ABSTRACT
The uncountable, innumerable and multi-faceted goddesses range from human to insect-like forms, reside from cosmic to domestic domains and possess motherly to lustful attributes. Such goddesses conceptualized and worshipped in South Asia act upon our daily lives extremely pervasively as universal beings to bacterial forms. Their identities vary from anthropomorphic imagery to inorganic appearances of nature, from beautiful women to multi-legged and multi-armed animals, from calm epistemic selves to demonic beings, and from glamorous personifi cations to grotesque subhumans. For instance, there are heaps of stones at many religious premises as the forms of Kali, which are extremely venerated power locations. In the Buddhist temples of South Asian region, the Tibetan tantric deity, Lhao Mo or Chhwaskamuni, looks terrifying and consequently kept in the shrines behind curtains. Similarly, the other fearful deities are the skeleton male and female duo called Citipati. Yamantaka, the emanation of Manjushree, has sixteen feet, thirty-four arms and nine heads. Hariti, a popular deity in Kathmandu, is both the cause and cure of smallpox. Laxmi is the goddess who represents patriarchally conceived Hindu idealism. She is beautiful in images and icons.
