The worship of the Divine as a Mother has an ancient history and persists in many cultures to the present day. The evolution of Goddess worship in India from the proto historic period to the Sixth century has been studied with relevant sculptural examples. A perusal of select texts provides a literary basis for this study. Further, the Symbolicsignificancebehind the icons comes to light by understanding the technical aspects of iconography. The book attempts to trace the various manifestations of the Devi such as Sri and Durga, from the historic, artistic and esoteric view points. The image becomes an icon to the faithful when installed in a temple with due rites. This has been exemplified by descriptions of select sites of Goddess worship in Karnataka.
