Shakti is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism, and especially Shaktism, a major tradition of Hinduism. Shakti is the personification of the Energy that is creative, sustaining, as well as destructive, sometimes referred to as auspicious source energy. As the Sakti or Creatrix, She is known as "Adi Shakti" or "Adi Para Shakti". On every plane of creation, Energy manifests itself in all forms of matter, thermal energy, potential energy, gravitational energy etc. These are all thought to be infinite forms of the Paraa Shakti. But Her true form is unknown, and beyond human understanding. She is Anaadi and Nitya. In Shaktism, Shakti is worshipped as the Supreme Being. Shakti embodies the active dynamic energy of Shiva and is synonymously identified with Tripura Sundari or Parvati.
Evolution
The Shakti goddess is also known as Amma in south India, especially in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. There are many temples devoted to various incarnations of the Shakti goddess in most of the villages in South India. The rural people believe that Shakti is the protector of the village, the punisher of evil people, the cure of diseases, and the one who gives welfare to the village. They celebrate Shakti Jataras with great interest once a year. Some examples of Shakti names are Mahalakshmi, Kamakshi, Parvati, Lalita, Bhuvaneshwari, Durga, Meenakshi, Mariamman, Yellamma, Poleramma, and Perantalamma. One of the oldest representations of the goddess in India is in a triangular form. The Baghor stone, found in a Paleolithic context in the Son River valley and dating to 9,000–8,000 years BCE, is considered an early example of a yantra. Kenoyer, part of the team that excavated the stone, considered that it was highly probable that the stone is associated with Shakti.
Shaktism
regards Devi as the Supreme Brahman itself with all other forms of divinity considered to be merely Her diverse manifestations. In the details of its philosophy and practice, Shaktism resembles Shaivism. However, Shaktas, practitioners of Shaktism, focus most or all worship on Shakti, as the dynamic feminine aspect of the Supreme Divine. Shiva, the masculine aspect of divinity, is considered solely transcendent, and Shiva's worship is usually secondary.
From Devi-Mahatmya: By you this universe is borne, By you this world is created, Oh Devi, by you it is protected.
From Shaktisangama Tantra: Woman is the creator of the universe, the universe is her form; woman is the foundation of the world, she is the true form of the body. In woman is the form of all things, of all that lives and moves in the world. There is no jewel rarer than woman, no condition superior to that of a woman.
In the Smarta Advaita sect of Hinduism, Shakti is considered to be one of five equal personal forms of God in the panchadeva system advocated by Adi Shankara.
Shakti Peeths
According to some schools, there are four Adi Shakti Pitha and 51 Shakti centers of worship located in South Asia. They can be found in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Tibet and Pakistan. These are called Shakti Peethas. The list of locations varies. A commonly accepted list of Shakti Peethas and their temple complexes includes:
There are many ancient Shakti devotional songs and vibrational chants in the Hindu and Sikh traditions. The recitation of the Sanskrit mantras is commonly used to call upon the Divine Mother. Kundalini-Shakti-Bhakti Mantra Translation: "Merge in the Maha Shakti. This is enough to take away your misfortune. This will carve out of you a woman. Woman needs her own Shakti, not anybody else will do it... When a woman chants the Kundalini Bhakti mantra, God clears the way. This is not a religion, it is a reality. Woman is not born to suffer, and woman needs her own power."
