The roots of Shaktism – a Hindu denomination that focuses worship upon Shakti or Devi, the Hindu Divine Mother – penetrate deeply into India's prehistory. The Devi's earliest known appearance in Indian Paleolithic settlements is believed to go back more than 8000 years ago.
Shaktism as it exists today began with the literature of the Shankara Age, further evolved during the formative period of the Hindu epics, reached its full flower during the Khmer period, (1000CE) and continued to expand and develop thereafter. Devi Mahatmya, an important text in Shaktism, was composed around tenth or eleventh century CE. Here, for the first time, "the various mythic, cultic and theological elements relating to diverse female divinities were brought together in what has been called the 'crystallization of the Goddess tradition.'". Other important texts include the Lalita Sahasranama, the Devi Gita, Adi Shankara's Saundaryalahari and the Tantras.
Recent developments related to Shaktism include the emergence of Bharat Mata ("Mother India") symbolism, the increasing visibility of Hindu female saints and gurus, and the prodigious rise of the "new" goddess Santoshi Mata following release of the Indian film Jai Santoshi Maa ("Hail to the Mother of Satisfaction") in 1975.Hawley in .
Early origins To date, the earliest Mother Goddess figurine unearthed in India (near Prayagraj) belongs to the Upper Paleolithic, and carbon-dates to approximately 17,400 - 24,700 BCE. Also belonging to that period are some collections of colorful stones marked with natural triangles. Discovered near Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, they are similar to stones still worshiped as Devi by tribal groups in the area. Moreover, they "may demonstrate connections to the later Tantric use of yantras, in which triangles manifest a vital symbolism connected with fertility."
Thousands of female statuettes dated as early as c. 5500 BCE have been recovered at Mehrgarh, one of the most important Neolithic sites in world archeology, and a precursor to the great Indus Valley civilization. In Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, major cities of the Indus valley civilization, female figurines were found in almost all households indicating the presence of cults of goddess worship. Most figurines are naked and have elaborate coiffures. Some figurines have ornaments or horns on the head and a few are in poses that expose the genitals. Several small circular objects with holes in middle, possibly representing yoni, were also found. The objects and images found suggest that the goddess cults of Indus valley civilization were associated with fertility. A seal shows a male figure standing over a seated female figure with a sickle. It probably suggests an association between the female figure and crops, and possibly implies a ritual sacrifice where the blood of the victim was offered to the goddess for ensuring agricultural productivity.
Bhattacharya links the archaeological discoveries of Indus valley civilization to present-day Shaktism of later Hindu religion. Other scholars like David Kinsley and Lynn Foulston acknowledge some similarities between the cult of goddess in Indus valley civilization and Shaktism, but think that there is no conclusive evidence that proves a link between them.
According to Bhattacharya, the later Indus Valley population centers of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro (c. 3300 - 1600 BCE) included many people from nearby villages who brought their local beliefs and rituals with them. Among these was the Female Principle associated with agricultural communities, which became central to Indus Valley religion. Over time, these rituals were adopted and modified by the aristocracy.
As these philosophies and rituals evolved in the northern reaches of the subcontinent, additional layers of Goddess-focused tradition were expanding outward from the sophisticated Dravidian civilizations of the south. According to Bhattacharyya the "cult of the Female Principle was a major aspect of Dravidian religion," and the concept of Shakti was deeply embedded in their religion. The female deities underwent a process of syncretism and "eventually came to be identified with the Puranic Parvati, Durga or Kali." Bhattacharyya further notes that the Sapta Matrika, or Seven Divine Mothers, which are an important part of the Shakta religion, may also have Dravidian origins.
Philosophical development Shaktism as we know it began with the literature of the Vedic Age; further evolved during the formative period of the Hindu epics; reached its full flower during the Gupta Age (300-700 CE), and continued to expand and develop thereafter.
Vedas As the Indus Valley Civilization slowly declined and dispersed, its peoples mixed with other groups to eventually give rise to the Vedic Civilization (c. 1500 - 600 BCE). Female divinity continued to have a place in belief and worship, but generally in a more subordinate role, with goddesses serving principally as consorts to the great gods.
The most important of the female deities mentioned in the Vedas is Ushas. Number of hymns in the Vedas are dedicated exclusively to her. The three divine mothers mentioned in the Rig Veda from whom the Vedic gods took their birth are Aditi, Prithvi and Saraswati. Prithvi continued to exist in later Hinduism as Bhudevi (goddess of the earth). According to Bhattacharyya, "it may be said that Aditi was the most ancient mother of the gods, whose features [had already become] obscure even in the Vedic Age. [...] The Harappan [Mother Goddess] was probably reflected in [the Vedic] conception of Aditi, thought to be a goddess of yore even in the Rigveda itself." Indeed, Vedic descriptions of Aditi are vividly reflected in the countless so-called Lajja Gauri idols (depicting a faceless, lotus-headed goddess in birthing posture) that have been worshiped throughout India for millennia.
The historically recurrent theme of the Devi's all-encompassing, pan-sexual nature arises explicitly for the first time in such declarations as: "Aditi is the sky, Aditi is the air, Aditi is all gods. [...] Aditi is the Mother, the Father, and the Son. Aditi is whatever shall be born."Rigveda, I.89.10, cited in .
Also significant is the appearance, in the famous Rig Vedic hymn Devi Sukta, of two of Hinduism's most widely known and beloved goddesses: Vāc, identified with the present-day Saraswati; and Srī, now better known as Lakshmi. In the hymn, still recited by thousands of Hindus each day, the Goddess unambiguously declares that she is the supreme source of all gods and creation, and is present throughout the universe and is ultimately beyond it.Rigveda, Devi Sukta, Mandala X, Sukta 125. Cited in .
Upanishads The great Kena Upanishad (c. 750-500 BCE) tells an early tale in which the Devi appears as the shakti, or essential power, of the Supreme Brahman. It begins with the Vedic trinity of Agni, Vayu and Indra boasting and posturing in the flush of a recent victory over a demon hoard – until they suddenly find themselves bereft of divine power in the presence of a mysterious yaksha, or forest spirit. When Indra tries to approach and question the yaksha, it disappears, replaced by the Devi in the form of a "highly adorned" yakshini:
It was Uma, the daughter of Himavat. Indra said to her, 'Who was that yaksha?' She replied, 'It is Brahman. It is only through the victory of Brahman that you have thus become great.' After that Indra and the devas realized the Truth [...] having known Brahman through such direct experience.Kena Upanisad, III.11-IV.3, cited in .
Significantly, Bhattacharyya notes that "a study of the extant yaksha and yakshini images [of this period] shows that the later images of the gods and goddesses were shaped after them."
The canonical Shakta Upanishads are much more recent, most dating between the 13th and 18th centuries, and generally relate to sectarian matters of Srividya worship. While their archaic Sanskrit usages "tend to create the impression that [they] belong to a hoary past, not one of the verses cast in the Vedic mold can be traced to a Vedic source."
Epic period While "no goddess of a purely Shakta character" is mentioned in the great Vaishnava epic Ramayana (c. 200 BCE - 200 CE), the Mahabharata (c. 400 BCE - 400 CE) is full of references that confirm the ongoing vitality of Shakta worship.
Devi is also mentioned in Devyatharva sookta, Triporopanishad, and there are many verses in vedas regarding various forms of goddess. The main Goddess of the pantheon held as Durga the central goddess. Mahabharat The Great Epic thus refers to the goddess residing in the Vindhyas, the goddess who is fond of wine and meat () and worshiped by the hunting peoples." The ongoing process of Goddess-worshiping indigenous peoples "coming into the fold of the caste system [also brought with it] a religious reflex of great historical consequence."
However, it is in the Epic's Durga StotrasMahabharata, IV.6 and VI.23. that "the Devi is first revealed in her true character, [comprising] numerous local goddesses combined into one [...] all-powerful Female Principle." Meanwhile, the great Tamil epic, SilappatikaramSilappadikaram, Canto XXII, cited in (c. 100 CE) was one of several literary masterpieces amply indicating "the currency of the cult of the Female Principle in South India" during this period – and, once again, "the idea that Lakshmi, Saraswati, Parvati, etc., represent different aspects of the same power."
Puranas Taken together with the Epics, the vast body of religious and cultural compilations known as the Puranas (most of which were composed during the Gupta period, c. 300 - 600 CE) "afford us greater insight into all aspects and phases of Hinduism – its mythology, its worship, its theism and pantheism, its love of God, its philosophy and superstitions, its festivals and ceremonies and ethics – than any other works."
Some of the more important Shakta-oriented Puranas include the Devi Purana and the Kalika Purana, in which Devi is described as "the supramental Prakriti" to whom the world owes its origin, "while she does not owe her origin to anything." By far, however, the most important Puranas from the Shakta standpoint are the Markandeya Purana, the Brahmanda Purana, and the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, from which the key Shakta scriptures are drawn.
Devi Mahatmya
The most vital text within Shaktism is the Devi Mahatmya (also known as the Durga Saptashati, Chandi or Chandi-Path) and it is embedded in the Markandeya Purana. The Devi Mahatmya was composed approximately 1,600 years ago. MacKenzie Brown notes that this text marks the first time distinct mythic, ritual, and theological elements related to various female divinities were unified into a cohesive Goddess tradition.
As the earliest Hindu scripture "in which the object of worship is conceptualized as Goddess, with a capital G", the Devi Mahatmya also marks the birth of "independent Shaktism"; i.e. the cult of the Female Principle as a distinct philosophical and denominational entity.
The influence of the cult of the Female Principle [had already] placed goddesses by the sides of the gods of all systems as their consorts, and symbols of their energy or shakti. But the entire popular emotion centering round the Female Principle was not exhausted. So need was felt for a new system, entirely female-dominated, as system in which even the great gods like Vishnu or Shiva would remain subordinate to the goddess. This new system – containing vestiges of hoary antiquity, varieties of rural and tribal cults and rituals, and strengthened by newfangled ideas of different ages – came to be known as Shaktism.
Lalita Sahasranama