Devi is the Sanskrit word for goddess. It is a category, not a name. Across the texts of Hindu tradition, dozens of distinct goddesses are called by it. Some are vast — worshipped as the supreme principle of the universe. Others are local — worshipped at a single shrine or village. The word holds them all.
The texts of the goddess
The most consequential text for goddess-worship as a distinct tradition is the Devi Mahatmya, also called the Durga Saptashati or Chandi. It is a 700-verse Sanskrit work, composed between the 4th and 7th centuries CE, that forms a section of the Markandeya Purana. The Devi Mahatmya is the first surviving Sanskrit text in which the supreme reality is described in feminine form. Three episodes within it narrate the goddess in three battles: against Madhu and Kaitabha, against Mahishasura, and against Shumbha and Nishumbha.
The Devi Bhagavata Purana, a later text dated to between the 9th and 14th centuries CE, expands the theology of the goddess. It runs to eighteen thousand verses and treats the Devi as the supreme reality of which all other deities are forms.
The Lalita Sahasranama — the thousand names of Lalita — is a hymn from the Brahmanda Purana, addressed to the goddess Lalita Tripura Sundari. It is central to the Sri Vidya school of Tantric goddess-worship.
Shaktism
Shaktism is the school of Hinduism that treats the goddess as the supreme principle. The word comes from shakti — "power," the feminine principle of energy. Shaktism is one of the four major denominations of Hinduism, alongside Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Smartism. Its principal texts are the Devi Mahatmya, the Devi Bhagavata Purana, the Lalita Sahasranama, and the various Tantras.
Shaktism is particularly strong in Bengal, Assam, Odisha and parts of South India. The Kalighat temple in Kolkata, the Kamakhya temple in Assam, and the Meenakshi temple in Madurai are among the major active centres.
The Mahadevi
In Shakta theology, all goddesses are forms of the Mahadevi — the Great Goddess. The major forms most often listed include:
- Durga — the warrior, the slayer of Mahishasura
- Kali — the dark goddess of time and destruction
- Lakshmi — the goddess of prosperity, the consort of Vishnu
- Saraswati — the goddess of learning, the consort of Brahma
- Parvati — the consort of Shiva, daughter of the Himalaya
- Sita — the consort of Rama, central to the Ramayana
- Radha — the consort of Krishna in the Vrindavan stories
- Lalita Tripura Sundari — the central figure of the Sri Vidya tradition
Some traditions list more. The Mahavidyas — the "great wisdoms" — are a Tantric grouping of ten forms of the goddess: Kali, Tara, Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Chinnamasta, Bhairavi, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala.
The fifty-one Shakti Peethas
The Shakti Peethas are sites associated with the body of the goddess Sati. According to the story given in several Puranas, Sati immolated herself at her father Daksha's sacrifice after he insulted her husband Shiva. Shiva carried her body across the earth in grief. Vishnu, to release her body, cut it into pieces with his discus. Where each piece fell, a Shakti Peetha was established.
Lists of the Peethas vary across texts. Some give eighteen sites, others fifty-one, others a hundred and eight. The fifty-one count is the most commonly cited. The sites span India and into parts of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. They include Kamakhya (Assam), Kalighat (Kolkata), Hinglaj (Pakistan), Mahalakshmi (Kolhapur) and many others.
Local goddesses
Beyond the goddesses named in the Sanskrit texts, every region of India has goddesses worshipped locally. The gramadevatas — village goddesses — of South India: Mariamman, Ankalamman, Ellaiyamman, Pidari. The seven sisters of West Bengal. The Dasha Mahavidya forms of Bihar. The folk goddesses of Maharashtra and the goddesses of the Naga and Manipuri traditions.
Many local goddesses are identified, in Sanskritic terms, as forms of one of the major goddesses. Others retain their own identity outside that framework.
Devi in the Vedas
The earliest Sanskrit references to the goddess in singular, supreme form are in the Devi Sukta — Rigveda 10.125 — in which the goddess Vac (speech) declares herself the source of all that the gods do. The hymn is brief but theologically remarkable. It is sometimes treated as the foundation of later goddess theology.
How the Anahat Devi design represents her
The Anahat Devi t-shirt features the goddess embroidered in textured thread on premium organic cotton. The composition draws on traditional Indian devotional iconography, treating the goddess as a single figure who contains many. It is part of Anahat's Originals collection.
Wear Devi
Hand-embroidered goddess on premium organic cotton. Designed in India by Anahat.
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FAQ
What does devi mean?
Goddess, in Sanskrit. The word is a category that holds many distinct goddesses across Indian tradition.
What is the Devi Mahatmya?
A 700-verse Sanskrit text, part of the Markandeya Purana, composed between the 4th and 7th centuries CE. It is the first surviving Sanskrit text in which the supreme reality is described in feminine form.
What is Shaktism?
One of the four major denominations of Hinduism, alongside Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Smartism. It treats the goddess as the supreme principle.
What are the Shakti Peethas?
Sites associated with the body of the goddess Sati. Various texts list eighteen, fifty-one, or one hundred and eight Peethas.
What does the Anahat Devi design depict?
An embroidered goddess on premium organic cotton, drawing on traditional Indian devotional iconography. It is part of Anahat's Originals collection.