Indian civilization

October 4, 2010

Indian civilization has a very ancient tradition in the representation of the Mother Goddess, as the little terracotta figures from the Indus Valley culture (c. 8000-2500 BCE) attest. The wood nymphs, or yakshis, depicted on the early Buddhist stupas (first centuries BCE and CE) corroborate the Indian compulsion to give visual form to the feminine in all its specific qualities. But it is from the tenth century onwards, in the bronzes of southern India, that woman is given her most natural and at the same time most sensuous shape. Parvati, the consort of Shiva, is the pre-eminent expression of this. She is the nourishing, the life-giving, the beautiful (sundari), the sensual. While Shiva appears in the most diverse forms, Parvati is always the lovely embodiment of womanhood, standing or seated at Shiva’s side. She is the essential shakti, the energy of Shiva.