Mother Goddess in Indian Religion
Right from the days of the Indus Valley Civilisation, the Mother Goddess is worshipped in India as the force behind productivity.
But during the period between the Rig-Vedic age till the beginning of the Gupta age, aristocrats were not in favour of worshipping the Mother Goddess.
She was popular among pre-Aryan tribals. She stood for Mother Earth, the giver of life and crops, in the agrarian society.
Later, under the Brahmanic influence, the Mother Goddess came to be known as Shakti, Chandi, Gouri, Chamunda, Parvati, Kali and Durga. In Hinduism, Shaktism was very popular. Those who worshipped Sakti were called Saktas.
