Lajja Gauri in Kamakhya Temple, Assam, India

Lajja Gauri in Kamakhya temple, Assam

Sanskrit scholar, Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, identifies this Vedic Goddess as "the female principle of creation or infinity". O'Flaherty's colleague, Carol Radcliffe Bolon, agrees that the "form of the Goddess most widely known today as Lajja Gauri fits the Vedic descriptions of the Mother of the Gods, Aditi," but notes that the unlettered artisans who carved Her images and the devotees who worshipped Her were probably unaware of this formidable pedigree.

In this case, however, ignorance of priestly interpretations was probably not much of a handicap: Lajja's visual message seems abundantly clear. Her frequent juxtaposition with the Shiva linga (an aniconic, phallic form of the Divine Masculine Principle), and Her association with lions and the god Ganesh, suggest beyond a doubt that She was considered a manifestation of the Supreme Devi, specifically Parvati (who is also called Gauri). Her size (always equal to Shiva's), and the prominent display of Her full breasts (suggesting life-giving nurture and sustenance) and yoni (vulva, womb; suggesting generative, creative power) indicate that She probably served as a Feminine counterpart to the Masculine linga. 

Whatever Lajja Gauri's ultimate origins, She is clearly a very auspicious Goddess. Everything about Her suggests life, creativity, and abundance. Her images are almost always associated with springs, waterfalls and other sources of running water -- vivid symbols of life-giving sustenance. Her belly usually protrudes, suggesting fullness and/or pregnancy; in earlier sculptures, Her torso was often portrayed as an actual pot, another ancient symbol of wealth and abundance. Lajja Gauri's head is usually a lotus flower, an extremely powerful, elemental symbol of both material and spiritual well-being. (Interestingly, today's images of the popular Goddess Lakshmi -- patroness of wealth and material fulfillment -- are also rife with water, pots and lotuses.) 

Her images are virtually always prone, laying at or below floor level in her characteristic uttanapad posture, as though rising from the Earth itself, a manifestation of the primordial Yoni from which all life springs. Indeed, Her birth/sexual posture unambiguously denotes fertility and reproductive power. This is Devi as the Creatress, as Mother of the Universe, as the Life-Giving Force of Nature, in a bold, uncompromising display of the Divine Feminine Principle. She is besides the protector of light that illuminates all life and ensures consciousness.

The iconic model of Lajja Gauri takes its source in the Mesopotamian civilization. Her representation was brought by the trade in the civilization of the early Indus. Lajja Gauri-like pre dates the Vedas.