Hariti: Village Origins, Buddhist Elaborations and Saivite Accommodations

Abstract

In this paper I examine the iconography, contemporary worship and mythology of a local goddess, Erukamma, in the city of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India to reconstruct her associations with the goddess Hariti who is known throughout the Buddhist world of Southeast and East Asia. In order to establish Hariti's connection with Erukamma and her ancient origins and signifi cance, I analyze the translations of Taisho texts that refer to Hariti's story and worship. My aim in this paper is to argue the following: while the Buddhist renderings allow goddesses such as Hariti to travel beyond the Indian sub-continent, there have been many goddesses like Hariti in the Indian context whose cults were submerged in the developing Buddhist cultic world. A reverse process has also occurred when Buddhism has lost ground such as in the case of Erukamma. In these instances, goddesses like Erukamma refl ect adaptations of new religious trends while retaining characteristics of their original village origins.