawn, dressed in vermilion red like a graceful dancer; she is beautiful and rich, Raka and Sinivali, connected with different phases of the Moon. In the hymns of the Atharva Veda, Sinivali is imagined as broad-hipped, fair-armed and fair-fingered. Sri is the Goddess of plenty and is imagined as beautiful.
Later, this power of imagination took a concrete shape. In the course of time, abstraction was gradually giving way to personification or an anthropomorphic form of the Goddess.
Attributes and accessories were gradually connected with her in later times. For example, Svetapadmavasini Srilakymi was imagined and became connected with the lotus in Brahmanical literature. In the Brahmanical pantheon, the Supreme Mother took three emanated principal forms, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasarasvati, as have been mentioned in the Des Imahatmya of Markandeya Purana.
Devas, or divine female forms with specific attires, attributes, mounts, and accessories, emerged, and some were carried over from earlier traditions. As for example, the portrayal of the nude Mother Goddess from Indus seals, standing with her legs apart and with tendrils issuing from her womb, associates her with vegetation, and this concept blossomed in the Brahmanical Devi Sakambhari, the Goddess of vegetation. Later, Devi became Annapurna, the Goddess who blesses with a full bowl of rice; hence the power of feeding living creatures. In an iconic representation of Annapurna, her right hand is in the gesture of blessing, and Shiva stands near her with a vessel to get the food. The same concept is attributed to Devi Lakshmi, who blesses with richness and abundance. In the Indian scenario, the brides are blessed to be a Lakshmi in their in-laws' household, and it is desired from her that she should have the capacity to feed and satisfy all. The characteristic features of age-old gramadevis, i.e., village Goddesses and deities of tribal and folk traditions, were absorbed into Brahmanism with adoration, and their features were merged into the Brahmanical concept of the Goddess. As may be quoted from J.N. Banerjea, "She is also described as Aparna (not even covered with a leaf garment, 'nude'), Nagna-Sabari (the naked Sabara woman), and Parna-Sabari (the leaf-clad Sahara woman)." (Development of Hindu Iconography, p.492)
In literature, the Goddess is described as the great savior from pains and terrors like epidemics, captivity, wilderness, drowning, harassment, dense forests, robbers, and others. In iconographical features, she holds her hand in abhaya mudra, the gesture of giving assurance of protection. In other cases, she also holds a weapon in the gesture of fighting the Asura, the personified terror and evil. Her nature is ambiguous, winningand destructive. She is Candi who fights the evil, destroys the evil, and Abhaya who protects her devotee. Imagination, centering this desire for protection, is expressed in the ferocious multi-handed images of Devi Durga, Kali, and Tara. All these efforts resulted in the formation of classical canonical norms for iconography and crystallized into various forms.
Vedas (1265)
Upanishads (527)
Puranas (642)
Ramayana (784)
Mahabharata (389)
Dharmasastras (175)
Goddess (545)
Bhakti (252)
Saints (1902)
Gods (1325)
Shiva (420)
Journal (181)
Fiction (72)
Vedanta (398)
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