The BeginningsVisualization of power both physical and abstract, like victories, conquest of nature, birth, preservation, growth, death and the like laid the foundation for the worship of Śakti, as the mother of all things. One of the immediate such power that man could see and feel himself, was Agni, fire an indispensable source of energy, heat, illumination, and vegetation. It is the Agni that the ancient called Durgā and Kāli. The most beautiful poems ever composed on Agni were the Vedas by the Vedic Seers Ṛṣis who created enchanting imagery of the Goddess. A direct pointer to the image of Agni as Durgā could be demonstrated from her worship even in modern times. The priests who worship her form in all the temples invoke a Vedic hymn called Durgā Śūkta a study of which will reveal that it is in fact a hymn addressed to Agni. It begins jātavedase sunavama somam arāti yataḥ sa naḥ pariṣad ati durgāni viśvā nāveva sindhum durtaty-agniḥ in the middle of which occurs the word Durgā in the sense of difficult to tread and at the end occurs the address durgām devim saraṇam aham prapadye. “I salute the Goddess Durgā devi.”When we closely examine the attributes of Durgā and Kāli it is seen that she is the feminine counterpart of Rudra which is another name for Agni, according to Vedas. All attributes of Agni are found in the concept of Durgā and Kāli.In Sangam ClassicsFrom very early historic times the worship of the Goddess as supreme power was prevalent in Tamilnadu both in her benign and terrific aspect. This worship took mainly the form of adoration of Durgā and Kāli, called Koṟṟavai and Kādukāl respectively. The term Koṟṟavai is derived from the word Koṟṟam meaning royalty, or kingship and the word Koṟṟavai literally means Goddess of Kingship. That almost explains the importance of the Goddess among the rulers. Three crowned kings, Cheras, Cholas and Pāṇḍyas, besides a number of other chieftains, ruled the ancient Tamil land. The exploits of these rulers have come down in Sangam Literature, assignable to the beginning of the Common era. The Cheras worshipped Goddess Durgā of Āiyirai? Mountain as their family deity; The Cholas adored Campāpati, the Goddess of their port town and capital, Pumpuhar, which also went by the name Campāpati. The Goddess of Madurai called Mathurāpati was the guardian of the Pāṇḍya rulers. Thus all the three Kings of the Tamil country worshipped Durgā as their Family Goddess, which speaks of her importance in Tamil land from early times.Besides the kings, all sections of the society propitiated her for the fulfillment of their prayers. The Chieftains and warriors and hunters first worshipped her before launching on cattle lifting operation or declaring war on their enemies. It was believed that she was the giver of victories and presided over the sharp weapons like spears as a glowing flame. She went before the warriors to the battlefield and gave them the victories. This helped them to establish their supremacy over their enemies. Royalty depended on victory over enemies and she was the personification of that power. The worship of Koṟṟavai before launching on a war expedition was the first stage called koṟṟavai nilai according to Tolkāppiyam the most ancient Tamil Grammar. The heroes offered worship to the spears invoking Koṟṟavai. The wives of the heroes took vows in the temple of Koṟṟavai and tied protective threads in their hands for the victorious and speedy return of their husbands from the battle field and vowed they would not wear jewels till their return.Besides being the goddess of the cities and villages she was also considered the goddess of forests Vāna nāti?. She resided in caves and mountains and also was praised as the goddess of cemetery, perumkāṭu (smasāna vāsini). Durgā is frequently identified with Kāli. She was also called the mother of Kumāra, the vanquisher of the demon Sūrapadma. The Thirumurugaṟṟuppaṭai a fine early Tamil work, calls Muruga Subramanya as the child of Pārvatī, the daughter of the mountain; the son of DurgāKoṟṟavai, goddess of victory, weapons and battles; and the off spring of Kāli, the most ancient the goddess Paḻaiyōḷ.It is evident that Pārvatī, Durgā and Kāli were well known in the beginning of Common Era in Tamilnadu, as all the puranic legends associated with them were well-known that have important bearing on Indian art and religion. Among all the regional languages India, Tamil is the most ancient classical language with a rich literature of its own said to belong to a distinct group of language family as the Dravidian, while all the rest of the languages had their roots deep in the Vedic lore, but a discerning study reveals that the earliest available Tamil poems show that the religious beliefs in Tamil Nadu were equally rooted in Vedic lore from the very beginning, as demonstrated by the adoration of the goddess. All the concepts of goddess of Durgā known to later Indian lore were part of Tamil culture from the king down to the forest dwellers.In Tamil LiteratureThe Tamil dramatic poem Silappadikaram and its companion poen Maṇmekhalai assigned to slightly later period than the Sangam works give a more vivid picture of Durgā and Kāli. Some of the important aspects are discussed below.Antari MantraKōvalan, the hero of the poem, Silappadikāram was on his way to Madurai with his wife through a thick forest. When his wife got tired and exhausted he left her to fetch some water. There he encountered a beautiful girl who enticed him with sweet words. Kōvalan realized that the girl was not a human personality and so recited a sacred mantra called Antari Mantra. The girl got frightened and revealed her identity. She was a Yakṣi residing in the forest and she entreated him with evil design but as he recited the Antari mantra, addressed to Durgā she got frightened and left Kōvalan unharmed. The Antari mantra is specifically called Pāykalai-p-pāvai mantram i.e., “the hymn of the Goddess riding on a swift stag”. It illustrates that Durgā was protecting travelers through thick forests and that her mantra was well known to travelers.kōvalan nāvil kūriya mantrampāykalaip pāvai mantram ātalinvānacāriyan yān----------enṟu eha (silap 2.11.195-197)Later Kōvalan accompanied by his wife, reached a temple called Ayyaikoṭṭam (ārya koṣṭham) the temple of Durgā. This is a very important part of the story as will be shown in the sequence. The temple was in a pleasant grove with flower garden in the midst of the forest and was worshipped by the forest tribes, called Eyinars. Kōvalan witnessed here many strange things that speak of Durgā worship by the forest dwellers. Durgā was worshipped by the forests dwellers as a giver of victory whenever they went on expedition against their enemies. Describing the Goddess, the text calls Kumāri, Virgin who had the third eye on her forehead. She was adored by the celestials and was the goddess of the svargaloka, heaven...... viller ulavarkūṟṟu ural mun-padu koṭu-vil-ēntiveṟṟup pulam poki nal veṟṟam koṭuttukaṭi perāṇmai kāṇa pārtirukkumkaṇṇutal kumāri viṇṇorpāvaimāyiru cirappin kānanāṭiayyai tam kōṭṭam aṇaintanar (Silappatikāram 2.11.211-216)Durgā here is called Viṇṇōrpāvai, the goddess of heaven (svarga) giving all enjoyment. She is Kumāri. The Kaliperāṇmaik kaḍan? mentioned in the text means the terrific heroic head offering. The forest dwellers offered the head of one of their own men to the goddess for giving them the protection and victory in the expedition. This custom of human head offering known to ancient world was called navakaṇṭa i.e., fresh head that also went by the name Śiraspuṣpa, the head as flower. The goddess is mentioned here as kānanāti i.e. the Goddess of forest.Hunter's Virgin daughter as GoddessA great scene was enacted in the temple of Durgā when Kōvalan was there. An elderly lady, called Sālini of the Eyinars, arrived there, was god possessed and told the assembled Eyinars that there was drought in the land, and the Eyinars had lost their prosperity because they had forgotten to offer proper sacrifice to the Goddess.. This lady was also called Devarāṭi, i.e., Divine dancer, foretold the events and danced vigorously. Upon this the Eyinars selected a virgin of their family, dressed her like the Goddess Durgā, by tying her hair as jaṭāmakuṭa and tied with a golden thread. They hunted a wild boar and used its tusk as the crescent moon inserted into the golden thread on the head. They hunted a ferocious tiger and used its skin as the garment for the girl. They also used the tiger nail as a pendant. A strong bow was given in her hand. She was then seated on a stag and taken in procession to the accompaniment of pipes, war-drums, trumpets and great bells and other instruments accompanied by the entire community. Dolls, parrots, forest fowls, blue pea****s, playing balls, and play seeds were carried in procession. The Eyinar women carried colour powders, fragrance, flowers, dhupa and lamps, grains, porridge, and rice mixed with blood and mutton and accompanied the girl. They also carried symbols of loot. When the procession reached the temple of Durgā, the Old lady again got God possessed and praised interestingly the wife of Kōvalan, Kaṇṇaki standing within the vicinity. Kaṇṇaki was praised as the very Goddess Durgā born on earth. On hearing this Kaṇṇaki hid herself behind Kōvalan, blushing. (We shall see that it is foretelling that she was to be deified as very Durgā, when Kaṇṇaki died a heroic death at the end. The temple of Kaṇṇaki called Pattini Koṭṭam was in fact the temple of Durgā). The narration at this stage specifically states that Kaṇṇaki was Koṟṟavai-Durgā born on earth.Iconography of DurgāThere is a long description of Durgā at this stage.The goddess whose head is adorned with crescent moon;The eye that burst forth and winks not on the forehead;Her lips that rivals coral red in hue,Her smiling teeth that shine like pearls in between,Her throat blackened by the fatal poison she swallowed,The lofty peak bent and held in her hand as a bowWith the deadly hissing snake tied as the bow stringWith a terrific serpent tied as a band around her breast,Sharp trident shining in her hand decked with banglesThe ferocious goddess rips the wild elephantIts hide as garment around the waist she wore,The skin of tiger she made her girdleThe triumphant sparkling sword in her handAnd jingling anklet on one legAnd heroic kalal on the otherThe Lady who stood on the head of demonWhose body her spear sliced into twoAdmired by people manyShe is Amari, Kumāri, Gauri, Sūli, Nīli,Younger sister to Viṣṇu, and Ārya,Ferocious goddess red like bloodWith gory sword in hand riding a swift stagThe goddess of wealth and the goddess of Arts,The goddess Ārya, the deity of Victory,Blessed the assembled and their clan.This description of Durgā in the temple is given in the text. This serves almost like an invocation of the Goddess, after which the Eyinars performed a number of dances accompanied by songs. One set of songs feted the clan in which was born the Girl appearing as the Goddess. In another dance, three poetic renderings as stotras of Sanskrit literature, and called praises in front, munnilai paraval, were recited. They give the highest philosophy of the cult of the Goddess from the Vedantic point of view. They combine iconographic description and philosophic expression but what is important is that they were sung by the forest dwellers.Devi! Thou wear the hide of elephantAnd make girdle of tiger-skin,Thou stand on the black head of the wild buffaloAdored by gods as “Veda of the Vedas”Thou shine steady as the flame of knowledge.Having vanquished the mighty buffaloWith the sharp sword in thy hand,Thou stand on a stag with black hornAs a blazing halo of knowledgeIn the heart of hearts of godsBrahmā, Vishnu and Śiva.Holding śaṅkha and cakra in thy lotus handsThou stand on the ferocious red-eyed lionThou a tender lady as half the body of ŚivaWearing Ganga on his head and an eye on the forehead.The Supreme OfferingHaving praised the goddess, the Eyinars offer the great heroic sacrifice, the head of a chosen man of their tribe. This offering is in two parts; the first part called havis relates to the head offering and the second is called bali nivedana, requesting the god to partake the offering. The goddess is addressed with the same attributes of Durgā as mentioned earlier with a few more names as Saṅkari and Antari. Kṛṣṇa's sports of vanquishing śakaṭāśura who came in the guise of a wheel and also the annihilation of Kamsa are attributed to her.The following points deserve special attention. The Goddess is praised as a flame of knowledge, the Veda of the Vedas and resides as flame in the heart of hearts of the Trinity, Brahma, Viṣṇu, and Śiva by which the pre-eminence of the Worship of Goddess over even Trinity deserves notice. Further she is addressed in her Ardhanāri form of Śiva and in another sense the Lord Viṣṇu himself. Thus a form of Hari-Hara is visualized in her. The goddess according to one verse stands on the head of the Buffalo demon; in another rides on a swift galloping delicate stag and in the third she rides on a ferocious lion, that also suggests both her tender and ferocious forms. This is the highest philosophy about the Goddess on the one hand and the gruesome head offering, both sung by the Eyinars, the forest dweller. So far as Durgā is concerned her form and nature are the same from the highest Brahmins to the wild forest tribes.The next stage in the description of the Durgā occurs altogether in a different context in the text. Kaṇṇaki burned the city of Madurai in retaliation for the murder of her husband Kōvalan. At that moment the goddess of Madurai called Mathurāpati appeared before her. There is a long description of the presiding deity of the city of Mathurāpati that is almost identical with the description we got about the Goddess of the Forest. The section shows the presiding deity of a city who is none other than Durgā was expected to protect the inhabitants from evils or appear before the concerned and explain the cause of the distress. Mathurāpati appeared before Kaṇṇaki and explained to her the cause of Kōvalan's death. He underwent the punishment for a wrong he committed in his previous birth though he was faultless in this birth. It is at this juncture she appears.The iconographic descriptions states that the goddess wore jaṭāmakuṭa with a crescent moon fastened to it; On her forehead was the third eye like a kuvalai flower; her lips were red like coral; she had protruding teeth but had a charming smile on her face; her left half was dark blue in colour while the right was golden in colour. She carried a lotus in left hand while the right held a sharpened axe, paraśu. Her right leg wore a hero's ring while the left, a resonant anklet. The Goddess was the family deity (kula-deivem) of the Pāṇḍyas.Thus she is described in her Ardhanāri form and yet she was in full feminine form. It appears, be it as a goddess of the forest, village or cities it was Durgā, the guardian deity. In the case of capitals of the kings her role goes beyond the city and encompasses the entire kingdom.While all the above speak of her function of protection, she was also considered the upholder of justice. She narrates a legend to Kaṇṇaki in which it is said that when the ruling king meted out a wrong punishment to an inhabitant by listening to a misleading counsel, the doors of the Durgā temple of the city closed causing miseries to the people. The king realized some wrong had been done by him and on enquiry found out the mistake, repented for it and in front of the Durgā temple he fell at the feet of aggrieved and prayed for forgiveness. He then opened up his treasures and allowed all people to collect their legal properties from the treasuries. It was then only the doors of the Durgā temple of Madurai opened. A point of interest was that the wrong was not committed in Madurai but in a remote village in the Kingdom and yet the doors of the temple at the capital of the king closed. It illustrates Durgā was the deity of justice for the whole and any wrong was bound to be set right by her.The chapter called Madurai kāṇṭa the central one of the epic begins with Durgā and ends with Durga and points to the central theme of the epic, the greatness of the Goddess. The Silappadikaram it is known ends with the erection of a temple to Kaṇṇaki when she died a heroic death on the 14th day of the murder of her husband. She was deified as what may be called Sati. After the temple was erected the Chera ruler Seṅkuṭṭuvan instituted daily worship, festivals and dance. It shows that women who died heroic death and deified were identified with Durgā and worshipped as such. There are several Sati stones of later period in which the woman who committed Sati is worshipped as Durgā.Archaeological context (F. 86-104)In the field of Archaeological context the earliest figure is what is called the representation of Mother Earth in the midst of megalithic burials at Udaiyānattam village about 100 miles away from Madras. The exact date of this monumental figure which is about ten feet in height and made of Granite stone, is not known, but anywhere 5th - 4th cent BC is not ruled out. It is an interesting stone which resembles the later Śrivatsa and is most probably connected with the cult.The other occurs in a literary reference assignable to the beginning of the current era. The Saṅgam poems refer to a rock cut sculpture of a goddess, on the slopes of the Kolli hills, near Salem, as the most beautiful image. There are many references to it praising its beauty. The figure, however has not been located so far.The third one of chronological interest appears in a coin datble to the first second cent AD. A number of this type of coin has been found in Karūr, the ancient Capital of the Cheras. The coin portrays on the one side Goddess Durgā on the obverse and the other, a lion her mount. The coin closely resembles the Kushāṇa sculptures in style. These early examples do show that the worship of Śakti as a tremendous and a Powerful deity. The early Tamil texts also tell us that villages, towns and capitals were laid out as per Vāstu texts, traditional architectural treatises, which prescribe specific location for temples for each deity. It is seen from the ancient village settlements, Temples for Durgā, Kāli and Sapta Mātās (seven mothers) formed part original lay out of those villages. For example the temple of Durgā is located in the Northern quarters of the village. The temple of Kāli is found in north eastern and so on. These temples of Goddesses were of modest size and generally built of brick and mortar, but from about the 8th cent stone temples are also noticed. The temples of Saptamātās were called Mātrsthānas and their worship was in the hands of Parasava? priests. The Saptamātās consisted of Brāhmī, Maheśvarī, Kaumārī, Vaiṣṇavī, Vārāhī, Indrānī, and Camuṇḍā. This group used to be headed either by Ganeśa or Gaṇanāta as the last one. These temples also came to be called Piḍāri temple, Piḍāri is a Prakrit form of Bhaṭṭāri.The image of Durgā invariably occupies a niche in the northern direction of the ardhamaṇḍapa in temple lay out. Durgā is generally shown with four or more arms holding Śaṅkha and Cakra and abhaya and kaṭi hasta poses. She stands on the head of a buffalo. She is also shown in early representations, with a parrot on her hand and is flanked by two warriors, one offering flowers and the other severing his head as a symbol of head offering. Durgā's mount Lion is shown at the back. In Pallava monuments of 8th to 9th cent one finds also her other mount an antelope. Māmallapuram datable to the beginning of the 8th cent is important for the study of the Śakti cult. It has a fine stone temple - monolith cut out cave as a hut housing the deity inside. She stands on a lotus seat and not on the head of a buffalo which shows that she is here portrayed as the Primordial deity as described in the Tamil text, Silappadikāram where she is described as standing on a lotus in one verse. In front of the temple stands her mount Lion majestically. On the outer side of the sanctum walls she is shown standing on the head of a buffalo on all the three sides. This is perhaps the fully well preserved independent Durgā temple in the South.The other point of interest is that it is here an exceptionally beautiful narrative panel of Durgā Mahashasuramardini is found in a rock cut temple, which goes by that name. All the Art historians of the world describe it as a breadth taking representation. Durgā is shown seated on her mount followed by her retinue of dwarfs attacking the buffalo headed demon. The Demon standing with full of arrogance before the Goddess is falling back in his moment of destruction. It is a fine poetry in stone. (F. 88)Another interesting aspect is that she is shown in a Viṣṇu temple as an important Devata thus showing that her worship was a must for both Śaivites and Vaiṣṇavaites. The third point of interest is that she is also shown in a niche of the temple wall with multiple arms. There is a fine cave on the Seashore showing Durga's lion attacking the buffalo. At another place of the same village is Camuṇḍā of the same age seated majestically in the midst of Saptamātās. Durga's manifestations are seen in almost all forms known to purāṇic and philosophical accounts. She is shown with, four, six, eight, twelve and sixteen arms. She is shown as the Supreme yoga māta and in other incarnations.Durgā and Kāli regularly worshipped and festivals arranged with the result many beautiful bronzes were made particularly in the time of the Cholas. Superb specimens of Durgā and Kāli of the Chola age exist in temples and are also mentioned in inscriptions. Worship of her abstract form as Śrīcakra is also known in the south and there are many types of Yantras that were made and worshipped in Tamil Nadu at least from the 6th cent. AD. Thirumandiram, a great Tamil work of about the 6th cent has one complete chapter on various yantras of Śaktis. The adoration of Śakti in the form of Mantra, Yantra and Bimba are so developed with a greater emphasis on the dakṣhiṇa mārga, Tamil Nadu is a great land of the classical school of Śākta worship. The vāma mārga of the Śākta cult was not popular in Tamil Nadu.Śrī (F. 81-84)The term “Śrī” is used in Vedas in different meanings, as - wealth beauty, light, honour, might, fertility, growth and greatness. According to Agnihotram Rāmānuja Tātacharya, Śri never appeared denoting an independent deity (p.212). In the Śri Śūkta, the word “Śrī” and Lakṣmi are used jointly, names of Goddesses as Sarasvati, Aditi, Sinivali, Kuhu etc., appear in the Vedas. The word “Viṣṇupatni” - appearing in Yajurveda hymn appears in the sense of the goddess of the world and not in the sense of Lakṣmi (Ag. Tat.212). The Vedic hymn, Bhu-śūkta consisting of 64 ṛks, appears in Atharvaveda, addressed to Bhūmi - the Earth. But Pañcarātra - Āgama, accepts a mantra Bhūmir Bhūmnā (known as sarparaga mantra), as Bhūmi Śūkta. Some Āgamas call a hymn as Nīlā - Śūkta, on the basis of the word “Vishnu patni” in the hymn.Be it as it may the word “Śrī” does not occur either in the sense of “Viṣṇupatni” a deity in the Vedas.“Śrī Sūkta” appears as Khila - subsidiary part of the Ṛg Veda, considered later than the Samhitās. The main text consisting of 15 Ṛks, these mantras appear with slightly variant svaras, for all Goddess and her worship. The pioneer among the Viśiṣiṭādvaita Vedānta, named Dramiḍa Bhāshyakārar, affirms that “God” does have an eternal form and according to him, Śrī Śūkta is intended for invoking and worshipping female goddess.Yāska the author of Nirukta, examines whether, the deities mentioned in the Vedas, have form. Jaimini who wrote the mīmāmsa śāstrās, holds that there is no physical form for the deities extolled in the Vedas. Obviously, the imagery of Vedic deities are only poetic creations and not existential, according to both Yāska and Jaimini. Whether the deities had form or no form, Vedic mantras are the same. The Vedas do not restrict human beings from differently interpreting the Vedic hymn. So mīmāmsakas hold that one need not worry about the Vedic word or its meaning while reciting the hymns.(In an unsubstantiated Statement, Agnihotram Rāmānuja Tātāchārayar states that it is the conclusion of research scholars, that the term “Śrī”, is associated with Lakṣmi, in later times and given a form). All the above views are the ones mentioned by the learned writer who was a reputed Vedic supplement; but there are other views among Vaiṣnavites, who interpret the term in a different way. Further the extremists among them attack Agnihotram as a bigot. A separate philosophy developed among Vaiṣnavas about “Śrī” in the late mediaeval period. We can not pursue that line here for want of space.The Agamic position on Lakṣmi stands apart goddess Lakshmi or, “Śrī” is the sole power manifesting as Gods that remains constantly with Viṣṇu in Vaikuṇṭha. Vaiṣṇava Ācāryas, recite even today during the pūja the Stotra - vaikuṇṭhe pada loke śriya sārddham to denote this concept. Also is recited frequently another verse which says that Viṣṇu remains as protecter, in Vaikuṇṭha with Lakṣmi, who is the embodiment of grace.This situation continues in whatever form Viṣṇu assumes. All the six qualities (ṣaḍ guṇas) are attributed to Lakṣmi. The power identical with all aspect of Viṣṇu is called “Nārāyaṇi Śakti”. She is eternal, complete, all pervasive and svatantra. Since the lord is seen through her, she is called Lakṣmi. Since she remains as Lotus flower, even before the appearance of time (kāla) and puruṣa, she is called Padmā. These concepts of Lakṣmi, found in Āgamas are later developments. Just as Viṣṇu appears as a male in Vaikuṇṭha, his power also resides in female form in Vaikuṇṭha. The devotees experience the names of these saktis given differently in the their Ahir Budhnaya Samhita. Satvata Samhita another text, gives the list of twelve saktis, as Lakṣmī, Puṣṭi, Dayā, Nidrā, Viṣamā, Sarasvatī, Dhṛti, Maitrī, Rati, Tṛṣṭi and Mātā. However as Lakṣmi seated on a lotus flanked by deity as Durgā from very early times. two elephants in Buddhist monuments, we are sure that she was as much an independent deity as Durgā from very early times.
