South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c10.s3.43

c10.s3.43

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