Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c7.s4.56

c7.s4.56

The cult of the goddess occupied an important place in the life of the people. The uniformity of style, similarity of ornamentation and the wide area over which they were spread forces the conclusion that these were religious figures related to cult worship of the goddess. The area of distribution of such female figures is not limited to the Indus Valley and Baluchistan but extends to Persia, Elam, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Crete, Cypress, Egypt, and the Agean world. In these civilisations we find an overwhelming consciousness in favour of the Feminine whether the Goddess is named Isis, Innini (Lady of Heaven), Ishtar, Anahita or Aditi ('मातरमदिति महीम्', VS. 18. 30). She was the Great Female, identified in some cultures with the Earth Mother, as surely in India. It may be mentioned here that the one important tradition which the Indus Valley people transmitted to their successors is the wide spread cult of the Mother Goddess in the form of Śakti, Devī, Mātā, Bhūmi (Hindi, Bhuiyān, भुइयां), the Village Deity (Grāma-Devatā) par excellence, all exemplifying the Magna Mater. The figurines from Harappa and Mohenjo-daro are generally of a benevolent goddess, but the reverse of it is seen in the grim figurines from Kulli having a terrifying skull-like aspect. They could not have been toys for children but a mother Goddess like Kālī or Caṇḍikā of later times.