Sacred Geography of the Goddesses in Kashi , India

Omnipresence and omniscience of the goddess are attested by the variety of goddess-images in the sacredscape of Kashi (Varanasi). The veneration of the goddesses initiated the process of establishment of shrines and temples. Processes of getting in close contact with the divine spirit, spatial manifestations, acceptance and recognition of Folk tradition by the Great tradition, and symbolic expression of identity, respectability of the feminine divine, etc. have shaped the human quest to establish goddess-images in various forms and at different places. Local mythologies are superimposed to justify the historicity and religious merit, and after passage of time it finally became part of the contemporary tradition. The spatial pattern of goddesses in Kashi is an outcome of representation of manifestive realities, acculturation process and maintenance and continuity of the tradition. The paper deals with the cultural, symbolic and spatial affinity of goddesses in Kashi; their number reaches 324 in the Puranas. The physical complexity of location converges into an order of patterning, which easily fits into the symbolic description in the mythology. This complexity can be explained in the context of fractal, and self-organised system in which the complexity of disequilibrium itself forms an order and finally results to equilibrium. This system is always re-created and rejuvenated by the ritual processes and the sacred performances. The paper deals with the cultural, symbolic, mythical and spatial affinity of goddesses in Kashi; their number reaches 324 in the Puranas.