All the civilizations that rose there was a clear concept of Mother Goddess whether it was in the Western civilizations or the Oriental.According to Prof. B. Srivastava in Iconography of Sakti (1978) ‘The archeological discoveries of Mother Goddess figurines throughout the areas of prehistoric world, essentially the Eastern Europe, Western ASia, Persia and India indicate that Cradle land of the Mother Goddess cult was in the Southern Russian Steppes and Western Asia.’ Quoting from I.E.O James The Cult of Mother Goddess he again quotes
‘As a symbol of common culture, India and Iran shared the worship of Mother Goddess in the third and Second Millennia B.C At various centres of Iran, such as Elam and Susa a number of Mother Goddess Figurines have been found. They are rude female figurines holding the breast, often adorned with bracelets, pendants and necklaces. These figurines are Mesopotamian counterparts under various names. These goddesses were hailed as the goddesses of fertility and abundance. Sometimes they were invoked against the enemies also.
A large number of clay figurines representing females have been found at the pre-Chalolithic and Chalolithic sites in Baluchistan, Afghanistan and in Indus Valley. The uniformity of style, similarity of ornamentation and the wide area over which they were spread, forces the conclusion that these were religious figurines relating to cult worship of the Goddess named variously such as Iris, Innini, Ishtar, Anahita, Aditi etc. She is Earth Goddess. In the Vedic concept, as the goddess of Asuras she is Maya and as the Goddess of Gods, she is Aditi or Devmata. This concept gained ground in the Puranic religion also.
The concept of the Earth Goddess is primarily associated with the fertility aspect and motherhood. A number of female terracotta figurines show an infant at her breast or on the hip. Such figures representing the motherhood are the antecedents of MADONA, the tradition of which continue far and beyond the Harappa cultures from the point of view of time and space.’
This is to highlight that worship of woman is from prehistoric times. Now somebody may say why go for idolatry in this time. Symbolism is of extreme importance otherwise our mind does not picture it at all. If somebody tells you that water is there around as vapor it will be difficult to imagine. Keep an ice cube let it melt and then vaporise and you will understand the presence of water even in the air we breathe.
On the second day Mother Goddess as Brahmacharini, the unmarried form where she is abode of knowledge
Ya Devi Sarvbhuteshu Srishti Roopen Samsthita
Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namah
She shows the power of the women to take all the trouble they can for there near and loved ones. In her worship she did austerity and lived on minimum offd for getting her desired husband. Which shows how women can to any length of self sacrifice to get the best for themselves and for the society.
May we all salute all the women without whom there will be no world, no life.
crookedeyebrows 