The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c11.88.1

v1.c11.88.1

**Sivaism and Saktism—how they flourished in Orissa :** Founded upon the same sensuous, mundane idea of the influence of the sexes in the creation of the universe, it is but natural to suppose that Śivaism or the adoration of the male principle, and Śāktaism or the adoration of the female principle, should go hand in hand, and in books they do so ; but practically they seem to have flourished almost independently of each other in India. Śivaism commenced first, and when it did so, Śāktaism seems not to have been much cared for, or at least not to have given rise to a distinct cult, and the oldest monuments of Śiva, have very little of the Śākta about them. In Orissa, the great seat of Sivaism was Bhuvaneśvara, and all the great temples there are consecrated to the *Liṅgam*, the emblem of the great god Mahādeva, an upright stone without the *Yoni* accompaniment. The princes of the Késari dynasty, who devoted themselves particluarly to this form of worship, wishing to produce a second Benares in the metropolis of their dominion,³⁹ confined their attention to Śiva or the upright stone as at Benares, and paid no attention to his consort. Śāktaism found its votaries at a later time in Orissa, and a separate locale was assigned for it at Jājapur; but judging from the remains now visible there, it seems never to have flourished near so well as Śivaism. In Bengal too, the Śākta followed long after Śivaism;