GODDESS KAKATI - An attempt to solve the mystery...!!!
- - Sriramoju Haragopal.
Very recently, most of the newspapers published an article saying that an ASI official has identified 'Goddess Kakati' in Amaravati of Andhra Pradesh. Dr. Shiva Nagi reddi , an ASI official further said that the natives call her 'Balusulamma' & the crown on her head is sculpted in kakatiya style.

How can we proclaim this fact when in the first place we do not know when & how did Rashtrakutas declare themselves as Kakatiyas ? Therefore, all such baseless articles only lead to further confusion & mislead the common folks with regards to the true identity of Goddess Kakati.

They say that there's an image/idol of Goddess Kakati in historian Veturi Prabhakara sastry's house at shankarmath in Hyderabad. In a book called 'Warangal jilla sarvasvam', there's even an image of Goddess Kakati.

Goddess kakati very much resembles chamunda. Historians have even identified the attributes of Goddess Kakati saying that she will have either a Fox or Mongoose as her vehicle. The idol owned by veturi Prabhakara sastry & the idol unearthed at Dornala have many features in common. In both the cases the vehicle is 'Fox'.

In the research travels & observations that we have done during our visits to Matakoduru(yadadri Dist), Ramunipatla(siddipet), Kodavatooru(Jangaon), Pana gal museum, Hyderabad state museum, Karepalli-Kota rotta makurevu(Khammam Dist), sharajipeta(yadadri Dist), Kadaverugu(Jangaon) etc..., we've seen idols of chamunda having both Fox & Mongoose as her vehicles. All these idols very much have the attributes that correspond to the findings of various historians.

There's no doubt about the fact that Goddess Kakati is very much the family deity of the Kakatiyas. In the state of Telangana, there are 'n' no. of deities which either have Fox or Mongoose as their vahana . Among all these deities towards whom can we pinpoint for sure & declare as Goddess kakati...??

In the 'Prataparudreeyam' of vidyanatha to which kumara Swamy somapeethi ratnapana has given the explanation, he has described Goddess Kakati as a Hindu goddess.

Veturi Prabhakara sastry also declared chamunda as Goddess kakati (a serene form among the saptamatrikas) after unearthing her in the excavations carried out at Dondapadu in kakathamma beedu . Surprisingly, we will never come across the term 'kakati' in any of the Devi puranams or among the list of the different names of the Devi. There are various schools of thought with regard to the etymology of the word 'Kakartya' or 'Kakati'. Many historians say that the word 'kakartya', itself has evolved into the word 'kakati'. 'Kakati', 'Kakatya', 'Kaketa' etc... are all derivatives of the word 'kakati'.

Kakatiyas were jains first. They followed the Digambara sect of Jainism. Until Kakartya Gundana , they were not known as kakatiyas. It is from the surname 'kakartya' of Gundana that we have derivatives like :- 'kakata', 'kakati', 'kaketi', 'kakita' etc...

The word 'kakati', literally means 'Gummadi theega' in telugu which means a' pumpkin creeper'. The word 'Gummadi' undergoes Sanskritization to become 'Kooshmanda'. Amongst the yakshinis of jainism, 'Kooshmandini' is a synonym of 'Ambika Devi'. Ambika devi is the shasana Devata of the 22nd jain tirthankara 'Neminatha'. This shasana Devata is present in both Digambara & shwetambara sects of Jainism. The Digambaras refer to her as 'kooshmandini', while the shwetambaras refer to her as 'Ambika'. Most of the times she is depicted as holding mangoes in her right hand and a 'Lemon' kind of fruit in her left hand. She carries 1 or 2 children in her lap. She usually sits in 'LalithaSana ' under the mango tree. Such a sculpture of the goddess is found sculpted along with Mahavira & Parshvanatha on the south of a hillock in siddenki village of Jangaon Dist.

Along with the goddess sitting under the Mango tree, there are 2 infants/kids one on either side of her among whom one of the kids is sitting on a Lion. The right hand of the goddess is holding a mango while the left is holding a lemon like fruit.

Right from the 5th century, many jain puranas & scriptures mention 'Ambika Devi'. In the collection of various writings on Ambika Devi by Jina prabha suri namely 'Ambika Devi kalpa', she has been described in various terms like 'Kohandi', 'Kooshmandi ', 'Kooshmandini' etc... & resides in her abode in paradise called 'Kohanda vimanam'. This is a legend according to the shwetambara sect of Jainism.

As per jain iconography, a sculpture or idol of 'Ambika', usually has 2 infants(siddha & Buddha), a bunch of mangoes & a spear. So far if we try to observe the various idols of Goddess Ambika, some are 2-armed, some 4-armed and some have more than 4 hands in both the Digambara & shwetambara sects of Jainism in various forms.

With regards to the origins of Goddess Ambika, a research scholar Umakanth p shah has written - In the ' Oorjayanthasthava' of Jina prabha suri,(Goddess Ambika is a simhavahini with 2 sons siddha & Buddha, having a bunch of mangoes in her hand), it's written that - "May the Goddess Ambika who is a simhavahini, with 2 sons - siddha & Buddha, holding a bunch of mangoes in her hands bless the Sangha for its well being."

Various scholars have described Goddess Ambika in different ways & terms. Jinaprabhasuri in his 'kshamaashramana viseshaavasyaka' refers to her as 'Kooshmanda vidya Amba'. Haribhadrasuri refers to her as 'Ambaa Kooshmanda vidya', again in 'Aavasyakaniryukthi' & 'Lalithavisthaaravyakhya'. The scripture 'Bhairava padmavati kalpa' extols her as 'Amra Kooshmandi'. The Digambara tantric scripture 'Vidyashasana', describes her as the '8-handed Amra-Kooshmandini'. In the prayer in the praise of Goddess Ambika written by Jaina man tri 'Vastupala', he describes her as 'Kooshmandini padmalaya' May be this is the very reason for the Jaina basadi built stop the Padmakshi gutta is known as 'Kadalalaya basadi'. A jain tirthankara is flanked on either sides by yakshi 'Ambika' & yaksha 'Sarvamhaajinabhadra vachanaacharya' serving him.

The scripture of 'Anuyogadwarasutra' mentions the following shloka - "Theyasaajalanthe, indhassa , khaandassaavaa, Ruddhasaavaa, sivassaavaa, vesamanassaavaa , Devassaavaa , Nagassaavaa, Jakkassaavaa, Bhooyassaavaa, Mugundhassaavaa, Ajjevaa, Duggevaa, kotthaakiriyevaa, Uvaalevaasammajjanaa, sanavari , sanadhuva , pushpagandhamallaiyam, Dhuvvaavassaayaim karenthi". Haribhadrasuri explains the above shloka in his 'Jinadaasamahattharaa' as follows - "Durgaayaa poorvaroopam Aamrakooshmandivath thadhaa thitaa ajjaa Bhannathi shaiva mahisha vyaapaadhaanakalaa prabhruthi thadroopa sthithaa kotthavvyaa(kothaakiriya) Bhannathi" Haribhadrasuri mentions 'kothaakiriya' as both 'kothaakuriya' & 'kothaavi'. The term 'Kothaakiriya' itself might have transformed as 'Kaakarithiya', 'Kakartya' etc... In South India, 'Kooshmandini kothaavi', is referred to as 'Korrivai', which means Vanadurga or Vijayapradhaatha i. e.. One which grants victory.

From all the above mentioned sources, scriptures & commentaries of various scholars, we can clearly conclude that there is a relation between the terms - 'kothaakiriya' & 'Kakarithiya'. We can very clearly understand the evolutionary pattern of the terms namely 'Kothaakuriya' >'Kothaavi' >'Korrivai'.

Therefore we can conclude that Goddess Ambika or Kooshmandini herself is Goddess Kakati & because he was following the Digambara sect of Jainism & was propitiating Goddess kakati, 'Gundana kakartya' came to be known as 'Kakartya Gundana' or the one /Gundana who propitiates Goddess kakati /Kakartya.

Similarly, there's every chance of today's 'kuravi', being known as 'kakatipattanam' of the past. In fact, Kakatiyas began their rule from 'kuravi' itself.

As soon as we enter the temple atop the Padmakshi hillock, we can see 'sarvamhaa' (Kubera...???), the yaksha. And we can also find the 22nd jain tirthankara 'Neminatha', in the kayotsarga posture with the traditional umbrella / cchatram over his head. Beside him, we can find the family deity of kakatiyas in all her glory as goddess Ambika or Kooshmandini with 2 hands holding fruits in each of her hands. We can also find Lord vinayaka , goddess chamundeswari in the lalithasana with the miniature of goddess Ambika beneath her feet. In the backdrop, we have an unfinished sculpture of the 24th jain tirthankara, Mahavira 's 7 feet high sculpture. Besides, we can also see' jainapadalu', a 'chauvisa' pillar & a chauvisa sculpture.

All these clearly belong to the Digambara sect of Jainism. Owing to the attributes of the sculpted idols within & owing to the ancient history of the basadi, we can undoubtedly proclaim that goddess Padmakshi atop the Padmakshi gutta herself is Goddess kakati & she has no substitute whatsoever for such characteristic attributes other than 'KAKATI'...!!!
---Sriramoju Haragopal
(Translated into English by Nikisha, our team member)