In Shaktism the ultimate reality is a goddess, not a god
For roughly 305 million Hindus, the highest power in the universe is feminine. Shaktism reveres Shakti, divine energy personified as the Great Goddess, in forms from fierce Kali to gentle Parvati. A stone found in Madhya Pradesh, dated to around 9000 to 8000 BC, may be one of its earliest shrines.
Shaktism treats Shakti, the energy of the divine feminine, as the final reality behind everything, embodied as Adi Parashakti. She appears in many guises, each with its own role. Durga defeats evil and puts the cosmos back in order; Parvati is a mother goddess of fertility and devotion; Kali stands for time and transformation. The wider pantheon includes Saraswati for learning and the arts, Lakshmi for prosperity, Tripura Sundari for beauty, and countless village guardians known as Gramadevata.
History has layered new elements on top. After Buddhism declined in India, Hindu and Buddhist goddess cults blended, giving rise to the Mahavidya, ten fierce, esoteric goddesses at the heart of Shakta tantra. Tantric strands such as Vidyapitha and Kulamarga sit within the tradition. Devotees prize passionate love of the goddess over mere obedience, an ideal borrowed from the Vaishnava image of Radha and Krishna, and the influence has flowed back into both Vaishnavism and Shaivism. The goddess is also cast as the power and partner of Vishnu and Shiva.
Scripture draws on the Hindu Sruti and Smriti canon, with special reverence for the Devi Mahatmya, which Shaktas rank alongside the Bhagavad Gita. The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, the Kalika Purana and the Devi Upanishad also matter. In eastern India festivals like Durga Puja draw enormous devotion. A follower is called a Shakta, and the World Religion Database in 2020 ranked the tradition as the third-largest Hindu sect.
Roots may run very deep. At Baghor I in Sidhi district, a dig directed by G. R. Sharma and the Californian archaeologist J. Desmond Clark uncovered what looks like an Upper Paleolithic Shakti shrine. Some trace goddess worship to the Indus Valley too. In the Rig Veda, hymn 10.125, the Devi Suktam, gives a female voice that claims to have created all worlds by her own will and to dwell within them.
Source: Shaktism
