Shaktism (/ˈsæktɪzəm/; Sanskrit: शाक्तसम्प्रदायः, romanized: Śāktasampradāyaḥ) is a major Hindu denomination in which the godhead or metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically to be a woman.
Shaktism involves a galaxy of goddesses, all being regarded as different aspects, manifestations, or personifications of the same supreme goddess Shakti. It includes various modes of worship, ranging from those focused on the most worshipped Durga, to gracious Parvati, and the fierce Kali. After the decline of Buddhism in India, various Hindu and Buddhist goddesses were combined to form the Mahavidya, a pantheon of ten goddesses. The most common forms of the Mahadevi worshipped in Shaktism include: Durga, Kali, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Parvati and Tripurasundari. Also worshipped are the various Gramadevatas across the Indian villages.
Shaktism also encompasses various tantric sub-traditions, including Vidyapitha and Kulamārga. Shaktism emphasizes that intense love of the deity is more important than simple obedience, thus showing an influence of the Vaishnavaite idea of passionate relationship between Radha and Krishna as an ideal bhava. Similarly, Shaktism influenced Vaishnavism and Shaivism. The goddess is considered the consort and energy (shakti) of the gods Vishnu and Shiva; they have their individual shaktis, Vaishnavi for Vishnu and Maheshvari for Shiva, and consorts Lakshmi and Sati/Parvati. An adherent of Shaktism is called Shakta. According to a 2010 estimate by Johnson and Grim, Shaktism is the third largest Hindu sect constituting about 3.2% of Hindus.
The Sruti and Smriti texts of Hinduism form an important scriptural framework in Shaktism. Scriptures such as the Devi Mahatmya, Devi-Bhagavata Purana, Kalika Purana, and Shakta Upanishads like the Devi Upanishad are revered. The Devi Mahatmya in particular, is considered in Shaktism to be as important as the Bhagavad Gita. The Devi is revered in many Hindu temples and is worshipped during various Hindu festivals. The goddess-focused tradition and festivals such as the Durga puja are very popular in the eastern India.
History of Shaktism
The earliest archaeological evidence of what appears to be an Upper Paleolithic shrine for Shakti worship were discovered in the terminal upper paleolithic site of Baghor I (Baghor stone) in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh, India. The excavations, carried out under the guidance of noted archaeologists G. R. Sharma of Allahabad University and J. Desmond Clark of University of California and assisted by Jonathan Mark Kenoyer and J.N. Pal, dated the Baghor formation to between 9000 BC and 8000 BC. The origins of Shakti worship can also be traced to Indus Valley civilization.
Among the earliest evidence of reverence for the female aspect of God in Hinduism is this passage in chapter 10.125 of the Rig Veda, also called the Devi Suktam hymn:
I am the Queen, the gatherer-up of treasures, most thoughtful, first of those who merit worship. Thus Gods have established me in many places with many homes to enter and abide in. Through me alone all eat the food that feeds them, – each man who sees, breathes, hears the word outspoken. They know it not, yet I reside in the essence of the Universe. Hear, one and all, the truth as I declare it. I, verily, myself announce and utter the word that Gods and men alike shall welcome. I make the man I love exceeding mighty, make him nourished, a sage, and one who knows Brahman. I bend the bow for Rudra [Shiva], that his arrow may strike, and slay the hater of devotion. I rouse and order battle for the people, I created Earth and Heaven and reside as their Inner Controller. On the world’s summit I bring forth sky the Father: my home is in the waters, in the ocean as Mother. Thence I pervade all existing creatures, as their Inner Supreme Self, and manifest them with my body. I created all worlds at my will, without any higher being, and permeate and dwell within them.
The eternal and infinite consciousness is I, it is my greatness dwelling in everything.
— Devi Sukta, Rigveda 10.125.3 – 10.125.8,
The Vedic literature reveres various goddesses, but far less frequently than Gods Indra, Agni and Soma. Yet, they are declared equivalent aspects of the neutral Brahman, of Prajapati and Purusha.[citation needed] The goddesses often mentioned in the Vedic layers of text include the Ushas (dawn), Vāc (speech, wisdom), Sarasvati (as river), Prithivi (earth), Nirriti (annihilator), Shraddha (faith, confidence). Goddesses such as Uma appear in the Upanishads as another aspect of divine and the knower of ultimate knowledge (Brahman), such as in section 3 and 4 of the ancient Kena Upanishad.
Hymns to goddesses are in the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata, particularly in the Harivamsa section, which was a late addition (100 to 300 CE) to the work. The archaeological and textual evidence implies, states Thomas Coburn, that the goddess had become as prominent as God in Hindu tradition by about the third or fourth century. The literature on Shakti theology grew in ancient India, climaxing in one of the most important texts of Shaktism called the Devi Mahatmya. This text, states C. Mackenzie Brown – a professor of Religion, is both a culmination of centuries of Indian ideas about the divine woman, as well as a foundation for the literature and spirituality focussed on the female transcendence in centuries that followed. The Devi Mahatmya is considered in Shaktism to be as important as the Bhagavad Gita. The Devi-Mahatmya is not the earliest literary fragment attesting to the existence of devotion to a goddess figure, states Thomas B. Coburn – a professor of Religious Studies, but «it is surely the earliest in which the object of worship is conceptualized as goddess, with a capital G».
Theology
Shaktas conceive the goddess as the supreme, ultimate, eternal reality of all existence, or same as the Brahman concept of Hinduism. She is considered to be simultaneously the source of all creation, its embodiment and the energy that animates and governs it, and that into which everything will ultimately dissolve. Mahadevi said in Devi Upanishad, verse 2, «I am essentially Brahman». According to V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar – a professor of Indian history, in Shaktism theology «Brahman is static Shakti and Shakti is dynamic Brahman.»
Shaktism views the Devi as the source, essence and substance of everything in creation. Its texts such as the Devi-Bhagavata Purana states:
I am Manifest Divinity, Unmanifest Divinity, and Transcendent Divinity. I am Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, as well as Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. I am the Sun and I am the Stars, and I am also the Moon. I am all animals and birds, and I am the outcaste as well, and the thief. I am the low person of dreadful deeds, and the great person of excellent deeds. I am Female, I am Male in the form of Shiva.
Shaktism’s focus on the Divine Female does not imply a rejection of the male. It rejects masculine-feminine, male-female, soul-body, transcendent-immanent dualism, considering nature as divine. Devi is considered to be the cosmos itself – she is the embodiment of energy, matter and soul, the motivating force behind all action and existence in the material universe. Yet in Shaktism, states C. MacKenzie Brown, the cultural concepts of masculine and the feminine as they exist among practitioners of Shaktism are aspects of the divine, transcendent reality. In Hindu iconography, the cosmic dynamic of male-female or masculine-feminine interdependence and equivalence, is expressed in the half-Shakti, half-Shiva deity known as Ardhanari.
The philosophical premise in many Shakta texts, states professor of Religious Studies June McDaniel, is syncretism of Samkhya and Advaita Vedanta schools of Hindu philosophy, called Shaktadavaitavada (literally, the path of nondualistic Shakti).
The Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda, remarked thus; about being an actual Shakti worshipper: «Do you know who is the real «Shakti-worshipper»? It is he who knows that God is the omnipresent force in the universe and sees in women the manifestation of that Force.» Shakta-universalist Sri Ramakrishna, one of the most influential figures of the Hindu reform movements, believed that all Hindu goddesses are manifestations of the same mother goddess. The 18th-century Shakta bhakti poems and songs were composed by two Bengal court poets, Bharatchandra Ray and Ramprasad Sen, and the Tamil collection Abhirami Anthadhi was composed by Abhirami Bhattar.
Scriptures
The important scriptures of Shaktism include the Shakta Upanishads, as well as Shakta-oriented Upa Puranic literature such as the Devi Purana and Kalika Purana, the Lalita Sahasranama (from the Brahmanda Purana). The Tripura Upanishad is historically the most complete introduction to Shakta Tantrism, distilling into its 16 verses almost every important topic in Shakta Tantra tradition. Along with the Tripura Upanishad, the Tripuratapini Upanishad has attracted scholarly bhasya (commentary) in the second half of 2nd-millennium, such as the work of Bhaskararaya, and Ramanand. These texts link the Shakti Tantra tradition as a Vedic attribute, however this link has been contested by scholars. Scriptures such as the Devi Mahatmya, Devi-Bhagavata Purana, Kalika Purana, and Shakta Upanishads like the Devi Upanishad are particularly revered.
Devi Gita
The seventh book of the Srimad Devi-Bhagavatam presents the theology of Shaktism. This book is called Devi Gita, or the «Song of the Goddess». The goddess explains she is the Brahman that created the world, asserting the Advaita premise that spiritual liberation occurs when one fully comprehends the identity of one’s soul and the Brahman. This knowledge, asserts the goddess, comes from detaching self from the world and meditating on one’s own soul.
The Devi Gita, like the Bhagavad Gita, is a condensed philosophical treatise. It presents the divine female as a powerful and compassionate creator, pervader and protector of the universe. She is presented in the opening chapter of the Devi Gita as the benign and beautiful world-mother, called Bhuvaneshvari (literally, ruler of the universe). Thereafter, the text presents its theological and philosophical teachings.
The Devi Gita describes the Devi (or goddess) as «universal, cosmic energy» resident within each individual. It thus weaves in the terminology of Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy. The text is suffused with Advaita Vedanta ideas, wherein nonduality is emphasized, all dualities are declared as incorrect, and interconnected oneness of all living beings’ souls with Brahman is held as the liberating knowledge. However, adds Tracy Pintchman – a professor of Religious Studies and Hinduism, Devi Gita incorporates Tantric ideas giving the Devi a form and motherly character rather than the gender-neutral concept of Adi Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta.
List of 8 Shakta Upanishads:
Tripuratapini Upanishad
Tripura Upanishad
Sita Upanishad
Saubhagyalakshmi Upanishad
Sarasvati-rahasya Upanishad
Devi Upanishad
Bhavana Upanishad
Bahvricha Upanishad
Principal deitiesShaktism is a goddess-centric tradition of Hinduism, involving many goddesses, all being regarded as various aspects, manifestations, or personifications of the same supreme goddess Shakti. Shaktas approach the Devi in many forms; however, they are all considered to be but diverse aspects of the one supreme goddess. The primary Devi form worshiped by a Shakta devotee is his or her ishta-devi, that is a personally selected Devi. The selection of this deity can depend on many factors such as family tradition, regional practice, guru lineage, and personal resonance.
Some forms of the goddess are widely known in the Hindu world. The common goddesses of Shaktism, popular in the Hindu thought at least by about mid 1st-millennium CE, include Parvati, Durga, Kali, Yogamaya, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Gayatri, Radha, and Sita. In the Eastern part of India, after the decline of Buddhism in India, various Hindu and Buddhist goddesses were combined to form the Mahavidya, a pantheon of ten goddesses.
The rarer forms of Devi found among tantric Shakta are the Mahavidyas, particularly Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Tara, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi, and Kamala.
Other major goddess groups include the Sapta-Matrika («Seven Mothers»), «who are the energies of different major Gods, and described as assisting the great Shakta Devi in her fight with demons», and the 64 Yoginis. The eight forms of the goddess Lakshmi, Ashtalakshmi; and the nine forms of goddess Durga, the Navadurgas, which are mainly worshipped during the Navaratri festival. Also worshipped regularly are the numerous Gramadevatas across the Indian villages.
Tantric traditions
Sub-traditions of Shaktism include «Tantra», which refers to techniques, practices and ritual grammar involving mantra, yantra, nyasa, mudra and certain elements of traditional kundalini yoga, typically practiced under the guidance of a qualified guru after due initiation (diksha) and oral instruction to supplement various written sources. There has been a historic debate between Shakta theologians on whether its tantric practices are Vedic or non-Vedic.
The roots of Shakta Tantrism are unclear, probably ancient and independent of the Vedic tradition of Hinduism. The interaction between Vedic and Tantric traditions trace back to at least the sixth century, and the surge in Tantra tradition developments during the late medieval period, states Geoffrey Samuel, were a means to confront and cope with Islamic invasions and political instability in and after the 14th century CE.
Notable Shakta tantras are Saradatilaka Tantra of Lakshmanadesika (11th century), Kali Tantra (c. 15th century), Yogini Tantra, Sarvanandanatha’s Sarvolassa Tantra, Brahmananda Giri’s Saktananda Tarangini with Tararahasya and Purnananda Giri’s Syamarahasya with Sritattvacintamani (16th century), Krishananda Agamavagisa’s Tantrasara and Raghunatna Tarkavagisa Bhattacarya Agamatattvavilasa (17th century), as well as works of Bhaskaracharya (18th century).
Vidyāpīṭha
The Vidyāpīṭha is subdivided into Vāmatantras, Yāmalatantras, and Śaktitantras.
Kulamārga
The Kulamārga preserves some of the distinctive features of the Kāpālika tradition, from which it is derived. It is subdivided into four subcategories of texts based on the goddesses Kuleśvarī, Kubjikā, Kālī and Tripurasundarī respectively. The Trika texts are closely related to the Kuleśvarī texts and can be considered as part of the Kulamārga.
Worship
Shaktism encompasses a nearly endless variety of beliefs and practices – from animism to philosophical speculation of the highest order – that seek to access the Shakti (Divine Energy or Power) that is believed to be the Devi’s nature and form. Its two largest and most visible schools are the Srikula (family of Tripura Sundari), strongest in South India, and the Kalikula (family of Kali), which prevails in northern and eastern India.
Srikula: family of Lalita Tripura Sundari
The Srikula (family of Sri) tradition (sampradaya) focuses worship on Devi in the form of the goddess Lalita-Tripura Sundari. Rooted in first-millennium. Srikula became a force in South India no later than the seventh century, and is today the prevalent form of Shaktism practiced in South Indian regions such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Tamil areas of Sri Lanka.
The Srikula’s best-known school is Srividya, «one of Shakta Tantrism’s most influential and theologically sophisticated movements.» Its central symbol, the Sri Chakra, is probably the most famous visual image in all of Hindu Tantric tradition. Its literature and practice is perhaps more systematic than that of any other Shakta sect.
Srividya largely views the goddess as «benign saumya and beautiful saundarya» (in contrast to Kalikula’s focus on «terrifying ugra and horrifying ghora» Goddess forms such as Kali or Durga). In Srikula practice, moreover, every aspect of the goddess – whether malignant or gentle – is identified with Lalita.
Srikula adepts most often worship Lalita using the abstract Sri Chakra yantra, which is regarded as her subtle form. The Sri Chakra can be visually rendered either as a two-dimensional diagram (whether drawn temporarily as part of the worship ritual, or permanently engraved in metal) or in the three-dimensional, pyramidal form known as the Sri Meru. It is not uncommon to find a Sri Chakra or Sri Meru installed in South Indian temples, because – as modern practitioners assert – «there is no disputing that this is the highest form of Devi and that some of the practice can be done openly. But what you see in the temples is not the srichakra worship you see when it is done privately.»
The Srividya paramparas can be further broadly subdivided into two streams, the Kaula (a vamamarga practice) and the Samaya (a dakshinamarga practice). The Kaula or Kaulachara, first appeared as a coherent ritual system in the 8th century in central India, and its most revered theorist is the 18th-century philosopher Bhaskararaya, widely considered «the best exponent of Shakta philosophy.»
The Samaya or Samayacharya finds its roots in the work of the 16th-century commentator Lakshmidhara, and is «fiercely puritanical in its attempts to reform Tantric practice in ways that bring it in line with high-caste brahmanical norms.» Many Samaya practitioners explicitly deny being either Shakta or Tantric, though scholars argues that their cult remains technically both. The Samaya-Kaula division marks «an old dispute within Hindu Tantrism».
Kalikula: family of Kali
The Kalikula (Family of Kali) form of Shaktism is most dominant in northeastern India, and is most widely prevalent in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Odisha, as well as Nepal and Kerala. The goddesses Kubjika, Kulesvari, Chamunda, Chandi, Shamshan Kali (goddess of the cremation ground), Dakshina Kali, and Siddheshwari are worshipped in the region of Bengal to protect against disease and smallpox as well as ill omens. Kalikula lineages focus upon the Devi as the source of wisdom (vidya) and liberation (moksha). The tantric part generally stand «in opposition to the brahmanic tradition,» which they view as «overly conservative and denying the experiential part of religion.»
The main deities of the Kalikula tradition are Kali, Chandi, Bheema and Durga. Other goddesses that enjoy veneration are Tara and all the other Mahavidyas, Kaumari as well as regional goddesses such as Manasa, the snake goddesses, Ṣaṣṭī, the protectress of children, Śītalā, the smallpox goddess, and Umā (the Bengali name for Parvati) — all of them, again, considered aspects of the Divine Mother.
In Nepal devi is mainly worshipped as the goddess Bhavani. She is one of the important Hindu deities in Nepal. Two major centers of Shaktism in West Bengal are Kalighat where the skull of Kali is believed to be worshipped along with her 25 forms. The kali ghat temple is located in Calcutta and Tarapith in Birbhum district. In Calcutta, emphasis is on devotion (bhakti) to the goddess as Kali. Where the goddess(kali) is seen as the destroyer of evil.:
She is «the loving mother who protects her children and whose fierceness guards them. She is outwardly frightening – with dark skin, pointed teeth, and a necklace of skulls – but inwardly beautiful. She can guarantee a good rebirth or great religious insight, and her worship is often communal – especially at festivals, such as Kali Puja and Durga Puja. Worship may involve contemplation of the devotee’s union with or love of the goddess, visualization of her form, chanting of her mantras, prayer before her image or yantra, and giving of offerings.»
At Tarapith, Devi’s manifestation as Tara («She Who Saves») or Ugratara («Fierce Tara») is ascendant, as the goddess who gives liberation (kaivalyadayini). […] The forms of sadhana performed here are more yogic and tantric than devotional, and they often involve sitting alone at the [cremation] ground, surrounded by ash and bone. There are shamanic elements associated with the Tarapith tradition, including «conquest of the Goddess, exorcism, trance, and control of spirits.»
The philosophical and devotional underpinning of all such ritual, however, remains a pervasive vision of the Devi as supreme, absolute divinity. As expressed by the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna, one of the most influential figures in modern Bengali Shaktism:
Kali is none other than Brahman. That which is called Brahman is really Kali. She is the Primal Energy. When that Energy remains inactive, I call It Brahman, and when It creates, preserves, or destroys, I call It Shakti or Kali. What you call Brahman I call Kali. Brahman and Kali are not different. They are like fire and its power to burn: if one thinks of fire one must think of its power to burn. If one recognizes Kali one must also recognize Brahman; again, if one recognizes Brahman one must recognize Kali. Brahman and Its Power are identical. It is Brahman whom I address as Shakti or Kali.
Festivals
Shaktas celebrate most major Hindu festivals, as well as a huge variety of local, temple- or deity-specific observances. A few of the more important events are listed below:
Navaratri
The most important Shakta festival is Navaratri (lit., «Festival of Nine Nights»), also known as «Sharad Navaratri» because it falls during the Hindu month of Sharad (October/November). This is the festival that worships the Navadurgas, forms of Devi. This festival – often taken together with the following tenth day, known as Dusshera or Vijayadashami – celebrates the goddess Durga’s victory over a series of powerful demons described in the Devi Mahatmya. In Bengal, the last four days of Navaratri are called Durga Puja, and mark one episode in particular: Durga’s iconic slaying of Mahishasura (lit., the «Buffalo Demon»). Durga Puja also became the main religio-cultural celebration within the Bengal diaspora in the West (together with Kali and Sarasvati Pujas, if a community enough big and rich).
While Hindus of all denominations celebrate the autumn Navratri festival, Shaktas also celebrate two additional Navratris – one in the spring and one in the summer. The spring festival is known as Vasanta Navaratri or Chaitra Navatri, and celebrated in the Hindu month of Chaitra (March/April). Srividya lineages dedicate this festival to Devi’s form as the goddess Tripura Sundari. The summer festival is called Ashada Navaratri, as it is held during the Hindu month of Ashadha (June/July). The Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu, with Vaishno Devi considered an aspect of Durga, celebrates Navaratri. Ashada Navaratri, on the other hand, is considered particularly auspicious for devotees of the boar-headed Goddess Varahi, one of the seven Matrikas named in the Devi Mahatmya.
Vasant Panchami
Vasant Panchami (Sanskrit: वसन्त पञ्चमी, romanized: Vasanta Pañcamī), also rendered Vasanta Panchami and Saraswati Puja in honour of the Hindu goddess Saraswati, is a festival that marks the preparation for the arrival of spring. The festival is celebrated in Indian religions in different ways depending on the region. Vasant Panchami also marks the start of preparation for Holika and Holi, which take place forty days later. The Vasant Utsava (festival) on Panchami is celebrated forty days before spring, because any season’s transition period is 40 days, and after that, the season comes into full bloom.
Nomenclature and date
Vasant Panchami is celebrated every year on the fifth day of the bright half of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Magha, which typically falls in late January or February. Spring is known as the «King of all Seasons», so the festival commences forty days in advance. It is generally winter-like in northern India, and more spring-like in central and western parts of India on Vasant Panchami, which gives credence to the idea that spring is actually in full bloom 40 days after the Vasant Panchami day.
The festival is particularly observed by Hindus in the Indian subcontinent, notably India and Nepal. In southern states, the same day is called Sri Panchami.
On the island of Bali and the Hindus of Indonesia, it is known as «Hari Raya Saraswati» (great day of Saraswati). It also marks the beginning of the 210-day long Balinese Pawukon calendar.
Hinduism
Saraswati Puja
Vasant Panchami is a festival of Hindus that marks the beginning of preparations for the spring season. It is celebrated by people in various ways depending on the region. Vasant Panchami also marks the start of preparation for Holika and Holi, which occur forty days later. For many, Vasant Panchami is the festival dedicated to goddess Saraswati who is their goddess of knowledge, language, music, and all arts. She symbolizes creative energy and power in all its forms, including longing and love. The season and festival also celebrate the agricultural fields’ ripening with yellow flowers of mustard crop, which Hindus associate with Saraswati’s favorite color. People dress in yellow saris or shirts or accessories, share yellow-colored snacks and sweets. Some add saffron to their rice and then eat yellow cooked rice as a part of an elaborate feast.
Many families mark this day by sitting with babies and young children, encouraging their children to write their first words with their fingers, and some study or create music together. The day before Vasant Panchami, Saraswati’s temples are filled with food so that she can join the celebrants in the traditional feasting the following morning. In temples and educational institutions, statues of Saraswati are dressed in yellow and worshiped. Many educational institutions arrange special prayers or pujas in the morning to seek the blessing of the goddess. Poetic and musical gatherings are held in some communities in reverence for Saraswati.
In Eastern India, primarily in the states of West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Bihar, as well as in Nepal, people visit Saraswati temples and also worship Goddess Saraswati at home (Saraswati Puja). In West Bengal, it’s one of the major festivals for Bengali Hindus and observed by many households; most schools arrange Saraswati puja for their students on their premises. In Bangladesh too, all major educational institutes and universities observe it with a holiday and a special puja.
In the state of Odisha, the festival is celebrated as Basanta Panchami/Sri Panchami /Saraswati Puja. Homas and Yagnas are done in schools and colleges across the state. Students celebrate Saraswati puja with great sincerity and fervor. Usually, children four and five years old start learning on this day in a unique ceremony named ‘Khadi-Chuan’ or ‘Vidya-Arambha’. — this is known as «Haate-Khori» among Bengali Hindus.
In southern states such as Andhra Pradesh, the same day is called Sri Panchami where «Sri» refers to her as another aspect of the one goddess Devi.
Other deities
Another legend behind Vasant Panchami is based on the Hindu god of love called Kama. Pradyumna is Kamadev personified in Krishna’s Book. Thus Vasant Panchami is also known as «Madana Panchami». Pradyumna is the son of Rukmini and Krishna. He awakens the passions of the earth (and its people) and thus the world blooms anew.
It is remembered as the day when the Seers (Rishis) approached Kama to wake up Shiva from his Yogic meditation. They support Parvati who is doing a penance to get Shiva as husband and seek Kama’s help to bring Shiva back from his meditation to worldly desires. Kama agrees and shoots arrows, made of flowers and bees, at Shiva from his heavenly bow of sugarcane in order to arouse him to pay attention to Parvati. Lord Shiva awakens from his meditation. When his third eye opens, a fireball is directed to Kama. Kama the Lord of desires is burnt to ashes. This initiative is celebrated by Hindus as Vasant Panchami.
Vasant Panchami is associated with the emotions of love and emotional anticipation in Kutch (Gujarat) and is celebrated by preparing bouquets and garlands of flowers set with mango leaves, as a gift. People dress in saffron, pink, or yellow and visit each other. Songs about Krishna’s pranks with Radha, considered to mirror Kama-Rati, are sung. This is symbolized with the Hindu deity Kama with his wife Rati.
Traditionally, in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, after bathing in the morning, people worship Shiva and Parvati. Offerings of mango flowers and the ears of wheat are traditionally made.
Deo temple: Sun God
The shrine of the Sun God in Aurangabad district, Bihar known as the Deo-Sun Shrine, was established on Basant Panchami. The day is celebrated to commemorate the founding of the shrine by King Aila of Allahabad and the birthday of the Sun-Deo God. The statues are washed and old red clothes on them are replaced with new ones on Basant Panchami. Devotees sing, dance and play musical instruments.
Other
People celebrate the day by wearing yellow (white), eating sweet dishes and displaying yellow flowers in homes. In Rajasthan, it is customary for people to wear jasmine garlands. In Maharashtra, newly married couples visit a temple and offer prayers on the first Basant Panchami after the wedding. wearing yellow dresses. In the Punjab region, Hindus wear yellow turban or headdress. In Uttarakhand, in addition to Saraswati Puja, people worship Shiva, Parvati as the mother earth and the crops or agriculture. People eat yellow rice and wear yellow. It is also a significant school supplies shopping and related gift-giving season.
In the Punjab region, Basant is celebrated as a seasonal festival by all faiths and is known as the Basant Festival of Kites. Children buy dor (thread) and guddi or patang (kites) for the sport. The people of the Punjab wear yellow clothes and eat yellow rice to emulate the yellow mustard (sarson) flower fields, or play by flying kites. According to Desai (2010), the tradition of flying kites on various festivals is also found in northern and western Indian states: Hindus in Rajasthan and especially in Gujarat associate kite flying with the period prior to Uttarayan; in Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), kites are flown on Dussehra; in Bengal kite flying takes place on Viskwakarma Puja in September. The sport is also found in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and parts of south India.
On Bali and among Indonesian Hindus, Hari Raya Saraswati (the festival’s local name) is celebrated with prayers in family compounds, educational institutions, and public venues from morning to noon. Teachers and students wear brightly coloured clothes instead of their usual uniforms, and children bring traditional cakes and fruit to school for offerings in a temple.
Sikhism
Namdhari Sikhs have historically celebrated Basant Panchami to mark the beginning of spring. Other Sikhs treat it as a spring festival, and joyfully celebrate it by wearing yellow colored clothes, emulating the bright yellow mustard flowers in the fields.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire, encouraged the celebration of Basant Panchami as a social event in the Gurdwaras. In 1825 CE he gave 2,000 rupees to the Harmandir Sahib Gurdwara in Amritsar to distribute food. He held an annual Basant fair and sponsored kite flying as a regular feature of the fairs. Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his queen Moran would dress in yellow and fly kites on Basant Panchami. Maharaja Ranjit Singh would also hold a darbar or court in Lahore on Basant Panchami which lasted ten days when soldiers would dress in yellow and show their military prowess.
In the Malwa region, the festival of Basant Panchami is celebrated with wearing of yellow dress and kite flying. In Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur, a Basant Panchami fair is held. People attend the fair wearing yellow clothes, turbans or accessories. Sikhs also remember the martyrdom of the child Haqiqat Rai on Basant Panchmi, who was arrested by the Muslim ruler Khan Zakariya Khan after being falsely accused of insulting Islam. Rai was given the choice of converting to Islam or death and, having refused conversion, was executed on the Basant Panchami of 1741 in Lahore, Pakistan.
Nihangs go to Patiala on Basant Panchami and dress in pink and yellow on the month of Vaisakh (not only Basant Panchami day).
Pakistan
Kite flying in Lahore goes back centuries. After creation of Pakistan it evolved into a highly competitive sport which is not limited to «basant» only. There are regional teams, competitions, and trophies. Kite And string making is an industry all over central Punjab providing livelihood to thousands.
Given the shared history and culture in the Indian subcontinent, the Punjabi Muslims in and around Lahore also celebrate kite flying as a sport in Pakistan from home rooftops during the Basant season. In 2003 the Supreme Court of Pakistan attempted to ban the manufacture, trade, and flying of kites in Lahore on the basis of fatal incidents involving ‘glass-coated’ stray strings originally used in kite-battles in Lahore. In 2005 Lahore announced that Vasant Panchami could be celebrated in a forest outside of Lahore. In 2017 the ban on Vasant Panchami was briefly lifted and reimposed.
Sufi Muslim Basant
According to Lochan Singh Buxi, Basant Panchmi is a Hindu festival adopted by some Indian Muslim Sufis in the 12th century to mark the grave of the Muslim Sufi saint dargah of Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi and ever since, has been observed by the Chishti order. According to local Sufi traditions, the poet Amir Khusrau saw Hindu women carry yellow flowers to a temple on Basant and they were dressed in yellow, and he adopted their culture to give some happiness to Nizamuddin Aulia because his nephew died few days ago and he was not recovering from grief, one the Chishti order of Sufi Indian Muslims continue to practice.
Controversy
Vasant Panchami has been a historic occasion of dispute at the archaeological site of Bhojshala (Dhar, Madhya Pradesh) with evidence of an early Saraswati temple (locally called Waghdevi). On the site of Bhojshala is a later era Kamal-Maula mosque, which Muslims use for Friday prayers. The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has provided annual guidelines, when the Vasant Panchami festival falls on a Friday, announcing hours when Hindus can worship at Bhojshala on Vasant Panchami, and when Muslims can. However, in past years, the Muslim community scheduled earlier has refused to vacate the premises, leading to riots and disorder such as in the 1980s and 1990s.
Diwali and others
Lakshmi Puja is a part of Durga Puja celebrations by Shaktas, where Laksmi symbolizes the goddess of abundance and autumn harvest. Lakshmi’s biggest festival, however, is Diwali (or Deepavali; the «Festival of Lights»), a major Hindu holiday celebrated across India and in Nepal as Tihar. In North India, Diwali marks the beginning of the traditional New Year, and is held on the night of the new moon in the Hindu month of Kartik (usually October or November). Shaktas (and many non-Shaktas) celebrate it as another Lakshmi Puja, placing small oil lamps outside their homes and praying for the goddess’s blessings. Diwali coincides with the celebration of Kali Puja, popular in Bengal, and some Shakta traditions focus their worship on Devi as Parvati rather than Lakshmi.
Jagaddhatri Puja is celebrated on the last four days of the Navaratis, following Kali Puja. It is very similar to Durga Puja in its details and observance, and is especially popular in Bengal and some other parts of Eastern India. Gauri Puja is performed on the fifth day after Ganesh Chaturthi, during Ganesha Puja in Western India, to celebrate the arrival of Gauri, Mother of Ganesha where she brings her son back home.
Major Shakta temple festivals are Meenakshi Kalyanam and Ambubachi Mela. The Meenakshi Kalyanam is a part of the Chithirai Thiruvizha festival in Madurai around April/May, one of the largest festivals in South India, celebrating the wedding of goddess Meenakshi (Parvati) and Shiva. The festival is one where both the Vaishnava and Shaiva communities join the celebrations, because Vishnu gives away his sister Parvati in marriage to Shiva. Ambubachi Mela or Ameti is a celebration of the menstruation of the goddess, by hundreds of thousands of devotees, in a festival held in June/July (during the monsoon season) at Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati, Assam. Here the Devi is worshiped in the form of a yoni-like stone, and the site is one of Shakta Pitha or pilgrimage sites in Shaktism.
Animal sacrifice
Shaktism tradition practices animal sacrifice to revere goddesses such as Kali in many parts of India but particularly in the eastern and Himalayan states of India and Nepal. This is either an actual animal, or a vegetable or sweet dish substitute considered equivalent to the animal. In many cases, Shaktism devotees consider animal sacrifice distasteful, and practice alternate means of expressing devotion while respecting the views of others in their tradition.
In Nepal, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam, animal sacrifices are performed at Shakti temples, particularly to mark the legend of goddess Durga slaying the buffalo demon. This involves slaying of a goat or a male water buffalo. Animal sacrifice is also an essential component as part of the Kaula tantra school of Shaktism. This practice is rare among Hindus, outside this region.
In Bengal, the animal sacrifice ritual follows the guidelines as seen in texts such as Mahanirvana Tantra. This ritual includes selecting the animal, then a priest offers a prayer to the animal, then recites the Gayatri Mantra in its ear before killing it. The meat of the sacrificed animal is then cooked and eaten by the Shakta devotees.
In Nepal, animal sacrifice en masse occurs during the three-day-long Gadhimai festival. In 2009 it was speculated that more than 250,000 animals were sacrificed during this event.
In Odisha, during the Bali Jatra, Shaktism devotees sacrifice male goats to the goddess Samaleswari in her temple in Sambalpur, Orissa.
The Rajput of Rajasthan worship their weapons and horses on Navratri, and formerly offered a sacrifice of a goat to a goddess revered as Kuldevi – a practice that continues in some places. The ritual requires slaying of the animal with a single stroke. In the past this ritual was considered a rite of passage into manhood and readiness as a warrior. The ritual is directed by a priest. The Kuldevi among these Rajput communities is a warrior-pativrata guardian goddess, with local legends tracing reverence for her during Rajput-Muslim wars.
Animal Sacrifice of a buffalo or goat, particularly during smallpox epidemics, has been practiced in parts of South India. The sacrificed animal is dedicated to a goddess, and is probably related to the myth of goddess Kali in Andhra Pradesh, but in Karnataka, the typical goddess is Renuka. According to Alf Hiltebeitel – a professor of Religions, History and Human Sciences, these ritual animal sacrifices, with some differences, mirrors goddess — related ritual animal sacrifice found in Gilgamesh epic and in texts of Egyptian, Minoan and Greek sources.
In the 19th century through the early 20th century, Indian laborers were shipped by the British Empire into colonial mining and plantations operations in the Indian ocean and the Caribbean regions. These included significant number of Shakta devotees. While instances of Shakta animal sacrifice during Kali puja in the Caribbean islands were recorded between 1850s to 1920s, these were relatively uncommon when compared to other rituals such as temple prayers, community dancing and fire walking.
Shaktism versus other Hindu traditions
The tantra practices are secretive, subject to speculations and criticism. Scholars variously attribute such criticism to ignorance, misunderstanding or sectarian bias on the part of some observers, as well as unscrupulous practices by some Shaktas. These are some of the reasons many Hindus question the relevance and historicity of Tantra to their tradition. The emphasis in Shaktism that love of the deity is more important than obedience shows an influence of the Vaishnavaite idea of passionate relationship between Radha and Krishna as an ideal bhava. Similarly, Shaktism influenced Vaishnavism and Shaivism. The goddess is considered the consort and energy (shakti) of the gods Vishnu and Shiva; they have their individual shaktis, Vaishnavi for Vishnu and Maheshvari for Shiva, and consorts Lakshmi and Sati/Parvati.
Beyond tantra, the Shakta sub-traditions subscribe to various philosophies, are similar in some aspects and differ in others.
Demography
There is no census data available on demographic history or trends for Shaktism or other traditions within Hinduism. Estimates vary on the relative number of adherents in Shaktism compared to other traditions of Hinduism. According to a 2010 estimate by Johnson and Grim, the Shaktism tradition is the smaller group with about 30 million or 3.2% of Hindus. Adherents of Shaktism are referred to as Shaktas. Large shakta communities are particularly found in eastern states, such as West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and Tripura with substantial communities also existing in Punjab, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Central India. In West Bengal Shaktas belong to the upper castes as well as lowest castes and tribes, while the lower middle castes are Vaishnavas. In contrast, Gavin Flood states that Shaivism and Shaktism traditions are difficult to separate, as many Shaiva Hindus revere the goddess Shakti regularly. The denominations of Hinduism, states Julius Lipner, are unlike those found in major religions of the world, because Hindu denominations are fuzzy with individuals revering gods and goddesses henotheistically, with many Shaiva and Vaishnava adherents recognizing Sri (Lakshmi), Parvati, Saraswati and other aspects of the goddess Devi. Similarly, Shakta Hindus revere Shiva and goddesses such as Parvati (such as Durga, Radha, Sita and others) and Saraswati important in Shaiva and Vaishnava traditions.
Temples and influence
Shakta temples are found all over South Asia. Many towns, villages and geographic landmarks are named for various forms of the Devi. Major pilgrimage sites of Shaktism are called «Shakti Peethas», literally «Seats of the Devi». These vary from 4 to 51.
Some Shakta temples are also found in Southeast Asia, the Americas, Europe, Australia and elsewhere. Examples in the United States include the Kali Mandir in Laguna Beach, California; and Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam, a Srividya temple in rural Rush, New York.
Some feminists and participants in New Age spirituality who are attracted to Goddess worship», suggest Shaktism is a «symbol of wholeness and healing, associated especially with repressed female power and sexuality.»
Buddhism
There has been a significant sharing of ideas, ritual grammar and concepts between Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana tradition) found in Nepal and Tibet and the Tantric Shakta tradition of Hinduism. Both movements cherish female deities. According to Miranda Shaw, «the confluence of Buddhism and Shaktism is such that Tantric Buddhism could properly be called Shakta Buddhism».
The Buddhist Aurangabad Caves about 100 kilometers from the Ajanta Caves, dated to the 6th to 7th century CE, show Buddhist Matrikas (mother goddesses of Shaktism) next to the Buddha. Other goddesses in these caves include Durga. The goddess iconography in these Buddhist caves is close, but not identical to the Hindu Shakta tradition. The «seven Goddess mothers» are found in other Buddhist caves and literature, such as their discussion in the Buddhist text Manjusrimulakalpa and Vairocanabhisambodhi.
Jainism
In Jainism, ideas similar to Shaktism tradition are found, such as the Vidyadevis and the Shasanadevis.
Sikhism
The secondary scripture of Sikhs, Dasam Granth attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, includes numerous sections on Shakta goddesses, particularly Chandi – the fierce warrior form of the Hindu goddess. According to Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh – a professor of Religious Studies, the stories about goddess Durga in the Dasam Granth are reworkings of ancient Shakti mythologies. A significant part of this Sikh scripture is based on the teachings in the Shakta text Devi Mahatmya found in the Markandeya Purana of Hinduism.
