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South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c10.s3: VIII

South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c10.s3

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VIII

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Many other Saivite goddesses of fearful appearance, worshipped by people who wish to destroy their enemies or to receive some desired object of life, are described in the *Tāntrik* works. Some of these which are mentioned below may possibly be, as some suggest, the Aryanized forms of aboriginal deities still worshipped in the Pidāri temples of the South.

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Kālarātrī already referred to as one of the nine Durgās, Kālarātrī has a single braid of hair and *japā*-flowers for her ear-ornaments; she is naked, rides on an ass, has hanging lips and is bathed in oil. In her left hand she holds a human head severed from the body and on the left leg is worn an anklet of metallic wire.

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Tvaritā. Tvaritā is stated to be a goddess of the Kirātas or a ‘hunters.’ She has two hands, is decorated with peacock’s feathers on the head, and wears a cloth of leaves (as some of the wild tribes of to-day), a garland of *guñjā*-seeds and a (head) jewel of eight serpents. Nagendra Natha Vasu finds in this goddess a close resemblance to Nāgamātā “the mother of serpents,” Skandashashthi or Manasā, and to the goddess Tavitā of the Scythians.¹

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¹ *Mayūrabhanja*, Introduction, p. xxxix f. The *Silparatna* adds that Tvaritā rides on a crow and is considered to be a widow.

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Tripurā-Bhairavī. Tripurā-Bhairavī has four arms, wears a garland of heads and has her breasts bathed in blood.

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Vajraprastārinī. Vajraprastārinī² is stated to be seated on a lotus, in a boat of blood floating in an ocean of blood. The limbs of her body as well as her head are also bathed in blood.

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² According to the *Silparatna* this goddess is a form of Pārvatī, has six hands, is seated on a red lotus, exhibits in her hands a sugarcane-bow, a flower-arrow, the *varada* and *abhaya* postures, a noose and a skull, and is engaged in vanquishing Māra—the god of Love.

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Surā. Surā, wine personified, is represented as a terrible unmarried goddess of eighteen arms and of three eyes. She is tall of form and is as dangerous as destructive fire. She is a terror to the demons and a blessing to angels. In plain language Umā herself is described to be the goddess of wine and Siva (her consort) to be the power of intoxication thereof.

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Surapriyā. Surapriyā is a goddess seated in a meditative posture cross-legged and attended by a group of Saktis called Ashṭāngayoginīs. On either side of her are the deities Pūrṇāsvā and Pushkalā. Madhukara, a fat man with hanging belly, two hands and a smiling face, stands on the left side of the goddess. A pot of wine and a staff are also placed near her. The goddess is installed in the houses of prostitutes and small villages or towns, under different names such as Dēvabhāvi, Jñānabhāvi and Gītabhāvi.³

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³ In the names Pūrṇāsvā, Pushkalā and Madhukara we may see an apparent analogy to Pūranai, Pudgalai and Madurai-Viran mentioned under village deities (belows p. 230).

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Srīvidyādēvī. Srīvidyādēvī has fierce fangs protruding from her mouth, sits on a serpent couch and wears necklaces of human bones.

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Prānasakti. Prānasakti, like Vajraprastārinī, is seated on a lotus springing from a boat of blood, in an ocean of blood, and holds among other weapons a human skull filled with blood.

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This is, as it should be, in the case of a goddess who presides over the centres of physical life (*prāna*).¹

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¹ The goddess Prānasakti is invoked by Brāhmanas, in ceremonies where the *prānapratisthā*, “infusing (an image) with life,” has to be observed.

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Svasthāvēsinī is of scarlet colour, inspires dread in those who see her, dwells amidst corpses, has three faces and two arms holding the kettle-drum and the trident, dark eyes, lean body and three braids of thick black hair. She is of the nature of forest fire. SVASTHĀ-VĒSINĪ.

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Satruvidhvamsinī, “the destroyer of enemies,” has likewise three faces, is as cruel as the flames of fire, has red eyes, fearful fangs, red hair, and a capacious belly. She is naked. SATRUVIDH-VAMSINĪ.

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Ugra-Tārā, the goddess presiding over various diseases, stands in the *ālīdha* posture, carries a corpse over her head and roars terribly. Short of stature, she has braids of black colour mixed with yellow and is surrounded by dreadful serpents. In a skull she holds the diseases of the three worlds together, with the object of killing them. UGRA-TĀRĀ

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Dhūmrāvatī or Dhūmra-Kālī has a red body and wears a red cloth. Her ear-rings are like the trunks of an elephant and her fangs, terrible. She wears a necklace of skulls, is surrounded by devils, and holds in her hands a drawn sword and a skull. DHŪMRĀVATĪ.

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Sūlinī with her eight arms, is likewise a goddess who inspires fear. She holds a trident, rides on a lion and is accompanied by four unmarried girls with swords and shields in their hands. SŪLINĪ.

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Pratyangirā has four arms and a face as terrible as that of a lion. Her hair stands erect on her head. In her hands she holds a skull, trident, kettle-drum and the noose (*nāgapāsa*). She is seated on a lion and by her power destroys all enemies (figs. 133 and 134).² PRATYANGIRĀ.

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² The lion vehicle is missing in the Tiruppalātturai bronze. The Tiruchchengōdu figure has the sword and shield in place of skull and noose and a breast-band like Durgā. Both are called Bhadrakālī by the people.

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Sītalādēvī (or Māriyamma), the goddess of small-pox, is represented as riding naked on an ass with a winnow on her head and a broom and water-pot in her hands.³ SĪTALĀDĒVĪ.

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³ The illustration of this image given by Nagendra Natha Vasu (*Mayūrabhanja*, Plate, facing p. xcvi, fig. 51) and classed by him as one of the Buddhist and *Tāntrik* goddesses, is not naked. Neither does she carry a winnow on her head.

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Trikantakīdēvī has a body which is black below the navel, red between the navel and the neck and white above it. The terrible fangs protruding from her four faces are so long and crooked that they pierce out through her belly. In her four hands she holds two lamps, a conch and a discus. TRIKANTAKĪ-DĒVĪ.

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FIG. 133.--Pratyangirā; Tiruchchengōdu

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FIG. 134.—Pratyangirā (?) (metal); Tiruppalātturai.

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Bhūtamātā. Bhūtamātā, “the mother of goblins” has her seat under a pipal-tree and is followed by numerous demons, goblins and demi-gods. She has two hands in which are held a linga (or, sometimes a sword) and the shield. She rides on the lion and has dishevelled hair.

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Sivadūtī. Sivadūtī has a dejected appearance, emaciated body and the face of a jackal. She wears a garland of skulls, is fearful and is surrounded by serpents. She may have four or more arms,¹ holding in the former case, a vessel of blood, the sword, the trident and a flesh-pot.

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¹ A Sivadūtī of eight arms is mentioned among the Nityaklinnadēvatās of the Lalitōpākhyāna.

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IX

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Jyēshthā or Jyēshthā-Lakshmī. Jyēshthā or Jyēshthā-Lakshmī, so called on account of her being supposed to be the elder sister of Lakshmī,² is a black goddess with hanging lips, stunted nose, pendant breasts and a big belly. She revels in blood. In one hand she holds a lotus made of iron while the other hand rests on her seat. But sometimes she is seen holding lotuses in both her hands. The legs of the goddess are stretched and hang down from the seat, in the so-called European fashion. Her parting curly hair is made up in the form vāsikābandha. A pair of crows represents her banner. On her right side is seated a bull-faced figure said to be her son, holding a staff in the right hand and exhibiting a pointing finger (sūchi) in the left. On the corresponding left side of Jyēshthā, is seated her daughter, said to be a fair lady (fig. 135). Sometimes the goddess is represented as red in colour and then receives the name Rakta-Jyēshthā. The goddess Jyēshthā with the hanging belly, attended by women on either side and wearing a red cloth, is generally installed outside villages. Her following consists of goblins, demons and spirits. She is the goddess of ill-luck.³

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² Nirriti is the name by which this goddess of ill-luck, Alakshmī, the elder sister of Lakshmī, is mentioned in the Padmōttarakhanda. She is said to reside in the pipal-tree. Consequently also this tree is not to be touched except on Saturdays when, Lakshmī coming to see her sister, makes the tree auspicious.

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³ South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. II, p. 60.

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The worship of Jyēshthā appears to have been once quite familiar in the Tamil country. Like the shrines of Pidāri, her shrines were also exempted from taxation, as stated in early Chōla records. From an inscription on a pillar in the rock-cut temple of Subrahmanyasvāmin at Tirupparangunram near Madura, we learn that about the eighth century A.D. a shrine for the goddess Durgā and one for Jyeṣṭhā were caused to be made in that temple.¹ At Kukkanūr in the Nizam's Dominions, there is a celebrated Brahmanical temple dedicated to Jyeṣṭhā. In Southern India her worship nowadays is much neglected, if not altogether avoided, she being supposed to be the goddess of misfortune and poverty.

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¹ *Ind. Ant.*, Vol. XXII, p. 68. It may be noted that Mr. T. A. Gopinatha Rao in his *Elements of Hindu Iconography* (p. 391 f) considers the figures of Subrahmanya and his consorts worshipped in one of the chief rock-cut shrines of the temple to be Jyeṣṭhā with her bull-faced son on one side and her fair daughter on the other. The figures are, indeed, much worn out and their features are indistinct; nor are the crow-banners characteristic of Jyeṣṭhā, clearly visible. Two cocks, however, the banner of Subrahmanya, engraved on the rocky side walls of the same shrine and contemporaneous with the images, prove beyond doubt that the group is one of Subrahmanya and his two consorts and not of Jyeṣṭhā. The shrine of the latter goddess, referred to in the inscription, is in a different compartment, in the lower storey of the same rock-cut temple. At Ānamalai, not far from Madura, is a similar rock-cut shrine of Subrahmanya but with only one goddess. The cock-banner of the god is, again, very clearly shown on the side walls, as in the Tirupparangunram shrine. People call it Sramanakōyil "the temple of Sramana (i.e., a Buddhist or a Jaina)" though the actual name must have been Saravanan-kōyil, "the temple of Saravanan" which latter name is connected with Saravanōdbhava, a synonym of Skanda-Subrahmanya.

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FIG. 135.—Jyēshthā; Tiruvellavāyil.

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In contrast to the ugly and fearsome goddesses mentioned above, there exist in the Hindu Pantheon other Saivite goddesses who are described as mild and extremely beautiful. Among these may be mentioned Bālā-Tripurasundarī of dazzling brilliance, "like a thousand suns bursting forth at the same time"; Saubhāgyabhuvanesvarī, of red hue, a jewelled crown, a smiling face and heaving breasts, who holds a pot of gems in one hand and a red lotus in the other (fig. 136) and who places her right foot on a treasure of gems; Annapūrṇā² of two or four arms who, in the former case, holds gracefully in one hand a jewelled vessel containing food and in the other a spoon to distribute the same (among her devotees), or in the latter, holds the noose and the hook in two hands and shows the protecting and the boon-giving postures in the others; the goddesses Gāyatrī,³ Sāvitrī and Sarasvatī Sarasvatī who preside over the morning, mid-day and evening prayers of the twice-born classes and represent the Vēdas, Rik, Yajus, and Sāman or the three sacred fires, Gārhapatya, Dakshināgni and the Āhavaniya, respectively; Tulajā-Bhavānī, who like Annapūrnā holds in one hand a vessel of delicious food and in another a spoon for distributing the same; Rājamātangī who is absorbed in listening to the talk of a parrot and stands with one of her feet placed on a lotus, while her hands are fondly playing upon the vinā; Laghusyāmalā, a damsel who has just attained her youth and who plays upon the vinā, with a vessel of wine near her and with eyes betraying signs of intoxication; Vārunī, Sudhāmālinī or Amritēsvarī, "the goddess of boats," who is seated on a boat bedecked with gems and surrounded by an army of Saktis, bright as the growing sun, maddens the three worlds by her glance, decorates her tresses with the flowers of the pārijāta-tree and holds a vessel of wine, a lotus and a cooked piece of flesh in her hands; and Kurukullā,¹ also a goddess of boats, fully drunk with wine, riding on a boat of gems and holding in her hands a paddle of gems. Vindhyavāsinī,² classed as one of the Durgās, is called Mūkāmbikā in the Silpasāra. She is said to be seated on a golden lotus, to have four arms and to be dazzling as lightning. By her side stands the lion, her vehicle.

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² Literally, one who is full of food (to give to her devotees). This is the name of the famous goddess in Benares, who is also sometimes called Visālākshi, "the broad-eyed."

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³ Gāyatrī is of the nature of fire (or Brahmā), has four or ten arms and four faces and rides on a swan; Sāvitrī is of the substance of Rudra, has four arms, four faces, twelve eyes and the bull vehicle; Sarasvatī partakes of the nature of Vishnu, rides on Garuda, has four arms and one face and holds in her hands the Vaishnavite symbols, the discus, conch and the club as also the palm of protection.

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¹ This is a goddess common to both the Hindu and the Buddhist Tantras; Mayūrabhanja, p. lxxxix.

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² In the Ankālamma temple at Kārempūdi (Guntūr district) is an inscription of A.D. 1164, which refers to that village goddess, as Vindhyavāsinī.

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FIG. 136.—Saubhāgyabhuvanēśvarī; Dhārāsuram.

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The most famous of these milder deities, however, are Lalitā, Tripura-Sundarī and Rājarājēsvarī (fig. 137). All are highly beautiful and of dazzling brilliance. They have four hands each and hold the symbols: noose (or, fruit), goad (or, conch), sugarcane-bow (or, mirror) and five arrows (or, a lotus or a cup of collyrium). Their worship is directly connected with the mystic geometrical drawings known as chakras and pithas. Images of these goddesses are not honoured so much as the chakras or pithas over which they are supposed to preside. The worship offered consists in throwing over the chakras a profusion of red turmeric powder called kunkumam, which is generally worn on the forehead by all Hindu ladies whose husbands are alive. The throwing of kunkumam is accompanied by the repetition of long strings of the names of Lalitā consisting of synonyms—a thousand, three hundred, or one hundred and eight in number. Each name is prefaced with the sacred syllable Ōm. The goddesses

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TULAJĀ-BHAVĀNĪ. RĀJA-MĀTANGĪ. LAGHUSYĀMALĀ. VĀRUNĪ. KURUKULLĀ. VINDHYAVĀSINĪ or MŪKĀMBIKĀ LALITĀ, TRIPURA-SUNDARĪ and RĀJARĀJĒSVARĪ.

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FIG. 137.—Rājarājēśvarī; Rāmēśvaram.

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are always presumed to be standing on a *chakra* imbedded in the earth and hence the worship is offered at the feet of the goddesses. In exceptional cases, however, as in the Kāmākshi-amman temple at Conjeeveram, the *chakra* is placed in front of the goddess. Bālā-Sakti, holding a book, rosary, goad and noose, is the presiding goddess of the six *chakras* as stated in the *Silpasāra*. The particular *yantra* sacred to her is known as *Bālā-yantra* which is described as a geometrical drawing having in its centre a dot (*bindu*) closed in by a triangle, a hexagon, a circle, a lotus of eight petals, a square and another square with openings at the cardinal points, consecutively. The *Sri-chakra* consisting of a larger number of intersecting triangles surrounded by circles and squares is another such mystic figure considered to be highly sacred to the goddess Lalitā. The latter is stated to have under her control innumerable fairy goddesses, some of whom are so delicate that they can enter, by the order of their mistress, into every atom of creation. Some with braided hair and beautiful *tilakas* of *kunkumam* on their foreheads are as sharp as fire and hold bows, arrows, swords and shields of flames. They are the personifications of almost every beneficent activity in the universe and are engaged in putting down the Evil Principle. Lalitā is said to have fought and killed, with the aid of these deities, several demons named Bhandāsura, Sumbha, Nisumbha, Chanda-Munda and Mahishāsura. All these, apparently, represent the powerfully persistent evil desires of men.

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