Sah-wah-dee-khrap from
Thailand!
While they are not very famous amongst the devotees yet the Matrika group of goddesses is one of the most ancient ones in the Indian sub-continent. Seals with seven feminine deities have been found from the Indus Valley and representations of the goddesses are found in many ancient caves and rock-cut temples flanked by Virabhadra on the left and Ganpati on the right.
Passing through the gorgeous city
of Bangkok I was caught bang in the middle of Songkran, the Thai New Year celebrated as the Water Festival in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. It was
so good to see the people celebrate with such
pomp and glory especially since we in India are stuck with water restrictions and festival shaming at the time of Holi.
Songkran
festivities are similar to the Indian festival of Holi
If you are wondering about the
similarity in these celebrations you may be further surprised to know that the
word “Songkran” actually comes from Sanskrit Sankrant that signifies the
movement of Sun from one zodiac to another. No wonder then that the festival
coincides with the Solar New Year celebrated as BAISAKHI in Punjab,
POILA BOISHAKH in Bengal & Tripura, RONGALI BIHU in Assam, VISHU in Kerala,
VISHUVA SANKRANTI in Odisha, JURSHITAL in Mithila, & PUTHANDU in Tamil Nadu. The water-festival is also celebrated in Laos,
Cambodia, Myanmar and this is also the official new year in Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Every
year Songkran is
represented by a different goddess who helps give the people an
idea of weather forecast for harvests in the year ahead. These goddesses are
seven in number and are assigned to different days of the week and the Goddess
of the Year is decided by which day of the week falls on the first day. This year, the relevant Goddess is the one who governs Saturday - Mahothorn Devi.
Songkran Goddess
of 2018 – Mahothorn Devi
A lot of people would
notice the similarity between how Mahothorn is depicted and Indian
goddesses. For one, she rides a peacock that is associated with Kartikeya, Krishna & Saraswati and secondly,
she holds a Chakra and a Trident in her two hands that are the weapons of Lords
Vishnu and Shiva respectively. But not many would realize that there is an
actual Devi from Hindu mythology who is very similar to Mahothorn Devi.
Devi Kaumari –
the Shakti of Kartikeya
Just like the seven goddesses of Songkran, Hinduism has a group of seven goddesses known
as the MATRIKAS who are warrior Shaktis that had emanated from various gods and are accordingly known as – Vaishnavi, Brahmani, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Varahi, Indran, and Chamunda or Kali.
ब्राह्मी माहेश्वरी चैव कौमारी वैष्णवी तथा । वाराही च तथेन्द्राणी चामुण्डा सप्तमातृ: ॥
BrAhmI MaheshwarI chaiva KaumArI VaishnavI tathA
VArahI cha tathEndrani ChAmundA Sapta Matraha
The Sapta (Seven)
Matrikas
The Seven
Songkran Goddesses
While they are not very famous amongst the devotees yet the Matrika group of goddesses is one of the most ancient ones in the Indian sub-continent. Seals with seven feminine deities have been found from the Indus Valley and representations of the goddesses are found in many ancient caves and rock-cut temples flanked by Virabhadra on the left and Ganpati on the right.
Indus Valley Seal
of Seven Goddesses
Sapta Matrika from
temple art
These seven warrior
goddesses were manifested by the gods to help Goddess Durga in the battle with demons
Shumbh and Nishumbh. While I can dedicate a whole book to the story of the
Matrikas but let us here focus on how they compare to the Songkran goddesses:
1. The Songkran goddess
for Monday is Koraka
– she rides a tiger, wears pearls and flowers of cork tree, holds sword in her
right hand and a cane in her left hand. She seems to me the Thai representation
of Goddess Durga who also rides tigers and lions.
2. The goddess for
Tuesday is Raksod – she is adorned
with a lotus and wears Mora gem and holds a trident and bow in her hands. She rides
on a pig so is most likely derived from the Goddess Varahi who is the
boar-faced goddess worshipped in Tantra.
3. Wednesday’s
goddess is Monta
– she rides a donkey so in that aspect is similar to Kali or
Chamunda. She is adorned with champak flowers and cat’s eye gem and holds a pointing
iron and a cane in her hands.
4. The goddess of Thursday is Kirinee - she decorates her hair with magnolia and her jewellery is of
emerald. She rides on the back of an elephant so is similar to Indrani.
5. Friday belongs to
goddess Kimita – she rides
a buffalo so is most likely derived from the goddess Maheshwari. She wears
topaz jewellery and has a waterlily behind her ear.
6. The goddess for
this year’s Songkran that fell on Saturday is Mahothorn
- she is decorated with water hyacinth and black sapphire and as already
mentioned, holds a Chakra and a Trident while sitting on her vehicle peacock .
She is most likely related to Goddess Kaumari.
7. The last Songkran
goddess for Sunday is Thungsa
– she rides on Garuda, wears red, has pomegranate flower in her hair and holds
Chakra and Shankha of Vishnu so it is most likely that she has been derived
from Goddess Vaishnavi.
Here's wishing you all a very Happy Solar New Year once again and I hope we Indians can rediscover the same pride in our culture that it has inspired in other countries in our neighborhood. I dedicate this post to the Warrior Goddess Kaumari/Mahothorn Devi. May the new solar year be fruitful and bring happiness and prosperity to all!
Om Shanti: Shanti: Shanti:
