Sculpture and Scripture: Negotiating a Co-Existence
Sculpture and Scripture: Negotiating a Co-Existence
Nilima Chitgopekar
4.1 81 Yogini Temple of Bhedaghat (Bheraghat).
Om bahu-rupayai namah
(Salutations to Her who has taken on the form of many)
Lalita Sahasrnama, (v. 8241)
Within the realm of group-divinities, the Yogini cult, has sustained its power to bewilder and
captivate. Undoubtedly the inherent arcane nature of the Yoginis, evident in their visual
representation as well as the random mention of them in literature, is responsible for this
aura of enigma. Besides this, they also share an extremely important feature with some other female
group divinities, that is, they were not subsumed into the cult of male figures. In a culture where
many an authoritative goddess was, whatever term one wants to use, ‘spousified’, ‘consortified’ or
‘husbanded’, this self-dependence is a trait brimming with potential to illustrate yet more varied belief systems and cultural values. The material remains of the Yoginis bespeak of an astounding autonomy of being, almost to the point of appearing radical. Historically, their apparent appearance at a point in time and then evident ‘disappearance’ within a few centuries is still another contributory factor to their sense of allure. This paper is an attempt to unravel some of the mysteries pertaining to the Yoginis of Bheraghat, Jabalpur, in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India.
As for their ‘official’ position, frequently, Yoginis are related to Tantra and seen as belonging to a realm not pertaining to mainstream Hinduism. This is despite their mention, to illustrate here by one rather telling example, in one of the most popular and thereby most often sung aratis.2 Though there is ample evidence for the following assertion, this seemingly inconsequential instance substantiates the acknowledgment made today by most historians of religion, that is the composite form of the ‘ultimate’ Devi, emerges after the confluence of several streams. This would include the temporally earlier apsaras, the yakshinis the naginis the bhutinis the dakinis and also the Yoginis, all supplying
different forms of the sacred, albeit after undergoing some transformations.3 Yet the Yoginis played a
role in the consciousness of worshippers of more than one tradition, to name a few, the tantric, the
non-tantric and the Buddhist. This is further substantiated by looking at the number of manuscripts
recovered and the sculptures uncovered, in the last fifty years.4 Without going into too many details
here it may be said that the origins of the Yoginis may be seen as closely associated with the deity
Shiva.5 More recently it has been said that unlike what one finds in the Agamic texts, where the
feminine power, that is Shakti, of the godhead is rather an abstract, creative power of Shiva, in the tantras, an often terrifying divine entity absolute power radiates in the universe through the agency of secondary female deities, that is the Yoginis who enclose the cosmos in an all-pervasive network of power (Yoginijala). Usually subordinate to a fearsome form, of Shiva, these Yoginis are often
described as presided over by the eight mothers.6 The Buddhist Yoginis are also a prominent part of vajrayana Buddhism. It is held that similarities between Tantric Buddhism and Tantric Shaivism are to be explained as far as possible as a result of independent derivation from a common source, that is the Indian substratum rather than as a direct dependence of the Buddhists materials on the Shaivite. Stephen Beyer has given us unambiguous example of this kind of thinking when he writes the following
about the deities in the Yoginitantras, an important Buddhist text, “Although there are iconographic variations among these general high patron deities they share instantly recognizable similarities: they are all derived from the same cultic stock that produced the Shiva figure…”7 Therein is the conundrum, of how to extricate Tantra from Hinduism. Undoubtedly it is a monumental task to
demarcate the different strands and at times seems well nigh impossible.8 That is not the purpose of the present paper, the attempt here is to search for a locus standi of what appears to be a muted Yogini within a brahmanical text and a material context.
The historical beginnings and the role the Yoginis played, remain somewhat hazy due to the lack of source material of a direct nature. Placed within the amorphous category of Tantra, and pronounced as esoteric and exoteric, the possible links the Yoginis bear with mainstream Hinduism have not been explored. The secondary sources are scant and those that have made Yoginis the
subject of their research, are valuable as bench marks as they have done the necessary task of analysis within the parameters of iconography and their geographical distribution.9. It appears that the Yoginis seemed to have had diverse roles to play in different religious settings. Hence it is apposite to question the premise that the Yoginis are part of only an extreme and marginalized cult.
By making Across Female Realms
such a statement one is positioning oneself squarely within a dominant Sanskritic and North Indian
and finally, a text-based critical tradition. Popular as the Yoginis are in certain South Indian religious
traditions and of course in Tantra, it would be more relevant to view these Yoginis as the embodiment
of core cultural values that perhaps mutated over a period of time, but have nevertheless existed,
albeit, increasingly, in a secret or even cowed manner. This could have been rendered necessary for
admission in more conservative circles or even just due to sheer preference. Yet in the process of bowdlerization in ‘acceptable ‘ texts one encounters a clever device to portray and yet not direct the spotlight on practices that may have acquired a questionable reputation among followers. Often one finds frequent references to procedures and traditions that are not shunned entirely but placed along with a whole other ideologies and doctrines, thereby softening the sharpness of the ‘extreme’
conventions. In this paper an attempt is made to seek a liturgy for practices in the Bheraghat Yogini temple in the Puranic tradition that is in the Lalita Sahasranama. Admittedly, within this text one encounters an array of several religious ideas and thought processes, but the maximum ‘cover- space’ is given to the Kaula practices of the Yoginis. So even though it represents syncretism of faiths at its best, there is a clear partiality to the Yogini Kaula cult. In this mainstreaming of a decidedly tantric practice, it is possible to posit a fluid notwithstanding at times, tenuous linkage and affiliation between Tantra and conventional Hinduism.
Popularly referred to as the ‘Caunsatha’ or sixty-four Yoginis, even though the numbers may be both eighty-one or forty, this set of goddesses appear in sculpture in the ninth and tenth centuries CE. Though recently it has been said that archaeological and textual evidence points to the emergence of this cult around the sixth to the seventh century and its flourishing from the ninth century to the twelfth.10 The Yoginis, like many groups of goddesses, seem to represent a stage in the emergence of the ‘Great Goddess’ when long lists of goddesses were drawn together and were said to represent the
one devi. Venerated in varied forms, these group divinities are at times invoked and visualized as just aspects of her power and her personality, rather than as individual goddesses. Having said that, goddesses in India are traditionally linked to particular settings as they represent the forces of nature manifested at a specific site.11 Hence they are part of an essentially “locative” religious tradition – that is one linked strongly to a place.12 Traditionally, even today the goddess is rarely worshipped in general, but in particular, be she Vaishnodevi or Vindhyavasini. Each goddess is firmly ensconced on her specific geographically particular bench, in a village or on a hilltop. Relevant to this position is the
case in point of the Mahisasuramardini form of Durga in Bheraghat. It is labelled Sri Teramva that
could probably have been the local name of this depiction. At another place the same sculpture-type
is referred to as ‘Krsna Bhagavati13 and elsewhere referred to as Hingalaja.
The Bheraghat temple of eighty-one Yoginis also has the distinction of being one of the few temples that have some of the statues in situ, the others being Hirapur and Ranipur Jharial in Orissa., Where the remaining Yogini temples are concerned, those icons that could have been salvaged, have been placed in museums. In an archaeological report it was noted,
Many sculptures at Bheraghat have been smashed and some years ago someone undertook the repairs of the place and unfortunately rearranged many of the images so that they are not placed in their original sequence, as given by Cunningham in his report of 1873-75, vol. IX.14
Only twenty-four of the eighty-one faces survive, the rest damaged, make it difficult to determine whether they are animal or human.15 With some of the Bheraghat Yoginis remaining in their original position, some are intact from the waist downwards and the better preserved ones, have mutilated faces. Yet it can be discerned that they represent the Indian ideal of feminine beauty, magnificently endowed with full, rounded breasts, narrow waists and ample hips. Slightly over life-size in dimension,
they appear statuesque and immensely commanding in formation. The bearing of the Yoginis of Bheraghat are not friendly, as much as they are awe inspiring. There is an assured elegance in the treatment of these figures. In their varying countenances, they are sensual but decidedly imperial rather than nubile, which is a feature encountered in the Hirapur-Orissan Yoginis. Their rendering is markedly different from those found elsewhere. Bereft of an upper garment, the Yoginis are
ornamented with multiple strands of necklaces, a variety of armlets, bracelets and earrings. They don rather elaborate headdresses, sometimes a tiara of skulls may be seen. Slung low on their wide hips is a jewelled girdle from which is suspended a transparent skirt that reaches down to their ankles. Each Yogini has a halo, indicating her divinity and all of them have multiple arms. This structure is said to have been built in the reign of kalachuri monarch Yuvaraja II. (Reigned c. 975- 1000 CE)
There are a number of ways in which these Yoginis produced and perpetuated a visual canon. Abstract ideas of religiosity and aesthetics have been embodied in their material form in such a way that looking at these sculptures, one experiences an emotion of wonder. One tends to agree with Stella Kramrisch that the craftsmen may have gone into a yogic trance, visualized the deity and created th
image in a moment of transformation.16 In the religious history of India, the worship of Shakti or the followers of Tantric practices have their own importance. Among the different roles the Yoginis play in the religious stage, they are adored as a form of Shakti Kaula worship.
One of the primary issues that comes to mind regarding the Yoginis is their nomenclature. These are goddesses whose name immediately associates them with a basic Indian preoccupation – yoga. When broadly referred to they are not called ‘Devis’ nor ‘Matrikas’ but ‘Yoginis’. This is being stated with full awareness that in some of the lists, the tradition of matrkas are included. Is there a deeper
meaning in them being referred to as Yoginis? At the risk of being tautological the Yogini is one who was adept at yoga. Therefore one may be view them as the females who achieve divine spiritual knowledge with the following of yogic practice, and hence are called Yoginis.17 That is the female form
of ‘yogi’? In Indian court painting of the Rajput, Moghul or Deccani style once again one encounters this word Yogini. She is here identifiable as an ascetic by her blanketed shawl and whisk of peacock feathers and by the deer horn hanging from her necklace and by her dread locks or top knot. Our
Bheraghat Yoginis clearly differ from the exquisite female ascetic found in Rajput court of Bikaner, seen in beautiful paintings of the seventeenth century. Over a period time, now one scan safely say that the term ‘Yogini’ is used generally within Indic culture in diverse contexts. Depending on the setting it may refer to a female ascetic, a sorceress or witch or an attendant on Durga or any form of
the Devi herself. Like yogi, their male counterpart, Yogini renounce society’s norms to seek spiritual knowledge magical powers or immortality through the practice of yoga. But unlike the yogi this term has never been vilified or spoken of with some dread or fear. So at what point did the Yogini begin to be looked at as a sorceress or witch? All in all, when did a perfectly respectable term acquire
pejorative overtones? Was it because the factor that militated against women taking to ascetic life was the Pativrata ideal where the wife should consider her husband as the fittest model and looking after him her highest goal, religious rites and fasts were secondary Thus when she could attain salvation serving her husband as a Pativrata, there was absolutely no need for the yogic /ascetic life.18 Patanjali's, who systematized the discipline of yoga in the Yogasutras, (300-250) proposed an eight fold path,
ashtanga, directed toward gaining samadhi, the state in which the yogi or practitioner transcends duality by recognizing the self and the universe as one. Although the term ‘yoga’ today popularly designates only two of these eight, that is posture-asana and breath control- pranayama,. Patanjali's’ s
yoga system of philosophy includes graduated levels of meditation and concentration that lead the adept toward union with the supreme spirit. On the path toward samadhi the yogi gains control over the processes of nature.
These supernatural powers called siddhis, range from extraordinary wisdom, to the ability to fly, to enter the bodies of beautiful women and animals and to revive the dead as well as to foretell the future. In Tantra besides the term Yogini denoting the female partner of the aspirant, the Yoginis
preside over the nerve plexus from muladhara to sahasrara. The belief that Yoginis can attain such powers has contributed to their mystical aura and perhaps to their vilification, an outcome of fear for their prowess as both healers and as the deliverers of power. The connection that yoga has with Tantra is clear by this observation:
It had long been felt that the Tantric worship with its extended use of the sensory instruments of heightened perception to seek extra-sensory experience, its involvement with symbol and diagram, and its use of mercury and mica to evolve a body that was free from the processes of degeneration, originated at esoteric levels of yoga, breath control and meditation. It was also felt that there was a later degeneration with mass application of Tantric ritual from the rarefied fields of Yoga and mutation to witchcraft, astrology and the physical rites of the Panchamakaras of meat and fish eating, wine drinking ritual gestures and intercourse.
The pre-scientific craft of using natural elements to produce seemingly supernatural results notably physical immortality, whether in China, India or Europe, the alchemists sought after the elixir of life, that would outwit nature’s law of entropy. In India that elixir is known as rasa, taste or
‘essence” and alchemy is called rasayana ‘ way of the elixir or dhatu vada ‘doctrine of the basic element ‘ from the reports of such seasoned travellers as al-Biruni and Marco Polo we learn that Indian yogis practiced alchemy. Indeed yoga is a form of alchemy since it aims at transmutation of human consciousness and in tantrism and hatha yoga even at the trans substantiation of the body. There is a quest for divya sarira endowed with a variety of paranormal abilities (siddhis) and thoroughly enlightened.
Yogic postures have been known in the Indian subcontinent since the Indus civilization. We are talking about the famous seal from Mohenjodaro which depicts a person seated in a yogic posture. Otherwise the earliest stone images of meditating are from Mathura and Gandhara which convey the quality of inwardly held breath. The Yogini temple at Bheraghat provides direct corroboration for the
labelling of these goddesses as Yoginis one who perfected the practice of yoga. One of the most significant extant icons in the Bheraghat Yogini temple in fact encapsulates this idea. This is the Yogini labeled ‘Sri Kamada’.
This icon is an extraordinary one. She is seated in a yogic asana called Baddhakonasana. Baddha- meaning the bond or ‘the chain- restrained foot angle posture’. Traditionally yoga poses were used to decrease the sexual energy of its practitioners. It was believed that one could transform sexual energy so that it was more available for self-realization.
Increase in energy in the pelvis soften this area stimulates blood circulation. Excersing pressure on the perineum the practitioner gain control over sexual energies which lifts energy to the higher cakras. Labelled ‘Sri Kamada’,
paradoxically it has been referred to as the Yogini who grants sexual pleasure,20 rather than controls it. Incidentally, usually the great goddess, the so to say generic Devi, is addressed as ‘bhukti mukti pradayini’. That is enjoyment of things in this world and liberation thereafter. However the
4.2 Yogini Kamada, drawing Edmundo Moure. Yoginis were worshipped solely for power
in this world. The word mukti is conspicuously absent from every textual source that deals with this deity. The authors do not include the word even for form.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect is a depiction of what appears to be yoni puja as part of the pedestal area of the sculpture. The prevalence of linga worship, removed from the yoni has sufficient sources, both literary as well as iconographic. However yoni worship, though known to be prevalent in the Tantric texts, rarely has such an explicit rendering of the act, in stone or otherwise. The significance of this obeisance on this Yogini perhaps manifests a shared aesthetic and visionary universe. During the yogic union every aspect of the practice serves to retransform ordinary
awareness into enlightened vision. For instance the man cultivates pure vision by seeing the woman as a deity, her sexual organ as the throne of enlightenment and her sexual fluid as divine nectar. Rites were centred around the physical worship of woman and the organs of sex in which the woman’s body became the ksetra , the enclosed field of power itself the instrument of magic and transformation.
This may be a rendition of stripuja also known as “secret worship or guhyapuja. The theoretical basis of this practice is the belief that women are embodiments of goddesses and that worship of women is a form of devotion explicitly required by female deities.23 It is not surprising then to see such an obeisance being paid to the yoni. Incidentally some of the other Yoginis present here have telling
names such as Sri Takari, ‘Takari’ meaning a particular part of a woman’s pudenda24 or Sri Lampata, ‘the lustful one’ or ‘the licentious one’. And for whatever it is worth, in a myth of the folk cultures of this area, it is believed that a daughter is born when a drop of menstrual blood shed by the sixty-four Yoginis is fertilized by the shadow of a hawk.
As I float the notion of an interconnection between the two ‘texts’ the Lalita Sahasranama and the Bheraghat Yoginis, it may be treated as a tentative proposal, suggesting a link. I am completely aware that I have merely skimmed the surface of a vast subject. It will now be interesting to find co-relations of yoga, yoni worship and the possible reasons for the grandeur of this particular Yogini shrine in the Lalita Sahasranama.
THE LALITA SAHASRANAMA–IN HONOUR OF THE GREAT GODDESS.
A vast corpus of poems addressed to the Great Goddess, extolling her power and glory, attest to the
popularity of the goddess across the centuries. The earliest verses in the Rgveda personify certain
peaceable and relatively minor forms of nature as female deities such as Ushas, Ratri and Vak. These
hymns are relatively quiet and sedate in tone. By the fifth-sixth centuries we have the glorious Devi Mahatmya. This was followed by several other Sanskrit poems of a celebratory nature proclaiming once and for all the omnipotence and omnipresence of the Goddess. The eighth century Saundarya Lahiri, a work of uncertain authorship, though popularly ascribed to Adi Sankaracarya, describes the anatomical glory of the goddess.
The Lalita Sahasranama one of the many intellectual–devotional compositions is an important part of stotra literature. In this genre, a litany of a thousand names, is the via media by which the devotee extols a divinity. This elliptical, mnemonic literary form is peculiar to Sanskrit literature. It is remarkable that the poet has to express his religious feelings, his philosophy of life, as well as his theological beliefs, through the names he coins for the deity. He has no room here for the elaboration of his subject, not even logical connection between one statement and another. Every unnecessary word is removed and it has a clear definable form. Every important deity has his/her thousand names
that the devotee can chant or mutter. The LS like other “ thousand names “ compilations is a liturgical
text composed in imitation of the Vishnusahasranama. It assumes the interests of the high caste
Sanskrit –literate traditionalists. Also each Sahasranama has its esoteric meanings which are
commented on and handed down in the respective “schools” whether Shaiva, Vaishnava or Shakta.
The most important commentary that reveals the vibrant and living tradition and helps us understand how this text was traditionally understood and valued, is by one of the best exponents of Shakta philosophy, Bhaskaraya. He flourished in the 18th century and was more than a scholar of Tantrism.
The commentary called Saubhagyabhaskara was completed in 1728.27 It is worthwhile to read his
commentary as it is unconstrained by the technicalities or polemics that often characterize other
Sakta-Tantric sources. Among his eighteen extant works the commentary on the Lalita Sahasranama
represents his mature theological reflection. This commentary is widely read. Because he travelled in
northern India for a portion of his life, influences extend beyond regional boundaries. Bhaskara’s
encyclopedic knowledge of Srividya also grants him special status.
The Lalita Sahasranama is a sequel to the Lalitapaakhyaana which forms part of the Brahmanda Purana. This Purana is one of the oldest Puranas with the kernel dated by R. C Hazra to c. AD 200.28 The Lalita Sahasranama is twelfth century text. However texts such as Lalita Sahasranama may be much older than their written forms. The Lalita Sahasranama containing three hundred and twenty slokas, in three chapters occurs in the second part of the Brahmanda Purana. The first chapter is introductory
in nature, the second gives the thousand names of the great goddess, Lalita and the third contains the usual phalasruti.
The mythology that forms the backdrop to this litany is that of the goddess destroying the demon Bhanda. The myth which praises her deeds and declares her supreme power provides the background which perhaps is known to the worshippers. The episode of the goddess Lalita was appended to the
Brahmanda Purana by the devotees of Shaktism to give it a Shaktic colouring. That the Lalita story begins with a fresh benediction (mangalachara) and that it starts with a different set of interlocutors – sage Agastya and Haragriva shows that it was quite an independent work which was added to the Brahmanda text. It may also be noted that the Lalita episode ends abruptly without the characteristic mark of an epilogue.
The Brahmanda Purana like many of the other Puranas is one that contains long litanies of woe expressed by brahman men. Lamenting over a situation during the kali age wherein a lesser number of people are requiring their services the dirge that is heard is: “People were now performing various acts on the authority of the non-Vedic works, that they lost all attraction for their own duties, cared
little for the rules of conduct, mixed with the heretics.” There seems to be apprehension in the minds of the brahmanas by the rise of heresies. We get the picture of a society in which people often neglected the caste rules, defied the authority of the brahmans. In spite of obvious exaggeration the description refers to the dismal picture and one of a disintegration of social fabric. Brahmanas had to take recourse to different professions. It is not surprising that the LS should be found in this Purana as it accommodates the brahmana with the new religion.
Her play consists in creation, sustentation and dissolution of the universe. The goddess is presented in very human terms which anthropomorphizes it and yet stimulates a sense of the divine nature – its omniscience, its omnipotence, benevolence and adorable nature. Many epithets
emphasize the goddess’ graciousness and her physical appearance from head to toe is described as surpassingly beautiful (v.13-51). It creates an experience of an adorable being and the worshippers ultimate relationship with that being. She has an enchanting form with special paraphernalia. We see poetry, religion, philosophy, occultism and psychology vying with one another in coining names for the deity.29 The author has embodied in this litany not only the Pauranic story of the goddess’ fight with the demon Bhanda but also the philosophy and the ritual of the Kaulas, Sri Vidya, Advaita and Bhakti. This is in fact, the earliest Sanskrit source devoted specifically to Sri Vidya.
The Yoginis were adept at yoga which is clear from the sculpture at Bheraghat.In the LS the goddess is referred to as “who is the object of worship of all Yogesvaras.” (v. 225) We find in the Yoginis are practitioners of savasadhana or sava-smasana sadhana, also called
Dehavada –that is the theory of the body, showing interest in the human anatomy. These are rituals associated with corpses and incorporates mantras for bringing the dead back to life. These rituals appear to have formed a part of the Yogini cult rites. According to it the brain was the seat of consciousness and not the heart. The cosmos was to be found in the very body of human beings.
Deliverance can be attained only by starting from the body.30 This is one of the reasons that it is important to have a strong healthy body through yoga. It is in this way that the Yoginis may have contributed to medical knowledge. A class of tantrism was dedicated to the science of surgery and dissection of the body. There is not enough material in hand for proof but there are reasons to believe
that the original purpose of Savasadhana was dissection. Is it then possible that a scientific approach was ultimately given a metaphysical orientation? The medical traditions lay great emphasis on a cause–effect relation. The main contribution to some of the sciences particularly to anatomy and physiology came from the Tantrikas with only the lowest castes, the Doms and the Candalas, could have anything to do with the dead body, it being considered too impure to be touched by the members of the higher castes.
In all tantra systems such as Kapalikas, Bauls, Sahajiyas Lokayatas dehakaya became the clue to the mysteries of the universe to be sought in the body.
Several Yoginis in Bheraghat reveal an association with severed human heads, skull-cups, curved knives and skulls. An indication that Sava sadhana also included the consumption of the flesh of corpses is seen from the attendant figures of Sri Simhasimha. A standing skeletal male is eating a human hand while a second devours a human leg. (Among the skeletal male attendants and worshippers are several shown with a prominently erect phallus, as among the figures surrounding Sri Vibhatsa (the dreadful one) or Sri Bhisani (the terrifying one).
There are two inscriptions found in Bheraghat. They refer to Shiva as a destroyer of diseases. This is significant as royalty worshipped the Yoginis for strength and magical powers. The physical descriptions provided in the Laita Sahasranama draw a close parallel to those found in Bheraghat Yoginis. But one may argue that these are general descriptions that were being used in most literature to idealise feminine beauty at this point of time. Fortunately there are some other
markers. Some of the names from the
pedestal lists and those found in the Lalita
Sahasranama tally. This is one significant
reason, to posit a bond between the
Bheraghat Yoginis and the descriptive
names of the goddess in the Lalita
Sahsranama. Secondly the geographical area mentioned also tallies. Added to this is the thirdly, the profuse knowledge of yoga found in the text and finally the sculpted form of yonipuja which is evidently such a crucial ritual in the worship of the Kaulas, which in itself is mentioned several times in the Lalita Sahasranama.
Om yoni mudrayai namah Salutations to Her who is the finger pose of creation as well. (v.982) Certain names are directly referring to the Yoginis.
Om Yoginiyai namah Salutations to Her who is Yogini. (v.653)
Om maha-catuh-sasti-koti-Yoginigana- sevitayai namah
4.3 Yogini Vibhatsa, drawing on paper, Edmundo Moure.
Salutations to her who is attended on by a host of sixty-four crore of Yoginis (v. 237)
Om anahatabra-nilayayai namah Salutations to her who is the form of the Yogini called Rakini abiding in the anahata cakra. (v.485)
Corroborating the residence of the goddess in the area of Madhya Pradesh and its environs the epithet is:
Om vindhyacala-nivasanyai namah
Salutations to her whose abode is in the Vindhya mountain. (v.336) Three of the epithets found in the LS coincide with the labels on the sculpture.
Om dakin isvaryai namah Salutations to her who is the divine ruler Dakini. (v.484)
Om ramana-lampatayai namah Salutations to her who craves to sport with Her consort. (v. 755)
‘Sri Lampata’ is number 59 in the Bheraghat list.
Om Candikayai namah Salutations to her who is Candika- the awe inspiring one. (v. 755)
‘Sri Candika’ is number 39 in the Bheraghat list.
Ornaments play a central role in Indian civilization. The Sanskrit word alamkara to decorate literally means ‘to make enough’. Ornament was a sine qua non of beauty in India, things lacking in ornament were considered imperfect or more precisely incomplete.31 Not only is the Yogini replete
with such an abundance of jewellery but the value given to it is clear in the LS, as each piece has been described in detail. What is described constantly is her girdle. Most of the other Yoginis do not wear them or the only ones who do, wear a simple band like ornament. All the Bheraghat Yoginis don a particular kind corresponding to the following description-
Om ranat –kinkini-mekhalai namah Salutations to her who wears a girdle of tinkling bells. ( v. 312)
Om ratna-kinkinikaramya-rasana-dama-bhjusitayai namah Salutations to her who is adorned with a girdle having many mini bells set with precious stones. (v.38)
These ‘bells’ look like stylized leaf buds strung together to create identical girdles of almost every one of the extant Bheraghat Yogini. Worn even today by women in areas of Madhya Pradesh they are referred to as kali ki jhalar vali kardhani or patta kali ki jhalar.
Another significant name is, “Adorned with the marriage thread tied by Kamesa around her neck”.32 It has been stated that this statement that the goddess wears the thread, signifying marriage, offers the best example that the text is South Indian in origin since this custom is non –Vedic and is not practiced in north India.33
As mentioned earlier in this paper there is an autonomous, sovereign-like ethos in the Bheraghat Yoginis in their sculpted forms. Analogous to this are epithets in the Lalita Sahasranama. It may be mentioned here that the Yoginis are always placed under the Saivic pantheon. This would be, among
other reasons, no doubt, because of the Saivic sculpture found in their vicinity, as well as the central structure which is always a temple dedicated to Shiva. Shivaism as a religious system seems to have had an affinity and respect for women’s spirituality and autonomy.34 The autonomous nature of the goddess is reminiscent in these verses from the Lalita Sahasranama.
Om parat-parayai namah Salutations to Her who is the supermost superior even to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva who are adored as supreme deities. (v. 809)
Even though there are epithets claiming her marital status to Shiva as Kamesvara, we also hear interesting epithets like:
Om samharinyai namah Salutations to her whose function is to destroy the universe. (v.268)
Om rudra-rupayai namah Salutations to Her who takes the form of Rudra for this purpose. (v.269)
Om svadhina-vallabhayai namah Salutations to Her who dominates over Her consort Shiva in the creative part of the cyclic motion of time. (v. 54)
The LS gives elaborate references to ritualistic worship like Sri Chakra puja, the paths of Samaya. Also in this rich compendium of names the goddess is associated with Bhakti (v.117-120) and aspects
of Advaita Vedanta such as deep sleep and turiya. (v.254—263) are just some of the disparate doctrines mentioned in the LS, they pale into significance numerically, when compared to the number of references to the Kaula practices. This corroborates the statement made earlier that the Yoginis seem to be closely associated to the Kaula path of Tantrism.
Om kula-yoginyai namah Salutations to her who is the Yogini of the Kaulas. (v.95)
Om Kulesvarayai namah Salutations to her who is the ruler of the Kula. (v.439)
Om kama-kala-rupayai namah Om kama kala rupayai namah Salutations to her who is kamakala the manifestation of Kamesvara and kamesvari together. (v. 322)
Om Kulantashthayai namah Salutations to her wjho is the innermost reality of the kula path (v.93)
Om Kaulinyai namah Salutations to her who is called Kaulini, the core of the Kaula form of worship. (v.94)
Om kula kundalalayai namah Salutations to her who is the deity of the Kulakunda (the Muladhara).
Om Kaula marga tatpara sevitayai namah Salutaions to her who is worshipped by those who are devoted to the Kaula tradition. (v. 441)
Om Kaulini-Kevalayai namah Salutations to her who is the ultimate object of Kaula worship. (v.925)
Om kula-rupinyai namah Salutations to her who is the deity of the Kaula sect. (v.897) Keeping the nature of the ritual in mind the secrecy element is also clear in many of the names.
Om ayonyai namah Salutations to her who has no source other than Herself. (v.894)
Om yoni-nilayai namah Salutations to Her who houses the power that generates everything. (v.895)
Om guhyayai namah Salutations to her who is worshipped in secrecy by some adepts. (v.624) She is the very embodimenet of tantra (v.206) Salutations to her who is to be worshipped by secret rites. (v.381)
Om raho-yaga-kram aradhyayai namah And saluations to her who is gratified by secret libations. (v.382)
Om rahas tarana tarpitayai namah Salutations to her who bestows her grace immediately on being so worshipped. (v.383)
Om sadyah –prasadinyai namah Salutations to her who is frightening to the ignorant. (v.482)
THE EKASITI YOGINIS
It is surprising that this temple of eighty-one Yoginis at Bheraghat was glossed over without
recognition or comment by earlier scholars and continued to be called the Caunsat Yogini temple.
Varahamihira’s Brhatsamhita states that a temple may be based on a floor plan of eighty one squares
(paramasayika mandala), a number that is the square of nine. Stella Kramrisch in ‘Hindu Temple’
points out that a study of subsequent literature on temple plans, especially of the
IsanagurudevaShivapaddhati (perhaps a 11th century work) indicates that a mandala of 81 squares as opposed to one of 64 squares is specially suited for use by kings. Kramrisch further notes that the Manasollasa, which is a royal compendium refers only to a plan of 81 squares. It appears then that a mandala of 81 is to be used primarily for royal temple construction.35 A mandala of 81 for the floor plan of a temple as opposed to 64 is specifically intended for royalty . This temple reinforces the idea that 81 is specially important for royalty and indeed, the concordance between the two independent lines of inquiry is striking.
The Sri Matottara Tantra introduces us to a grouping of ekasiti Yoginis and clearly indicates that the worship of the eighty one Yoginis is specially intended for royalty. A listing of the benefits that accrued from the worship of each of the nine independent group of nine Yoginis indicate that the Mula chakra system of Ekashiti or eighty one Yoginis is intended primarily for royalty. Brahmi in the east is
worshipped by those who desire a male heir, while Maheshi in the south confers the various magical powers, the eight siddhis. Kaumari in the west is worshipped for destroying enemies and Vaishnavi in the north confers the boon of a kingdom. Varahi in the southwest is in special command of securing territorial gain. Chamunda in the northwest is adored in order that she banish all one’s fears when attacked by enemy kings.
So the Bheraghat temple was probably a royal foundation.37 Elsewhere it has been said that the sites for the Yogini temples were chosen carefully and they were connected with some queen.38 We find many names associated with the realm of the king. The fact that the Yoginis temples have been found near the capitals of ruling dynasties suggests that kings worshipped them, for the protection of their kingdoms and for averting epidemics and public calamities. This indicates that the prevalence of the belief that the Yoginis protected the land of the king who built a temple to them.
Rulers and feudal chiefs erected Yoginis temples possibly in the belief that the power of the Yoginis would help them consolidate their dynastic position. In folklore the Yoginis are believed to help in averting calamities and epidemics. These boons ensured destruction of enemies, the success of an army, territorial gain, freedom from fear when attacked by enemy kings as well as provided succour for those who lost their kingdom. Keeping this in mind this Yogini shrine was probably built by the Kalachuri monarch, Yuvaraja II. Several namas in the Lalita Sahasranama endorses this view of the overarching importance to royalty.
Om brhat-senayai namah
Salutations to her who leads a mighty army. (v.679)
Om rajya-dayinyai namah Salutations to her who bestows dominion. (v.685)
Om rajya-vallabhayai namah Salutations to her who loves dominion. (v.686)
Om raja rajesvaryai namah Salutations to her who is Rajarajesvari. (v.684)
Om raja-pitha-nivesita-nijasritayai namah Salutations to Her who raises her devotees to royal status. (v.688)
Om rajya-laksmyai namah Salutations to her who is the goddess of sovereignty. (v.689)
Om samrajya-dayinyai namah Salutations to her who bestows imperial dominion. (v.692)
Om catur-anga-balesvaryai namah Salutations to her who commands armies well equipped in all the four arms. (v.691)
Sometimes the Yoginis are looked upon as a degenerate facet of Shakti worship and of social decadence endorsing the colonial prejudice against certain aspects of ‘Hinduism’. Even a preliminary gaze at the Yoginis suggests, the links between fertility, sexuality and auspiciousness. . Instead of celebrating this, such was and is the degree of domination of the globe by western culture’s ideology and discourse, that other cultures can now only define themselves through the categories that have been imposed by the West. Increasingly there is a self questioning as to why we should be shaped by this western way of thinking. As a corrective to this way of thinking it has been recently said that there has been an over emphasis on the role of the intellect in gaining enlightenment. In this endeavour one tends to lose sight of the capacities and the potentials inherent in the body, the senses and the
emotions. Tantra emerged as a corrective to this imbalance and as a witness to the fact that the mind alone does not provide sole access to knowledge. Passion and pleasure also represent primary sources of knowledge and power.39 There is a different soteriology in which value is located in the ultimate experience of liberation and pleasure and joy, particularly sexual pleasure are not seen to be
incompatible.40 Importantly, the Yoginis of Bheraghat in their architectural splendour and sculpture bespeak of royal involvement. This involvement was also intricately involved in yoga. Instead of seeking the Yoginis in only Tantras and agamas, it would be worthwhile to look at ideas that correspond with Yoginis in texts that flourished around the same time as these shrines, even if they are today considered brahmanical in nature.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1 . All references from the Lalita Sahasranama are from Swami Tapasyananada, ed., Shri Lalita
Sahasranama, Shri Ramakrishna Matha, Chennai.
2 . Nilima Chitgopekar, ‘ The Unfettered Yoginis’, in Nilima Chitgopekar, ed., Invoking Goddesses: Gender Politics in Indian Religion, Har Anand, New Delhi, 2002, p. 82.
3 . Pupul Jayakar, The earth Mother, Penguin , New Delhi 1989,p.156.
4 . In this foundational study, Vidya Dehejia, The Yogini Cult and Temples: A Tantric Tradition, National Museum, 1986, has eexamined various manuscripts from different parts of the country. The monograph has a large collection of plates of Yoginis both from India and now placed in different parts of the world, in various museums et al.
5. Nilima Chitgopekar, Encountering Shivaism: The Deity, the Milieu, The Entourage, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi, 1998, pp. 109-112.
6 . Lillian Silburn et Andre Padoux, Abhinavagupta La Lumiere Sur Les Tantras, Chapitres 1 a 5 du Tantraloka , College de France, Publications De L’Insititiut De Civilisation Indienne, Paris, 1998.
7 . Alexis Sanderson, ‘Vajrayana: Origin and Function ‘ in Buddhism into the Year 2000 International Conference Proceedings Bangkok and Los Angeles, The Dhammakaya Foundation, 1994, p.92.
8. A notable attempt at this is made by Alexis Sanderson , ‘Saivism and the Tantric Traditions’, in Stewart Sutherland ed., The World’s Religions, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1988.
9 . Ibid, p.115.
10. Elinor W. Gadon, Probing the Mysteries of the Hirapur Yoginis, Re Vision, Summer 2002, vol25, no.1.
1 1 . George Michell, “Temples to the Goddess,” in Vidya Dehejia, ed. Devi , The Great Goddes, Washington DC : Smithsonian Institute, 1999, p. 60.
1 2 . Diana Eck, Benaras, City of Light, p.159.
1 3 . Vidya Dehejia, The Yogini Cult, p.166.
1 4 . ASI Annual Report 1903-4, Conservation in the Central Provinces, p.59.
15. Vidya Dehejia, The Yogini Cult p.128.
1 6 . Vidya Dehejia, Indian Art, Phaidon Press Ltd, London,1997, p.13.
1 7 . Nilima Chitgopekar, ‘The Unfettered Yoginis’ in ed Nilima Chitgopekar, Invokoing Goddesses: Gender politics in Indian Religion, Shakti, HarAnand, New Delhi, 2002.
18. M. G Bhagat, Ancient Indian Asceticism, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi, 1976, p.279.
1 9 . Pupul Jayakar, op.cit. p.41.
20. Nilima Chitgopekar, Encountering Shivaism, pp. 155-56.
2 1 . Vidya Dehejia, Devi, p.242.
22. Pupul Jayakar, op. cit.p. 41.
23 . Miranda Shaw, Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism, Munshiram Manoharlal Pulishers Pvt Ltd., New Delhi, 1998.p.32.
24. Monier Monier- Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary, OUP, New Delhi, 2000, p.431.
25. Verrier Elwin, Myths of Middle India, OUP, 1945, p. 420.
26. Kees W. Bolle, The Persistence Of Religion, Essays on Tantrism and Shri Aurobindo’s Philosophy, Leiden E.J Brill, 1971, p. 60.
2 7 . Kees W. Bolle, The Persistence of Religion, p. 54.
28. R. C Hazra, Studies in the Puranic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1987,p.17.
29. Swami Tapasyananada, ed., Shri Lalita Sahasranama, , Shri Ramakrishna Matha, Chennai, p. 6. 30. Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, Lokayata. A Study in Ancient Indian Materialism, People’s Publishing House, 1992, p. 335.
3 1 . Partha Mitter Indian Art, OUP, 2001, p.42.
32. Ibid.,v.30.
3 3 . Kees W Bolle The Persistence of Religion: Essays on Tantrism and Shri Aurobindo’s Philosophy, Lei den E.J Brill, 1971, p. 6354.
34. Sanjukta Gupta,’ Women in the Shaiva/Sakta Ethos’, in Julia Leslie, ed., Roles and Rituals for Hindu Women’ Pinter Publishers, London, 1991, p. 195.
35. Vidya Dehejia, Yogini Cult and Temples, pp. 48-49.
36. Ibid, p. 51.
3 7 . Ibid, p. 125.
38. R D Banerji, ASI Memoirs, no. xxiii, Calcutta, 1931, p. 373. 39. Miranda Shaw, Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism, Munshiram Manoharlal Pulishers Pvt Ltd., New Delhi, 1998, p. 205.
40. Miranda Shaw, Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism, Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, 1998, p.5.
