Other articles in the series:-
I can justify my view that there was a disconnect between
the original concept and the concepts that were developed over a period by
showing another female Goddess found in Anatolia and
dated at 6th millennium BC.
It appears as follows.
An obese figure sitting on a throne flanked by lions or
leopards had given rise to many speculations on its role. The location where
this was found and the relevance of this deity in the society are absolutely
unfathomable.
But any Hindu seeing this figure
would recognise it as Jyeshta
Devi, the first born when the seas were churned. She was supposed
to be ugly and obese. Taking cue from iconography described in ‘Mayamatham’,
the book by Mayan on the science of
building which covers the science of iconography of the ancient deities, this
image of the female Goddess has pendulous lips, prominent nose and fallen
breasts and stomach. She is seated on a throne. This
image is consecrated in the outskirts of the dwellings – in places where evil
and dirt are seen. Even in temples this deity is kept in neglected
places. By worshiping this deity, the people can remain safe in beautiful,
clean and happy surroundings. The
location of this image in Anatolia must be explored in the light of these
specifications.
For comparison, the images of Jyeshta Devi in Indian temples
are shown below.
Kailasanatha temple, Kancheepuram, India.
This is also from the Kailasanatha temple, Kancheepuram.
Jyeshta Devi at Thiruppaarkkadal, India.
The worship of this deity was prevalent in olden days but
very rare nowadays. The presence of similar image in Anatolia shows the
connections with Vedic society. Read my old article in this connection.
Finally I am coming to the snakes and skull seen in the
images of female goddesses of Europe and Middle East. Take a look at this image
of Asherah / Ishtar from Minoan culture.
Similar style of raised hands as if to stop or destroy the
threatening animal.
Even in Egypt, a similar kind of female image standing on a
lion is seen
One hand has a serpent and on another there are some crops.
The following figure is available in Sweden.
(Relief from Väte Church at Gotland, Sweden. Photo by Berig,
2008. The church is from ca. 1100. This is not a Christian ornament. These
figures are called Snake-witches in Sweden.)
For comparison, I am showing below the female goddess with
snakes on her sides. This image is worshiped in Belur,
in Karnataka, India.
A combined concept of feeding the animals and also offering
crops in the raised hands in the image of Asherah found
in Syria seems to be a later development of the Indus image of Mother
Goddess.
A similarly looking Asherah standing on skulls tell us from
where this idea originally came.
It was from the Hindu society. Taking information from “Mayamatham” of the different forms of female
Goddesses, only 2 deities are connected with snakes and skulls. One is Chamunda. She is also identified
as KAli. She is the concept of total destruction of enemies.
She holds the skull, has a cobra in place of a breast band and
she is mounted on a corpse. She looks terrifying. Even her hair is of bristling
snakes. She has a bare breast. Such an image of Chamunda is surprisingly seen
in Tlatilco culture!
The previous image of Asherah standing on skulls seem to be
a much diluted version of Chamunda. Chamunda’s breasts are exposed due
battle-weariness. The image below is of Chamundi worshiped in Madhya Pradesh, India. It belongs to 7th
century AD.
The image of Asherah also has a bare breast, but she is not
battle weary. This shows the further modifications with time and place.
Asherah, Syria, 1300 BC
But the bare breast concept of the image was adapted by the
people in course of time. The Minoan women were depicted as follows in their
art works. This is similar to the degeneration in Mithraism explained in the
beginning of the article.
However there also exists another piece of art from Minoan
which resembles the way North Indian women wear their sari. Take a look at this
picture below.
This is similar to how the North Indian women and
particularly Gujarati and Sindhi women drape their sari. The blouse and the
jewellery also resemble Indian. The wall hanging in the previous picture of
Minoan women (a skirt with blue sari draped on top) also looks very much
Indian.
The Indian connection of Minoan is there which I will
discuss in a separate article. Here I am showing the connection with Mother
Goddess concept of the Hindu Thought.
The 2nd image of Mother Goddess is that of KAtyayani that has connection with snakes,. This image holds a
noose in the form of a snake and wears a breast band made of snakes. She is
mounted on lion and is dressed in lion skin.
This is the most common image found in India and is in sync
with Indus depictions. This deity is particularly known for removing marriage-
hurdles and in getting a happy married life. The worship of this deity starting
from the Full moon of Dec- Jan (Mithra’s birth date in Mithraism) was done by
young girls during Krishna’s times. The Indus tablets
could well be the images of Katyayani worshiped by womenfolk of those days.
Ishtar with
lion could also be a derivation of KAtyayani, as she is supposed to have
granted the wishes – ishta means wish or desire in Sanskrit.
There is another type
of Mother Goddess principle called as the Sapta Mata
– the seven mothers. According to Mayamatham,
they are BrAhmi,
MAheshwari, KaumAri, Vaishnavi, vArAhi, IndrAni and kAli.
Each one of them had a symbolism and a related
paraphernalia. Kali was described earlier. Among them Kaumari
or Kumari holds the key to the antiquity of Mother Goddess worship. Mayamatham
describes her as having a cock and spear and mounted on a peacock. These are
the accessories of Lord Skanda, also known as Kumara, the son of Shiva and Parvathi. The literary tradition
of the olden Tamil sangam (sunken) lands is that all these three once lived
there. This makes Kumari of Sapta Mata as the mother of Kumara or Skanda. She
is none other than Shakthi or Parvathi, the female consort of Shiva. The location
of Kumari was in the Indian Ocean. After it was submerged, her image has been
consecrated at the tip of South India (at Kanya kumari)
facing the ocean where she once had her abode. People from different parts of
India went to this place to worship Kumari.
Kumari was worshiped for release from the sin of adultery. The Tamil epic Manimegalai contains a
reference to a woman from Varanasi who went to Kumari and worshiped her as a
propitiation for the adultery committed by her.
By the location of Kumari in the South Seas, it is deduced
that she and all her coterie in the Sapta mata group must have existed in the
lands that are now submerged in the Indian Ocean. These seven mothers must have
been the earliest group of Mother Goddesses, which however got separated in
course of time and worshiped as separate entities nowadays. There are of course
olden temples, with Sapta Mata and even Ashta mata (8 mothers). Mayamatham says
that Sapta Mata must be consecrated at a great distance from the village.
The Indus tablet of seven women seems to be about the Sapta Matas.
(continued)
