In the religious history of India, the worship of Sakti or the following of the Tantric practices have their own importance. The Yoginis are adored as a form of Sakti Kaula worship in the country The females who achieve the divine spiritual knowledge with the following of the Yogic practices are called the Yoginis.
Besicles the Yogirus, several other centres of Sakti worship known as Saktipitha have been mentioned in the Puranas, sume of which give their mumber as 108 от 51. These Saktipithas are scattered throughout the country. With every set of Saktipitha a Bhairava-a form of Siva, was attached for its protection. These Saktipithas are said to have emerged, wherever the parts or the omaments of the body of Satt I fell on earth. Besides the above, there are several other Siddhaptitas of the goddesses, some of which have been included in this work in order to make it more representative.
Both the Vol. III and Vol. IV of the series provide a comprehensive study on the Goddesses in India from the earliest times to the late medieval period, based on the literary as well as the amhaenlogical evidence. Besides the thousand names of the Geddess Bhavtintsahasranama, have also been highlighted in the present Volume in quite a lively manner which will appeal the readers in general as well as those with scholarly aptitude.
Shantilal Nagar, a graduate of the Punjab University, served in the curatorial capacity in the Central Asian Antiquities Muscum. New Delhi, the Archaeological Museum, Nalanda, and Archaeological Section of the Indian Museum, Calcutta for a number of years. He has to his credit the scientifle documentation of over fifty thousand antiquities, in these museums, representing the rich cultural heritage of the country and comprising of sculptures, bronzes, terracottas, beads, scals and sealing, ancient Indian numismatics, wood work, miniatures and paintings, textiles and Pestee collection of gems, ranging from the earbest times to the late medieval period.
He was awarded, in 1987, a fellowship, for his monograph on the Temples of Himachal Pradesh, by the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delht. He has authored more than fifty books. Shantilal Nagar, a graduate of the Punjab University, served in the curatorial capacity in the Central Astan Antiquities Museum, New Delhi, the Archacological Museum. Nalanda, and Archaeological Section of the Indian Museum. Calcutta for a number of years.
He has to his credit the scientific documentation of over fifty thousand antiquities, in these museums, representing the rich cultural heritage of the country and comprising of sculptures, bronzes, terracottas, beads, seals and sealing, ancient Indian numismatics, wood work, miniatures and paintings, textiles and Pearce collection of gems, ranging from the earliest times to the late medieval period. He was awarded, in 1987, a fellowship, for his monograph on the Temples of Himachal Pradesh, by the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi. He has authored more than fifty books.
In our country the tradition of the making of sculptures of the goddesses has been witnessed from the earbest times. The images of these goddesses made during the different periods have their own importance in the sculptural art of India. In the early stages of the cultural history of India, these images were carved by the artists on the basis of their own imagination, and the prevailing traditions, as is noticed in the archaeological remains of the Harappan sites. The same set of attists were responsible for the creation of new trends and traditions in the subsequent period. These traditions massively contributed in the development of Indian iconography.
The entinent scholars during the past have opined on the sculptural art of the country, including Mackey, Sir John Marshal, Cunningham, Smith, Coomaraswamy, Gopinatha Rao, I.N. Banerjea, R.D Banerjea, N.K. Bhattashali, Dr. V.S. Agrawala, De. N.P. Joshi, R.C. Aggarwal, De K.C. Panigrahi, Krsta Deva and several others, from time to time in the past. Many other scholars are working on the subject even today. Presently an attempt has been made to put together the prominent goddesses of the lindu pantheon like Yogeny and those of the Sakripithas together, besides others.
India is a land of religion wherein several deities fuad been in adoration from the time inamorial. While some of them disappeared from the Indian religious scene as rapidly as they had mushroomed while some of them lost their relevance with the passage of time. But still some of them continued to dominate the Indian society, facing many odds, turmoils and stiff resistance from the divergent forces. These deities inclinde gods as well as the goddesses.
In the early Vedic period only the gods like Incha Vartija, Prajapati, Visnu and others dominated the religious thought, though the number of the goddess like Usa, Sarasvati, Vak, Gayatri, who were in adoration, was quite negligible In the Vedic society, however, gods were more popular than the female deities. It was, however, in the Kena Upaniyed that the superiority of the female principle know Uma Hernavati was established and gradually the importance of the goddess came to be recognised.
Thereafter there was no let up in the following of the Mother Goddesses and she became more and more popular with the masses during the period that followed In this connection we have to keep in view the adoration of the Female principle in the Indus valley sites commonly known as Harappan culture, wherein evidence of the adoration of several male and temale deities has been fonticoming.
But the evidence of the presence of the Mother Goddess in such sites has been more widespread than the male deities, Innumerable terracotta figurines of Mother Goddess have been discovered from these sites which stand testimony to be widespread following. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro had been the curly excavated sites of Harappan culture, now in Pakistan, but similar evidence has also emerged from the Harappan sites in the country. This subject has been discussed in detail in Volumes I and II of the series which may please be referred to for further details.
Vedas (1182)
Upanishads (493)
Puranas (624)
Ramayana (741)
Mahabharata (354)
Dharmasastras (165)
Goddess (496)
Bhakti (242)
Saints (1503)
Gods (1290)
Shiva (370)
Journal (187)
Fiction (60)
Vedanta (362)
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