Lajjā Gaurī is a lotus-headed Hindu goddess associated with abundance, fertility and sexuality, sometimes euphemistically described as Lajja ("modesty"). She is sometimes shown in a birthing posture, but without outward signs of pregnancy.
History
Early depictions of Lajja Gauri in Shaktism were found in the Indus Valley seals, though her later depiction dates to the 1st-3rd centuries, and her worship is prevalent in the Deccan, a region of the Indian subcontinent.
Iconography
Her fertility aspect is emphasized by symbolic representation of the genitals, yoni or the womb, as a blooming lotus flower denoting blooming youth in some cases and in others through a simple yet detailed depiction of an exposed vulva. She is sitting in a squatting position (malasana) with legs open, as in during childbirth, in some cases, the right foot is placed on a platform to facilitate full opening. She is invoked for abundant crops (vegetative fertility) and good progeny. A blossoming lotus replaces her head and neck, an icon often used in Tantra. The seven chakras of human energy anatomy are often depicted as blossoming lotuses, and the goddess is often depicted in her Sri Yantra as a yoni, shown as a simplified triangle at the centre. This is a feature present in all the Kohbar Mithila paintings which are worshipped by newlyweds in a Maithil wedding.
Further, most fertility goddesses of the ancient world are similarly shown headless, while giving prominent focus to the genitals. The arms of the goddess are bent upwards, each holding a lotus stem, held at the level of the head again depicted by the matured lotus flower.
Owing to an absence of verifiable text in Vedic traditions on the iconography, she does not seem to hold any exalted position in Hindu pantheon, despite her strong presence throughout India, especially in the tribal region of Bastar in Central India and downwards to the South. The goddess is sometimes called Lajja Gauri, interpreted by some as the Innocent Creatrix, the Creator deity or at times simply "Headless Goddess", or Aditi Uttanapada by modern archeologist, academicians and Indologists.
The majority of the terracotta figurines were carved in the Gupta and post-Gupta periods.
Worship
Icons of Lajja Gauri have been found in different villages, and local people identify her with other goddesses such as Aditi, Adya Shakti, Renuka and Yallamma. A notable sculpture of her dating to 150-300 CE was found at Amravati (now kept at State Museum, Chennai), Tribal areas of Central India, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, where the town of Badami, known for the Badami Cave Temples, has a sculpture of the deity preserved at the local Archeological Museum, originally found in Naganatha Temple, Naganathakolla, Bijapur District, and has an extant temple dedicated to the goddess in Badami Chalukya Architecture, within the town precincts dating to Chalukya Empire which flourished around the 6th century AD. Maithili people worship Lajja Gauri during the marriage.She is an integral part of the Kohbar Mithila Painting which is kept in the nuptial chamber of newly weds.
Another arguable interpretation by Dr. Ramachandra C. Dhere in his book entitled Lajja Gauri is that Lanja/Lanjika means 'naked', which reminds us of the geographical area in Konkan (Maharashtra), called Lanja.
Symbolism and Hinduisation
The pose in which the Indian goddess Lajja Gauri is depicted is known as the uttanapad pose. Her head is substituted by a full-bloomed lotus flower. During the 19th century, when the British archaeologists discovered these images for the first time, they were shocked by the indecent eroticism and the shamelessness of such nude representations. The squatting, life-sized nudes were in stark contrast to their Victorian idea of decent morality and femininity. However, that was a classic case of conundrum born out of two distinct cultures interacting with each other. In Indian art and aesthetics, the Guari's uttanapad pose, that is how she sits with her knees bent and legs drawn up to the sides of her abdomen, signifies creation. Therefore, Lajja Gauri, as her name lajja suggests, represents modesty. She is an aspect of Gauri, that is a form of Parvati, the consort of Shiva, who is modest and shy, directly opposite to the interpretations of British archeologists who labelled these images as a nude–heathen representation of eroticism.