History, Culture and Antiquities of Tamralipta
53,560 words
This Study deals with the History, Culture and Antiquities of Tamralipta: an ancient city-port and important Trade centre with a rich history of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Tamralipta corresponds to the modern Tamluk, situated in West Bengal (India). It witnessed prosperous times during the Gupta dynasty since the 3rd century CE although this s...
Chapter 5.12 - Shaktism in ancient Bengal (and Tamralipta)
Saktism or the worship of female divinity has ever been very popular in Bengal. According to Saktism the chief diety is the Supreme Mother. It has been suggested that the female divinity of the Indus Valley period became the 'Mother' or 'Great Mother' and 135. Das Gupta, C.C., Origin and Evolution of Indian Clay Sculpture, p. 176, Fig. 94. 136. Majumdar, (Ed.), History of Bengal, Vol. 1, pp. 440
127 Sakti "Proto-type of the female power (prakriti) which developed into that of Sakti.137 In Bengal Saktism has been associated with Saivism and Vaishnavism since the early period and it manifests itself primarily in one or other forms of the consort of Siva Durga, Kali, Parvati and so on. Similarly the Saktis of Vishnu namely Lakshmi, Radhika (Radha) have ever been very familiar to the Bengalees. Since the six-seven centuries A.D. Saktism has become very popular in Bengal as known from the literary evidence. During the Pala-sena period Sektism played an important role in the religious life of the people of Bengal as evident from the discovery of a large number of images of the goddesses of Hindu 139 138 and Buddhist pantheon. In this connection it is to be noted that the Sakti cult appeared as a popular form of worship in India since 140 the Indus Vally civilization. One of the aspects of Sakti cult is the popularity of the village goddesses generically termed as Gramadevatas. These deities have no scriptural sanction and they have their origine among the pre-Aryan people 1.e., outside the scope of Brahmanical Hinduism. In Bengal we have overcome many such village (laukik) goddesses of humble origin and even today in our place of study we also notice many of them. All these suggest the predominance of the matriarchial society in Tampalipta janapada. The discovery of a good number of small female terracotta figurines 137. Marshall, Mohenjo Daro and the Indus Civilisation, Vol. 1, p. 51 saktas, tas, p. 85 138. Payne, B.A., The Saktas 139. Ghose, B., Paschimbanger Sanskriti, p. 734 140. Marshall, op. cit., Vol. op.cit. P. 722 - 1 Pg 51 ; Ghose, B., op.cit.
128 (Acc. Nos. 161, 162, 465) from Tamluk subdivision also throws light on this point. According to a number of scholars these-figurines "may have used by the people either as votive offerings or as cult objects.141