Sculpture and Scripture:

Negotiating a Co-Existence
Nilima Chitgopekar

4.1 81 Yogini Temple of Bhedaghat (Bheraghat).

Om bahu-rupay ai nam ah
(Salutations to Her who has taken on the form of m any)
Lalita Sahasrnam a, (v. 8 24 1)

W
ithin the realm of group-divinities, the Yogini cult, has sustained its power to bewilder and
captivate. Un doubtedly the in heren t arcan e n ature of the Yogin is, eviden t in their visual
representation as well as the random m ention of them in literature, is responsible for this
aura of enigm a. Besides this, they also share an extrem ely im portant feature with som e other fem ale
group divinities, that is, they were not subsum ed into the cult of m ale figures. In a culture where
m an y an authoritative goddess was, whatever term on e wan ts to use, ‘spousified’, ‘con sortified’ or
‘husban ded’, this self-depen den ce is a trait brim m in g with poten tial to illustrate yet m ore varied belief
system s an d cultural values. The m aterial rem ain s of the Yogin is bespeak of an astoun din g auton om y
of being, alm ost to the point of appearing radical. H istorically, their apparent appearance at a point in
tim e an d then eviden t ‘disappearan ce’ within a few cen turies is still an other con tributory factor to
their sense of allure. This paper is an attem pt to unravel som e of the m ysteries pertaining to the
Yoginis of Bheraghat, J abalpur, 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 m ainstream Hinduism . This is despite their m ention, to illustrate here by one
rather telling exam ple, in one of the m ost popular and thereby m ost often sung aratis. 2 Though there
is am ple eviden ce for the followin g assertion , this seem in gly in con sequen tial in stan ce substan tiates
the acknowledgm ent m ade today by m ost historians of religion, that is the com posite form of the
‘ultim ate’ Devi, em erges after the con fluen ce of several stream s. This would in clude the tem porally
earlier apsaras, the yakshinis the naginis the bhutinis the dakinis and also the Yoginis, all supplying
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differen t form s of the sacred, albeit after un dergoin g som e tran sform ation s. 3 Yet the Yogin is played a
role in the consciousness of worshippers of m ore than one tradition, to nam e a few, the tantric, the
non-tantric and the Buddhist. This is further substantiated by looking at the num ber of m anuscripts
recovered an d the sculptures un covered, in the last fifty years. 4 Without goin g in to too m an y details
here it m ay be said that the origins of the Yoginis m ay be seen as closely associated with the deity
Shiva.5 More recently it has been said that unlike what one finds in the Agam ic texts, where the
fem inine power, that is Shakti, of the godhead is rather an abstract, creative power of Shiva, in the
tan tras, an often terrifyin g divin e en tity absolute power radiates in the un iverse through the agen cy of
secon dary fem ale deities, that is the Yogin is who en close the cosm os in an all-pervasive n etwork of
power (Yogin ijala). Usually subordin ate to a fearsom e form , of Shiva, these Yogin is are often
described as presided over by the eight m others. 6 The Buddhist Yoginis are also a prom inent part of
vajrayana Buddhism . It is held that sim ilarities between Tantric Buddhism and Tantric Shaivism are to
be explained as far as possible as a result of independent derivation from a com m on source, that is the
Indian substratum rather than as a direct dependence of the Buddhists m aterials on the Shaivite.
Stephen Beyer has given us unam biguous exam ple of this kind of thinking when he writes the following
about the deities in the Yogin itan tras, an im portan t Buddhist text, “Although there are icon ographic
variation s am on g these gen eral high patron deities they share in stan tly recogn izable sim ilarities: they
are all derived from the sam e cultic stock that produced the Shiva figure…”7 Therein is the
conundrum , of how to extricate Tantra from Hinduism . Undoubtedly it is a m onum ental task to
dem arcate the different strands and at tim es seem s well nigh im possible. 8 That is not the purpose of
the present paper, the attem pt here is to search for a locus standi of what appears to be a m uted
Yogin i within a brahm an ical text an d a m aterial con text.
The historical beginnings and the role the Yoginis played, rem ain som ewhat hazy due to the lack
of source m aterial of a direct nature. Placed within the am orphous category of Tantra, and
pron oun ced as esoteric an d exoteric, the possible lin ks the Yogin is bear with m ain stream H in duism
have n ot been explored. The secon dary sources are scan t an d those that have m ade Yogin is the
subject of their research, are valuable as ben ch m arks as they have don e the n ecessary task of an alysis
within the param eters of icon ography an d their geographical distribution . 9 . It appears that the
Yoginis seem ed to have had diverse roles to play in different religious settings. H ence it is apposite to
question the prem ise that the Yoginis are part of only an extrem e and m arginalized cult. By m aking
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such a statem ent one is positioning oneself squarely within a dom inant Sanskritic and North Indian
an d fin ally, a text-based critical tradition . Popular as the Yogin is are in certain South In dian religious
traditions and of course in Tantra, it would be m ore relevant to view these Yoginis as the em bodim ent
of core cultural values that perhaps m utated over a period of tim e, but have n evertheless existed,
albeit, in creasin gly, in a secret or even cowed m an n er. This could have been ren dered n ecessary for
adm ission in m ore con servative circles or even just due to sheer preferen ce. Yet in the process of
bowdlerization in ‘acceptable ‘ texts on e en coun ters a clever device to portray an d yet n ot direct the
spotlight on practices that m ay have acquired a question able reputation am on g followers. Often on e
fin ds frequen t referen ces to procedures an d tradition s that are n ot shun n ed en tirely but placed alon g
with a whole other ideologies an d doctrin es, thereby soften in g the sharpn ess of the ‘extrem e’
conventions. In this paper an attem pt is m ade to seek a liturgy for practices in the Bheraghat Yogini
tem ple in the Puranic tradition that is in the Lalita Sahasranam a. Adm ittedly, within this text one
en coun ters an array of several religious ideas an d thought processes, but the m axim um ‘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 m ainstream ing of a decidedly tantric
practice, it is possible to posit a fluid notwithstanding at tim es, tenuous linkage and affiliation between
Tan tra an d con ven tion al H in duism .
Popularly referred to as the ‘Caun satha’ or sixty-four Yogin is, even though the n um bers m ay be
both eighty-one or forty, this set of goddesses appear in sculpture in the ninth and tenth centuries CE .

Though recen tly it has been said that archaeological an d textual eviden ce poin ts to the em ergen ce of
this cult around the sixth to the seventh century and its flourishing from the ninth century to the
twelfth.10 The Yoginis, like m any groups of goddesses, seem to represent a stage in the em ergence of
the ‘Great Goddess’ when long lists of goddesses were drawn together and were said to represent the
on e devi. Ven erated in varied form s, these group divin ities are at tim es in voked an d visualized as just
aspects of her power and her personality, rather than as individual goddesses. H aving said that,
goddesses in In dia are tradition ally lin ked to particular settin gs as they represen t the forces of n ature
m anifested at a specific site.11 H ence they are part of an essentially “locative” religious tradition – that
is on e lin ked stron gly to a place. 12 Tradition ally, even today the goddess is rarely worshipped in
gen eral, but in particular, be she Vaishn odevi or Vin dhyavasin i. Each goddess is firm ly en scon ced on
her specific geographically particular bench, in a village or on a hilltop. Relevant to this position is the
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case in point of the Mahisasuram ardini form of Durga in Bheraghat. It is labelled Sri Teram va that
could probably have been the local n am e of this depiction . At an other place the sam e sculpture-type
is referred to as ‘Krsna Bhagavati13 and elsewhere referred to as Hingalaja.
The Bheraghat tem ple of eighty-one Yoginis also has the distinction of being one of the few
tem ples that have som e of the statues in situ, the others being Hirapur and Ranipur J harial in Orissa.,
Where the rem ain in g Yogin i tem ples are con cern ed, those icon s that could have been salvaged, have
been placed in m useum s. In an archaeological report it was n oted,

Man y scu lp tu r es at Bh er agh at h ave been sm ash ed an d som e year s ago som eon e u n d er took th e r ep air s of th e
p lace an d u n for t u n at ely r ear r an ged m an y of t h e im ages so t h at t h ey ar e n ot p laced in t h eir or igin al
sequ en ce, as given by Cu n n in gh am in h is r ep or t of 18 73-75, vol. IX. 14

On ly twen ty-four of the eighty-on e faces survive, the rest dam aged, m ake it difficult to determ in e
whether they are anim al or hum an.15 With som e of the Bheraghat Yoginis rem aining in their original
position , som e are in tact from the waist down wards an d the better preserved on es, have m utilated
faces. Yet it can be discern ed that they represen t the In dian ideal of fem in in e beauty, m agn ificen tly
endowed with full, rounded breasts, narrow waists and am ple hips. Slightly over life-size in dim ension,
they appear statuesque an d im m en sely com m an din g in form ation . The bearin g of the Yogin is of
Bheraghat are not friendly, as m uch as they are awe inspiring. There is an assured elegance in the
treatm en t of these figures. In their varyin g coun ten an ces, they are sen sual but decidedly im perial
rather than nubile, which is a feature encountered in the Hirapur-Orissan Yoginis. Their rendering is
m arkedly different from those found elsewhere. Bereft of an upper garm ent, the Yoginis are
orn am en ted with m ultiple stran ds of n ecklaces, a variety of arm lets, bracelets an d earrin gs. They don
rather elaborate headdresses, som etim es a tiara of skulls m ay 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 m ultiple arm s. This structure is said to
have been built in the reign of kalachuri m on arch Yuvaraja II. (Reign ed c. 975- 10 0 0 CE )

There are a num ber of ways in which these Yoginis produced and perpetuated a visual canon.
Abstract ideas of religiosity and aesthetics have been em bodied in their m aterial form in such a way
that looking at these sculptures, one experiences an em otion of wonder. One tends to agree with Stella
Kram risch that the craftsm en m ay have gon e in to a yogic tran ce, visualized the deity an d created the
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im age in a m om ent of transform ation.16 In the religious history of India, the worship of Shakti or the
followers of Tan tric practices have their own im portan ce. Am on g the differen t roles the Yogin is play
in the religious stage, they are adored as a form of Shakti Kaula worship.
One of the prim ary issues that com es to m ind regarding the Yoginis is their nom enclature. These
are goddesses whose n am e im m ediately associates them with a basic In dian preoccupation – yoga.
When broadly referred to they are not called ‘Devis’ nor ‘Matrikas’ but ‘Yoginis’. This is being stated
with full awareness that in som e of the lists, the tradition of m atrkas are included. Is there a deeper
m eaning in them being referred to as Yoginis? At the risk of being tautological the Yogini is one who
was adept at yoga. Therefore one m ay be view them as the fem ales who achieve divine spiritual
knowledge with the following of yogic practice, and hence are called Yoginis. 17 That is the fem ale 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 fem ale ascetic found in Rajput court of Bikaner,
seen in beautiful paintings of the seventeenth century. Over a period tim e, now one scan safely say
that the term ‘Yogini’ is used generally within Indic culture in diverse contexts. Depending on the
setting it m ay refer to a fem ale ascetic, a sorceress or witch or an attendant on Durga or any form of
the Devi herself. Like yogi, their m ale coun terpart, Yogin i ren oun ce society’s n orm s to seek spiritual
kn owledge m agical powers or im m ortality through the practice of yoga. But un like the yogi this term
has never been vilified or spoken of with som e 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 m ilitated against wom en taking to ascetic life was
the Pativrata ideal where the wife should consider her husband as the fittest m odel 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 Patan jali,
who system atized the disciplin e of yoga in the Yogasutras, (30 0 -250 ) proposed an eight fold path,
ashtan ga, directed toward gain in g sam adhi, the state in which the yogi or practition er tran scen ds
duality by recogn izin g the self an d the un iverse as on e. Although the term ‘yoga’ today popularly
design ates on ly two of these eight, that is posture-asan a an d breath con trol- pran ayam a,. Patan jali’ s
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yoga system of philosophy in cludes graduated levels of m editation an d con cen tration that lead the
adept toward union with the suprem e spirit. On the path toward sam adhi the yogi gains control over
the processes of n ature.
These supern atural powers called siddhis, ran ge from extraordin ary wisdom , to the ability to fly,
to enter the bodies of beautiful wom en and anim als and to revive the dead as well as to foretell the
future. In Tantra besides the term Yogini denoting the fem ale partner of the aspirant, the Yoginis
preside over the n erve plexus from m uladhara to sahasrara. The belief that Yogin is can attain such
powers has con tributed to their m ystical aura an d perhaps to their vilification , an outcom e of fear for
their prowess as both healers and as the deliverers of power. The connection that yoga has with
Tan tra is clear by this observation :

It had long been felt that the Tantric w orship w ith its extended use of the sensory instrum ents of heightened
perception to seek extra-sensory experience, its inv olv em ent w ith sy m bol and diagram , and its use of m ercury
and m ica to ev olv e a body that w as free from the processes of degeneration, originated at esoteric lev els of y oga,
breath control and m editation. It w as also felt that there w as a later degeneration w ith m ass application of
Tantric ritual from the rarefied fields of Yoga and m utation to w itchcraft, astrology and the phy sical rites of the
Pancham akaras of m eat and fish eating, w ine drinking ritual gestures and intercourse.19

The pre-scien tific craft of usin g n atural elem en ts to produce seem in gly supern atural results
n otably physical im m ortality, whether in Chin a, In dia or Europe, the alchem ists 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 alchem y is called rasayana ‘ way of the elixir or dhatu vada ‘doctrine of the basic
elem ent ‘ from the reports of such seasoned travellers as al-Biruni and Marco Polo we learn that
Indian yogis practiced alchem y. Indeed yoga is a form of alchem y since it aim s at transm utation of
hum an 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 paranorm al abilities (siddhis) and
th or ou gh ly en ligh ten ed .
Yogic postures have been kn own in the In dian subcon tin en t sin ce the In dus civilization . We are
talking about the fam ous seal from Mohenjodaro which depicts a person seated in a yogic posture.
Otherwise the earliest stone im ages of m editating are from Mathura and Gandhara which convey the
quality of in wardly held breath. The Yogin i tem ple at Bheraghat provides direct corroboration for the
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labellin g of these goddesses as Yogin is on e

4.2 Yogini Kamada, drawing Edmundo Moure.
who perfected the practice of yoga. One of
the m ost significant extant icons in the
Bheraghat Yogin i tem ple in fact
encapsulates this idea. This is the Yogini
labeled ‘Sri Kam ada’.
This icon is an extraordinary one. She
is seated in a yogic asana called
Baddhakonasana. Baddha- m eaning the
bon d or ‘the chain - restrain ed foot an gle
posture’. Tradition ally yoga poses were
used to decrease the sexual en ergy of its
practition ers. It was believed that on e
could tran sform sexual en ergy so that it
was m ore available for self-realization .
Increase in energy in the pelvis soften this
area stim ulates blood circulation .
Excersin g pressure on the perin eum the
practition er gain con trol over sexual
en ergies which lifts en ergy to the higher
cakras. Labelled ‘Sri Kam ada’,
paradoxically it has been referred to as the
Yogin i who gran ts sexual pleasure, 20 rather
than con trols it. In ciden tally, usually the
great goddess, the so to say gen eric Devi,
is addressed as ‘bhukti m ukti pradayini’.
That is enjoym ent of things in this world
an d liberation thereafter. H owever the
Yogin is were worsh ipped solely for power
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in this world. The word m ukti is conspicuously absent from every textual source that deals with this
deity. The authors do not include the word even for form . 21
Perhaps the m ost interesting aspect is a depiction of what appears to be yoni puja as part of the
pedestal area of the sculpture. The prevalen ce of lin ga worship, rem oved from the yon i has sufficien t
sources, both literary as well as icon ographic. H owever yon i worship, though kn own to be prevalen t
in the Tantric texts, rarely has such an explicit rendering of the act, in stone or otherwise. The
sign ifican ce of this obeisan ce on this Yogin i perhaps m an ifests a shared aesthetic an d vision ary
un iverse. Durin g the yogic un ion every aspect of the practice serves to retran sform ordin ary
awaren ess in to en lighten ed vision . For in stan ce the m an cultivates pure vision by seein g the wom an
as a deity, her sexual organ as the throne of enlightenm ent and her sexual fluid as divine nectar. Rites
were centred around the physical worship of wom an and the organs of sex in which the wom an’s body
becam e the ksetra , the enclosed field of power itself the instrum ent of m agic and transform ation. 22
This m ay be a rendition of stripuja also known as “secret worship or guhyapuja. The theoretical basis
of this practice is the belief that wom en are em bodim ents of goddesses and that worship of wom en is a
form of devotion explicitly required by fem ale deities. 23 It is not surprising then to see such an
obeisan ce bein g paid to the yon i. In ciden tally som e of the other Yogin is presen t here have tellin g
nam es such as Sri Takari, ‘Takari’ m eaning a particular part of a wom an’s pudenda 24 or Sri Lam pata,
‘the lustful one’ or ‘the licentious one’. And for whatever it is worth, in a m yth of the folk cultures of
this area, it is believed that a daughter is born when a drop of m enstrual blood shed by the sixty-four
Yoginis is fertilized by the shadow of a hawk.25
As I float the notion of an interconnection between the two ‘texts’ the Lalita Sahasranam a and the
Bheraghat Yoginis, it m ay be treated as a tentative proposal, suggesting a link. I am com pletely aware
that I have m erely skim m ed 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 Sahasran am a.

TH E LALITA SAH ASRANAMA– IN H ONOUR OF TH E GREAT GODDESS.

A vast corpus of poem s addressed to the Great Goddess, extolling her power and glory, attest to the
popularity of the goddess across the cen turies. The earliest verses in the Rgveda person ify certain
peaceable and relatively m inor form s of nature as fem ale deities such as Ushas, Ratri and Vak. These
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hym ns are relatively quiet and sedate in tone. By the fifth-sixth centuries we have the glorious Devi
Mahatm ya. This was followed by several other San skrit poem s of a celebratory n ature proclaim in g
on ce an d for all the om n ipoten ce an d om n ipresen ce of the Goddess. The eighth cen tury Saun darya
Lahiri, a work of un certain authorship, though popularly ascribed to Adi San karacarya, describes the
an atom ical glory of the goddess.
The Lalita Sahasran am a on e of the m an y in tellectual– devotion al com position s is an im portan t
part of stotra literature. In this genre, a litany of a thousand nam es, is the via m edia by which the
devotee extols a divin ity. This elliptical, m n em on ic literary form is peculiar to San skrit literature. It is
rem arkable that the poet has to express his religious feelings, his philosophy of life, as well as his
theological beliefs, through the nam es he coins for the deity. He has no room here for the elaboration
of his subject, n ot even logical con n ection between on e statem en t an d an other. Every un n ecessary
word is rem oved and it has a clear definable form . Every im portant deity has his/ her thousand nam es
that the devotee can chant or m utter. The LS like other “ thousand nam es “ com pilations is a liturgical
text com posed in im itation of the Vishnusahasranam a 26 . It assum es the interests of the high caste
San skrit – literate tradition alists. Also each Sahasran am a has its esoteric m ean in gs which are
com m en ted on an d han ded down in the respective “schools” whether Shaiva, Vaishn ava or Shakta.
The m ost im portan t com m en tary that reveals the vibran t an d livin g tradition an d helps us un derstan d
how this text was traditionally understood and valued, is by one of the best exponents of Shakta
philosophy, Bhaskaraya. He flourished in the 18 th century and was m ore than a scholar of Tantrism .
The com m en tary called Saubhagyabhaskara was com pleted in 1728 .27 It is worthwhile to read his
com m en tary as it is un con strain ed by the techn icalities or polem ics that often characterize other
Sakta-Tan tric sources. Am on g his eighteen extan t works the com m en tary on the Lalita Sahasran am a
represen ts his m ature theological reflection . This com m en tary is widely read. Because he travelled in
n orthern In dia for a portion of his life, in fluen ces exten d beyon d region al boun daries. Bhaskara’s
en cyclopedic kn owledge of Srividya also gran ts him special status.
The Lalita Sahasranam a is a sequel to the Lalitapaakhyaana which form s part of the Brahm anda
Purana. This Purana is one of the oldest Puranas with the kernel dated by R. C Hazra to c. AD 20 0 .28 The
Lalita Sahasranam a is twelfth century text. H owever texts such as Lalita Sahasranam a m ay be m uch
older than their written form s. The Lalita Sahasranam a containing three hundred and twenty slokas,
in three chapters occurs in the second part of the Brahm anda Purana. The first chapter is introductory
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in nature, the second gives the thousand nam es of the great goddess, Lalita and the third contains the
usual ph alasruti.
The m ythology that form s the backdrop to this litany is that of the goddess destroying the dem on
Bhan da. The m yth which praises her deeds an d declares her suprem e power provides the backgroun d
which perhaps is known to the worshippers. The episode of the goddess Lalita was appended to the
Brahm anda Purana by the devotees of Shaktism to give it a Shaktic colouring. That the Lalita story
begins with a fresh benediction (m angalachara) 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
Brahm an da text. It m ay also be n oted that the Lalita episode en ds abruptly without the characteristic
m ark of an epilogue.
The Brahm anda Purana like m any of the other Puranas is one that contains long litanies of woe
expressed by brahm an m en. Lam enting over a situation during the kali age wherein a lesser num ber of
people are requiring their services the dirge that is heard is: “People were now perform ing 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, m ixed with the heretics.” There seem s to be apprehension in the m inds
of the brahm anas by the rise of heresies. We get the picture of a society in which people often
n eglected the caste rules, defied the authority of the brahm an s. In spite of obvious exaggeration the
description refers to the dism al picture and one of a disintegration of social fabric. Brahm anas had to
take recourse to different professions. It is not surprising that the LS should be found in this Purana as
it accom m odates the brahm an a with the n ew religion .
H er play consists in creation, sustentation and dissolution of the universe. The goddess is
presented in very hum an term s which anthropom orphizes it and yet stim ulates a sense of the divine
n ature – its om n iscien ce, its om n ipoten ce, ben evolen ce an d adorable n ature. Man y epithets
em phasize the goddess’ graciousn ess an d her physical appearan ce from head to toe is described as
surpassin gly beautiful (v.13-51). It creates an experien ce of an adorable bein g an d the worshippers
ultim ate relationship with that being. She has an enchanting form with special paraphernalia. We see
poetry, religion , philosophy, occultism an d psychology vyin g with on e an other in coin in g n am es for
the deity.29 The author has em bodied in this litany not only the Pauranic story of the goddess’ fight
with the dem on 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.
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The Yoginis were adept at yoga which is clear from the sculpture at Bheraghat.In the LS the
goddess is referred to as “w ho is the object of w orship of all Yogesv aras.” (v. 225)
We find in the Yoginis are practitioners of savasadhana or sava-sm asana sadhana, also called
Dehavada – that is the theory of the body, showing interest in the hum an anatom y. These are rituals
associated with corpses and incorporates m antras for bringing the dead back to life. These rituals
appear to have form ed a part of the Yogini cult rites. According to it the brain was the seat of
consciousness and not the heart. The cosm os was to be found in the very body of hum an beings.
Deliverance can be attained only by starting from the body. 30 This is one of the reasons that it is
im portant to have a strong healthy body through yoga. It is in this way that the Yoginis m ay have
con tributed to m edical kn owledge. A class of tan trism was dedicated to the scien ce of surgery an d
dissection of the body. There is not enough m aterial 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 ultim ately given a m etaphysical orien tation ? The m edical tradition s lay great em phasis on a
cause– effect relation . The m ain con tribution to som e of the scien ces particularly to an atom y an d
physiology cam e from the Tantrikas with only the lowest castes, the Dom s and the Candalas, could
have anything to do with the dead body, it being considered too im pure to be touched by the
m em bers of the higher castes.
In all tantra system s such as Kapalikas, Bauls, Sahajiyas Lokayatas dehakaya becam e the clue to
the m ysteries of the universe to be sought in the body.
Several Yogin is in Bheraghat reveal an association with severed hum an heads, skull-cups, curved
knives and skulls. An indication that Sava sadhana also included the consum ption of the flesh of
corpses is seen from the attendant figures of Sri Sim hasim ha. A standing skeletal m ale is eating a
hum an hand while a second devours a hum an leg. (Am ong the skeletal m ale attendants and
worshippers are several shown with a prom inently erect phallus, as am ong 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 sign ifican t as royalty worshipped the Yogin is for stren gth an d m agical powers.
The physical descriptions provided in the Laita Sahasranam a draw a close parallel to those found
in Bheraghat Yoginis. But one m ay argue that these are general descriptions that were being used in
m ost literature to idealise fem inine beauty at this point of tim e. Fortunately there are som e other
 Scu lp t u r e a n d Scr ip t u r e
27

m arkers. Som e of the nam es from the

pedestal lists and those found in the Lalita
Sahasranam a tally. This is one significant
reason, to posit a bond between the
Bheraghat Yogin is an d the descriptive
nam es of the goddess in the Lalita
Sah sran am a. Secon dly th e geograph ical
area m en tion ed 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
eviden tly such a crucial ritual in the
worship of the Kaulas, which in itself is
m entioned several tim es in the Lalita
Sah asr an am a.

Om y oni m udray ai nam ah

Salutations to Her w ho is the finger
pose of creation as w ell. (v .98 2)

Certain n am es are directly referrin g to

th e Yogin is.

Om Yogin iy ai n am ah
Salutations to Her w ho is Yogini.
(v .6 53)

Om m aha-catuh-sasti-k oti-Yogin i-
4.3 Yogini Vibhatsa, drawing on paper, Edmundo Moure.
gan a-sev itay ai n am ah
 Acr o s s F e m a le R e a lm s
28

Salutations to her w ho is attended on by a host of sixty -four crore of Yoginis (v. 237)

Om anahatabra-nilay ay ai nam ah
Salutations to her w ho is the form of the Yogini called Rakini abiding in the anahata cakra.
(v .48 5)

Corroborating the residence of the goddess in the area of Madhya Pradesh and its environs the
epithet is:

Om v in dhy acala-n iv asan y ai n am ah

Salutations to her w hose abode is in the Vindhy a m ountain. (v .336)

Three of the epithets found in the LS coincide with the labels on the sculpture.

Om dakin isvary ai nam ah

Salutations to her w ho is the divine ruler Dakini. (v.48 4)

Om ram an a-lam patay ai n am ah

Salutations to her w ho crav es to sport w ith H er consort. (v . 755)

‘Sri Lam pata’ is num ber 59 in the Bheraghat list.

Om Candikay ai nam ah
Salutations to her w ho is Candika- the aw e inspiring one. (v. 755)

‘Sri Candika’ is num ber 39 in the Bheraghat list.

Ornam ents play a central role in Indian civilization. The Sanskrit word alam kara to decorate
literally m eans ‘to m ake enough’. Ornam ent was a sine qua non of beauty in India, things lacking in
orn am en t were con sidered im perfect or m ore precisely in com plete. 31 Not on ly is the Yogin i replete
 Scu lp t u r e a n d Scr ip t u r e
29

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 sim ple band like ornam ent. All the Bheraghat Yoginis don a
particular kin d correspon din g to the followin g description -

Om ranat – kinkini-m ekhalai nam ah

Salutations to her w ho w ears a girdle of tinkling bells. ( v. 312)

Om ratn a-kin kin ikaram y a-rasan a-dam a-bhjusitay ai n am ah

Salutations to her w ho is adorned w ith a girdle having m any m ini bells set w ith precious stones.
(v .38 )

These ‘bells’ look like stylized leaf buds strun g together to create iden tical girdles of alm ost every
one of the extant Bheraghat Yogini. Worn even today by wom en in areas of Madhya Pradesh they are
referred to as kali ki jhalar vali kardhani or patta kali ki jhalar.
Another significant nam e is, “Adorned with the m arriage thread tied by Kam esa around her
neck”.32 It has been stated that this statem ent that the goddess wears the thread, signifying m arriage,
offers the best exam ple that the text is South Indian in origin since this custom is non – Vedic and is
n ot practiced in n orth In dia. 33
As m entioned earlier in this paper there is an autonom ous, sovereign-like ethos in the Bheraghat
Yoginis in their sculpted form s. Analogous to this are epithets in the Lalita Sahasranam a. It m ay be
m entioned here that the Yoginis are always placed under the Saivic pantheon. This would be, am ong
other reasons, no doubt, because of the Saivic sculpture found in their vicinity, as well as the central
structure which is always a tem ple dedicated to Shiva. Shivaism as a religious system seem s to have
had an affinity and respect for wom en’s spirituality and autonom y. 34 The autonom ous nature of the
goddess is rem iniscent in these verses from the Lalita Sahasranam a.

Om parat-paray ai nam ah
Salutations to Her w ho is the superm ost superior even to Brahm a, Vishnu and Shiva w ho are
adored as suprem e deities. (v . 8 0 9)
 Acr o s s F e m a le R e a lm s
30

Even though there are epithets claim ing her m arital status to Shiva as Kam esvara, we also hear
in terestin g epithets like:

Om sam hariny ai nam ah

Salutations to her w hose function is to destroy the univ erse. (v .268 )

Om rudra-rupay ai nam ah
Salutations to Her w ho takes the form of Rudra for this purpose. (v.269)

Om sv adhin a-v allabhay ai n am ah

Salutations to Her w ho dom inates over Her consort Shiva in the creative part of the cy clic
m otion of tim e. (v. 54)

The LS gives elaborate references to ritualistic worship like Sri Chakra puja, the paths of Sam aya.
Also in this rich com pen dium of n am es the goddess is associated with Bhakti (v.117-120 ) an d aspects
of Advaita Vedanta such as deep sleep and turiya. (v.254—263) are just som e of the disparate
doctrin es m en tion ed in the LS, they pale in to sign ifican ce n um erically, when com pared to the n um ber
of referen ces to the Kaula practices. This corroborates the statem en t m ade earlier that the Yogin is
seem to be closely associated to the Kaula path of Tantrism .

Om kula-y oginy ai nam ah

Salutations to her w ho is the Yogini of the Kaulas. (v .95)

Om Kulesv aray ai nam ah

Salutations to her w ho is the ruler of the Kula. (v.439)
Om kam a-kala-rupay ai nam ah

Om kam a kala rupay ai nam ah

Salutations to her w ho is kam akala the m anifestation of Kam esv ara and kam esv ari together.
(v . 322)
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31

Om Kulantashthay ai nam ah
Salutations to her w jho is the innerm ost reality of the kula path (v.93)

Om Kauliny ai nam ah
Salutations to her w ho is called Kaulini, the core of the Kaula form of w orship. (v.94)

Om kula kundalalay ai nam ah

Salutations to her w ho is the deity of the Kulakunda (the Muladhara).

Om Kaula m arga tatpara sevitay ai nam ah

Salutaions to her w ho is w orshipped by those w ho are dev oted to the Kaula tradition. (v . 441)

Om Kaulin i-Kev alay ai n am ah

Salutations to her w ho is the ultim ate object of Kaula w orship. (v .925)

Om kula-rupiny ai nam ah

Salutations to her w ho is the deity of the Kaula sect. (v.8 97)

Keeping the nature of the ritual in m ind the secrecy elem ent is also clear in m any of the nam es.

Om ay ony ai nam ah
Salutations to her w ho has no source other than Herself. (v.8 94)

Om y oni-nilay ai nam ah
Salutation s to H er w ho houses the pow er that gen erates ev ery thin g. (v .8 95)

Om guhy ay ai nam ah
Salutation s to her w ho is w orshipped in secrecy by som e adepts. (v .624)
 Acr o s s F e m a le R e a lm s
32

She is the v ery em bodim enet of tantra (v .20 6)

Salutations to her w ho is to be w orshipped by secret rites. (v .38 1)

Om raho-y aga-kram aradhy ay ai n am ah

And saluations to her w ho is gratified by secret libations. (v .38 2)

Om rahas tarana tarpitay ai nam ah

Salutation s to her w ho bestow s her grace im m ediately on bein g so w orshipped. (v .38 3)

Om sady ah – prasadiny ai nam ah

Salutations to her w ho is frightening to the ignorant. (v .48 2)

TH E EKASITI YOGINIS
It is surprising that this tem ple of eighty-one Yoginis at Bheraghat was glossed over without
recogn ition or com m en t by earlier scholars an d con tin ued to be called the Caun sat Yogin i tem ple.
Varaham ihira’s Brhatsam hita states that a tem ple m ay be based on a floor plan of eighty one squares
(param asayika m andala), a num ber that is the square of nine. Stella Kram risch in ‘Hindu Tem ple’
points out that a study of subsequent literature on tem ple plans, especially of the
Isan agurudevaShivapaddhati (perhaps a 11th cen tury work) in dicates that a m an dala of 8 1 squares as
opposed to one of 64 squares is specially suited for use by kings. Kram risch further notes that the
Manasollasa, which is a royal com pendium refers only to a plan of 8 1 squares. It appears then that a
m andala of 8 1 is to be used prim arily for royal tem ple construction.35 A m andala of 8 1 for the floor
plan of a tem ple as opposed to 64 is specifically intended for royalty . This tem ple reinforces the idea
that 8 1 is specially im portan t for royalty an d in deed, the con cordan ce between the two in depen den t
lines of inquiry is striking.36
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 prim arily for royalty. Brahm i in the east is
 Scu lp t u r e a n d Scr ip t u r e
33

worshipped by those who desire a m ale heir, while Maheshi in the south confers the various m agical
powers, the eight siddhis. Kaum ari in the west is worshipped for destroying enem ies and Vaishnavi in
the north confers the boon of a kingdom . Varahi in the southwest is in special com m and of securing
territorial gain. Cham unda in the northwest is adored in order that she banish all one’s fears when
attacked by en em y kin gs.
So the Bheraghat tem ple was probably a royal foundation.37 Elsewhere it has been said that the
sites for the Yogin i tem ples were chosen carefully an d they were con n ected with som e queen . 38
We find m any nam es associated with the realm of the king. The fact that the Yoginis tem ples have
been found near the capitals of ruling dynasties suggests that kings worshipped them , for the
protection of their kin gdom s an d for avertin g epidem ics an d public calam ities. This in dicates that the
prevalence of the belief that the Yoginis protected the land of the king who built a tem ple to them .
Rulers and feudal chiefs erected Yoginis tem ples possibly in the belief that the power of the Yoginis
would help them con solidate their dyn astic position . In folklore the Yogin is are believed to help in
avertin g calam ities an d epidem ics. These boon s en sured destruction of en em ies, the success of an
arm y, territorial gain , freedom from fear when attacked by en em y kin gs as well as provided succour
for those who lost their kingdom . Keeping this in m ind this Yogini shrine was probably built by the
Kalachuri m onarch, Yuvaraja II. Several nam as in the Lalita Sahasranam a endorses this view of the
over ar ch in g im p or tan ce to r oyalty.

Om brhat-senay ai nam ah
Salutations to her w ho leads a m ighty arm y . (v .679)

Om rajy a-day iny ai nam ah

Salutation s to her w ho bestow s dom in ion . (v .68 5)

Om rajy a-v allabhay ai n am ah

Salutation s to her w ho lov es dom in ion . (v .68 6)

Om raja rajesvary ai nam ah

Salutations to her w ho is Rajarajesv ari. (v .68 4)
 Acr o s s F e m a le R e a lm s
34

Om raja-pitha-n iv esita-n ijasritay ai n am ah

Salutations to H er w ho raises her dev otees to roy al status. (v .68 8 )

Om rajy a-laksm y ai nam ah

Salutations to her w ho is the goddess of sov ereignty . (v .68 9)

Om sam rajy a-day in y ai n am ah

Salutation s to her w ho bestow s im perial dom in ion . (v .692)

Om catur-an ga-balesv ary ai n am ah

Salutations to her w ho com m ands arm ies w ell equipped in all the four arm s. (v .691)

Som etim es the Yoginis are looked upon as a degenerate facet of Shakti worship and of social
decaden ce en dorsin g the colon ial prejudice again st certain aspects of ‘H in duism ’. Even a prelim in ary
gaze at the Yogin is suggests, the lin ks between fertility, sexuality an d auspiciousn ess. . In stead of
celebrating this, such was and is the degree of dom ination of the globe by western culture’s ideology
an d discourse, that other cultures can n ow on ly defin e them selves through the categories that have
been im posed 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 em phasis on the role of the intellect in gaining enlightenm ent. In this endeavour one
tends to lose sight of the capacities and the potentials inherent in the body, the senses and the
em otions. Tantra em erged as a corrective to this im balance and as a witness to the fact that the m ind
alon e does n ot provide sole access to kn owledge. Passion an d pleasure also represen t prim ary sources
of knowledge and power.39 There is a different soteriology in which value is located in the ultim ate
experien ce of liberation an d pleasure an d joy, particularly sexual pleasure are n ot seen to be
in com patible. 40 Im portan tly, the Yogin is of Bheraghat in their architectural splen dour an d sculpture
bespeak of royal in volvem en t. This in volvem en t was also in tricately in volved in yoga. In stead of
seeking the Yoginis in only Tantras and agam as, it would be worthwhile to look at ideas that
correspond with Yoginis in texts that flourished around the sam e tim e as these shrines, even if they
are today con sidered brahm an ical in n ature.
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35

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1 . All r efer en ces fr om t h e Lalit a Sah asr an am a ar e fr om Swam i Tap asyan an ad a, ed ., Shr i La lit a
S a h a sr a n a m a , Sh r i Ra m a kr ish n a Ma t h a , Ch en n a i.
2 . Nilim a Ch it gop ekar , ‘ Th e Un fetter ed Yogin is’, in Nilim a Ch itgop ekar , ed ., In v ok in g God d esses:
Gen der Politics in In dian R eligion , H ar An an d, New Delhi, 20 0 2, p. 8 2.
3 . Pu p u l J a ya ka r , Th e ea r t h Mot h er , Pen gu in , New Delh i 19 8 9 ,p .156 .
4 . In t h is fou n d at ion al st u d y, Vid ya Deh ejia, Th e Yogin i Cu lt an d Tem p les: A Tan t r ic Tr ad it ion ,
Nat ion al Mu seu m , 19 8 6 , h as eexam in ed var iou s m an u scr ip t s fr om d iffer en t p ar t s of t h e cou n t r y. Th e
m on ograph h as a large collection of plates of Yogin is both from In dia an d n ow placed in differen t parts
of th e wor ld , in var iou s m u seu m s et al.
5 . Nilim a Chitgopekar, En coun terin g Shiv aism : The Deity , the M ilieu, The En tourage, Mun shiram
Ma n oh a r la l, New Delh i, 19 9 8 , p p . 10 9 -112 .
6 . Lillian Silburn et Andre Padoux, Abhinav agupta La Lum iere Sur Les Tantras, Chapitres 1 a 5 du
Tan tralok a , College d e Fr an ce, Pu blication s De L’In sititiu t De Civilisation In d ien n e, Par is, 1998 .
7 . Alexis San derson , ‘Vajrayan a: Origin an d Fun ction ‘ in Buddhism in to the Year 20 0 0 In tern ation al
Con fer en ce Pr oceed in g s Ba n g k ok a n d Los An g eles, Th e Dh am m akaya Fou n d ation , 1994, p .92.
8 . A n otable attem p t at th is is m ad e by Alexis San d er son , ‘Saivism an d th e Tan tr ic Tr ad ition s’, in
Stewar t Su th er lan d ed ., The W orld ’s R elig ion s, Rou tled ge & Kegan Pau l, 198 8 .
9 . I b id , p .115.
10 . Elin or W. Gad on , Pr obin g th e Myster ies of th e H ir ap u r Yogin is, R e Vision , Su m m er 20 0 2, vol25, n o.1.
1 1 . George Mich ell, “Tem ples to th e Goddess,” in Vidya Deh ejia, ed . Dev i , The Great Goddes, Wash in gton
DC : Sm it h son ian In st it u t e, 19 9 9 , p . 6 0 .
12 . Dian a Eck, Ben aras, City of Light, p.159.
13 . Vid ya Deh ejia, The Yogin i Cu lt, p.166.
14 . ASI An n ual Report 190 3-4, Con serv ation in the Cen tral Prov in ces, p.59.
15 . Vidya Deh ejia, The Yogin i Cu lt p.128 .
16 . Vid ya Deh ejia, In d ia n Ar t, Ph aid on Pr ess Ltd , Lon d on ,1997, p .13.
1 7 . Nilim a Ch itgop ekar , ‘Th e Un fetter ed Yogin is’ in ed Nilim a Ch itgop ekar , In v ok oin g God d esses: Gen d er
politics in Indian Religion, Shakti, H arAnand, N ew Delhi, 20 0 2.
18 . M. G Bh a ga t , An cien t I n d ia n Ascet icism , Mu n sh ir a m Ma n oh a r la l, New Delh i, 19 76 , p .2 79 .
19 . P u p u l J a ya ka r , op .cit . p .4 1.
2 0 . Nilim a Ch itgop ekar , En cou n ter in g Shiv a ism , p p . 155-56.
2 1. Vid ya Deh ejia , Dev i, p .2 4 2 .
 Acr o s s F e m a le R e a lm s
36

2 2 . P u p u l J a ya ka r , op . cit .p . 4 1.
2 3 . Miran da Sh aw, Passion ate En lighten m en t: W om en in Tan tric Buddhism , Mun sh iram Man oh arlal
Pu lish er s Pvt Lt d ., New Delh i, 19 9 8 .p .32 .
2 4 . Mon ier Mon ier- William s, San sk rit En glish Diction ary , OUP, New Delh i, 20 0 0 , p.431.
2 5 . Ver r ier Elwin , M y ths of M iddle In dia, OUP, 1945, p. 420 .
2 6 . Kees W. Bolle, The Persistence Of Religion, Essay s on Tantrism and Shri Aurobindo’s Philosophy , Leiden
E.J Br ill, 19 71, p . 6 0 .
2 7 . Kees W. Bolle, The Persisten ce of Religion , p. 54.
2 8 . R. C H azra, Studies in the Puranic Records on H indu Rites and Custom s, Motilal Ban arsidass, Delhi,
19 8 7 , p . 17 .
2 9 . Swam i Tap asyan an ad a, ed ., Shr i La lita Sa ha sr a n a m a , , Sh r i Ram akr ish n a Math a, Ch en n ai, p . 6.
3 0 . Debiprasad Ch attopadh yaya, Lok ay ata. A Study in An cien t In dian M aterialism , People’s Publish in g
H ou se, 19 9 2 , p . 3 3 5.
3 1. Par th a Mitter In d ia n Ar t, OUP, 20 0 1, p .42.
3 2 . I b id .,v.3 0 .
3 3 . Kees W Bolle Th e Persisten ce of Religion : Essays on Tan trism an d Sh ri Aurobin do’s Ph ilosoph y, Lei den
E.J Br ill, 19 71, p . 6 3 54 .
3 4 . San jukta Gupta,’ Wom en in th e Sh aiva/ Sakta Eth os’, in J ulia Leslie, ed., R oles an d R ituals for H in du
W om en ’ Pin ter Publishers, Lon don , 1991, p. 195.
3 5 . Vid ya Deh ejia, Yogin i Cu lt an d Tem p les, p p . 4 8 -4 9 .
3 6 . Ibid , p. 51.
3 7 . Ibid , p . 125.
3 8 . R D Ban er ji, ASI Mem oir s, n o. xxiii, Calcu t t a, 19 31, p . 373.
3 9 . Miran da Sh aw, Passion ate En lighten m en t: W om en in Tan tric Buddhism , Mun sh iram Man oh arlal
Pu lish er s Pvt Lt d ., New Delh i, 19 9 8 , p . 20 5.
4 0 . Miran da Sh aw, Passion ate En lighten m en t: W om en in Tan tric Buddhism , Mun sh iram Man oh arlal, Delh i,
19 9 8 , p .5.