Editing Goddess (section)

===Hinduism===
{{Main|God and gender in Hinduism}}
{{Further|Devi|Shakti}}
[[File:Statues of Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani and Camunda, National Museum, New Delhi.jpg|thumb|A relief depicting [[Hindu goddess]]es (from left to right) [[Vaishnavi (Matrika goddess)|Vaishnavi]], [[Varahi]], [[Indrani]], and [[Chamunda]]; [[National Museum of India]]]]
[[Hinduism]] is a diverse complex of many belief systems which includes numerous gods and goddesses. The earliest Hindu source, the ''Rigveda'', contains many goddesses such as [[Prithvi]] (earth), [[Aditi]] (cosmic moral order), [[Vāc]] (sound), [[Nirṛti (goddess)|Nirṛti]] (destruction) and [[Saraswati]]. The ''[[Devīsūkta]]m'' is an important source for the goddess idea in [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic religion]]. Important Hindu goddesses today include [[Lakshmi]], [[Saraswati]], [[Durga]], [[Kali]], [[Tripura Sundari|Tripurasundari]], [[Parvati]], and [[Radha]].

There is much diversity in the [[theology]] of the various traditions of Hinduism. Some theologies (e.g. [[Advaita]]) see all gods and goddesses as emanations of a single formless impersonal source called [[Brahman]]. Other theologies are more personal regarding the ultimate deity.

Some traditions posit a dual deity in the form of [[Lakshmi]]-[[Vishnu]], [[Radha]]-[[Krishna]], [[Brahma]]-[[Saraswati]], or [[Shiva]]-[[Parvati]]. These are presented as a pair with a male god (Shaktiman, "possessor of power") and his consort, a female "power" (Shakti), and their relationship is interpreted in different ways depending on the tradition's theology.

In [[Shaktism]], the supreme deity is the Great Goddess ([[Mahadevi]]), called by different names such as Shakti or [[Shakti|Adi Parashakti]] (Primordial Supreme Power). [[Shaktas]] consider the Goddess to be the ultimate source of all things and the mother of all gods and goddesses. She is considered to have ten main avatars called the ten [[mahavidya]]s in some traditions. Another important concept is the Shakta trinity, the [[tridevi]], which sees Mahadevi as manifesting in three main goddesses: [[Saraswati|Mahasaraswati]], [[Lakshmi|Mahalakshmi]], and [[Mahakali]].[[File:Durga Mahisasuramardini.JPG|thumb|right|The Hindu warrior goddess [[Durga]] killing the buffalo-demon [[Mahishasura]].]]In the great Shakta scripture known as the ''[[Devi Mahatmya]]'' (Glory of the Goddess), all the goddesses are aspects of one presiding female force—one in truth and many in expression, which also is the creative power of the cosmos. It expresses through philosophical tracts and metaphor, that the potentiality of masculine being is actuated by the feminine divine.

Local deities of different village regions in [[India]] were often identified with "mainstream" Hindu deities, a process that has been called ''Sanskritisation''. Others attribute it to the influence of [[monism]] or ''Advaita'', which discounts polytheist or monotheist categorisation. While the monist forces have led to a fusion between some of the goddesses (108 names are common for many goddesses), centrifugal forces have also resulted in new goddesses and rituals gaining ascendance among the laity in different parts of Hindu world. Thus, the immensely popular goddess [[Durga]] was a pre-Vedic goddess who was later fused with Parvati, a process that can be traced through texts such as Kalika Purana (10th century), Durgabhaktitarangini ([[Vidyapati]] 15th century), Chandimangal (16th century) etc.

Widely celebrated [[Hindu festival]] [[Navaratri]] is in the honour of the divine feminine [[Devi]] ([[Durga]]) and spans nine nights of prayer in the autumn, also referred as Sharada Navratri.